The evolution of Artetas Arsenal: Title challengers? Not yet, but theyre a team on the rise – The Athletic

If there was ever a word to describe Mikel Artetas tactical philosophy at Arsenal, it would be control.

Even in rising from the bottom of the Premier League to fighting for a top-four spot, there was a clear desire for Arsenal to be able to ensure complete control in every phase of play, both in and out of possession.

Arsenals evolution on the pitch came in phases. Arteta first began by establishing an ability to control games out of possession whether that was a man-to-man high press or a defensive mid-block, Arsenal were able to develop a defensive structure that made them difficult to break down, in spite of their lack of technical players in the squad.

For Arteta, the methodology was clear it was about creating a structure that did not commit too many players forward and left Arsenals back line exposed, and he achieved that well from the off.

But where Arsenal began establishing their dominance and may be able to claim a stake at a title race soon is how they developed their ability to control games in possession. They had a basic formula of remaining patient, being low-risk in their approach, and being able to regain shape quickly when conceding possession.

Arsenal have shape-shifted their formations (and consequently their possession structure) multiple times throughout Artetas reign, but that basic formula remained the same, despite sticky results.

Even the first draft of Artetas Arsenal was a good counter-pressing side, able to push forward with an aggressive first line of pressure and ensure it was easy to return to a high-positioned block. That consistently made them a difficult team to catch out of shape but it never gave them enough of the attacking threat they needed.

Fast-forward to 2021-22 and Arsenal saw themselves reach a peak in the quality of chances they were creating, reaching heights of ~2.1 non-penalty expected goals (xG) created per 90 minutes and conceding only ~0.7 non-penalty xG per game. The upward tick in their underlying numbers in possession coincided with Arsenals longest unbeaten streak under Arteta.

This trend began to have a tangible impact in mid-December 2021 when Arsenal finally moved into positive goal difference territory. Six of Aaron Ramsdales 11 clean sheets came before this point but would have been in vain if improvements were not made in attack. And improve they did.

A ball-playing goalkeeper

What turned Arsenal from a relatively adequate side to a good one was how they began to control the ball and, of course, that was achieved by signing the correct players with the technical quality to do so.

This began with goalkeeper Ramsdale, who they signed from Sheffield United in August 2021.

The graphic below illustrates the most frequent type of passes Arsenal make from sequences beginning in their own third. It shows us how they typically move the ball when making the first pass.

And, as you can see, the majority of that distribution begins with goalkeeper Ramsdale.

The 24-year-old can launch deliveries deep into opposition territory and find forwards in space, or thread low passes through opposition lines into the feet of his midfielder, and especially play the short passes to his centre-halves.

Hes a midfielder between the sticks and his distribution has elevated Arsenals ability to build out from the back allowing Arsenal to transition from defence to attack almost twice as quickly and often.

Arsenals tactical evolution

One of Arsenals previous biggest issues on the ball was a lack of creativity.

They were too predictable, funnelling through Granit Xhaka to Kieran Tierney so often. As you can see below, the larger proportion of their chance creation came from the left-hand side in the 2020-21 season. Tierney was their main creative threat and outside of his crossing repertoire, they were not able to do much.

We can take a closer look at how Arsenals structure in possession has developed over the seasons using passing networks.

Passing networks display each players average location on the pitch and the passes between them are the connections. The more players combine while passing, the higher their connection and the thicker the line. The size of each players nodes (shown as circles) indicates how involved they are in possession: the bigger the node, the higher the involvement.

Instead of focusing on each individual action on the ball, we can observe how Arsenal moved the ball collectively.

Well take Arsenals wins against Leicester over the past three seasons for examples sake.

2020-21

Arsenal set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation that featured left-back Tierney (No 3) utilised as an advanced outlet to hold width, the Scotland international largely running the left flank himself. Arsenal set up to maximise their left-hand side, specifically their left-back.

Xhakas (No 34) positioning allowed him to find Tierney often and with Willian (No 12) drifting infield alongside Emile Smith Rowe (No 32), this maximised the space Tierney had to run into. They threatened through the left and switched to the right. Artetas first draft was more one-dimensional.

2021-22

Artetas next blueprint brought to life Arsenals 3-2-5 structure in possession. It featured a pendulum-like swing between full-backs Tierney (No 3) and Cedric (No 17) in terms of who advanced high and wide and who was involved in build-up that gave them more balance playing out from the back.

Going forward, their creativity relied on tight interplay between Alexandre Lacazette (No 9) dropping deep from the forward line, with Martin Odegaard (No 8) between the lines and Bukayo Saka (No 7) overloading the right spaces before switching to Gabriel Martinelli (No 35) out on the left.

2022-23

And now, to the latest version.

Arsenals shape in possession is now more of a 2-3-5, a structure most associated with teams that focus on positional play, which creates wider midfield coverage that can be seen with how spaced out Thomas Partey (No 5) and Xhaka (No 34) are.

This structure allows the central midfielders to push higher into the half-spaces, pushing Xhaka forward, moving Odegaard centrally (No 8) and inverting their full-back, Oleksandr Zinchenko (No 35), to squeeze the midfield and create space wide for players like Martinelli (No 11).

Artetas Arsenal have worn many different outfits, but again, the principles remain the same.

In many ways, Lacazette was a great profile for what Arteta wanted from his strikers comfortable dropping in midfield and playing between the lines. That can be seen in all of Arsenals passing network throughout the seasons, but the Frenchman lacked the athleticism to move across the entirety of the pitch like their new signing Gabriel Jesus.

The below graphic illustrates where Jesus and Lacazette receive passes in the opposition half.

Whereas a player like Lacazette would just be moving up and down the middle, Jesus can drift out onto both flanks very comfortably, and thats before mentioning the additional goal threat he brings.

Control

Lets go back to the start Artetas emphasis on control.

The below graphic shows the percentage of minutes every Premier League team spends in each game state (leading, level and trailing) from the 2020-21 Premier League season.

For all the importance that was given to control both in and out of possession, Arsenal were average when it came to dominating games, having spent only 27 per cent of game time leading.

Fast-forward to the following season and Arsenal only find themselves behind Manchester City and Liverpool when it comes to minutes spent leading.

What isnt shown in these graphics, however, is that Arsenal do tend to struggle more than most to control games when leading, conceding more territory and pressure than comparable teams and that can be attributed to the fact they are one of the youngest sides in the Premier League and still prone to mental wobbles.

Artetas Arsenal exemplify the benefits of pursuing a specific philosophy to achieve long-term gains at the expense of short-term results.

It may seem like they have become very good, very quickly, but that has come from giving Arteta the patience and resources needed to implement his vision. From the goalkeeper all the way up to the front line, from Ramsdale to Jesus, there has been a grand shift in the way Arsenal dominate possession.

They are no longer predictable, but they arent title challengers just yet. It says something about the righting of the Arsenal ship that a title challenge in the next years could be considered a possibility.

It is however, only the beginning.

(Top photo: Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)

Go here to read the rest:

The evolution of Artetas Arsenal: Title challengers? Not yet, but theyre a team on the rise - The Athletic