Arsenal vs Crystal Palace: 4 key Vieira tactics & how to stop them

2. Vieira’s Implementation of a High Press

The tactical change: Indeed, Palace are now a high pressing side. They couldn’t be any less Hodgson if they tried.

Adopting a higher line and a more fiercely engaged forward trio, the emphasis is on forcing passes in shorter sequences and then pouncing on those in possession in the central third. James McArthur is used completely differently and Conor Gallagher’s intelligence on and off the ball is well catered to.

Often Jordan Ayew may drop into a deeper role to aid numerically depending on the opponent’s shape, but the general demand is squeezing the pitch and looking to break into attacking transitions with pace.

How to exploit it: There are many ways to exploit a high press and Arsenal have had to become used to this approach against them far more in recent times. Teams clocked on to the idea that ‘getting at’ Arsenal is, it turns out, the best way to beat Arsenal.

While the three-man defensive build-up shape will work in exploiting Palace’s narrow out-of-possession shape, it won’t always be the case that Arsenal can start phase one in that manner. As with any side pressing high, you have to find the weak link.

One approach is to have the back four with the double pivot crowding the player targeted as the ‘weakness’. If Odsonne Edouard plays centre-forward then this could be him, in which case Partey and Sambi can drop behind him to offer two options to bypass the press centrally. It’s a way of playing through the press as opposed to around it.

It helps, also, having calm central defenders in possession like Ben White and Gabriel. Their skillsets and profile are instant advantages in such scenarios.

Continued…