Citeh is a monster and teams need to be damn-near perfect to beat them over a long season. We ain't perfect. I'm turning the page - on to Munich.
Yeah, that was clearly the tactic, but two problems. First, as you pointed out, there wasn't a second runner for Havertz to pass to so he had to try to do everything. And second, from the left Havertz was going up against Villa's quicker defender. I'm guessing Villa's problems from deep runners has been on their left side, where Pau Torres is not all that quick and they play him more for his passing and build-up play.
Discussion on the Arsecast about that's why they lost. If you aren't going up against the monster that is City, a 0-0 is a good result. But the pressure to get the win led to opening up at the back and taking the loss.
Me too. IIRC, at least twice Kai went down the left channel and then squared or cut back across the goal mouth... and there wasn't a single teammate anywhere near. Those were great servicing passes... to no avail.
i didn't get to watch the game and just watched the highlights, but zinchenko didn't seem to be at fault for the goals (he did have some poor defending in other chances) and Gabriel showed up serving near assists a couple times, but they seem to be the scapegoats?
That's how he was put in in the first half two times. As far as Havertz not having runners, that's cool but what about him finishing the chances himself? or is that not in his job description? The reality is him and Jesus are the same player. Not strikers, more facilitators who chip in with goals as a bonus for their role in buildup, or off the ball work.
Jesus clearly is not the same player @Rewinder he looks slow and is never fit the team lacks additional midfield creation and effective wide players Saka is injured and trossard never plays well as a starter. Martinelli has sucked this year too zinchenko is a disaster, I would try him as a left 8 to see what happens but I hate him at lb now
Don't like the quote from him from a week or so either. Said something to the effect of him never remembers playing without pain. Love him off the bench and as a change of pace/style guy for both CF & W. But with his finishing issues, I think his role needs to change or he needs to go Saka issues could be avoided with better depth. Hoping we get a legit W option this summer and/or start using Jesus there so Saka can rest every once in awhile. Agree on Trossard. Love what he brings but seems to never bring it when he starts. Assuming he doesn't move on, his role going forward should be bench sparkplug and FA cup starter. 100% agree. Should never see LB again except in very obvious tactical situations where his lack of defense won't kill us. Think he would be very good in the left 8 role or maybe in a double pivot with Rice (kind of how we have been playing Jorge).
It was because Havertz was breaking the Villa line with his deep runs. It worked, tbf the issue is Havertz isn’t a good finisher.
Kai drops deep and makes runs from deep even when he is the striker, so he could have made deep runs from the striker position against AV.
I feel really bad for Martinelli the player this season. He has received no support from this system. None from the left 8. None from the fullback. And none from striker. I don’t think fans understand how hard this system has been on Martinelli and how it’s blunted him. We get nothing from that side of the pitch because he is asked to do everything by himself. That’s a failing on Arteta. The only time he has played well is with Jorginho. Neither Pep or Arteta try him there. That should tell you something. He isn’t a 90 minute player and we can hide his defensive failings as well centrally.
It’s different when you are the CM doing it tho. It disorients the defense. It just didn’t pay off but the tactic work.
Forgot to add..... I think Marti's form this year has a ton to do with the difference between Xhaka & Havertz at L8. While he didn't rebound in the stats yet, his overall play has looked better with Rice/Jorge at L8.
martinelli doesn’t help himself though when 1 on 1 this year he seems to go byline more into dead ends we definitely need a better left 8 though
Yes - that video is super interesting. Basically the OZ / Havertz gambit worked, and on another day Arsenal win. This is what Arteta fixed compared to the last game vs Villa. IMO the problem is that once again, outside of that, Arsenal simply struggle to play through Villa block As the video shows, MO got taken out of the game in the second half and Arse had no answer to that.
Probably Arsenal are just not that much stronger than Villa head to head Long run we are 8 points better, and have more resources, but they are very well managed.
He doesn’t have the space with Kai Last year an inform Jesus, or Trossard, was pulling out wide. Even in 2024, Martinelli was cooking with Trossard at CF.
Scoreboard journalism, methinks. We outplayed them comprehensively in the first half twice this season and, with a little luck would have been a couple of goals up.
Sure - but it's fine margins. In the second half they outplayed us. I agree the game state tends to drive outcomes. Another day you get a goal up and win. But we didn't lose only due to bad luck - they shut Arsenal down tactically in the second half which isn't great.
There was nothing tactical about it. Our legs have gone. We have looked dead in our feet from the kickoff of the second half for three games in a row.
You should watch the 4-4-2 video, partly because Adam Clery is really entertaining and really good at making tactical concepts (pressing triggers, cover shadows) really easy to understand. Villa sat deeper and narrower in the second half and basically took Odegaard out of the game by doing so. It worked because they had a viable outball in Zaniolo. The solution is to have a viable attack down the left, but we haven't been able to do that all season.
When the entire team drops off at the same time, it is not a tactical problem. Our legs had gone in the second half against Bayern, and the Villa second half was just one of three games in a row where we were running on fumes in the second half. If the players take their chances against Villa, the game is over at halftime, and no one says shit about Villa's midblock.