GW7- Arsenal vs Bournemouth- Gunners show their might at Vitality Stadium.
Arsenal away to Bournemouth is always an interesting fixture. New player chants, sunny afternoon kick-offs and the vibes are always immaculate. This match didn’t disappoint and had a little bit of everything.
⚽GW 7: Bournemouth 0–4 Arsenal
ARSENAL XI : Raya; Gabriel, Saliba, White, Zinchenko; Rice, Odegaard, Havertz; Saka, Nketiah, Jesus
SUBS : Ramsdale, Kiwior, Tomiyasu, Smith Rowe, Nelson, Viera, Jorginho, Elneny
Bournemouth XI : Neto, Kerkez, Senesi, Zabarnyi, Aarons, Cook, Christie, Tavernier, Kluivert, Billing, Solanke
SUBS : Radu, Smith, Brooks, Rothwell, Traore, Ouatarra, Sinisterra, Moore, Semenyo
Arsenal came to this fixture off the back of a disappointing draw to Spurs at home, albeit they are still unbeaten. Arsenal line up exactly the same way bar Havertz for Viera. The Gunners made a strong start to the game and it was rewarded soon enough as Jesus’ far post header hit the woodwork, before falling in front of Saka who netted it home in the 16th minute. Odegaard played an outrageous ball to Jesus.
Staying in control, Arsenal doubled their lead just before half-time as Max Aarons late tackle brought down Nketiah in the 18 yard-box. Saka had the ball but gave it to Odegaard who calmy slotted the ball in the net. Also just before this Zinchenko had an venomous attempt on goal which was thwarted out by Neto.
Second-half began and Arsenal continued to apply pressure, and were awarded another penalty. Christie made a last tackle on Odegaard in the box. This time it was Havertz who was asked to step-up. He scored his first Arsenal goal sending Neto the wrong way.
Ben white in the final minutes of the game, headed the ball into goal off a Odegaard free-kick to complete the impressive performance for Arsenal.
🔴⚪Arsenal Structure
Over my past articles, I have spoken in depth, how Arsenal line-up in a 3–2–5 shape with a FB inverting into the midfield and having a box midfield, but this game was culmination of those tactical evolution as this match finally showed Arteta’s true intentions with the way he wants the Gunners to play. Arsenal built from the back in the 4–2–4(+1) shape {Sounds weird, right?}
(Side Note : As spectators we shouldn’t over rely on shapes as over the course of play it varies a lot and can explode into numerous more sub-shapes, so a 4–3–3/4–2–3-1 etc which is shown at the start of match is a very vague description of how a team plays. Even the more detailed one such as 3–2–5/4–2–4 and more hardly scratch the surface about the tactical nuances a manager puts into the team.)
So what do I mean with 4–2–4(+1)?? I will try to put images of several shapes which I saw in the first half of the game(This is not absolute i.e. exactly what Arsenal played but it is easier to explain this way)Let’s break it down —
Here, you can see Raya joins as situational LCB(yeah I coin funny terms!) Now this is something which allows Arsenal to have an extra man outfield and also beat the opponent team’s man-to-man press. This is hardly a new tactic as we have seen this from City, United and even Brentford now I’m not implying all of these teams played the same I’m just trying to show the effectiveness of this setup as this is also being trusted by other elite coaches. Now, this setup includes GK as a outfield player, which in turn allows a spare player anywhere on the pitch. Havertz was the spare man in lots of situation and this is a good scenario for Arteta as Odegaard played well from the deep and Havertz high suits well due to his quality to win duels. Let me show another way how this setup was put into work —
Please note that while I have Odegaard as the free man doesn’t necessarily means that he will be the one getting the ball, the above diagrams just illustrates how having your GK in the buildup allows one player to push higher from the middle. I might be sounding confusing so let me make it more simpler. In this shape it largely does not matter how the attacking players setup but the emphasis is on players in the defensive half. So the following is all you need to understand this setup —
This was from a previous game, but the idea remains the same. Raya draws a opposition player to create an overload as Arsenal have a spare man ahead . I think I also mentioned this in my game report vs Everton, which you can find it here.
✔What worked-
Arteta’s insistence to play both Nketiah & Jesus finally makes a little sense to me, this game was a good demonstration of it. Now I’m not saying that this game was perfect or Arsenal have cracked the code because there is still a long way to go and with key personnel still out, Arteta cannot get complacent and needs to find more solutions
Havertz had a decent game, getting into dangerous positions, while drawing opposition players and creating space for others to run into. The Havertz LCM experiment was best demonstrated in this match according to me. I think against tougher opponent we need to see how this system copes before putting high praises on him. Havertz can come good in those game as he can be utilized as presser killer for teams who press man-to-man.
Zinchenko has improved a lot defensively which was evident in yesterday’s match. His resting position has been way better while not compromising on his creative prowess.
Odegaard made a wonderful recovery with this game and I think I might know the reason for that. Martin played more from the centre/left of the pitch as opposed to the centre of the pitch. This gave Saka more space to attack while white overlapped(a rarity this season) and this dynamic created some fluid football for the Gunners.
🚧What didn’t / Work under progress
Honestly not a lot wrong with this game but I did see small things which I would like to highlight-
White’s defending out wide has been a little underwhelming this season, on numerous occasion he got beat by the opposition RW. I think this can be attributed to the fact that he had very little rest until now and could be something which he improves over the course season(hopefully soon enough)
Saka needs to be rested! Mikel I get it that he’s the starboy⭐ but even he looks knackered, and in this game while Arsenal were cruising 3–0 he should have been subbed before that terrible collision in the Bournemouth box.
Arsenal lack serious threat in-behind, basically they miss Martinelli. No other player in the team offer what he does, hopefully we see him starting vs City a game which will definitely suit him.
Final Thoughts
A good game which demonstrated what Arteta is building towards this season. Next game is the big one as Arsenal take on Man City at The Emirates. See you then!
If you liked this, you can check out my previous articles here.
