Arsenal: Do not underestimate the importance of confidence

For a brief period in Monday’s 3-1 win over West Ham United, Arsenal played with confidence. After a wretched run without a win in two months, do not underestimate its impact.

It was an awful first 45 minutes. But not for the usual shortcomings of the Arsenal performances in recent years, especially under Unai Emery. Rather than looking shaky defensively and dangerous at the other end, the Gunners proceeded to lack any semblance of intensity, energy and conviction as West Ham United simply sat back and waited for their visitors to make that criminal mistake.

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The most depressing — and detrimental — aspect of the first-half performance was the speed at which the ball was passed. The lack of offensive ingenuity and creativity stemmed from the Gunners’ inability to move the ball into the final third.

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There are plenty of technical, tactical and personnel reasons for the ponderous nature of the team’s play. No one person is to blame and there is a whole myriad of factors that impact the collective efficacy of the possession. But at the heart of it was a lack of confidence.

From the players’ unwillingness to play riskier passes, afraid of making a crucial mistake, to the lack of options in attacking positions to play line-breaking balls, it all led to a mire of backwards passes and easily pressed combinations. Arsenal could not mount an attack, and West Ham were extremely comfortable to sit back and watch.

But then, suddenly, with the sweep of Gabriel Martinelli’s right foot and the ripple of a net, confidence returned. The ball moved with zip and intensity. The players played with their heads held high. Passes were struck with purpose. Attacks were put together.

After the match, interim head coach Freddie Ljungberg was asked about the improvements his team made in the second half. He put it down to confidence:

"“The players did amazingly. We had a gameplan and we wanted to move the ball a lot. First half we were slow, we were a bit lethargic, we didn’t move, we didn’t run. But that in my opinion comes when players are low and have no confidence. You don’t do it at the speed you need to and it’s been hard on the players, but I felt like we gave it a go in the second half and we did that. It was amazing to see, for me.”"

That may seem like a simple explanation as to why Arsenal looked so much more dangerous in the final half an hour than the hour before that, but there is a lot of truth to Ljungberg’s assessment. As soon as Martinelli scored the equaliser, the Gunners immediately started to play in the necessarily quick and offensive manner.

Every pass was played purpose, accuracy, and speed. The ball did not roll into the players’ feet; rather it was fizzed into them, not allowing West Ham to regain their defensive structure. Nicolas Pepe was isolated against defenders, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could get in behind, and Mesut Ozil started to find those pockets of space to make the attack tick.

Confidence will not solve Arsenal’s problems. They are far wider-reaching and deeper-rooted than that. But it will help, and the final half-hour of the West Ham victory proved as much.