Arsenal analysis: Arteta’s clever counter-pressing outsmarts Bielsa

When a manager as highly thought of as Marcelo Bielsa credits his opposite number for being ‘better prepared’ for a game, that’s significant praise. After Arsenal beat Leeds 4-2 on Sunday, he lavished Mikel Arteta with those words.

Why? What was it about an enticing tactical battle that Arteta was more meticulous in? How did Arsenal tear through Leeds in the opening 55 minutes and have such joy against a well-drilled and relentless opponent? The counter-pressing played its part.

Speaking to the BBC after the match, the Leeds boss listed two key components of the match that Arsenal perfected in order to secure a positive result:

"“We couldn’t pressure their build-up and we could not avoid their pressure when we were trying to build from the back,” Bielsa said. “One of the most difficult things to neutralise from the opponents was how their two DMs play. You watch closely in the first half, one of the biggest things for us was that we didn’t manage to control Xhaka & Ceballos.“You could see it clearly the opposing manager prepared the game a lot better than I did.”"

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Mikel Arteta’s use of counter-pressing key to Arsenal outsmarting Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds 4-2 in the Premier League

The latter of those points was born out of effective counter-pressing that Arteta intensified on Sunday as a means of effective exploitation against the way this Leeds side operate.

Fielding three technically gifted forwards in Emile Smith Rowe, Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka, Arsenal were able to get bodies in the half-spaces and allow the full-backs with the room to engage in the press out wide. Upon assuming possession, Leeds look to attack with pace through a pair of wide players who spring into action from the moment of a turnover.

Arteta knew counter-pressing (with dedication) in these situations when Leeds were in an offensive shape would make them at their most vulnerable. Smith Rowe is a particularly strong ball winner in these instances.

Regaining possession in these areas opened the spaces for Granit Xhaka, who was quicker on the ball on Sunday, to feed an overlap down the left.

The formation played a big part in the setup, as the 4-2-3-1 shifted into two flatter banks of three when out of possession. With one of the front three, usually Odegaard, dropping off and making the central areas more compact, Leeds were forced to go wide where Arsenal could initiate their regular press, keep technical players in the half-spaces and a spare man free in midfield. Dani Ceballos was the extra body drifting over on either flank to create the aforementioned opening for Xhaka pick up. He performed his sweeper-esque role competently.

Curiously, Arsenal’s goals weren’t born out of the counter-press, but its role in the win was still profound. Leeds’ inability to make inroads in central areas was due to this approach, and it allowed Ceballos and Xhaka to control that area for large period of the game. From there, Smith Rowe could drop deep and run off Aubameyang on the left, while Odegaard did likewise for Bukayo Saka to run beyond. Saka’s running with very aggressive on Sunday, as he had the spaces to attack.

Such a system relies on having intelligent operators who can maintain the rhythm. With Odegaard added to the already sharp Saka and Smith Rowe, there was another contributor who could move the ball with pace and pick up the approporiate spaces in the case of winning the ball back.

Generally speaking, counter-pressing is done with an eye on rapid recuperation of the ball with an eye on scoring quickly, but even by winning back possession in these areas Arsenal were able to keep Leeds pinned back and force them seek elaborate routes away from their goal. It worked a treat.

And, it provides a glittering example of the tactical fluency Arteta has, as well as the experience he learned from a certain Pep Guardiola. Adaptable depending on the opposition and personnel at his disposal, he got it spot on against Leeds.