I love Arsenal's new defensive style

Arsenal have been very un-Arsenal-like recently. Ever since Martin Ødegaard went down with an ankle injury, manager Mikel Arteta seems to have come to the conclusion that his team has a better chance to win games if they sit a bit deeper in a solid defensive structure, rather than trying to dominate the game with high pressing and a high volume of possession in the opposition half.

The lack of a viable Ødegaard replacement that allows for tactical continuity in his absence is a squad building issue that Arteta’s bosses probably deserve a bit of criticism for, but I think his reaction to the situation deserves quite a bit of praise. For Arsenal — a club that has an ambitious possession-based attacking style coded into its DNA — to be able to make this kind of adjustment is extremely impressive.

Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League victory over Paris Saint-Germain was a defensive masterclass that 2006 Jose Mourinho would have been proud of. The Gunners capitalized on their early chances, then proceeded to set up in a low block that was impossible to break down.

It was incredible how little PSG created despite having 65% possession and 305 completed passes in the Arsenal half. There was a bit of a scary flurry of activity between the 63rd and 68th minutes, but the Gunners hardly gave PSG a look at goal.

The visitors’ best chance was only 0.1 xG, and didn’t come until stoppage time. Until the 85th minute, PSG were held to 0.23 xG.

Arsenal also impressively did this without properly “parking the bus;” their forwards made good counter-attacking runs when the ball was won, and Arsenal created 3 solid chances in the 2nd half. They’re really good at reacting to opposition mistakes on the ball, with forwards making the right runs and deeper players finding the out ball, so they’re never under really sustained pressure.

I was also impressed how Arsenal changed the way they played between the 1st and 2nd halves within a 4-4-2 system that had similar tactical principles in both halves, they just started taking fewer risks in the press and going forward.

PSG’s pass maps look way different between the two halves. Arsenal started the game pressing very aggressively, especially off restarts from the goalkeeper, and barely let PSG get out of their own half. After they had a two goal lead, Arsenal backed off a lot, and gave PSG no space to play in front of the penalty area. Their midfielders got on the ball a ton, but not in areas that mattered.

As Scott Willis from Cannon Stats pointed out on Twitter, PSG just passed around the areas that really matter for creating chances, and managed a very low volume of deep completions. As a team, PSG was -0.18 in StatsBomb’s Pass OBV metric.

I thought Declan Rice was the best player on the pitch for either team, and the biggest reason why this strategy was so effective for Arsenal. His 7 tackles + interceptions led his team, and his 80% ground duels won is great, but that’s not really why he was so great. Rice’s decision-making about when to step to the ball, hold his position, or drop deep is outstanding. His excellent body positioning allows him to always react to danger with fewer steps.

Rice prevented PSG from ever getting touches in front of the penalty area, and he did it without on-ball actions. You’ll often hear pundits who are ex-defenders and coaches tell you that stats can’t describe the quality of defensive work, and I think they’re mostly right, at least when it comes to current publicly available data. In this game, Rice had the kind of performance we don’t yet have analytics to describe the quality of.

But despite all the good things happening above, some Arsenal fans are a bit weary about the team’s direction since Ødegaard’s injury. I am not an Arsenal supporter myself, but I understand. It’s jarring to see this from Arsenal because of their history under Arsene Wenger and how much of the club’s identity is tied to possession football. They are the innovators of that style of play in England.

I think those who say Arsenal is unlikely to win the Champions League or Premier League playing a more defensive style of football that puts minimal emphasis on keeping the ball are correct. There are plenty of good teams who play this way, but the absolute best teams do not, and Arsenal aspire to be the best.

The good news is that Arsenal are unlikely to play like this every game, forever. This is simply an extra club in the bag, and it’s good to know how to use it. Perhaps you can get away with playing your preferred style and that style only if you are the unquestioned best team in the world, with the absolute best players, but Arsenal are not quite that at the moment. Certainly not while Ødegaard is in the physio room.

I really enjoyed this Arteta presser ahead of the Leicester match, after Arsenal grinded out a 2-2 draw with Manchester City by playing extremely defensively following a red card. He uses an excellent metaphor to describe why teams sometimes have to adapt to a different style of play than the one they prefer.

As a fan of a club, I would much rather hear my manager say this — and do what Arteta has been doing — than stubbornly stick to their system and say “this is our style of football and we won’t abandon it” when they get criticized for losing. I genuinely hate when managers of senior professional football teams say shit like that. If you don’t want to problem solve and just want to coach your system, go coach the U18s.

If Ødegaard returns to the lineup and Arsenal are still playing 4-4-2 low block, grinding out clean sheets in boring games and sitting 3rd in the Premier League, you can start complaining. I admit that would be quite annoying. But for now, what Arteta is doing with Arsenal is extremely smart and effective, and their fans should be thrilled to have such a versatile manager leading their team. —KM

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