Category Archives: Tactical Bollocks

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta taking a step closer to emulating his former boss

Arsenal manager Mikel and his players endured a tough time towards the end of February as they surprisingly bowed out of the Europa League competition last week.

Though the North London club managed a 2-2 aggregate draw with Olympiakos in one of Europa League’s round-32 fixtures, Arsenal couldn’t progress to the next round due to away goal rule which favored the Greeks side.

However, the team started this month (March) on a brilliant note as they defeated League One side Portsmouth 2-0 in Monday’s FA Cup tie. The Gunners traveled to the Fratton Park as favorites judging by both club’s current status and quality players.

Though Kenny Jackett’s men curtailed Arsenal’s pressure during the first 40 minutes of the encounter, they couldn’t prevent the visitors from taking the lead as Sokratis Papastathopoulos found the back of the net before half-time.

Hale End Academy product Eddie Nketiah added the second goal of the game in the 51st minute to give the Gunners a morale-boosting victory. Arsenal are now through to the quarter-final round of the competition.

Having watched his former boss Pep Guardiola won the Carabao Cup for the third consecutive season on Sunday, Arteta would be glad that he is a step closer to emulating his compatriot by laying hold on the FA Cup glory with the Gunners this season.

However, he still has a long way to go because his team will need to overcome Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur’s challenge to win the trophy.

Knowing this, Arteta told reporters that the team won’t dwell too much on the victory against Jackett’s side because they know the quality of teams they will face in the next round.

He told BBC Sports after the encounter:

“There is a long way to go [in the FA Cup] But we’re on the right path. We’ll see what happens in the draw. We’ll keep going because we love this competition.”

The FA Cup competition is the Gunners only hope of claiming a silverware this season, and the players will do everything possible to end the season on a positive note.

Meanwhile, Arsenal left wing-back Bukayo Saka is set to pen a new deal with the club. According to reports emanating from the Emirates Stadium, the youngster has been offered a new bumper deal while will see him remain at the club until 2025.

This will come as a huge relieve to Arsenal manager who is keen on having the youngster in his team for a longer period of time amid speculations surrounding his future.

Saka was in action on Monday and he’s expected regain his spot in the starting XI when the team play host to West Ham United this weekend.

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Filed under Arsenal, Arteta, General Musings, gooner news, Tactical Bollocks

How Spurs, Chelsea and Man Utd’s Match-day 28 results could determine Arsenal’s top-four hopes

Arsenal’s hope of qualifying for next season’s Champions League has received a massive boost following series of favorable results from other top-four competitors.

Chelsea needed a win on Saturday to boost their chances of laying strong hold on the fourth position, but Frank Lampard’s men failed to defeat 18-place AFC Bournemouth who have been poor all through the campaign.

Despite taking the lead through Marcos Alonso in the 33rd minute of the encounter, the Blues only managed to play a 2-2 draw as they conceded two quick second-half goals.

The Gunners, who are 10th on the Premier League table with 37 points from 27 games, have played a game fewer than other top-four chasers, and they now trail Chelsea with just eight points.

As for Tottenham who are also in the race for a place among the top-four clubs, José Mourinho’s men surprisingly lost 3-2 to Wolverhampton Wanderers in front of the Lilywhites supporters.

Though the result is not totally favorable to the Gunners’ top-four hope because Wolves are also in the race, Mikel Arteta’s side will be happy to see their local rivals drop important points.

Mourinho and his men are obviously missing Harry Kane and Heung-min Son’s services as they are yet to win a single league game since losing both players to injury.

They remain on the 7th position with 37 points, three points ahead of the Gunners. Arsenal won’t have difficulty overtaking them before the end of the season, judging by their current unimpressive form.

We move to Manchester United’s result against Everton in a highly controversial game that was played on Sunday. The Red Devils looked to have regained their confidence having won two consecutive Premier League matches prior to the encounter.

However, Carlo Ancelotti’s men shocked everyone as they took the lead through Dominic Calvert-Lewin in less than 5 minutes of action.

Winter signing Bruno Fernandes equalized for the away side before half-time and both sides settled for a 1-1 draw after some VAR controversial decisions.

The result means the Red Devils are in the fifth position with 42 points, five above Arsenal who should be able to close the gap when they play their one outstanding game.

As much as these results appear to favor the Gunners, Mikel Arteta’s men must make perfect use of this opportunity to close the gap between them and the three Premier League giants.

They must endeavor to win every match left in the season because every point is valuable at this stage of the campaign.

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Filed under Arsenal, Arteta, General Musings, gooner news, Monday Night Preview, Premier League, Tactical Bollocks

Arsenal 3-1 Olympiakos – Will Mikel Arteta’s men prove Arsenal legend right?

“This side has got its attacking side back and got its mojo back in that respect. Arsenal 3-1 Olympiakos.”

Above quotations were the words of Arsenal legend Charlie Nicholas in an exclusive interview with Sky Sports ahead of the Gunners’ Europa League second-leg tie against Greeks side Olympiakos on Thursday.

Obviously, the Emirates Stadium outfits are currently enjoying a great run of form at the final half of the season having scored eight goals in their last three matches across all competitions. They have equally won all the three matches.

Heading into their second-leg tie against Greeks side, Mikel Arteta’s men have have a goal advantage having defeated their opponent 1-0 in the first leg of the game. The return leg being at the Emirates Stadium, the Gunners are in a favourable position to progress to the next round of the competition owing the sole fact that they would be playing right in front of their own fans.

However, the Greeks Champions are not pushovers as they have shown resurgence in their recent performances in the Greek Super League, and the Gunners must avoid being complacent against them.

Olympiakos couldn’t progress out of Champions League group stage drawn against the likes of Bayern Munich, Tottenham Hotspur and Red Star Belgrade, Pedro Martins’ side, however, are far from a finished side, and they have all it takes to shock the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday.

The Gunners’ shaky defence should be ready for a very strong test against the in-form opposition attackers who found the back of the net on nine occasions during their last four League matches.

Judging by Nicholas’ prediction, the Gunners will have a very easy game against their upcoming opponents, but it remains to be seen if the team will prove him right or wrong.

Meanwhile, the former Arsenal player — who is now a football pundit— equally gives a clue on the list of players who should be in Arteta’s starting lineup on Thursday.

According to him, in-form youngster Bukayo Saka is set to reclaim his spot at the left-back position following Sead Kolasinac’s injury against Everton last Sunday.

Aubameyang, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Joe Willock and Alexandre Lacazette are all tipped to start by the Former Gunners star based on their present form for the team.

Surprisingly, Nicholas believes summer signing Pepe should be dropped from the starting XI as he hasn’t done enough to justify his £72m price tag.

He urged the former Manchester City assistant manager to replace the Ivorian with Brazilian youngster Gabriel Martinelli, even if that’s almost an impossible task.

He said:

“Joe Willock and Alexandre Lacazette will come in I think. You have to keep Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in for his goals. Will Nicolas Pepe get another run? Probably. Does he deserve it? Probably not. I would probably look at Gabriel Martinelli.”

A goalless draw is enough to see the Gunners progress to the next round of the Europa League competition, while Olympiakos need an outright win without conceding any goal to stand a chance of overcoming Arsenal’s challenge.

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Filed under Arsenal, Arteta, General Musings, gooner news, Tactical Bollocks, UEFA Europa League

The Formula for Success

Arsene Wenger has become renowned in the English and indeed world football for his methodical  and considered approach to training and team selection. Early in his tenure, experienced players were both bemused and intrigued by his dietary initiatives (steamed fish and room-temperature water) and coaching innovations (incessant stretching every five minutes). However, once they realised they were fitter than the opposition, and were likely to have longer careers if they had rubberised hamstrings and the ankles of a yoga expert, they bought in to these changes and embraced them. Arsene also justified the selection of individual players by recourse  to detailed statistical analysis, which although it may have strengthened his case in press conferences, had the effect of thoroughly confusing and irritating supporters on numerous occasions (e.g. Denilson).

Given our recent travails it is tempting to suggest that a calculated and scientific re-evaluation of our methods of preparation might be in order once again. It is an approach that has also worked elsewhere, at least in name. Younger readers may not remember the Everton “School of Science”, particularly as Fellaini’s recent attempt (as laudable as it was) at rearranging the face of Ryan Shawcross serves only to banish such a memory further into the mists of the distant past. It is time, I suggest, to expand on the notion of “Academies” and “Scholars” and focus the energies of both playing and coaching staff at the Grove on a more scientific approach.

It seems to me that our lack of success this season has had less to do with our form and more to do with the ability of opposition teams to prevent us from playing the game as we wish. It is one of the great clichés of the modern game that the really good sides can still be successful and pick up points even when they play badly. While watching The Arsenal this season I’ve often been left with the feeling that it matters less whether we play well or not – if the opposition play well to a certain plan they will defeat us, regardless of our form going in to the game, the attitude of individual players, or the level of preparation for the game.

What I propose, therefore, is the development and application of a highly sophisticated scientific formula for ensuring success. A suitable set of scientific parameters should be devised which can then be used to generate a range of formulae to apply to the preparation of the squad for individual matches. These parameters would include statistical, tactical, medical and meteorological data and values. Statistical values, for example, might be expressed as:

p = the value representing the efficiency of our passing game e.g. percentage of completed passes in key areas

g = the effectiveness of our goalkeeping e.g. % of shots saved, aerial balls claimed/cleared, long kicks to teammates and so on

a = the accuracy of attempts on goal

s = the total number of attempts on goal per game

d = the efficiency of defending e.g. success rate as a percentage of attempted tackles

e = the number of individual errors committed per game

Combining such values with certain other functions representing individual players, condition of the playing surface, home or away game, weather conditions etc. allows for the development of sophisticated predictive formulae which may be utilised for team selection, and the refinement of a suitable tactical approach.

Let us provide an example. A simple descriptive formula may look something like this:

3 = p(RA) + s(ÇΡ) x a + d – e

where = win, = Rosicky, A =Arteta, Ç = Cazorla, Ρ = Podolski, and W³ = an on-form Walcott who controls the ball properly with his first touch and doesn’t overtake it when trying to beat a defender.

Of course the formula may be inverted for predictive purposes, particularly when other variables are introduced:

p(RA) + s(ÇΡ) x a + d – e + ω 0

where ω = Chamakh and 0 = loss. In this instance ω could be substituted for λ (Arshavin) or ? (Park) with no difference in the outcome. 

As alluded to above, external factors can be included as in this example:

p(RxA) + s(ÇxΡx) x a + d + ≈ + Š = Ø

where  = the pitch at the Stadium of Light, Š = Martin O’Neill’s unpleasant shower of Mackems and Ø = a no score draw.

There is scope to broaden this approach by the inclusion of other formulae from different branches of scientific endeavour. Perhaps the most famous formula of them all –  e = mc² – could thus be interpreted in radically different terms:

errors = mental lapses x casual defending of a highly irresponsible nature (it follows that  would be of a heinously irresponsible nature, but c would merely be irresponsible).

I realise, of course, that this proposal is not going to put me on the shortlist for the Fields Medal, nor is it likely that Arsène and Bouldy will pay any heed to my suggestion. But if we don’t get a decent result against Martinez and Wigan this afternoon, I’ll compose a detailed paper on the subject and send it to Colney anyway.

Up the Arse.

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Filed under Arteta, Bould, Cazorla, Chamakh, Denilson, Fictional Bollocks, General Musings, gooner news, Podolski, Rosicky, Tactical Bollocks, Walcott

Sailing in uncharted waters with a man overboard

West Brom arrive at the Grove tomorrow for a game that we would normally be eyeing up with eager anticipation. But these are not normal circumstances. Poor performances, daft mistakes and a worrying lack of goals have left the manager looking a little flummoxed in post-match interviews recently and he’s had to adopt a pretty defiant stance in front of the media. Senior players talk about the need to fight together, work together, and get the fans back on their side. Although Arsene tells us the club is in good shape – and in many respects he is absolutely correct, there’s no escaping the fact that this has been the worst opening sequence to any season during his tenure.

There came a point last season when Gooners and pundits everywhere looked at each other and made the solemn pronouncement that the manager was facing the greatest test of his reign at the club. After the debacle at OT a chap at work even offered me €20 that Arsene would be gone by the end of the season (I took the bet, but not his money).

Now, however, the challenge seems even greater. The mighty dreadnought that was our team of the early noughties has gradually been transformed into a creaking, leaky gunboat with a dodgy rudder. Last season the gunboat hit a couple of mines and survived some aerial attacks, but running repairs were effected and a spirited fight back began with a key battle against the Old Enemy. This season, however, we have run aground since blowing the Spuds out of the water. Not only that, but it looks somtimes as though we’ve lost our way – no charts, a dodgy compass, whilst struggling with a damaged mizzen and three feet in the well, not to mention one of the manager’s favourite able seaman on the sick list (I could go on and on….). There can be no doubt that Arsene is well and truly up against it. But although he acknowledges there are issues, he’s confident that they can be resolved. Is he right?

The statistics for our recent poor run of form make for depressing reading: one win in the last five league games (and averaging only 1.4 points per game over the season so far), and no wins and only two goals in the last four games in all competitions. The midfield has ceased to function effectively and lacks confidence, the defence remains prone to calamitous error and we don’t have enough firepower to make the most of the chances we manage to create. A lot of this is down to the opposition. The likes of Norwich, Shalke, Swansea etc. etc. have played a pressing game and marked our key players closely. Everton managed to prevent us from playing the game as we wanted despite running out of energy after 60 minutes and reverting to a long ball game. The problem is – and you hardly need me to spell it out – that we don’t seem to find a way to cope with the defensive strategy employed by the opposition, and then when the opposition attack we get caught ball-watching and are carved up like the proverbial festive season poultry dish.

I don’t think these problems are purely down to the players on the one hand or coaching staff on the other. It seems more likely each group is failing the other. The gameplan doesn’t work at the moment; consequently the results are not forthcoming, and the players’ morale suffers. But they are sent into the next encounter with the same plan, and it becomes even harder to execute because confidence is lacking and players are scared of making mistakes.

Arsene made these observations on the club website three days ago (at a presser, in fact, but you know what I mean):

“I believe what is important is to play our football, improve the way we play and keep faith in our players. At the moment, that is very important to me. If you look at people’s reaction, everything is dramatic. What is important is to be capable to play football.”

Of course it is very easy in this era of social media for everyone to chuck their opinion around (hence this blog, obviously), and it is even easier to allow one’s texting/typing fingers to rule one’s brain and hurl expletive-ridden knee-jerk reactions around after every poor performance. That doesn’t mean that everyone’s doing it, however. Several well-established pundits, journalists and bloggers have questioned tactics and team selection while maintaining a considered perspective. Everything has not been dramatic.

It’s more likely his comment was aimed at the tabloid hacks in the media and the more extreme end of the club’s supporters. But even the dissent of the angry brigade would be rather less virulent if there were not such a yawning gulf between the capabilities of players and their actual output. Trying to play our particular brand of football doesn’t appear to be working. It seems to me that this is largely because we have become so predictable in our tactical methods that we make it easier for other sides to defend against us. This is compounded by problems with the squad which lacks sufficient depth and balance to provide options when things aren’t working and when key players are tired and injured. There’s no point in keeping faith with your first team players when they are fatigued or carrying a knock. Furthermore, it’s blindingly obvious that Arsene himself is keeping faith with only certain players, having decided with some justification that others (Chamakh and Arshavin – this means you) are not worth considering, except for early-round League Cup purposes. So, while I understand why Arsene is being publicly defiant and resolute, he must surely be aware that our problems need a more thorough fix than “improving and keeping faith”.

There needs to be a tactical rethink, and a change in the structure of the team, by which I mean both in personnel and organisation on the field. Both of these issues are fundamentally interlinked. Not only has the squad has failed to develop in the way the manger had hoped and anticipated, but key personnel have left. The new players that have been brought in our obviously talented, but they still haven’t provided the wider range of options that we need. Our midfield is in particular need of attention – this is not a criticism of our existing trio, but I can’t help feeling (as I’ve said before) that there is need for someone with greater physicality and presence in the mix.

Yesterday’s Tactics Column at Arseblog highlighted Arteta’s role change compared to last season. When he played with Song one of them could join an attack knowing the other would remain deep to protect the defence. When Arteta was injured our results suffered because Song lacked the discipline to stay back with no-one there to cover his forward runs. Now Arteta remains much deeper and leaves Wilshere and Cazorla to do the attacking. Unfortunately this makes it much easier for the opposition to mark him, and likewise Wilshere and Cazorla. All three of them find themselves isolated, and the man on the ball has no option but to put his foot on the ball, turn and play it back the BFG. Perhaps having Wilshere and Arteta alternate roles during games would introduce an element of unpredictability? Jack has played the deeper role before, after all, and this would bring him closer to Arteta as the Tactics Column suggests. This would change the formation somewhat, but that’s surely no bad thing at this stage. Whether or not Arsene is contemplating a mid-season tactical rethink is another matter. It would be unprecedented as far as I am aware, but it seems a necessity.

It seems to me the key element missing from Arsene’s plans for this season has been Diaby. I have remarked on this blog before (and others have made the same observation elsewhere) how  Arsene took a massive gamble in not looking for an alternative to the Frenchman in the transfer market. Perhaps he did look but didn’t much fancy what he found.  If he could stay healthy Diaby would provide a far better balance to our midfield, but hoping/assuming he would remain fit was a leap of faith. I have a very strong feeling that Diaby will not make any meaningful contribution for the rest of the season… or perhaps even any other season. I hope that I’m wrong, but I would be very surprised if he regained sufficient fitness to make a significant number of appearances, let alone starts.

The logical thing to do, therefore, would be to find a replacement for him. Unsentimental, perhaps – but keeping faith with a player who may never be physically robust enough to withstand the demands of the Premiership seems like a luxury we can no longer afford. A lot of Gooners are looking at next months transfer window and wondering who Arsene’s two possible purchases might be. I must confess I haven’t a clue. The media through several names around but it appears as though a lot of these – e.g. M’Vila, Gotze, Llorente – are mentioned simply because they’ve already featured in media speculation over the past 12 or so months, and it’s far easier to regurgitate and rehash old reports than do some genuine research. I’d rather not buy two players though – how about a midfielder, another striker and a left back for a start? A centre half might not be a bad idea, but it’s highly unlikely Arsene sees the need.

Rosicky’s return should be a matter for general rejoicing as he seems one of the few players we have with the determination to keep the ball moving quickly and with purpose. He played a key role in our resurgence last season, and it would be an opportune moment for him to exert a similar influence now. Walcott and Podolski aren’t fit for tomorrow, which in the former’s case may be just as well for his own sake. The manager has expressed his frustration at the stagnation of Theo’s contract negotiations, and another performance like his last would have brought a lot of negative attention from the faithful at the Grove. At this stage, Theo should own up and stop treating us like idiots.

On a final note, Liam Ridgewell will be turning out for the Baggies tomorrow. He’s a player I developed a thorough dislike for when he was at St. Andrews, and this week he confirmed what an odious, classless moron he is by appearing in The Sun, sitting on a toilet with wads of cash littering the floor at his feet, while wiping his arse with a £20 note. I am fully confident that all right-minded Gooners at the game tomorrow will be eager to show him the warm welcome he deserves.

Up the Arse. And here’s hoping for a win…

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Filed under Arteta, Cazorla, Diaby, Friday Night Preview, General Musings, gooner news, Mertesacker, Podolski, Tactical Bollocks, Wenger, Wilshere