Arsenal: Pablo Mari comfort with high line crucial

Perhaps the most impactful tactical change Mikel Arteta has made at Arsenal is to push the defensive line and compact the team. That Pablo Mari is used to playing in this manner, then, is critical to him having a successful time at the club.

The game that alerted me to Unai Emery’s incompetence as Arsenal coach was a 3-0 victory over Eintracht Frankfurt on September 19th. Bukayo Saka scored a brilliant goal, the youthful vibrancy of the Gunners’ play was astounding, and the team won their first game of the season by more than one goal.

Listen to the latest episode of the Pain In The Arsenal Podcast here!—The Rebuild 2.0

It might seem like a curious match to have realised that Emery is a substandard head coach, but there was reason for my conclusions. In the match, Arsenal were remarkably poor defensively. They conceded 24 shots, seven shots on target, and relied on Emiliano Martinez to make several superb saves in the opening half-hour to keep them in the match.

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

The reasons for this was the compactness, or lack thereof, of the team. This largely stemmed from the deep defensive line that Emery instructed, while also asking his front players to press high up the pitch. That left the central midfield with gaping spaces to cover. They were subsequently extremely easy to play through, Frankfurt bypassing the Arsenal press without any vague whisper of trouble.

When Mikel Arteta arrived as Emery’s successor, one of the first and most impactful changes he made was to push the defensive line up the pitch to compact the team. This decreases the space the central midfield has to cover when pressing high up the pitch and makes the team much more difficult to play through. It is not a coincidence that Arsenal have conceded more than one goal in only two games, both against Chelsea.

This week, Arsenal signed centre-back Pablo Mari to bolster the weakest position in the squad. The Spaniard arrives on a six-month loan deal from Flamengo and will aid in the central defensive rotation that Arteta employs during the latter months of the season. And it is telling that Mari is extremely comfortable playing in a high defensive line.

Brazilian football expert Tim Vickery, in a profile of the defender for ESPN, wrote:

"“In Mari, Jorge Jesus found someone who was used to playing in a high line. While he’s not blessed with outstanding pace, he’s quick enough and has the positional sense to operate in the way that his coach needed <…> He organised the high line, made possible its effective implementation, defended soundly and passed the ball crisply out from the back with his dependable left foot.”"

Unlike Emery, Arteta is implementing a high press with a high defensive line. It is a far more effective manner to execute the tactical plan, but it does put the centre-backs into disadvantageous situations as they have to defend with vast spaces behind them. The counter-attack is a major threat. So signing centre-halves that are comfortable in playing in a high defensive line is critical to the overall plan.

Mari suits Arteta’s style. Just like the fact that he is left-footed, Mari’s competence and comfort in playing in a high defensive line suits the approach that Arteta will implement, and that is vital.