Written by Omomo14 on Saturday, 06 August 2011 14:17

Seeing as we struggled without the creative instinct of Cesc in most of our pre-season game it brings me to talk about our formation.

Last season against most defensive teams, we struggled a lot even with Cesc in the team. We played a 4-2-3-1 formation or should I call a 4-3-3..... Anyway both look same in my eyes. Playin' that formation also leads us to play a very high line which I feel makes us struggle a lot defensively and offensively.

The only time I see this formation workin' defensively and offensively thereby relievin' us from the creativity burden Cesc leaves us with when he eventually joins Barcelona is if we defend from the front. RVP, Theo, Gervinho, Arshavin are going to be Key in our Defensive/Creative structure. Closing down the opposition in their own half will free up spaces where we can plug gaps easily without the eyes of Cesc.

I'm a huge fan of the 4-4-2 formation and we have the attackers to play it with aplomb but were it matters is the midfield (2 CMs) which I doubt can do a good job. Yes, we have got Jack, Alex, Aaron, Frimpong but still I doubt they have got the steel to play a 2 man midfield.

A 2 man midfield requires size, hard work and Experience for us to challenge for the title... We might say we have hard work in Jack, Alex and Frimpong but we miss out on 2 key features that's size and experience. Playin' a Jack and Alex leaves us very open defensively in my book but in a 3 Midfield we have the bodies to make up for the size and Experience.

All in all, I'm confident Arsene will play the formation that suits us perfectly and a few tweakin' here and there would put us in the right stead.

Mean Lean's Response

Thank you for the write up. I shall be keeping a close eye on how Wenger reshapes the team if Cesc Fabregas leaves the club. At the moment it is still very much a case of if as long as Barcelona keep offering us peanuts for one of the best midfield creative players in world football today.

Personally I think the 4-4-2 is a little dated these days and when you look around the top teams around the world, hardly any of them play with a two man midfield because so much of the game these days is about control.

Teams with a two man midfield, no matter how strong or powerful are often dominated by three. It could well be a reason why Wenger's team of 2003/04 didn't do as well in European football because the opposition hardly ever played with a matching two.

These days every cat and his dog flood the midfield and at least try and match Arsenal in the middle of the park. Blackpool played two against us and were murdered towards the end of the season and as you all know, we were going through an awful patch.

Having said that, I think there are plenty of opportunities to revert to that formation in games where we are pushing them right back and they are not having much of the ball. Sometimes we stick a little too much when a good ol twist during the game could have worked wonders. I think back to the 0-0 draw against Blackburn last season as a perfect example.

If our current system is played correctly offensively then a change in formation probably isn't even necessary as the wide players are unlikely to keep the proverbial chalk on their boots, so we usually have plenty of movement and rotation. You could see that in Germany this pre season, Gervinho and Walcott often found themselves in central positions.

Anyway, I still find it a little hard to talk about the shape of the team because I still expect in's and out's to happen before the window closes. Which personnel will be anyone's guess.

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Comments (19)

• 06-Aug-2011 14:57 | | Man United Killa  - Formation not primary concern
  

  The formation is not the primary concern in my opinion.Its the quality that we need to concern ourselves with first.There are weaknesses in the team regardless of if Cesc stays or not.These issues need to be resolved or formation really counts for little if not nothing.

• 06-Aug-2011 15:06 | | herbaylee  - 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 remains the best
  

  i think 4-3-3 still remains our best formation, as you said our midfield can cope with a direct 4-4-2. And besides, a three man midfield to me seems the best for our midfield players.

• 06-Aug-2011 15:13 | | Podge
  

  Formation is massively important, the positions where your players are deployed dictates what tactics you can use and a team with the wrong tactics loses.
  
  About the article I firmly believe 4-4-2 is dead as a starting formation,it can be effective as a second half switch when your opponents have parked the bus but 3 good midfielders will dominate against 2 no matter how talented midfielders.
  
  I watched a cup game last season Huddersfield vs a team I cant remember to see how Afobe play 90mins both teams player 4-4-2 with 2 off the shoulder strikers waiting for that through ball to latch on to but it never came in fact there was A shot on target the whole game. Safe to say the worst game of football I have ever watched does anyone know who the other team was?

• 06-Aug-2011 15:27 | | goonerbegood  - FOR THE FIRST TIME IN A LONG WHILE I UNDERSTAND WE
  

  I sat back some days ago.reflecting on all the posts that i sent regarding the managers position on new signing,i realized one thing,wenger is going through a lot right now.
  Am sure he wants to succeed,but he has got himself in a mess regarding nasri and cesc.
  FOR ME WE HAVE TO KEEP OUR BEST PLAYERS FCUK BARCA AND MANC SHITTY.WHY SHOULD WE SELL OUR BEST PLAYERS TO THEM.
  ARSENAL FC ,IS IN NO OBLIGATION ,WHATSOEVER TO SELL ANY OF OUR BEST PLAYERS.
  time will tell.
  
  So i urge all gooners world wide, we have to protect and trust in our manager and board of directors even though it seems we have been waiting for a new signing but till now nothing.
  
  we must not let the news papers or media stop us,for me right now,it is left to the players to make things right not wenger or gazidis.
  
  i feel the players we have, have to step the fcuk up,it is long overdue.
  we have had faith with them when nobody else did,they need to step up and be ready to battle till their nose run white and red of north london.
  
  we will get there,am sure of this,nothing in life comes easy.our players need to step up,they are good players ,they should stop making silly mistakes that cost us,focus is key,looking at united squad and chelsea's squad,they are not better than we are,even your liverfools and man shitty.
  
  we will win the league.if the players can step up FOR once and for all do it cos they have what it takes..
  
  
  Now on signings,we need one more.just one more ,for when the injuries kick in.
  
  LONG LIVE THE MIGHTY ARSENAL FC.

• 06-Aug-2011 15:49 | | Man United Killa  - didnt say it was not...but surely not our problem
  

  If you look at my post,I didn't say formation is not important.However our main problem is not formation.What has someone not taking a clear shot got to do with formation?What has a midfield half of who don't track back got to do with formation?What has a player who does not know how to cross a ball do with formation?What has a substandard player who cant orchestrate the game in Cesc's absence got to do with formation.Formation is surely important but that is not our key problem.Our squad is so close yet so far.We need some more match winners and we need to tweak our style of play a little bit.The tippy tappy is killing us.The lack of shooting is killing us.The porous defensive state is killing us.When you look at the problems we had last year,formation counts for very little.Our formation is dangerous and solid but the players are not!period!

• 06-Aug-2011 15:51 | | Man United Killa  - fine points
  

  I like the points you make my friend but I think we need 2 more players at least..not 1

• 06-Aug-2011 18:03 | | IndiGooner  - Well said mate
  

  Very well said mate.. but for any one to step up he/she needs confidence that even if they make a mistake we are behind them and wont boo them (Ady, B52, Denilson, Eboue i know they could have done better) but its we Fans who give then that rush. We have leaders live TV,AA23, RVP etc who can step up inspire when chips are down..
  
  Cant we sort of start a CAMPAIN against Anti Arsenal forces.. Raise a STRONG voice tell our players, Board and manager that they need to step up and We LOVE them??

• 06-Aug-2011 18:17 | | JesusSaves  - We need variations!
  

  i always thought that arsenal lack variations which is our problem. Other top teams in England seem to have some variability. When we pay man utd they know they may not have most possession, but they are willing to sit back and use pacy wingers to counter. We need to have a plan B, or atleast be more decisive in front of goal and more penetrative with this 442. If we cant be that decisive, we must atleast try swtich to a 442 with walcott/gervinho going to support vanpersie centrally or something.
  We offer nothing different. Most of our formations have an isolated central striker and arshavin or walcott is wide and we dont cross much. Also switchign to 442 at some point in matches agains teams that park the bus, would have given players like vela, bendtner, traore the full opportunity to show what they have.
  The point is, all teams ahve a game plan agains arsenal which is sad. While man utd is so tricky they can be 442 433 451 etc etc. You cant have a set game plan season after season. You would have to deal with their passing, pacy wingers, and lots of crossing. WE only pass, and RARELY shoot, so teams have 10 men behind defending.

• 06-Aug-2011 20:31 | | Man United Killa  - benfica-arsenal game
  

  Damn!This squad is bullshit!!!

• 07-Aug-2011 08:07 | | Anonymous
  

  The thing that the friendlies has really shown is that the Squid didn't need a season to fit in... he's just not up to it. Most (if not all?) the goals we've had scored against us, he's been at fault.
  
  The First team is pretty good. It can cope with one or two of the second team replacing injured but any more than that and it just doesn't work.

• 07-Aug-2011 10:24 | | pika
  

  you do realise arseal recieved money to play that friendly ...did u expect us to thrash them with a 6-0 ?

• 07-Aug-2011 14:52 | | Man United Killa  - are you crazy Pika?
  

  Whatever Pika..that is a pathetic excuse by all standards...do you even know what it takes to thrash an opponent 6-0?

• 07-Aug-2011 16:06 | | Omglol
  

  I will wait to see start of EPL if they still dont show spirit, to run for every ball to fight for it to want to win then i will judge them. Formation is not a problem the tactic is not the problem. Last night they could prevent the goals if they show more dedication, its not how good you are (thats bonus) its how much you fight for. Vermalen showed dedication even if he made mistakes. Thats what we need more then ever. Plus Song/frimpong dont do there roll properly they left back so expose and mid line is never back to form solid 2 line defence they all do Denlison move. That piss me more then anything. Be a trash player but fight ffs.

• 07-Aug-2011 17:10 | | Podge
  

  I'm just going to deal with one of your complaints because it's wrong your other complaints have base. Arsenal shot more than any other team in the premiership last season more shots in total more shots on target. Arsenal are described as this tippy tappy afraid to shoot team of playmakers who always try to score the perfect goal. This is incredibly wide of the mark, yes we often play a pass to many or delay the pass a second too long but the cold hard facts Arsenal do shoot more than anybody else you cannot claim otherwise. Other Issues resolved or not formation is hugely important to the success and failure of Arsenal FC.
  
  The playing squad has it's defects the lack of players going into the box when the ball is out wide being the biggest one and that's not just Diaby,Denilson, Vela or whoever you think is substandard it's our best players that are the problem Nasri,Fabregas, Wilshere,Arshavin sure they are small but bodies in the box pick up knock downs,poor clearances and well placed crosses. Gervinho is a terrific crosser of the ball as are Walcott(inconsistently), Gibbs, Rosicky and Sagna occasionally is too. I think our biggest problem offensively is getting midfield players into the box and defensively it's organisation on set pieces, is a new cb going to make the other 10 mark properly? I doubt it will a new winger deliver perfect crosses if there is only RVP in the box? again I doubt it. Ours are training ground solutions and the Asia trip delayed work being done on those problems hopefully it will be done by next Saturday.

• 07-Aug-2011 17:15 | | Podge
  

  that was for Man U Killa

• 07-Aug-2011 18:48 | | Man United Killa  - Podge's Reply
  

  "I think our biggest problem offensively is getting midfield players into the box and defensively it's organisation on set pieces"..fair point
  I would also like to add that our style of playing of pushing the line up necessitates a more compact formation.We were caught many times yesterday If you noticed.
  I also think that.we are not direct enough in our attack.Our style of play relies on patience but patience does not necessarily mean playing too many unnecessary extra passes- which I think we do too often.
  Finally given the type of players we have in terms of technical quality and our lack of power in the height department, I think we cross the ball too many times.Our best mode of attack is to use runners through the middle for most part.If you have watched closely, that is when we are most dangerous.We need a passers and runners.

• 08-Aug-2011 02:53 | | richie  - Muk take your tempreture! Whats up?
  

  A proper bit of constructive criticism most of which its easy to agree with.
  I know the first couple of lines aren't yours but they too are true. I'm a proud AKB as you know well enough, but thats never stopped me criticising AW's tactic's, for example I have no problem with us keeping possession, but I think the slow build up style does nothing for us. All the probing for an opening, wastes our best assets (speed of attack) IMHO. I've been saying that a return to the fast attacking sytle is whats called for. As an example I site our 2nd goal against Barca (Arsharvins) as a return to the type of goal that we used to score often. One touch football played at speed.
  
  Our "Set pieces" down full comes not from a lack of organization but from the zonal defensive system we employ. Zonal marking undoubtably works (Almost all the big continental boys use it) Barca, AC, Madrid, Bayern. The thing is it takes a lot of spacial awareness and concentration to look after an area, rather than a man. If one man is all you have to look after its simplified our defenders for whatever reason haven't made the grade and for the most part their concentration hasn't been there when its been needed. Thats a second of my often criticisms of AW that many miss.
  
  For us a playmaker is important but I don't think a playmaker that does the buisness in the final 3rd is important. Someone who plays deep in the style of the "libero" who see's forward movement is the answer. RvP is capable of playing the final 3rd role because he links the mid with attack really well and can play a ball a la Bergkamp, that a quick player can latch on to. But all of the above comes down to the formation chosen.

• 08-Aug-2011 09:18 | | indian gunner forever  - fast style ain't possible always
  

  Completely agree with you dude that the Arshavin goal is just the kind of football that suits our neat ball skill players......but don't forget that was on a counter. And that is what we should always try on the break - spread it out quickly rather than trying for intricacies. But the story on building up from the back is completely different.
  
  The problem since the past couple of seasons especially has been that teams who play against us play with a park the bus mentality and pack up the final third......So when you are building up play from the back - it is just not possible to find the spaces and as a result our build-up play seems to be slow. And unfortunately we do not have a Messi in our ranks who can drop deep and single footedly beat 3 or 4 players, attract them towards him and create space for others. But definitely we could try to build up faster to catch the opposition out of position. Also I think our goal kicks are terrible and I don't remember a single goal off late where the goal keeper has had an assist via that route.

• 08-Aug-2011 17:52 | | Podge
  

  When I was talking about crosses I didn't mean specifically high crosses I should have been clearer I meant that ground crosses were included to. I will be very interested to see Gervinho and Walcott playing wide as they are "runners" who will come inside.
  
  I think we need the players to curl their shots more any of our outside the box efforts are just power shots straight at goal nobody picks out the top corner and bends it round the keeper.
  There is a good article on this site about our pressing I think it fails when the forward players don't come back our formation is somewhere between 4-5-1 and 4-3-3 our pressing works better when the right forward/winger and left come back into midfield, Arshavin for example rarely does this.
  
  I didn't see the game against Benfica so I shouldn't make any judgement based on it. I think even with the problems we have that we are better than Spurs and Liverpool.Chelsea are ageing ManCity under Mancini will always draw too many games and ManU just lost an incredible amount of experience this summer. The title race is interesting this year I think there are genuinely 4 teams in it for the first time and if we can improve on our problems offensively or defensively we could run away with it. Again I think coaching will yield better results than new signings though a blend of both would be ideal.

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