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Arsenal are chasing one of world football's biggest superstars. We explore the tactical advantages Vinicius Jr. would bring to the Premier League, from solving attacking problems to providing a new dimension that could make Arsenal unstoppable.
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00:00Arsenal are on the brink of building a side that can dominate English football for years to come.
00:04Bruno G looks set to arrive before the end of the window.
00:07Tuzoles gives them some serious firepower off the bench.
00:11And now they're chasing one of football's biggest superstars.
00:14Vinicius Jr. would make Mikel Arteta's side almost unstoppable.
00:20But how would he do it?
00:22Well, I'm Jacob Horsfall, 4-4-2's resident tactician.
00:25And this is why Vinny Jr. to Arsenal would break the Premier League.
00:35To truly understand just how massive Vinny Jr. could be for Arsenal,
00:40we first got to look at the problems Arsenal have had that have led Arteta into wanting the Brazilian.
00:46Vinicius Jr. is known for his ability to turn him being doubled up on into two micro 1v1s
00:51by committing each defender at different points,
00:54allowing him to beat one, then turn and beat the other with space to attack
00:58rather than being crowded out.
01:00To be blunt, Arsenal don't have another left-sided player who's as good 1v1 or as good at general dribbling,
01:08like Vinny is.
01:09At the moment, both Arsenal left-wingers are more touchline players who are constantly on the under-loaded side
01:14and rely on attacking unmarked space in and around the box to score goals.
01:19Which is useful and Martinelli scored some pretty decent Champions League goals through that exact thing.
01:25However, Arsenal do need a little bit more transitional threat,
01:28someone who can get the ball and be direct,
01:29but do so by getting on the ball, beating three or four players and aggressively driving the ball forwards.
01:35Now, imagine Arsenal defending deep against a Man City, for example.
01:39Throw Vinny in and put him at the halfway line.
01:41The threat that Arsenal can have on the counter-attack on the break
01:44is just a different level to anything they have at the moment.
01:48I mean, there's a reason we've seen Arsenal operate in the way they have over the last few years.
01:52The Premier League is moving into an era of physical dominance.
01:55In fact, it's already there.
01:57It's all about transitions at the current moment.
01:59And we saw Arsenal try to lean into that with the sign of Victor Jokeres.
02:03When Arsenal were camped in like they are here,
02:05they had an out through the Swedish striker.
02:07They could hit the channel and his quick burst of speed and physical power
02:10would allow him to latch onto balls in behind.
02:12But he wasn't technically good enough to retain the ball.
02:16So in those bigger games, yes, they could get out from pressure
02:19by sending it into the channel for Jokeres,
02:21but they weren't able to stay out of pressure for long
02:23because Jokeres couldn't make it stick regularly.
02:26He would end up losing the ball and then they'd be back under pressure.
02:29But Vinny Jr., well, he can make it stick.
02:34He ranked ninth for top speed in the Champions League last season.
02:37So he obviously has the physical traits that you'll want to be, that runner and beyond.
02:41However, he's also incredible on the ball.
02:44I mean, he's arguably one of the best dribblers on the planet.
02:47Only Lamine Yamal attempted more take-ons than Vinicius Jr. in La Liga last season.
02:52And that's because not only did Vinny thrive in these advanced 1v1s
02:55where he could drop his shoulder to commit both defenders
02:58and then have his own space to play in and then shoot and score.
03:01But he also has something that at this current moment in time
03:04only Bukayo Saka can offer to this Arsenal team.
03:12Arsenal's star man has the ability to receive in tight positions
03:15with the opposition's defence settled in front of him.
03:17But he can then push them back with progressive ball carrying.
03:21His signature accelerate down the wing, then stop, then accelerate again
03:24has claimed the lives of more than a few full-backs.
03:28And it's one of Arsenal and Mikel Arteta's key plans for trying to break a low block.
03:34The problem is Saka can often end up isolated and alone within that plan.
03:38So now it's a regular occurrence for teams to double and triple up on Bukayo Saka
03:42and force Arteta's side to retreat and then just circulate the ball.
03:46The good thing is that if Vinicius Jr. comes in and plays off the left,
03:49he has that same ball-progressing quality that Bukayo Saka has,
03:53but with a little bit of a twist to it.
03:55Vinny will happily receive in tight situations deeper in the pitch
03:58and will drag his side forward just like Saka.
04:01But the Brazilian is more aggressive.
04:03He can shift gears at ridiculous speed and change direction in a split second,
04:07allowing him to draw players in.
04:09Similarly to Saka's sort of stop-start motions,
04:12Vinny Jr. has the ability to switch direction at a rapid speed
04:16when he's moving at top speed.
04:18So he's able to pull players in just like Saka,
04:21but beat them a lot quicker than Saka does.
04:24When he gets on the ball centrally and hops past one, maybe two players,
04:28one of the defenders of the opposition will see him moving at top speed
04:31and want to step out to try and prevent his dribbling.
04:34But Vinicius Jr.'s pace and power means that as that defender steps out,
04:39Vinny's already gone past him and he's attacking that new space
04:42before that defender even gets anywhere near him,
04:44which would allow Arsenal to now have more of a dual-wing threat
04:47rather than most of their ball playing coming down the right-hand side,
04:51but also would allow them to attack space more aggressively
04:54when they create it, which they do create pretty often.
04:58But, ladies and gentlemen,
04:59Vinny Jr. on this left wing isn't just some roadrunner
05:02who's a good, fast athlete.
05:04He can be a lockpick.
05:06The 26-year-old sat fifth in the league for chances created last season
05:10because amongst the flair, amongst the running and beyond, amongst the goals,
05:14he is a very, very good passer.
05:17Against those low-block sides,
05:19you can expect Vinny Jr. to regularly drop out of the attacking line
05:22to get the ball in the half-space and receive it
05:24and have space to be his creative self.
05:27His quick feet allow him to not only receive on the back foot under pressure,
05:30but also eye movement from his teammates
05:33and thread perfectly weighted balls straight into their path.
05:36Which, if you watched a lot of the Premier League champions last season,
05:39you'll notice that those defence-splitting passes
05:41that really broke the opposition's last line of defence
05:43weren't too regular of an occurrence,
05:46or at least not as much as what Mikel Arteta would have liked.
05:49With them pinning sides in, they often lack the killer ball from a winger
05:53or from a central player like Martin Udegaard,
05:55which has led to a lot of people criticising the Norwegian.
05:59But for me, it's just as much Udegaard
06:01as it is the familiarity from the opposition starting to build.
06:06Arsenal's lack of wide threat, especially with Bukayo Saka's absence,
06:09meant that the opposition could really just sit extremely narrow,
06:13block out any central space,
06:14and force Arsenal wide to then put relentless crosses into the box.
06:18I mean, 42% of their attacks came down the right-hand side last season.
06:23Which makes sense because of everything we've discussed already in today's video,
06:27but it also gives another reason why Vinny Jr. is so important for Arsenal if they get it done.
06:37Arsenal had just one player in the top 30 Premier League players for expected goals last season.
06:42The drop-off in goals from Victor Jokeres was gigantic,
06:46which is another reason that Arsenal found themselves being frustrated on multiple occasions last season.
06:51They'd signed Victor Jokeres to solve their striker issue,
06:53but having just a half-decent striker doesn't mean that you're a constant threat for the opposition's backline.
07:00Vinicius Jr. wasn't at his best last season,
07:02yet he still scored more league goals than any Arsenal player,
07:06which is another way that he can transform this Arsenal super team.
07:11Real Madrid often used a right-hand side overload to pull the opposition over,
07:15similar to Arsenal.
07:16So when they crossed the ball,
07:17Vinny could arrive onto it and use the opposition's momentum against them before smashing home,
07:22which is something that seamlessly fits into Arsenal's football.
07:26They created similar scenarios to get Gabriel Martinelli into shooting positions.
07:30But the difference is Vinicius Jr. is on another stratosphere to Gabriel Martinelli,
07:35so opposition teams would likely actually adapt their shape
07:39and change the way they are defending Arsenal at the current moment
07:42to try and prevent Vinny's damage.
07:45Instead of always doubling up or tripling up on Mikai Osaka,
07:48the opposition would have to drop even deeper
07:50and spread their backline wider to allow for Vinny to be trapped,
07:54allowing for bigger pockets to form in the centre
07:56and other players finding space to operate in.
07:59Which is the biggest takeaway?
08:01It's not just Vinny's goals or his speed or his chance creation
08:04that is going to help Arsenal.
08:06It's also the fear that he brings.
08:08And that fear will open games up for Arsenal.
08:12And luckily, when those games open up
08:14and Vinny Jr. has the intelligence to find space in the pocket,
08:18then be able to read the situation to latch onto a dropped ball
08:21and smash home into the bottom corner.
08:24In short, the Brazilian is a level of signing
08:27that I've not seen Arsenal sign in God knows how long.
08:31If Vinny Jr. is over the line,
08:32this will be one of the biggest signings in Premier League's recent history.
08:37And I think he really, really could come in
08:39and be the man who helps Mikel Arteta build a real dynasty,
08:43an era of dominance like we've seen from Man City under Pep Guardiola.
08:47It is still early doors for the development of this transfer.
08:50Real Madrid still looking to try and retain him.
08:53But if Arsenal do get it over the line,
08:56this will be monumental.
08:57And I will be so excited to see Vinny Jr.
08:59playing under Mikel Arteta in the Premier League.
09:01If you have enjoyed today's video
09:03and you think Vinny Jr. will do well
09:04or even will just sign for Arsenal,
09:06let us know in the comments down below
09:08and drop us a subscribe for more brilliant analysis
09:11back again next week.
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