2011/12: Arsenal Season Review
At 34 minutes, it seemed like the balance of power had indubitably shifted towards the white of North London. 34 minutes later, it appeared as if it had never moved. That’s how quickly Arsenal’s season had changed because if they had lost to Tottenham Hotspur – and they were already trailing 2-0 – they would have been an unassailable 13 points behind. But somehow, and dumped out of two cup competitions beforehand, they summoned extraordinary resources to not only comeback and win 5-2, but to claw back the deficit in the league table.
It many ways it was the defining match of the season – certainly, it was the Emirates Stadium’s most “signature moment” since it opened in 2006 – because it displayed the best and worst of Arsenal – their frailties and their strengths – in 90 exhilarating minutes. To be fair, there have been a lot of those matches which is why this has been such a frustrating season. Yet, for all of Arsenal’s supposed deficiencies, they find themselves in a better position than last season. Looking forward to next season and there’s a different sense of optimism and that might be down to the “panic-buys” that Arsène Wenger made last summer. Because with it, it imbued a mental strength that was once lacking and if Arsenal can make the necessary technical additions, they can challenge for trophies next campaign.
And that might be the biggest regret for Wenger because his team haven’t been able to exert their style on opponents as they have in the past. Wenger begrudgingly admits that that the team is a “little bit less good than last year with possession of the ball” and while talk of “philosophy” implicitly imbues it with a kind of moral superiority that tends to irritate, but in the case of Arsenal and Wenger, it’s everything. He ended the season with Tomáš Rosický orchestrating Arsenal attacks and tellingly, he opted for the fleet-footed artisan he borrowed from Chelsea, Yossi Benayoun, on the left, putting an end to the mercurial three-striker tactic that he led with.
As per usual, it’s not just in attack where Arsenal have been unable to find the right balance because for the fourth season running, the defence has increased the number of goals it has conceded. But in this case, it’s not easy to recommend solutions because Arsenal are just inherently too complicated. Their rapid and intense brand of football is resource-heavy thus creating undue strain at the back. Wojciech Szczęsny has been criticised in the recent run for his save percentage, 64% (the fourth lowest in the Premier League – average 69%), but it’s down to the quality of chances Arsenal allow teams (more space, less men back, counter-attacks) thus the probability of scoring is higher. It’s evident, then, that Arsenal could improve on their organisation at the back although it’s not just a matter of the back four; the whole team is culpable. The two goals Arsenal conceded on the last day to West Bromwich Albion displayed the route of their problems as failure to press up the pitch allowed their opponents to play it from the back early and exploited spaces behind. The back-four attempted to push up and squeeze the space but the lack of pressing ultimately undid Arsenal. Put simply, you cannot play a high defensive line without closing down because it invites the opposition to make passes through the backline.
This season has seen Wenger increasingly delegate defensive responsibilities to Pat Rice. Earlier this campaign that was a necessity as Arsenal essentially required new recruits such as Per Mertesacker and Andre Santos to adjust quickly but one wonders whether the compartmentalisation had some effect on the cohesion of the team. Certainly, by separating the defenders and the attackers in training meant less time to practice moving up and down the pitch together but that would surely be picking at bones. Arsenal did it in their Champions League run of 2005/06 when Martin Keown was given hands-on access to improve the defence. Put simply, the strategy of relaxed pressing from the front has been all wrong. Last season, Jack Wilshere and Alex Song where able to set platform for Arsenal to press together and they were backed up by the Dutch system of “through-marking” to retain a shape. This season, there has been less structure although they began to get it right when they went on a good run towards the end of the season and especially in the 1-0 win over Manchester City where each midfielder was designated a man.
However, there are plenty of positives to take from the season too although you can’t help but not avoid the caveats. Robin van Persie has delivered on a virtuoso season, scoring 37 goals in 48 appearances although the next highest scorer behind him was Theo Walcott with 11. The winger himself has had a better season than given credit for and van Persie has taken it on himself to acknowledge that impact by the measure of his assists. Alex Song too, who has come to the fore creatively, especially when Arsenal were deprived of any first-choice full-backs and everything had to come through the middle. Backed up he has been by the astute Mikel Arteta who has in a sense, liberated him. In defence, Laurent Koscielny established himself as one the Premier League’s finest centre-backs despite the chaos that often surrounds him while Rosický has finally found the form he seemed to have lost five years ago.
With Arsenal, the same caveats always apply but in this season, they have become masters of the unexpected. And as such, there is always cause for optimism for 2012/13. “My target is to get back to that level (The Invincibles side of 2003/04),” says Arsène Wenger. “I feel we are not far from coming back to fight for the championship, and let’s hope we can show that next season.”
Filed under: Arsenal
Hi
I was eagerly waiting for your expected post about the season review, and I have not read it yet. As a matter of fact, a question is stirring my mind since the transfer of Lukas Podolski that, whether Chamakh can be used as his striking partner with RvP dropping to a more Berkampesque role behind the striker? Like a simple 4-4-2 Or RvP and Podolski flanking Chamakh in a 4-3-3. And what could be the possible future of Chamakh if Wenger retains 4-2-3-1 extensively and in that formation who’ll be our main striker, RvP or Podolski?
Is it better to use RvP in current position than using him in a hypothetically more useful position behind the striker?
Or what if Diaby comes back to his best. Will Wenger Play him as an AM?
I feel very excited about the possibilities and formations with this line up and provide me some food for thought.
I enjoyed your posts throughout the season and thank you very much for your insights.
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Arsenal Column Reply:
May 16th, 2012 at 11:24 am
Hi Sreenath,
I think a 4-4-2 of some sort will be out of the question from the start of matches but I can see it being used more during games. And the question might be who plays the number 10 role if we do use two strikers? Because the way van Persie has refined his game, you’d want him higher up the pitch while Lukas Podolski has tended to float around the pitch for Koln.
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Sreenath Reply:
May 17th, 2012 at 4:43 pm
@Arsenal Column,
Thank You for giving that perspective of Podilski in floating role in koln. And Podolski being very lethal even on outside the box his positioning there can create a lot of confusion in the opposition, I suppose.
Thanks for the reply.
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Rohit Reply:
June 3rd, 2012 at 6:09 pm
@Arsenal Column,
While a lot of equations as to how we play the next season depends on the next 2 months, I think like you mentioned the way Arsenal played in the latter part of the season will be their way to play next season too. With a wide midfielder able to hold on to the ball and a classic pacy player on the other side adds variety and another dimension to the attack. I’d love to see Arsenal buy a player to do the ‘Rosicky’ role consistently through the season. Always been an admirer of Kagawa, I thought he could fit the role perfectly, but alas.
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Its also quietly been a good season for Gibbs, he has gotten a good run of games and hopefully kick on next season.
I would suggest Arsenal need to:
-Replace Djourou, he has been poor when asked to play and they need a better depth at CB.
-Get cover for Song, as without him Arsenal don’t have anyone to provide any steel in midfield.
-Establish Ramsey’s position, as he needs a consistent place in the team to really improve.
-Bring in a quality attacking midfielder.
- And get good cover for van persie/ replace him if needed.
Read my blog if you get the chance http://economicinterest.wordpress.com/
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Great review. I’m pleased that you focused on the key area that has troubled Arsenal, not just this season, but for the past half-decade. Defence. The balance this season has once again been wrong. We have too many midfield players who are not disciplined enough, to work hard enough without ball. In previous years you could argue that this was offset by their ability with the ball, but far too often this year, Arsenal have been average with the ball, below average without it.
I sincerely hope that next season Wenger/Bould/Primorac concentrate solely on getting the whole team to work harder without the ball, in every match.
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Arsenal Column Reply:
May 16th, 2012 at 11:29 am
@D,
Here’s something on Bould’s “philosophy” if anyone’s missed it:
“I believe that for every sport every seven or so years they become almost revolutionised in that they become, faster, more powerful, more technical than before and football is even more different. In our game, we also have the rule changes. I could not tell you what the offside rule is now,” he grins.
“You could not step up with your arm out and scream offside like we used to. That is not an area you can really coach any more. Also, you cannot get away with going to ground or any real aggressive tackling the way we used to nowadays. So, while there are some principles that persist, passing on what I used to do as a player has to be adapted to the modern game.”
One of those principles is the value of closing down opponents and pressing with great energy. “Over Christmas,” reports Steve, “I looked at the way that our Under-18s were playing and I felt that we were fine when we had the ball, but poor when we didn’t have it. We used to sit back and let opposing teams play. Since we came back in January we have had a bigger emphasis on winning the ball back and closing opponents down quickly and that has improved us immensely, even with the ball….”
Link: http://www.arsenal.com/usa/sh/news/reserves-news/-i-feel-i-have-the-best-job-in-the-world-
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as we lack in the considerable amount of pressing .. dont u think the combination of mertesacker with either kos or vermalean is a better option.. as both the latter tend to press high forgetting sweeping.. as song has this new liberated tendency to move forward..we seriously lack player to win second ball and continue the flow.. we are letting in cheap goals… why we dont ve a proactive set up as our goals conceded are very very similar.. our players adaptive enough ???
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Arsenal Column Reply:
May 16th, 2012 at 11:36 am
@ariv,
As the season progressed, it was evident how important Per Mertesacker had become. His calmness and readiness to see the situation helped Koscielny immensely. He’s still been very good but Vermaelen’s riskiness has exposed him somewhat although Koscielny has tried to balance that out by being a bit more disciplined.
And that’s the other issue – getting the ball back quickly is a key part to our game. However, there’s the thinking that Vermaelen’s been a bit too zealous and especially if the team is not pressing, one cannot push up like he did v Norwich, WBA and QPR and not be exposed.
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Tee Song Reply:
May 16th, 2012 at 2:48 pm
@Arsenal Column, I agree that TV5 needs to curb his aggression a little bit. I’m not sure that he’ll ever be the most positionally sound defender, however, and his aggressive, heart on sleeve defending is part of his nature and why he can be very effective at winning the ball back. I suspect whether or not he learns to temper his natural instincts with better reading of the game, both in terms of the situation at hand and the overall scoreline (do we really need to push up when we’re up a goal with 5 minutes left?), will determine just how good a defender he can be.
On the other hand, especially this season (but it’s been an issue for a handful of seasons now), there’s been poor organization between the midfield and the defenders. Defenders push up when the midfielders are falling back and vice versa, midfielders pressing (often ineffectually) while the defenders stay back. Or midfielders simply not sensing when they need to run back and help out on the counter. Personally, I feel that TV5 has been unfairly singled out when midfielders have not rotated and covered his forward runs or have left him exposed to simple balls played behind him because they didn’t close down an opposition player, allowing a player time and space to pick out a pass.
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ariv Reply:
May 17th, 2012 at 9:35 am
thanks fr the reply..hope we improve the defensive part next season…as a team.
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I think one issue that needs to be resolved quickly is our identity. This season saw Arsenal take a new approach which involved more relaxed pressing and a 3-striker system which was different to the setup deployed in seasons past.
I can imagine how such a transition could be difficult for the players to have adjust to. It also did not help that injuries prevented us from playing the way we wanted at various points throughout the season.
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[...] Arsenal Column points out here our attacking play requires a high defensive line. A high defensive line should begat a midfield [...]
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So I would like to ask,after all these obvious faults defensively as a team,do we have the set of players to turn all these aroun? Is Bould the right man to “fix” the team defensively? If we end up buying .M’Villa how would his presence help out? My thots…
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