Win, lose or draw, coaches and their staff often review the game after the final whistle to get a better idea of the game.
What went wrong and what needs to be fixed? What went well and should be presented to the team? What can be adjusted to provide more solutions? What could we do better? These are some of the most frequently asked questions.
Looking back on his side’s 2-0 win over Aston Villa, Mikel Arteta will surely see the positives in their first-half pressing, their consistency in winning duels and the effectiveness of Arsenal’s right-sided combinations.
The latter had their best chance of the first half when Ben White’s repeated run allowed Martin Odegaard to find Bukayo Saka inside the box and only a superb save from Emiliano Martinez prevented the ball from curling into the far corner. In the second half, it was another right-wing combination that opened the scoring for Leandro Trossard.
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Arteta is not only looking at the positives, but also how the team can improve in the future.
Against Villa’s effective offside line, a common approach is to find runners in behind the defence. The bigger question, however, is how you manage the defensive line to create space for your forwards or isolate them in a situation while keeping them out.
Arsenal’s attacking and midfield movement responded in the first 45 minutes, but the idea was not executed.
With their lead 3-2, one of Arsenal’s front five offers himself as a passing option and at the same time forces Villa’s defence to react.
Here Odegaard presents himself as a passing option and Amadou Onana logically follows him, but Thomas Partey does not pass the ball to his captain.
After Odegaard displaces Onana, Kai Havertz steps in to provide another option that takes Pau Torres a few metres further up the pitch. At the same time, Saka attacks the space behind Villa left-back Lucas Dean.
Havertz and Saka move in different directions to force Villa to move beyond the offside line and Arsenal’s right wing takes advantage, shoots and Partey finds his centre forward between the lines or with the defenders stuck to his markers.
Digne drops Saka and Torres moves up with Havertz, but Partey’s over-the-top passing denies Arsenal the chance to set up their winger in a one-on-one situation.
In another example, Haverts and Odegaard are in their usual positions with Partey with the ball near the centre circle.
Seconds later, Havertz lunges to dislodge Torres and Odegaard charges into the open space to attack…
…but Partey’s weight on his back takes the ball away from his captain and brings it to Ezri Konsa, who collects it comfortably.
The challenge facing Villa’s defensive organisation is that the timing of the runs and the weight of the passes must be perfect. They must also be aligned: when the runner attacks the space behind the defence, the passer must have the correct body orientation to make the pass.
In this example, Havertz is marked by Konsa and Onana looks to Declan Rice as Jurrien Timber tries to advance the ball up the field.
Havertz drops deeper and his movement forces Konsa out of position, destroying Villa’s offside line in the process, with the rest of the back four out of sync.
Meanwhile, Onana leaves Rice to find Timber Partey in the centre ring and the English midfielder consequently attacks the empty space to present himself as a dangerous passing option or force Villa right-back Kosta Nedeljkovic to follow him. He runs on and leaves Gabriel Martinelli (shot) unmarked.
Unfortunately for Arsenal, this all happens while Timber blocks his body shape on the pitch, meaning that even if he sees movement in his peripheral vision, a right-footed pass to Rice or Martinelli isn’t as easy as it looks.
When Timber passes the ball back to William Saliba, Villa’s players are back in their positions and there is no space for Arsenal’s forwards to attack.
In the end, Arsenal’s run behind the defence paid off. Setting up their second goal, Gabriel receives the ball in the centre, with Trossard and Rice the most advanced players on the left.
Given Gabriel’s body shape, if Trossard and Rice attack the space behind the defence, Villa’s defensive line could drop dramatically as this would be Arsenal’s only forward pass.
Instead, Rice moves Villa’s line a few paces away from goal (otherwise Gabriel finds him in space) and Trossard complements this by running in the other direction to catch them as they move.
Arsenal centre-back finds Trossard with back-to-back defences…
…and the left winger plays the ball across goal before Saka collects it and sets up Partey to make it 2-0.
Arsenal’s runs in behind the defence and perfect movement to control Villa’s defence were not the cornerstone of this victory, but the second goal did secure it.
More importantly, it suggests the idea that Arteta could rebuild in the future.
