http://gty.im/138191795
Just three league games in and Arsene Wenger is already approaching an important juncture in Arsenal’s season. The Frenchmen has to make a crucial decision in the make up of his starting XI, because failure to do so will prevent his team from mounting a serious challenge.
Arsenal’s stuttering start to their campaign has been characterized by the narrowness of their tactical approach. It was the basis for their failure against West Ham on the opening day of the season. Their over reliance on trying to thread a pass through the eye of a needle down an overcrowded left floundered time and time again, and the only real attacking threat came from the right hand side and the width offered by Alex Oxlade Chamberlain.
Both Arsenal full backs that day were afforded a colossal amount of space and saw a lot of the ball, but time and time again looked to deliver the ball inside, when the right thing to do was look to stretch the rigid West Ham defense out of place. Over ninety minutes, they attempted just 10 crosses into the box between them, an unbelievable statistic given the fact that Arsenal’s attacking focal point, Oliver Giroud is 6ft 4in.
Giroud is one of the league’s, in fact one of Europe’s, finest one-touch finishers with both his head and feet. Just look at the goals he has scored in his time at Arsenal. His latest example at Crystal Palace was the perfect example. However, Giroud is being starved of the service his talent needs. Just look at the influence map above from the West Ham game. At the head of a static line and well out outside the opposition box, Giroud is in front of Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey Giroud just does not have the tactical nous to be involved in all this intricate tika-taka being attempted by Arsenal, and more often than not it is with Giroud that play breaks down.
Against Liverpool, the problem was even worse, just look at Ramsey’s point of influence in the graphic below. The Welshman, on paper, replaced Oxlade-Chamberlain on the right side of a three-man attacking midfield but was inclined to drift inside throughout the game, leaving Arsenal’s attacking threat down the right hand side non-existent. Hector Bellerin delivered just 2 crosses from the right-back position all game. From the left, Nacho Monreal‘s contribution was slightly more substantial with 5 crosses, but it was not that much at all considering the level of involvement he had in the attacking third on Monday night. The Spaniard was the 5th most influential player in the attacking third between both teams according to the Opta stats.
Oxlade-Chamberalin’s introduction for a brief 10 minute cameo at the end of the game brought about the only telling contribution from the flanks for Arsenal.
Things need to change for Arsenal, and fast. Teams coming to the Emirates now have a game plan that is working to great effect by putting 10 players behind the ball in two narrow banks, thus totally nullifying Arsenal’s attacking threat. It is not a new phenomena, Sunderland and Swansea used it toward the end of last season to torment the Gunners. It is also worth bearing in mind as well that the likes of Karim Benzema or Edinson Cavani are not going to fix this problem, as the problem needs to be addressed from within. If it is not, Arsenal’s attempt to challenge for the title will fail and the failure will embarrassingly stem from games played at the Emirates.
Manchester City has so far blitzed all before them, and the source of their success has been a fluid attacking midfield trio, backed up by rampaging full-backs who have used the whole expanse of the football field. Furthermore, look at the impact Pedro made for Chelsea at the weekend from the flanks. Wenger cannot continue to embrace the confinement in which Arsenal are currently entrenched in.
Someone from Santi Cazorla, Ozil, or Ramsey needs to be sacrificed, so that either Oxlade-Chamberlain or Theo Walcott can provide some much-needed width. My personal preference would be for Oxlade-Chamberlain, as he offers a lot more mobility, strength and defensive awareness, and in tandem with this we will see an altogether different Giroud. It’s time for Wenger to unleash the beast – it’s time for the Ox.