Welcome to World Sandwich Day! In celebration I will be making the “katsusando” from my Encyclopedia of Sandwiches challenge. I have already baked the Hokkaido Milk Bread and made the homemade tonkastu sauce. All that’s left is to get me some cabbage and pork and I’ll be in pig heaven. You don’t need to go all out like me, order a sando from your favorite restaurant. I guarantee they would love the business. Heck, I might even go get a sandwich today. Man has to eat lunch!
For Arsenal content today, there were a lot of great comments in the blog and I’ve seen a number of columns now with what I would consider a pretty wide variety of opinions on how Arsenal played against United and precisely what Arteta did in that match to help get the win. And what’s fascinating to me is that they all seem to be right, to an extent.
Let’s take pressing as our first example. Watching the match I was deeply frustrated when Arsenal seemed to let Maguire and Lindelof play the ball. And I also observed several long passages of play were Arsenal weren’t pressing at all.
So, when I went to fbref and pulled the pressing stats – which showed Arsenal making just 107 pressures, an abysmally low number, with just 26 high pressures I felt justified in backing my observation that “Arsenal were just too passive”. I’ll be honest, it was frustrating to watch and burned into my memory were huge swathes of time where no one was pressing the two slow tugboats that United have in the back.
But maybe what I was seeing was wrong? Maybe they aren’t counting pressures correctly? I asked a friend to see if he could get me the pressing data, split out by game state and he did. It’s pretty amazing, actually.
Arsenal made 24 high pressures in the first half and just 2 high pressures in the entire 2nd half. And both of those came after we were winning!
This matches my notes. First half notes I have: “Arsenal dominating, winning ball back, attacking” (just before Bellerin’s non-shot big chance); “Thomas bossing Paul” (which means pressing him off the ball); “Saka steal off AW-B”; “Willian hits crossbar after winning ball back in final 1/3”; “Are Arsenal pressing??”.
Extrapolating out the high press numbers, Arsenal (had they kept pressing high for the full 90) would have come very close to the average of high pressing masters, Liverpool, who average 54 high pressures per match. But we didn’t and the 2nd half was… frustrating to say the least.
From the 46th minute until we scored, we made just 19 pressures, total – zero in their final third. And my notes reflect that, bubbling over with frustration: “Arsenal turning the ball over every time”; “Laca is lost, slow”; “We look bad, slow, half speed”; “Arteta barking at Laca who has been lazy, bad”; “Craze 3 mins, United attack, want pen, nearly own goal, Leno’s face saves”; “Gabriel immense”.
We only made nine pressure in their half in the 2nd half. This wasn’t a game state issue. This was either a change by Ole or Mikel. Or maybe the Arsenal players couldn’t play high press for more than 45 minutes? Or perhaps Mikel’s plan was to press for 45 and then 2nd half low block?
I’ve had comments on here in utter disbelief that I didn’t think we pressed well in that game. And professional analysis on the dot com and on Arseblog news have suggested that we pressed well.
Observations of this match seem to be pretty wildly different from one another, Rashomon-like. But they all have a kernel of truth. What I saw as a far too passive approach in the second half is true; what you saw as a superb high press in the first half is true. Other contradictions like were Arsenal playing the passing lanes or man-marking? Yes, both, at different times!
I hate to say “it’s interesting” but it is interesting that I just noticed something about my own observations. I’ve fallen prey to this before but the gist is that sometimes I only remember the parts of the match that are most affective or most frustrating. This is a major reason why I got into looking at the stats. Early on, I knew that I was an unreliable observer! I needed something more objective to look at, to help me make sense of what I just saw. That’s not always the case, but it does crop up.
I appreciate folks pointing out that maybe Arsenal did press/dominate but I also hope you see the other side here. That a lot of folks saw a passive second half from Arsenal (whether by design or not is a question) and were frustrated by that.
This is actually an observation I have of Arteta’s football in general: that it’s too passive for me and that it becomes even more passive when we take the lead. This is small margin football and it will bite us. We can’t just keep trying to hang on to 1-0 leads.
That said, I’m not an Arteta out guy because that would be ridiculous. The man needs time to get this straightened out. We need to take our time getting the defense organized, getting players’ fitness levels up (Holding did have cramp), and solidifying the structure, then start working on being more proactive. At least I hope that’s the plan. It has to be the plan! He didn’t just spend years learning how to coach (under Guardiola no less) so that he could play passive football.
You are clearly clueless as your comments demonstrated. I suggest you take up another sports
Hahhaha! Bless your heart! Did your mum let you use the computer?
Anyway, not sure what I’m supposedly clueless about. I’m pretty sure it’s international sandwich day and if it’s not, it should be!
+1
I agree the fine margins approach is playing with fire. The game felt eerily similar to the Leicester one. Strong first half followed by lackluster 2nd. If Leno’s face is turned a half inch and Manure score off that deflection, we would probably be having a different conversation about the game.
MA8 seems to prefer defending a 1-0 lead with a low block than trying to put it out of reach with a second goal. Trusts us to defend more than to score. He’s probably right, but it does make for dull football in the 2nd half. Or nail-biting finishes.
Still buzzing over Gabriel and Partey. Compare that to the acquisitions of Musti and Xhaka a few years back. We’ve come a long way.
Dude, this is a legitimately hilarious comment. Thanks for sharing!
It’s going to get its own Netflix special.
What’s so funny? Am I suffering election day cluelessness?
He’s making fun of the first poster, Jack. Not you.
Thanks, Doc!
I don’t actually know. I think Jack has a buddy come on and pretend to be a supporter of Jack, both are first time commentators. Probably came here from the anus of the world, twitter.
But I want to stress that I am absolutely correct, today is world sando day.
Love this blog. Thank you for doing it.
One comment: Uni wasn’t an idiot. Much of what Arteta is doing is similar, but with greater player communication and buy-in, and, increasingly, results. We are still (mostly) attacking down the flanks, playing from the back, avoiding turnovers (or even playing much) in the center, and pressing less than advertised.
Exactly right. Arteta is just having them do all that stuff more better. I always said Emery’s chief failing was one of communication and emotional leadership. I don’t think his players believed in him and that showed on the pitch.
There’s a lot to dislike about the sport of football these days. I’ve found it easier than ever to miss matches. The ambiguity you describe here though, the what-the-fuck-am-I-supposed-to-make-of-this feeling, is what always keeps me coming back. A match that sticks like a good book—I sure hope that doesn’t change!
There’s a lot to dislike about the sport of football these days; I’ve found it easier than ever to miss matches. The ambiguity you describe here though, the what-the-heck-am-I-supposed-to-make-of-this feeling, is what always keeps me coming back. A match that sticks like the end of a good book—I sure hope that doesn’t change!
On the Arsenal Vision podcast, I heard it described as ‘selective pressing’. The players seemed to be under instructions to press in certain areas of the pitch to push the play elsewhere, perhaps into space they could control in other ways or were happy to allow play to continue in depending on the opposition players involved (and our own, obviously). As I said yesterday, I didn’t watch all of this match, but this would make sense in terms of the varying opinions or definitions of ‘press’ that were in evidence after the game.
Me thinks part of the challenge of the modern game is that it’s becoming increasingly fluid and dare I say it, fans are struggling to keep up.
We’re seeing it increasingly with formations such as switching from a back five to four in order to manage transitions. As a consequence our understanding of what a player’s role is has to be nuanced and flexible. I think we’ll see for example with Partey that he’ll play as a 6 or an 8 as required. Managing transitions has become paramount due to the athleticism and speed of modern players so there will be times when players are instructed to press or wait and intercept. Pep’s approach has always been about managing space and Klopp applying pressure. I don’t think Arteta is wedded to one style nor do we have the players to mirror City or Pool. We’re going to be a hybrid and it will change in game.
You mentioned yesterday that we have the best defensive record (goals conceded) but some of the worst defensive metrics. It it a fluke, a short term anomaly or do the stats just not capture the right metrics to tell the story?
Me thinks much the same also
This team is not a nightmare of confusion as it was under Emery but I think a lot of people are struggling with where Arteta is going with the project in terms of defining a playing style. Wait…that is like a “some people say” comment from the (hopefully) outgoing POTUS. So maybe it’s just me.
Clearly the team has improved if you look at our weaker players like Mustafi. Elneny is a dreaded LANS for crying out loud.
Brought home some incredible 5-spice pork belly Bahn Mi sandwiches today from none than Bahn Mi Boys. If you’re from Toronto, you’ll know them. Yum!
I think perhaps one issue we have is to define what we mean by pressing. To me, it means that we try to play in the opponent’s half more often than not. So even if we don’t put crazy amounts of pressure on the ball, we engage high up the pitch and don’t let them advance the ball. It has as much to do with where the CB’s position is as anything. They have to squeeze high in order to make this work. So to me, it’s really about conceding space behind you instead of in front of you. That’s what I felt Arsenal did in that first half. They marked the passing lanes and tried to trap the ball but they didn’t go hog wild because they knew that to get turned was the kiss of death. So it was a cat and mouse game where they primarily tried to stay in front of the ball and steal it if they could. By doing this Arsenal had complete control over the game and asserted their will on their opponent. To me that’s the definition of dominance and I thought it was a thing of beauty. I haven’t seen Arsenal control a game like that, certainly not against MU.
If MU did find a way to retain possession in our half, then the team dropped off and started to defend their 18. This happened a lot in the 2nd half because Ole had an extra body drop back and circulate possession and suddenly the pressing structure had too many options to deal with at once.
The champagne football will begin to flow, eventually. The team has a structure and an identity now and we will dominate games like this even more against lesser opposition. Chances will come, confidence will build and partnerships will blossom. We will play with the lead and exploit the spaces that that opens up. That’s the blueprint.
That’s a very coherent comment and I thank you for it.
First – I have no affiliation with the Jacks above.
Is the question in how we define pressing vs. pressure? Maybe we didn’t press the man with ball, but we aggressively closed off passing lanes and marked players who didn’t have the ball, making opportunities for Manure to progress the ball far and few between… that is a press of sorts, not in the vein of what Liverpool do, but actually closer to what Atletico do under Simeone..
I believe we’re first in the league in sprints per game by some margin… that means aggressive closing of space, denying opportunities. Truthfully, we lack the athleticism in the front 6 players to press like Liverpool, so Arteta has adopted this mid-block bend-but-dont-break defence which I believe will morph into a high press once Partey is bedded in and Nketiah takes over from Lacazette (or Martinelli).
We didn’t really close off passing lanes either in the 2nd half: not only can we look at the chances they created but also their entry passes in the box matched the output of the first half in the first 25 minutes of the 2nd half. We weren’t really winning the ball back in the 2nd half. It looked really bad (to me).
I do agree with you, however, that this might be Arteta adjusting to the team he has.
Yeah I thought Arteta kind of covered this in his post-match comments about how Ole changed the formation and it took us time to adapt to it. And when we did it looked very different. Or was it someone else who said that? I consume too much content these days.
Yes and also it’s difficult to sustain that level of concentration and physical tension for the whole 90 minutes. In time perhaps we’ll get there and be able to possess the ball better ourselves so the players can recover for the next wave.
I love where we are having played the fixtures we have. It’ll seem comparatively easy for the players to face Wolves and Aston Villa.
“This is actually an observation I have of Arteta’s football in general: that it’s too passive for me and that it becomes even more passive when we take the lead. This is small margin football and it will bite us. We can’t just keep trying to hang on to 1-0 leads.“
This
One other point that reassures me is that if we are building from the back, the additional security that a player like Gabriel gives us should mean that in time we will be able to squeeze up more and play more on the front foot. Liverpool’s style relies on the security that VVD and Gomez bring in a high defensive line.
In other words, it’s not just a question of the athleticism of the front 6, it’s also bedding in the defence, so we may not have to wait for new personnel before we see developments.
We also have AMN, Willock, Nelson et al who can provide some excellent running around if athleticism is the only issue.
For my part, I would like to watch a game of football, to watch football, not 20 players running around trying their utmost to stop the opponents passing the ball.
All this pressing and blocking simply makes the game less of a spectacle but more of a boring time that I, as an Arsenal supporter feel obliged to live through as a loyal fan and also because I have paid £55 a month for my Sky subscription.
You may ask me, do I not want to win?
Yes, I do, but and I also not interested in this negative rubbish that seems to be what is required nowadays.
Just as well the fans can’t come to watch the games, as I suspect many would simply not bother.
It is not surprising that our front 3 are so pathetic and we can barely muster a few shots somewhere near the goal, as the rest of the team, egged on by the manager, seem totally uninterested in giving them the ball too often.
You will say that that is the modern game.
So it seems, but that is why I and so many others are losing interest fast.
It may be for entertainment but it’s a results oriented business and it’s cut-throat. We want results but we want to be entertained too. You can’t really have both unless your team is just superlatively talented and even then, the standard in the league is higher every year. There are no easy fixtures anymore. Football is becoming more and more of a team sport and less and less about the individual expression of iconic geniuses. Arteta’s management is moving us into that modern era of football.
You say the standard in the league is higher than ever.
What do you mean?
Skills? Entertainment?
Or do you mean the standard of stopping opponents playing is higher?
I fear there is precious little attacking intent in most teams, who now train their players in pressing and blocking rather than actual footballing skills.
Our game is getting like American football where so much energy is spent in blockong the opponents.
What we now expect is less skill, less attacking and less entertainment, as this makes it easier to win, and, of course, winning is what it is all about.
You say that I am wrong to seek entertainment when I watch a game of football and that I should not expect it if I want to win.
Is that a true message in life?
Is it, make money, no matter how you do it, legally or otherwise?
Thanks but no thanks.
I have the option to turn the tv off if what I watch does not interest me.
I am sure I can find more interesting things to do than watch boring and uninteresting football.
Maybe watching rain drops moving down the window pane. That can be more interesting than the rubbish Arteta is serving us up with.
I’m not telling you what to do or what to want. I’m just saying football has evolved into this modern era and few if any teams can play enterprising, entertaining football as well as keep clean sheets and thus get consistent results. I’m saying we can’t really ask for both. Under Wenger it was too much of the former and now it’s too much of the latter.
On a brighter note, I do think this team has more entertainment value in it. We’ve played a lot of high caliber opposition which has necessitated a more cautious approach in those games.
I disagree that few teams can play a good combination of attacking football and defensive football. It actually feels like more teams than ever know how to play good football.
What a shame our team is not one of them.