Beautiful Football of the Arsenal

[TOROROJO]

Where can I find any information about the tactics displayed by Arsenal? Videos...books...anything. I admire Arsene Wenger and his style of football and have searched the web with no success. I know there are many other eye-catching styles, but I really want to find something about Arsene's tactics in particular. Thanks for any help.

[Twenty26Six]

I have a few things. ;)

First, this is a mock write-up of what an Arsenal training session might look like. It was written down by someone from around these parts and has been passed on numerous times.

This is a practice session done by Arsenal in the EPL posted by Coach Kev who works for Arsenal.

The team normally does not meet until the second day after the match. Practice sessions always start at 11:00 am. A relaxed practice atmosphere is very important to the manager, which is why he requires his players to arrive at the training camp one hour early, so they can mentally prepare themselves for the 90-minute session ahead, at leisure and without stress. Two days before a match, practice lasts only 60 minutes and typically focuses on set plays and short-term exertions (like sprints and shooting) that require lots of takeoff power.

Team-building
During practice, the manager demonstrates the same excitement and engagement he requires of his players. The mood is positive and light, even though all the players are intensely focused. Since practice sessions are frequently closed to the public (including journalists), everyone involved can play "naturally." When asked about the potential difficulty of working with so many so-called "stars," the manager replied: "It isn't difficult at all! Without cameras, journalists, every player can be natural, and no one has to put on an act. So everyone interacts normally. Problems only arise when the media is constantly present.". The club holds only one press conference per week (every Friday). The team gathers together for lunch and the break (massage, etc.) that follows. Afterwards, players are allowed to leave the training camp. Altogether, they spend four to five hours "on campus" every day.

Practice schedule and exercises
Every practice session is informed and shaped by observations from the previous match. However, we can sketch an outline of a typical session: Warm-up takes place indoors and consists of cycling, soccer tennis and strength exercises. Strength training exercises are determined at the beginning of each warm-up and led by a fitness coach. To help determine the direction of individual fitness training, endurance and speed tests take place throughout the season as necessary.

The main session starts with small games focusing on attack tactics: short pass combinations, moving up from the backfield, and 1 v. 1 situations on the goal. Alternatively, this part of the session may also focus on technique, coordination or speed.

Players then move on to practice positional play and finishing, as well as individual and group tactics such as the back four, defensive play for midfielders and attackers, offsides situations and defending in 1 v. 1 situations. The session concludes with endurance training: primarily practice games, occasionally running without the ball. According to the manager's training concept, these methods are essential for successful tactical play (compact defence, forward passes, short pass combinations).
For exercises focusing on attacking play, the manager uses fields designed according to his specifications. This allows players to approximate the tactics they expect to use in the next match and the required techniques more closely. Since a smaller field speeds up the game, players are forced to deal with intense time and opposition pressure.

Training with practice games
While the manager delegates plenty of work to his two assistant coaches, he still takes on the majority of the responsibility for training himself. He discusses the schedule with his assistants before each practice session. This structured planning and the division of labour it requires makes a difference that shows.
Whether it is a complex tactics exercise or a simple speed exercise without the ball, the manager pays close attention, analyses results and makes corrections as needed. In this way he shares with players his optimism and confidence that the same mistake will not happen again on the next try. Though the pace is intense and concentration is essential, players are still supposed to have fun at practice. The manager yells out encouragement and gives each player clear commands and instructions during the exercises.
Typical games and exercises to teach individual, group and team tactical play are introduced during the practice sessions. Coordination and technique exercises also show up on a regular basis.
Players practice the flat four with 4 v. 4 or 5 v. 5 games on one goal.
Note: Sometimes the players themselves request this exercise at the end of a week, to help solidify their defence tactics.
8 v. 8 exercises on one goal focus on cooperation between the back four and the midfield.
9 v. 0 positional games on one goal (without opponents) help players reinforce and solidify passing and running patterns.
8 v. 8 exercises on two goals (in a half or two-thirds of a field, always extending across the entire width of the field) let players practice moving the attack forward.
Coordination training and technique combined with speed round out the program. "

[Twenty26Six]

This is something that Arsene Wenger "allegedly" handed out to his team. I don't remember where I got this from or if it is official.

Confidential
Team meeting 19th September 2008-09-23

The team:

A team is as strong as the relationships within it.

The driving force of a team is its member's (sic) ability to create and maintain excellent relationships within the team that can add an extra dimension and robustness to the team dynamic.

This attitude can be used by our team to focus on the gratitude and the vitally important benefits that the team brings to our own lives. It can be used to strengthen and deepen the relationships with it and maximise the opportunities that await a strong and united team.

Our team becomes stronger by:

Displaying a positive attitude on and off the pitch

Everyone making the right decisions for the team

Have an unshakeable belief that we can achieve our target

Believe in the strength of the team

Always want more – always give more

Focus on our communication

Be demanding with yourself

Be fresh and prepared to win

Focus on being mentally stronger and always keep going until the end

When we play away from home, believe in our identity and play the football we love to play at home

Stick together

Stay grounded and humble as a player and as a person

Show the desire to win in all that you do

Enjoy and contribute to all that is special about being in a team – don't take it for granted

[Twenty26Six]

Then, you could go to youtube and search "Nike Deadly Five" for stuff like this...

YouTube - Deadly Five Control

[TOROROJO]

Thank you very much. Your posts have been very helpful.

[omonija]

hey, Does anyone have any insight as a coach into any reasons why arsenal could have so much trouble with injuries? is it diet, training methods or something else? what can you coaches say to this?

[ranova]

I don't agree with your premise that Arsenal has an unusual amount of injuries, and there is no way to attribute injuries to any specific cause from 5,000 miles away. As for generalities: Lots of games=injuries. Its to be expected. The last article I could find (April) mentioned three newly injured players from international competitions playing for their countries. Clubs at the top are going to be playing in league, FA cup, and European compititions. The clubs will also have a higher proportion of internationals playing for them. So those players are even busier than the club. Then you get players who miss mandatory international dates due to "injuries." To discuss this topic may be interesting, but its just speculation.

[Twenty26Six]

hey, Does anyone have any insight as a coach into any reasons why arsenal could have so much trouble with injuries? is it diet, training methods or something else? what can you coaches say to this?

Wenger actually _improved_ Arsenal's training program in 1996. But, I don't believe he is overly scientific about it. The biggest change Wenger made to Arsenal's non-soccer related training practices was the diet. They eat a lot of fish, rice, and pasta - with much less meats, breads, etc.

Maybe, it's the tilapia!?

[striker2019]

There's also the idea that if players are improperly trained during their youth that it could set them up for injury plagued careers. I remember reading an article where a Spurs coach mentioned that was Ledley King's issue. Supposedly training with improper work:rest ratios and overtraining can lead to problems down the line...but that level of physiology is beyond me and surely the majority of non professional youth coaches. Possibly that could be the case with someone like Rosicky, although without really looking into his earlier career it seems like this has just been a bad spell of consecutive injuries.

[igli]

first you need good technical players.
once you have that use drills that makes them keep posession while passing to each other. condition them to play 1 touch passes and move. do not let them hold the ball at all otherwise the pace in the actual games will slow down and thats not what youre looking for. this will make your players pass with speed much like the arsenal style. attack should outnumber defense, 5v3 keep-away should do the trick.

formation is up to you. however try postioning your players as close as you can and form triangles.

if you want to get advanced a few shadow plays on bringing the ball up while creating triangles should do the trick. however remember that these should be done at maximum speed in practice so in the games the pace will be satisfactory.

[erictheking]

first you need good technical players.

I disagree with that. Arsenal are known to scout players with specific athletic abilities before teaching them the technical skills.

[ranova]

I disagree with that. Arsenal are known to scout players with specific athletic abilities before teaching them the technical skills.

I think you misunderstood his point. He did not say Arsenal had to start with technically skilled players. In the long view they have the time and resources to train professional players. I think that he was addressing the OP's situation, who is trying to teach his team to use the system in the immediate season. In other words the OP probably has a short view. He needs to evaluate his players' technical skills and, if not suitable, work on improving their skills or replace the players (which may not be an alternative for him). For a system he can use something more ordinary, but close enough that a future transistion to the Arsenal system will be easier. Either a 433 or 442 would be close depending on how you organize it. (Two CF and a striker for the 433 or an inverted T midfield for the 442 would work. CAMs, CFs, and strikers are pretty common roles so the portability of the experience to any new system will be good.)

[Twenty26Six]

I disagree with that. Arsenal are known to scout players with specific athletic abilities before teaching them the technical skills.

Not true. Wengers likes three things physical speed, speed of play, and technique. He doesn't always get a player with all three. But, he looks for these three things above anything else. Most of the time, he gets a player with the required technical skill.

[KevTheGooner]

Notice...someone who get's "stuck in" is very much not on that list! :o;)

[JML11]

.....Most of the time, he gets a player with the required technical skill.

Respectfully, you have misanalyzed Mr. Wenger's recruiting strategy, and in so doing ignored some of the phenomenal work he has done at Arsenal. First and foremost Mr. Wenger looks for players that are gifted athletes. Then he not only works to greatly develop a players technical abilities; he also works to greatly develop a player’s tactical knowledge/ability or in other words teaches "The Arsenal Way". I emphasize the development of a player’s tactical ability, which manifests in the form of a players positioning, decision making, ect., because it is an integral component of a players performance, thus overall ability, and far too often ignored here in America.

The most recent, and perhaps the best example, is Emmanual Adebayor. Adebayor came to Arsenal from Monaco when he was 22 years old. During his first season with Arsenal his ball control, both in terms of first touch and dribbling, left much to be desired. It wasn't until his tactical knowledge as well as the immediately aforementioned technical abilities were greatly improved did he score 24 premier league goals in a single season and establish himself as one of the world's top strikers.

Henry had a similar situation. While he was successful before arriving at Arsenal, in his first two seasons with the club he scored 17 premier league goals per season. After two years at Arsenal he improved his yearly scoring tally in the premier league by a minimum of 7 more goals and a maximum of 13 more goals, in his next five seasons with the club. In his last season he only scored 10 premier league goals, however he was injured for most of it. It would be hard to argue that the increase in Henrys' performance is uncorrelated to the increase in his technical abilities and gain of tactical knowledge.

Other examples include, Alexander Song, Emmanual Eboue, Kolo Toure, Abou Diaby, Bacary Sagna, and Gael Clichy. Other works in progress include Theo Walcott, Carlos Vela and Samir Nasri.

Only Tomaz Rosicky, Andrei Arshavin, and Eduardo can really be said to have had all the tools before coming to Arsenal.

The likes of Cesc Fabregas and Robin Van Persie have improved greatly during their time at Arsenal and this includes their technical abilities.

[Twenty26Six]

Not true. Wengers likes three things physical speed, speed of play, and technique. He doesn't always get a player with all three. But, he looks for these three things above anything else. Most of the time, he gets a player with the required technical skill.

[COLOR=black][FONT=Verdana]Respectfully, you have misanalyzed Mr. Wenger's recruiting strategy, and in so doing ignored some of the phenomenal work he has done at Arsenal. First and foremost Mr. Wenger looks for players that are gifted athletes.

In UEFA Technician magazine #24 (from November 2004), Wenger was asked: "You have a great 'eye' for a player - what do you like to see in a young player?"

Arsene Wenger replied: "Our game at Arsenal is based on technique and movement - that means I look at the pace of the player and his technical level ... we want our game to be very mobile and very fast, therefore we need a good technique and to be able to move quickly. Of course, you want power and physical presence, but the priorities for me are pace and technique."


You can download the full magazine and article online at UEFA's website.

[JML11]

In UEFA Technician magazine #24 (from November 2004), Wenger was asked: "You have a great 'eye' for a player - what do you like to see in a young player?"

Arsene Wenger replied: "Our game at Arsenal is based on technique and movement - that means I look at the pace of the player and his technical level ... we want our game to be very mobile and very fast, therefore we need a good technique and to be able to move quickly. Of course, you want power and physical presence, but the priorities for me are pace and technique."


You can download the full magazine and article online at UEFA's website.

Thats all well and good except that his actions run in contradiction to his words.

[Twenty26Six]

Thats all well and good except that his actions run in contradiction to his words.

Sure they do.

[JML11]

Sure they do.

Your original point was that Wenger gets players who already have the requisite technical abilities. What players, other than those employed as central defenders and goalies, aside from Arshavin and Eduardo, has this been true for?

To your quote from UEFA magazine, just because Wenger looks at technical abilities doesn't mean that the players he recruits already have the requisite technical abilities. As asked in the immediately aforementioned paragraph, if you diasagree, please name such players.

[Twenty26Six]

Your original point was that Wenger gets players who already have the requisite technical abilities. What players, other than those employed as central defenders and goalies, aside from Arshavin and Eduardo, has this been true for?

To your quote from UEFA magazine, just because Wenger looks at technical abilities doesn't mean that the players he recruits already have the requisite technical abilities. As asked in the immediately aforementioned paragraph, if you diasagree, please name such players.

Wilshere, van Persie, Vieira, Fabregas, Flamini, Pires, Hleb, Rosicky, Sagna, Denilson, Gallas, Vela, Kolo Toure (MF moved to CB), Eboue (MF moved to FB), Lauren (MF moved to FB), Diaby... all of these players had/have more technique than similar players on other EPL teams in their positions.

The fact that Wenger improves technique means that he's a good coach. It does not mean they didn't have the requisite technique for coming to Arsenal in the first place. "Requisite" technique is a starting point. Meaning that technical ability is a "necessity" to play at the club.