How Arteta Can FIX Arsenal’s Attack: tactical analysis, the no. 8 problem and the Newcastle review

I've talked a lot about Arsenal's issues in our attacking dynamics, primarily in not deploying an out-and-out eight regularly enough. And I think now it's time to commit a full in-depth video to it, explaining why we're not quite clicking in terms of comparison to last season going forward, and why our season and our success this season may well depend on this very topic. Welcome back to the Harvey Gratian YouTube channel. I'm so glad you're joining us again, or have found us for the first time. And in today's video I'm going to be minutely analysing and detailing Arsenal's attacking problems and issues this season. And first of all, I want to say the Newcastle result does speak to this, and we will talk about it, but it's not a prime example. It was a fiercely competitive game where Arsenal yet again showed how imperious they are, out of possession, and unfortunately, look, it was ruined by a decision. But we'll get onto all of that later. Let's get on with the video now, and how the lack of a proper eight actually affects us going forward. I want to start with talking about our current setup. This season we've essentially played two shadow strikers in the half spaces next to the centre forward. And like I've, you know, discussed at length, the reasoning behind this is to bypass the second phase at times, and experiment with sort of new modes of breaking down defences that we haven't tried before under Arteta. And with our sort of left-hand side lacking that sort of touch heavy, or anchor man, as I will explain. And hence, the vast majority of our attacks are actually funnelled down into our right-hand side, through primarily Martin Odegaard, who isn't playing that sort of second phase role with a larger zone of influence to justify us doing all our attacks through him. Because, for example, if a team has one focal point, one raw output machine in their attack, they have to be comfortable operating over a large zone of influence. And by zone of influence, and a large zone of influence, I mean whether that is literally in the ground that they cover, for example, Orfe's central midfielder, or the ability to access large portions of the pitch with switches of play, or line-breaking passes, and we haven't turned Martin Odegaard's role into this yet. He's now very focused on crashing and goal-scoring, not impacting the game through more phases, or a larger zone. And look, as I've talked about again at length, this is not a Martin Odegaard criticism, I love the player, and he's pivotal, I still think, to how this team marches forward under Arteta. But we need to increase his zone of influence, or ZOI. And this dichotomy between left and right, with that lack of anchor on the left-hand side, and a right-hand side, I think, that still has to wait at times for white to find the perfect conditions to overlap, to be effective, which draws Saka into the sort of inside channels, Odegaard moving more centrally. However, this doesn't change that even if we play that sort of 3-1-6 with white on the overlap, Rice in that number 6, who has been simply incredible and paramount to the points we've picked up this season, in Rice we only have one player in our team consistently making 100-plus passes and touches a game. I mean, Xhaka acted as sort of a secondary controller last season, which was needed because Zinchenko, of course, couldn't always invert, and Partey at times could be too progressive or vertical. And this figure is typically deployed on the left-hand side from Mikhail Arteta, as he prefers sort of the real box hitters on the right-hand side. I mean, against Manchester City we played sort of that proper 8-with-the-6 relationship that I like and I will detail, with Jorginho in the 6 and Rice in the 8, which is more than fine for a game, but we can't play this pairing all the time because, of course, increasing stress and importance is played on Rice being there every single minute of every single game for us, and an ageing Jorginho, I mean, forbid either of them get injured, then we are in a very tricky period going on towards January. And this has sort of meant that we've played any combination of interiors with Havertz, Odegaard, Vieira, Smith-Rowe, Trossard, and, as we saw in Possession against Sevilla, Tomiasu, lacking that real touch-heavy pairing in the number 8. So, how would a proper out-and-out number 8, sort of that additional controller, that ball-magnet, that space-martialer, how would that help us? Well, I'm going to first talk about sort of the balance on our left-hand side in the attack and how that would change, because currently, with Havertz as the left interior, the left shadow striker, at times having to drop deeper, even if he doesn't impact the game in terms of passes and touches, and Martinelli on that left-hand side, both of them are space invaders, one in form of the Ram-Deuter, and then that singular sort of pacey outlet in Martinelli that, in our squad, is sort of one-of-a-kind and we probably need more depth in. So we need that anchor on the left-hand side for pieces, if you sort of imagine it this way, to move around and become sort of a circulatory option that allows us to sort of work a block more, move the ball with speed, wait for gaps to open up and have the ability to exploit, but also the retention, I think, and the close control, the bravery to keep control of the ball when it's played into tight pockets where sort of real athletic defences collapse on you. I mean, I'm not criticising Kai Havertz here, because if he plays as a left interior, he needs a balance on the other side of him, but Kai Havertz simply isn't this, and it really does not lend itself to a good balance on our left-hand side. You know, he gives sort of those late runs off the shoulder, which I think mentally he's not as confident to do now, but sort of this is matched by our other shadow striker on the right-hand side, if that makes sense, and I think Havertz's sort of simplicity in his link-up play is really suited well to the centre-forward position, not to the chaotic midfield, and I think it's why it seems he's a passenger sort of at times in possession, I'm talking about, because out of possession he has massive, massive merits. He's never had a game for Arsenal where he's dominated touches, or maybe had over 50 in a game, and so we have to make Havertz not abundant with his passes and touches, but very efficient with them, and that comes in the centre-forward, and I think this balance, not funnelling it across to the right-hand side for things to flow through Odegaard in sort of a relatively small space, is what gives that inevitable impression of us then being able to pin sides in, using then our elite counter-pressing and out-of-possession structures that I provided an in-depth analysis of last video, to sustain pressure and create that feeling of inevitability in our scoring of goals, and I think we certainly have this defensively, but not going forward, and this impression of inevitability going forward will give you goals without even having to do anything, because it seeps into the paws of the crowd, the nerves, the occasion, the atmosphere, the defenders on the pitch, the momentum, all shifts with you, but we cannot build that reliably yet. I also now want to talk about our problems with central access, with this lack of a proper eight, someone able to impact all the phases, because this means there's been a real focus on us this season, and certainly our more patient approach does this anyway, but it's been compounded by a lack of a proper eight, and this central access has been at times non-existent, and we've looked to overload the wide areas this season, which ironically should have been useful, versus Chelsea in that 2-2 draw, who defend with four in the last line and did five across the middle, a real athletic block to actually block those central spaces, but it didn't prove to be. And I think for those teams who do match us with five in the last line, it makes the space out wide narrower once more, again waiting for white to overlap from that outside right centre-back role and form the 3-1-6. But look, central access can come in many different forms, a direct in the form of a half-space cross, where one of the interiors would drop outside of the opposition blocks to play those devastating balls that cause any defence, no matter their height, problems, because it's tricky angles. Erdegaard can do this, but he's only had 0.86 crosses per 90 this season, and it shows he's not in the role or the zone to repeatedly do this. You can also, though, game central access through combination play or dynamism, sort of underlaps, for example, that disturb the defensive compactness of sides. For example, Xhaka was not quick, but was much more powerful, I think, in his running than anyone we had last season, and most importantly was conducive to interchange with Sinchenko, Jesus, Martinelli on the left-hand side to make these crashing runs into the box, these underlaps, this dynamism and combination play count. Erdegaard's body angles, of course, we know they're not the most conducive to always combining with the right-hand side, or over- and underlapping. Rice, on the other hand, when he plays on that left day, sort of owns these one- and two-touch combination movements and those carries and runs with unstoppable power to really negate a compact block. And I think, let's map this across to Newcastle, where our wingers did look quite isolated at times. This should not come as a criticism to any of the players. Rice obviously had to drop in to help Jorginho in the pivot at times, but Havertz, I think, didn't provide that anchor role, this time on the right-hand side. That role to sort of knit things together. I mean, he was brilliant in the press as an outball and sort of to combat Newcastle's physicality, and this was part of a reason why, Arsenal as a side, we were still playing very well. We were tremendous out of possession. We gave ourselves that platform, which you have to do at places like St. James' Park. We gave ourselves that platform where the game was then up for grabs. But I'm talking purely in an attacking sense. Havertz didn't have the dynamism to help Saka. But it must also be said that our lean towards a more patient and controlled approach this season, which we've always had, but I think has been exacerbated this season, and rightly so. I think that doesn't lend itself to sort of the chaos of maybe someone like a Gabriel Jesus, who would sort of create something out of nowhere last season. But it's when we choose to flip the switch to a quicker tempo that we need this greater cohesion and better dynamics in attack. Havertz needs to be more the player that is found in space, because obviously he's not there to give and then go or to find others directly. And this links to finding others directly in terms of trying to get more out of Martinelli and helping Martinelli. What's happened to the guy with 15 league goals last season, the joint most of a Brazilian in the Premier League? Well, Gabi's performances have not dropped off at all. He's been as brilliant as ever and invaluable as ever as that pacey outlet weapon on the break, that instant threat that kills a team in a moment. But we're not utilising his qualities optimally in our current dynamics. I've said we've lacked that sort of naturally incisive or abundant passer on the left hand side that would be able to release Martinelli in behind to appropriate or to take advantage of the big spaces of the field, this time through passing, not moving, and play that balancing act for Martinelli's movement, so that anchor versus a mover into space. And look, this increases our access to Gabi on the pitch from anywhere. We play that direct approach and bypass, of course, the second phase, but often to still access Martinelli. It's either a direct counterattack from Raya's goal kicks or playing off the centre forward and winning the second balls. A left hand sided proper number 8 gives us another way to access him and I think creates a more intimate connection. And building those relationships on the pitch, we still don't really have perfectly, quite like the well-oiled machine of last season. Because as much as Martinelli can do it on his own and is required to, certainly in behind at times, we would see this devastating offensive quality certainly more often with an 8 who can march with him. Rice, for example, you suddenly have two players bulldozing their way through a defence. Distances between them are smaller and that's if they're on the same page, meaning we're more likely to attack with danger. But now I want to return to the settled attack and breaking aside down with a more balanced left hand side, as we're circulating and trying to manipulate the block of a defence. Rice has already improved massively in this regard, as we try to combine that side-to-side motion, waiting for an opponent to make a mistake, with our own proactiveness. Zinchenko, I think, has been blocked out of the real high spaces that he was allowed in at times last season, probably because Xhaka was much more ready to drop into left-back and rotate. And that has meant we've lacked the guile and disguise to fire a pass through a block to open up the opposition. And this is why the Timber injury was actually very annoying and also the party injury that meant Rice can't play as much in the 8, because Rice and Timber, or Rice and Zinchenko, Rice is very naturally able to drop into that left-centre-back role, like him and Timber did in the Community Shield final. I mean, Rice and Zinchenko can play these key passes in the higher areas, like Rice's ball to Enchete against Crystal Palace, these sort of 1-2 combinations, these dynamic and quick tempo actions that are required to a nice counterbalance to the monotonous passing that breaking down a low block can incite at times. I think a proper 8 will also move the ball side-to-side with the intention of creating space elsewhere. It's not just, you know, it's still passing with a purpose. And they will also have the pauser, if they're very elite, to wait until the last minute to see that a gap opens up. And again, we're starting to see how only 1-8 that does this for us is Rice. And it should be Erdegaard as well, but obviously he's slightly more restricted for the reasons we touched on. We have available these manipulators and progression monsters, but it's been made a problem by parties' availability and other injuries in a squad. We have, you know, Erdegaard, party, Timber, Jesus, Smith-Rowe. They can all add this to attack, but for various reasons this hasn't been able to happen. And that's why we've been unimpactful at times. I mean, Rice's progressiveness is not the nature of his game, but he can do it to a very good level. And this certainly links to us not making our possession or field tilt and dominance in those aspects count at all, because as I'll show up on the screen, this level of dominance that we exerted on the ball at Newcastle is not normal. It shows, and I want to stress how top a side... We are a brilliant side, Arsenal are a super side, but it doesn't matter. None of that matters if we have suboptimal dynamics that can really hamper progression in a season. And I can't stress how much if we don't get to January, how many potential points we could lose on the way through this. You know, it's why if we go a goal down, we really struggle, because then the opposition can get their men behind the ball, they also have the confidence, and that sort of job is made much harder for us, and we don't have that natural ability to break down a compact defence that we have found so easy last season, despite having a top structure, top manager, top players and top tactics. The idea, I think, for Arteta was always party in the six, rice in the eight. That's sort of the Man City blueprint for those top physical and technical games. But party's availability issues have made this essentially impossible to finish. I think producing and sustaining our attacks is also something that this proper eight gives us, because at that point of the breakdown in attacks, you need someone who can hold on to the ball in those tight areas. For example, Rice in sort of those high left positions against Manchester City, seemingly when him and Martinelli are sort of on their own, and we keep the attack going. Players like Trossard have this tight control in spaces. So as we can see, there's sort of a lot of players for Arsenal who've played in these interiors that sort of have bits of what we need in the role, in and out of possession, but are not complete in the same sense as Rices and Odegaard can be. So hopefully in that sense, we may go by a number eight in January, and they will hopefully be complete if we do get someone. So, can this be fixed, and when will it be fixed? If so, of course, Jorginho and Declan Rice is the combination, I think, for every difficult game technically and physically for Arsenal now. And it's not sort of get rid of Havertz for another eight. It's get both. It's Havertz and a number eight. As we've seen, whether people like it or not, he's part of that City blueprint. I mean, in January, for example, we either get a six that allows Rice to play a number eight or the other way around, which is probably more preferable. And it may seem like I'm asking for the world, but I'm not, because Xhaka, for example, became a very good number eight on that left-hand side, and he improved his box crashing, his temperament off the ball, and those sort of small-scale cuteness hugely. But he obviously isn't sort of the Gunduans, the Pedris, de Jonghs, Bellinghams, Rices, all the players with huge potential in the number eight to be complete, the Enzola Fays and the Fafanas. So, that's it for the video. I really hope you enjoyed. I've gone really in-depth onto this, so I hope you've enjoyed the video and found it informative. I only ask you to like, comment and subscribe right at the end, because that hopefully means you've found the video just that. But that is all from me. I really hope you've enjoyed. I'll catch you in the next one. See you later.