- 9 hours ago
After a wobble at Wolves, Arsenal entered the latest North London derby in real need of a result. After sacking Thomas Frank, Tottenham entered as a total unknown quantity. Despite their positions in the table, this was a game that felt it could go either way. Adam Clery looks at how Mikel Arteta completely outthought Igor Tudor in his first game in charge, fixing a lot of the problems Arsenal have had in recent weeks in the process.
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00:00Right, hello everybody, welcome to the Adam Cleary Football Channel, and maybe one of the simplest videos I will ever
00:08do,
00:08because Arsenal, right, they were having a wobble, weren't they? Caused in part by moments like this,
00:15and instead, what they've now done is gone and demolished Tottenham with moments like this.
00:21And it's maybe one of the best examples I have ever seen of a big team identifying a big problem
00:27with a fairly obvious solution,
00:29and just going and doing it really effectively. So, this is that.
00:38Now, before we start, two things very quickly. First off, thanks to our data friends at FOTMOB,
00:43whose stats and info and graphs you will be seeing throughout this video.
00:47So, you should download the app, because it's got all of that good stuff, and heat maps now,
00:52as well as, like, fixtures, results, all the stuff you want from a football app on your phone.
00:56And secondly, before anybody says, what is that on your elbow, these are the little kisses you get from a
01:024G pitch
01:03when you're making worldy saves all weekend, like the one you're seeing on your screen now.
01:09So, I don't want anyone saying in the comments, oh my god, is he lent in something?
01:13No, that is, that's what work looks like.
01:17All right, so, very important context to Arsenal smashing Tottenham, right, is that the Wolves game was indeed a disaster.
01:25I mean, there's no getting away from it. They were bottom of the league, and they chucked away a two
01:30-goal lead
01:31with a calamity last-second equaliser. That is what the wheels falling off tends to look like.
01:37And while everyone understandably wanted to focus on this exact moment, and whose fault it was,
01:44I thought the more pressing issue was actually, uh, this.
01:49David Raya's unsuccessful passes after the first Wolves goal.
01:55Now, this is not to say that Arsenal don't win that game because of David Raya,
02:00although, yep, tens of thousands of people did quite literally, uh, say that.
02:05But it's more what this here, have another look, uh, represents.
02:09Because after being comfortable in that first half, if maybe a little wasteful with their chances,
02:16Wolves go and get a goal back without necessarily creating a goal back, right?
02:22And the reason that's so important is because it's exactly the same as what happens with Kolo Mawani in the
02:28Spurs game.
02:29This moment here, just like this moment here, is bad, but it's not representative of the momentum of the match
02:37changing.
02:38Like, at Molyneux, this happens in the 63rd minute, and it was the first sight of goal Wolves had had
02:44for over 10 minutes.
02:46Like, they were not making chances. This is not a well-crafted goal.
02:50It's just a f***ing blasty that ends up going in.
02:53And from this point in the game, Arsenal's possession drops from nearly 70% to pretty much 50-50.
03:01Shots on goal was only three each from here.
03:04They went to almost total statistical parity with a team who may end up being regarded as statistically the worst
03:13in the history of the league.
03:14And the reason for that, you can see right here.
03:18Like, they obviously get a fright when that goal goes in.
03:20They stop taking risks.
03:22Instead of playing out neatly from the back to work it through the opposition,
03:25they just start humping the thing long in a bit of a panic.
03:29And there were so many points after that goal where they were going long,
03:33despite Wolves having no pressure on the ball whatsoever.
03:37Like, there's no reason at all for Riot to be sending this up the pitch when these are his available
03:43options and the opposition are this deep.
03:46Because when he does, they just lose it.
03:48Wolves come straight back at them and the pressure stays on.
03:51Like, just forget tactics for a second.
03:54This is entirely a mentality thing.
03:56And if you are of an Arsenal persuasion, it looked like a very, very worrying one.
04:01And then, this exact moment in the Tottenham game, it looked like they were in danger of having the exact
04:07same thing happen again.
04:09Now, these were the teams for this game.
04:10And just like in the Wolves match, Arsenal were really good from that first whistle.
04:16They kept the ball.
04:17They kept the pressure on.
04:18They pinned Tottenham's back three into a back five.
04:20They probed them.
04:21They moved them around.
04:22They got the breakthrough.
04:24But then, they go and make the mistake.
04:27But again, just like the Wolves game, this was not Tottenham making chances.
04:32This isn't a well-crafted move.
04:34It's a total gift.
04:36And from there, going in at half-time, they must again have felt the temptation to stop taking as many
04:43risks.
04:43To not get caught out like that.
04:45To just go long.
04:46To be a little bit safer.
04:48But this time, Arsenal didn't do that.
04:52This time, Arsenal remained Arsenal.
04:55Now, this being Igor Tudor's first game in the dugout for Tottenham,
05:00it was going to be pretty tricky for Arteta to figure out what to do.
05:03But as the game wore on, you saw that he got it absolutely bang on.
05:08He did, in fact, go for this back three that he is famed for.
05:11But more importantly, he went for the really aggressive implementation of it
05:15that a lot of people thought he might.
05:17And that meant that the game plan was twofold, right?
05:20And fold number one was using Saka and Trossard to pin the two wing-backs, Jed Spence and Archie Gray,
05:28into the defence so they could not support either the midfield or the forwards.
05:33Now, a very exciting day for me, obviously, because FOTMOB have just added heat maps to the app along with
05:39everything else.
05:40So we've taken both Spence's and Gray's here and also added their touch map from Opta as well.
05:46And in the first half, you can see that while Spence does get a little bit further up the pitch
05:51and helps a little bit,
05:52Archie Gray does not even cross the halfway line.
05:55So Tottenham could not get out, really, of being a back five.
05:59Now, if you watched it, you'll remember that Saka was actually in some central spaces as well.
06:03He basically floated around, getting picked up by all three of these players.
06:07His movement was a nightmare for Tottenham to mark.
06:09But the point is, Arsenal forced them into this shape, a 5-3-2, rather than a 3-5-2,
06:17which is obviously great for stopping your opponent doing anything in possession,
06:21but does make them a lot harder to break down.
06:25Now, of course, Arsenal did break them down several times, and we'll get to how they did that in a
06:30bit.
06:30But first, I want to show you this.
06:33Now, because you've got the opposition pinned into shapes like this, right,
06:36and the fact that Saab, Asuma and Gallagher are not massively press-resistant,
06:42Tottenham could not get out.
06:44Every time they had the ball in their own half, this man-to-man press leapt all over them.
06:49It was forcing mistakes. It was forcing loose passes. It was winning the ball directly.
06:54And this is the fabled danger zone losses graph from the wonderful Mark Statz
07:01and his robot companion, Mark StatzBot, which if you're not following, you're a fool.
07:07Now, this includes... I'll just get rid of all of these and actually say it a bit better, right?
07:10This includes all the high turnovers of the ball, of Arsenal actually going and winning it back,
07:16which was 17, which is already absolutely loads,
07:19but also all the stray passes, all the bad touches,
07:22all the times Tottenham give it away without Arsenal actually winning it.
07:27And there are 51 of them.
07:31Now, for a bit of context, right, I'd look at stuff like this all the time
07:36and I would estimate that a normal amount for a team that lose the game is like 20 to 25.
07:45Arsenal had 15, for example, and if you watched the 2 o'clock kick-off,
07:49which was Forrest versus Liverpool, Forrest were all over them.
07:52They were taking the ball off them left, right and centre.
07:55They had, like, 28.
07:57But Tottenham, at home, in this match, they have 51, right?
08:04Which is a statistical and graphical way of saying
08:06that Arsenal put their foot on their throat and did not take it off.
08:14And if you watch it back, goals 2 and 3 both come from this.
08:17Like, the Jokeres one, Tottenham have been pushed back
08:20to the point where, as this cross comes in,
08:23there's, like, 8 of them in-ish their own box.
08:27And that means that when they win it, when they scrap it back,
08:29there is no wide option to take the pressure off
08:32and no central pass to hold it up and get them out.
08:36Literally, the only option he has there is just to hoof it clear and lose the ball.
08:41Now, Arsenal work it back in from there really quickly,
08:43but I just want to take a slight tangent here for a second
08:47to highlight this pass from Uri and Timba
08:50because there's been a lot of debate, let's say,
08:54about the right way to use Victor Jokeres.
08:57Some say Arsenal don't give him the service he needs
09:00and others say that he doesn't do enough with the service he gets.
09:03But here, as Timba gets the ball,
09:06a risk-averse team who don't know how to use a centre-forward,
09:11give this to Saka or back to Zubomendi.
09:14But instead, Timba hits it first time into this central area.
09:20Now, whether you think what happens next is really good play from Arsenal
09:24or really bad defending from Tottenham,
09:27then congratulations, you're correct because it's both.
09:31But because Eze and Trossard have Paulinha and Dragazin occupied,
09:35it leaves this little pocket of space for Jokeres.
09:39But because that pass has come in early and it's come in centrally
09:43as low percentage as it may have looked,
09:46Tottenham cannot readjust quickly enough.
09:49And that means that Jokeres can quickly use this space
09:53to basically kill the game.
09:56And I will, don't worry, mention Jokeres again in a little bit.
09:58But just this pass from Timba here, right?
10:02This is the handbrake on stuff that Arsenal get accused of never doing.
10:08Slightly riskier passes, central options, men in the middle.
10:12This looks like another big problem that may be getting addressed.
10:17Anyway, though, the third goal Tottenham tried to clear,
10:19but look how many central options Arsenal have shutting them down.
10:24Eze reacts quicker to the ball being loose.
10:27They turn it over and they go for the jugular.
10:31Tottenham, again, had absolutely no way of getting out of that situation.
10:37Yeah, it's a bad header from Dragazin.
10:38He doesn't react very well, but he is not flush with options in that moment.
10:43But the thing is, these little moments here, right,
10:46they're all part of Arsenal's off-the-ball setup,
10:48which is usually always pretty good, right?
10:51I thought what they did on the ball, in possession, was equally as smart slash good.
10:57Because if you are pinning a team into a back five, then great.
11:01They obviously can't get out.
11:03But just look at this situation here.
11:05You are so less likely to be able to open them up.
11:10Early on, Arsenal have a passing move that horseshoes around the Spurs block
11:15for literally, literally minutes.
11:18It would go to Saka and Timber on one side.
11:20They couldn't get any penetration, so it would go back into the middle.
11:23Then out to Trossard and Capier.
11:25They had the same problem.
11:26And around and around, it was going.
11:28And this, as I'm sure Arsenal fans are aware,
11:32has been an Achilles heel of theirs forever.
11:35But what they were so good at in this game was this moment here, right?
11:40Back six for Tottenham.
11:41Impossible to try and play through the middle.
11:44Nothing happening down the sides.
11:46But Timber, Saliba, Gabriel and Rice, again, work it around the outside.
11:52But they do it while dropping fully 40 or 50 yards.
11:57And on the face of it, yes, that looks pretty bad.
12:00It looks like you're going backwards.
12:02But by doing that deliberately, it changes absolutely everything.
12:06Because the one thing everyone knows about Igor Tudor
12:09is that he wants his teams to be really aggressive.
12:12So Tottenham kept pressing out when Arsenal dropped
12:16by chasing them back up the pitch.
12:18Which, on the one hand, is good.
12:20Yes, that's what you want to see your team doing.
12:22But the consequence is it starts to leave a bit of space
12:25between the lines and between your players.
12:28Sar and Gallagher close the ball.
12:30But Trossard has stayed high to pin Archie Gray.
12:34And Jocheres has moved onto Paulinha to pin him as well.
12:38So these two cannot move at that moment.
12:41And that means Incapier can now drop between the lines
12:44to give Rice a forward and central-ish passing option.
12:49Which he does take.
12:50But again, that is still just bait.
12:54Because Gallagher is wrong side,
12:56Paulinha then has to jump out.
12:59Which he will have been instructed to do.
13:01But just look how in that second,
13:03it gives Jocheres loads of space again.
13:07He gets the ball down the side of the centre-back,
13:09who he has now isolated.
13:11He takes him on directly.
13:12He cuts inside.
13:13And very nearly scores the perfect goal to illustrate
13:17how you should try and open up a really, really low block.
13:22Do not horseshoe it.
13:23Do not think because you've got them penned in,
13:25you're doing a good job.
13:26Go back to the beginning and pull them out of that shape.
13:30And Arsenal did throughout this game.
13:32Keep doing exactly that.
13:33Going back to the beginning to get Tottenham out of that shape.
13:37Because they knew they would want to chase them up the pitch.
13:40And in fact,
13:41the first goal Arsenal score
13:44comes from doing this.
13:46But not by going all the way back to the goalkeeper.
13:48By doing it in a more subtle way.
13:51So as the ball's cleared here,
13:53Spurs are about as deep as you can get.
13:56And when it rolls out to Timber,
13:57he could try and put Saka in right away.
14:01But given the direction he is facing,
14:02and the direction the ball would likely have to go,
14:05he cannot get turned there.
14:07The ball would just come straight back.
14:08But instead,
14:09and this is literally just a couple of seconds,
14:11Timber backs off and backs off
14:13and just draws Spence out towards him.
14:16Which in turn,
14:17gives Tottenham the ability
14:18to push out just a couple of yards.
14:21And then the last second,
14:22he completely switches his stance,
14:24gives the ball to Saka,
14:26now in a position with the sort of space
14:28that he can get turned
14:30and face up the defender.
14:32And while there's a little bit of fortune
14:33about what happens next,
14:35yes,
14:35it is the sort of fortune
14:36that you wind up making yourself
14:39by making a decision
14:41like the one Timber makes,
14:43rather than a bad one
14:44that he could have made before it.
14:46And as for the fourth goal,
14:47well,
14:48it's just all of the above,
14:49isn't it?
14:49Arsenal keep hounding Spurs
14:51in their own half,
14:52even in stoppage time.
14:54And they win it back.
14:55Jokeres has isolated Archie Gray this time,
14:58who,
14:59God bless him,
15:00wound up playing like right-sided centre-back
15:03so they could bring Tell on.
15:04That was a little bit weird.
15:06And he attacks him directly
15:07and centrally
15:08and gets another goal.
15:10And,
15:11yeah,
15:12like I said at the start,
15:13maybe the most obvious example
15:14I have seen in a long time
15:16of a big team going,
15:17oh,
15:18we have this glaring problem
15:20and then setting up in the next match
15:21in a way that
15:23gets rid of that
15:25glaring problem.
15:27And,
15:27yes,
15:28okay,
15:28it was
15:29Dr. Tottenham,
15:30but Arsenal have been getting accused recently
15:32of having a mentality issue,
15:34not taking risks in the final third,
15:36and then sitting off
15:37once they've taken the lead.
15:39And they did the exact opposite
15:40of all three
15:42of those things here.
15:44And I think in the context
15:45of the title race,
15:47that's massive.
15:48That's bigger than the three points they got.
15:50And,
15:51yes,
15:51okay,
15:51there is that weird fourth problem
15:53that's developing
15:54of them being a bit passive
15:55and a bit lightweight
15:56in crucial defensive moments
15:58and in both the equaliser
15:59that did happen
16:00and the equaliser
16:02that somehow didn't.
16:04You could see that
16:05coming to the fore again,
16:07but
16:08three problems at a time,
16:10I guess.
16:11And that brings us
16:11very neatly to the end of the video.
16:13So if you have enjoyed this,
16:14then please don't forget
16:15to subscribe to us here
16:16at the Adam McCleary Football Channel.
16:18And if you're an Arsenal fan,
16:19has your head reattached itself?
16:21Do you think,
16:22once again,
16:22you are winning the league?
16:23Please let us know
16:24in the comments below.
16:25And if you've actually sat through
16:26and watched all of this
16:27as a Tottenham fan,
16:28why?
16:29Tell us.
16:30Tell us why.
16:30You've done that to yourself.
16:32You could have done anything else.
16:33Thanks,
16:33as ever,
16:34to our data friends,
16:35Votmob,
16:35whose link you can find
16:36in the description below.
16:37And if you're wondering
16:38what that other link is,
16:40that is my fundraising page
16:41for the Teenage Cancer Trust.
16:44I'm doing the London Landmarks
16:45Half Marathon
16:47in like 48 or 49 days.
16:50And we are trying to raise
16:50a bit of money for them
16:52in the so doing.
16:54If your teenage days
16:55were anything like mine,
16:57they were confusing
16:58and daunting enough as it is.
16:59So going through all that
17:00whilst having to navigate cancer,
17:02I cannot even begin
17:04to imagine what that is like.
17:06But the Teenage Cancer Trust
17:07makes such a huge difference,
17:09both in terms of quality of life
17:11and the end result
17:12to people who are going through that.
17:14And if we could hit
17:15the £1,000 target I've got,
17:18which is not a lot,
17:19but it will make
17:19a bit of a difference,
17:21I'd be a very happy man.
17:23But yes, until next time,
17:24that was the video.
17:25That was what Arsenal did
17:26to Tottenham again.
17:28And I've been Adam Cleary forever.
17:31So I'll see you soon.
17:33I'm still not getting any good
17:35at these outros.
17:36I've been doing this for
17:36three years.
17:38Oh well, bye.
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