Arsenal and Mikel Arteta: Frustration the name of the game

Arsenal’s game against Crystal Palace was a scrappy affair, characterised by one word: frustration. Here is why that is both a good and a bad thing.

Tactical frustration is the name of the game in modern football. Simply put, the team that wins is often the team that is able to frustrate the opposition and prevent them from scoring. The most efficient way of doing that is to stymie the other team’s tactics, to frustrate them into making mistakes.

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For the first 20 minutes against Crystal Palace, Arsenal looked unstoppable. Much of that was due to their tactical superiority. They frustrated each attempt Crystal Palace made to break out of their own half. Wilfried Zaha was shut down, Jordan Ayew grew frustrated as a lone centre-forward, committing repeated stupid fouls as a result, and the Gunners kept Palace penned in deep, controlling the game by doing so. They frustrated the living daylights out of their hosts.

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Then things changed. Roy Hodgson, famed for his defensive nous, brought Ayew, Zaha, and Cheikhou Kouyate up the pitch, pressing the Arsenal midfield and centre-backs, leading to the game being played in the middle third of the pitch, forcing backwards passes and simple mistakes. The tides of frustration had turned.

The Palace attackers rendered Arsenal’s main weapon — long, direct passes — entirely obsolete, and limited the supply into Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and Mesut Ozil. Palace gained control of the midfield. The game was even until half-time. Then the tides turned further.

Lucas Torreira’s withdrawal at half-time was hugely significant. Matteo Guendouzi grew frustrated with the discipline with which he had to play, something unique to his normal hair-raising style, while Granit Xhaka faltered without the protection the Uruguayan provided alongside him. He tried to do too much and grew increasingly frustrated when his movements and attempted tackles did not succeed. He let the back-and-forth nature of the game get the better of him.

This Arsenal team has the capacity to frustrate and annoy. Aubameyang harried Martin Kelly into submission, dusting him time-and-time again until the right-back sat far enough off that the Gabon international was able to slip behind the Palace defence and slide Arsenal ahead. Similarly, the long passes forward by David Luiz and Sokratis clearly infuriated the Palace midfield, whose role in the game was to disrupt the Arsenal rhythm by were bypassed by the forward passes.

But this team is also easily frustrated, and that comes down to the players. Whether under Unai Emery, Freddie Ljungberg or Mikel Arteta, the defenders are not calm under pressure. They give away bad passes, lose possession frequently, and clear the ball away in panic. Teams are beginning to understand that Arsenal are extremely susceptible to a high press. This ability to frustrate does not bode well for the future of Arteta’s composed style of football.

The last 20 minutes of the game were the most promising of the match. Certainly not the best, but the most promising. Arteta, for the first time, showed some tactical flexibility. He switched to a 4-2-3 formation, using the pace of Gabriel Martinelli and Nicolas Pepe to disrupt the backline of Palace. Despite the red card to Aubameyang and subsequent numerical disadvantage, Arsenal controlled the last 20 minutes and created the bulk of the chances.

And they did so because they adapted. After about a half-hour of floundering, a new tactical shape and approach turned the tide. This was a tactical switch with a purpose, very much unlike those often executed by Emery.

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This game was frustrating for Arsenal, unquestionably, but their ability to recover and frustrate Crystal Palace at the end of the game shows Arteta’s dedication to tactics, and to being able to win games while at a potential disadvantage. The Gunners are easily frustrated, yes, but they have both the personnel to frustrate their opponents and the manager to ease their own troubles. And that bodes very well for the future indeed.

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