Arsenal Vs Brighton: Move that ball

Under Unai Emery, Arsenal struggled to impose themselves on lesser opponents. Now with Freddie Ljungberg at the helm, they may play more expansively. And it all starts with moving the ball quickly and accurately.

This week, I watched Manchester City dispatch with Burnley in a thumping 4-1 victory, before then witnessing a wild Merseyside Derby between Liverpool and Everton, the former running out 5-2 victors in another rip-roaring performance.

Find the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal Podcast here — Can we talk about something else?

Pep Guardiola’s City and Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool are the two best teams in the Premier League at present — they are, in fact, the best two teams in the world, and have been for some time. They approach the game in very different manners. One is technical, slight, intelligent and creative; the other is athletic, direct, imposing and dominant.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

But of the tactical aspects the two teams do share, the most impactful and pertinent is the speed at which the ball moves. They both use different strategies to move the ball quickly and accurately. Man. City play one-touch passes more than any team in the world, Guardiola often seen wildly gesticulating at his players on the sidelines to shift it quicker and quicker. Liverpool are more direct, unleashing long bombed passes, usually from Trent Alexander-Arnold or Virgil van Dijk, to exploit an exposed defence against their vicious front three.

While the way they get there is very different, though, the end result is the same: the ball moves at an almighty pace, with the focus of play shifted from side to side, end to end viciously quickly. This has one very obvious effect on the defending opposition: they are never in the right position. Such is the speed of thought that is required to position yourself, it is impossible for all 11 players to react to the ball movement in time. And once one defensive player is caught out of position, Liverpool and City need no second invitation to strike.

Arsenal have not played in this manner for many years. Even in the latter Arsene Wenger period, they still moved the ball at a pedestrian pace, every player taking a needless extra touch, that added half-a-second criminal when trying to build attacks. Unai Emery attempted to inject some directness into his team’s play, reminiscent of Liverpool’s bombarding attacks, but the successful moments were few and far between and he lacked the wing play of Klopp’s side to exploit exposed defenders.

Now it is Freddie Ljungberg’s turn. Can he implement an approach that focuses on the speed of the ball, ups the tempo of the play, and looks to disorientate and confuse the opposition? Arsenal certainly played with more freedom of movement in his first match against Norwich City, but while the runs off the ball were encouraging, the passes on it were not. Granit Xhaka’s one-footedness slowed down play, Matteo Guendouzi either sliced open the Norwich midfield with a lovely pass or dribbled for too long before releasing play, while neither Sead Kolasinac nor Calum Chambers have the technical quality to play at pace from the full-back positions.

Arsenal host Brighton and Hove Albion in Ljungberg’s second game in charge on Thursday night. It is another opportunity to see if these players can play with tempo in possession. Ljungberg shouted ‘intensity’ in the training sessions and could be seen introducing a diagonal pass that looked to exploit space with a long, direct ball that cut out the midfield. These are signs that Arsenal will look to play with speed, but do they have the quality to execute?

The best teams in the world move the ball quickly. It is something that Arsenal have not done for many years now. But perhaps they are trying to get back to it. Guardiola and Klopp have mastered it, in their own way. Now it is time to see if Ljungberg can fulfil his own need for speed.