Arsenal Tactics – Our most formidable formation?

Can Lining Up Under This New System Get More Consistency from Arsenal

There has been much discussion about Arsenal’s chances of securing their first Premier League trophy in a decade with the 3-0 football thrashing of Manchester United. However, Arsenal fan will be keen to see if this was one of those ‘one time’ specialities Arsenal have been able to pull up over the years. Previous victims of Arsenal ‘one time’s include Bayern Munich, Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund, and Manchester City. I call them ‘one time’ specialities because they never resulted in a run that picks up the trophy in question. Of course we have twice proved we can stay the course and win despite hard games with an FA Cup double in the last two seasons.

The debate remains: How can Arsenal secure the Houdini form and consistency that will declare us the victors in the most coveted tournaments? To suggest that we are very solid will be pushing it too much, as the likes of Olympiakos and Dynamo Zagreb found spaces in our shield, and explored them to the maximum. It even suggests that Arsenal are susceptible to weaker opposition in as so far this season we have lost to teams on the day you would think were the more weaker sides – including Chelsea.

Point to note, we are hosting Bayern Munich this Tuesday in a life and death Champions League clash but we were very sluggish with Watford away, though eventually we blew then away 3 to nil… but the goals took time to come and with Bayern such eventualities will possibly be punishable.

Which makes me ask the question? Does our playing pattern really deliver to us the most efficient, most advantageous utilization of our assets, the players? While I do not want to get into comparisons and I will expect the comments to deliver on that, I want to suggest that after a similar post, the comments suggested that we could have an even more formidable pattern of deployment.

That pattern is 5.4.1 pattern. This is what I would imagine would form our 5.4.1 deployment under the current playing unit.

————————–Walcott———————–
——————-Sanchez ——–Ozil—————–
Monreal—————————————–Bellerin
——————Cazorla——————————-
—————————Coquelin———————
———Gabriel, Mertesacker, Koscielny —————
————————Cech—————————-

First, Coverage of The Pitch – You have Monreal and Bellerin with the ticket to maraud down the wings right from defense to attack. Remember these are speedy players who have shown their capabilities to deliver the ball in areas of great threat to the opposition, and are good defenders. In this pattern they have the combination of their two best utilities, defend when needed and attack furiously. Sanchez and Ozil are our hard workers and are now forming a telepathic understanding with Walcott and within themselves. Walcott, under this pattern will now be with more encouragement to look for the crosses from the wingbacks as well as the infield players who are world class in Sanchez and Ozil. The ball will be sprayed in all directions, with speed so fast that Arsenal are so comfortable with, and the result is you should expect a goals from any corner of the pitch.

Positions Covered Adequately – The only position we will be short of is in the 3 Man central defensive positions but Calum Chambers sits on the bench to deputize for any of the three players in case of suspension and injury. In case it’s a crisis Isaac Hayden may get his recall from loan. But even then Debuchy and Gibbs can put in shifts like Sagna had once to do. On the wings, Debuchy and Gibbs will be the second team from both wings, and one knows they are capable of high level fights. In the centre for Cazorla and Coquelin, we have Ramsey, Ox, Arteta and Rosicky all with room to impress. For the two attacking midfield roles played by Sanchez and Ozil, we have Ramsey, Rosicky, Ox and Cazorla all who can play and shine. Forward, Giroud deputizes Walcott and Campbell is around to ensure any crisis can be dealt with.

Scoring – With the wings now operating more actively, it frees Sanchez to roam the field, around Ozil, and appear at any spot to take advantage. Ozil too can now be more mobile and Walcott can attack from any spot. The most important thing is the fluidity of the team will be brilliant and the pace will be fast and furious…just the way Arsenal like it. The transition from defending to attacking can be super lightening fast and people are in places where they can wreak havoc by taking over spaces in the pitch previously under-utilized. The goals will become more frequent I believe with this formation.

Clean sheets – With the possibility of 7 defenders and with our 3 best men all out on the pitch at one time (It will not be either Gabriel or Mertesacker to partner with Koscielny, rather these three will all be on the pitch) and with Bellerin and Monreal coming from the flanks to assist, with Coquelin and Cazorla all appearing when needed, Arsenal will have the capacity to assemble a bus when necessary – and the bus breaks up into an attacking formation within a flash. A side like Bayern would find it hard to get into spaces without risking their own defensive breaches.

Team Spirit – With players like Ozil and Sanchez in positions that they can influence both wings of play, the team spirit in the side will spread across the pitch much easier. On a bad day, when things are not really working out, the fact that the leaders on the pitch – Mertesacker, Cazorla, Ozil, Sanchez and Walcott – can spread the spirit more liberally is enough to carry the day. And that’s the mark of champions.

Is the 5.4.1 our magic bullet to ensure Arsenal have a more consistent set of games playing out?

Nicholas Oyoo