With big Per likely going further and further out of favour we will finally have the option/squad to press as a team and win back possession earlier than before.
Mert isn't a bad defender but his attitude hasn't been great lately and he really limits how a team can be set up - he was rightly ditched by Germany and I believe we should look to do the same.
With a defender who moves slower than coastal erosion it's just too risky to move the whole team up the pitch and really smother an opposition. However with a quick back line and hard workers up top and in Midfield the pressing approach really can work wonders.
We know Sanchez would benefit big time from this, who hasn't noticed him pressing while team mates sit back not helping him out?
Giroud isn't going to run off the shoulder and beat a CB for pace too often but with the whole team (including him) pressing it might also benefit his game.
Coq would thrive as (I believe) Cazorla and the Ox would.
Walcott would need to improve his all round game though.
I'm not saying we should drastically change our style of play but having Per take more of a back-up role will really free up our options and allow us to pile on the pressure while not leaving ourselves so over-exposed.
The question is, is Gabriel the right man for the job? Time will tell on that and personally I'd like to see another pacy top class defender brought in and possibly a loan for Chambers.
Potential new dimension to our play?
posted on 25/3/15
comment by Chris H (U15205)
posted 1 hour, 12 minutes ago
Yeah me too, think he is good when we are trying to break someone down just don't think he'd suit a high pressing game. Same with Ibra at Barca, could only carry Messi.
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I don't think this is accurate. You're equating Ibra and Giroud because they're both tall and slow, but the difference with Ibra is that he won't ever try to press, whereas Giroud will. He's a willing and hard worker who has scored goals directly from pressing opposition 'keepers for example.
You don't need to be the best athlete to be good at pressing (although it helps), just be in the right places and willing to work hard and intelligently. It's more about co-ordination of the whole team and being close together in possession so that when you lose it, you initially press hard to get it back, and if you don't you can drop off and regain your shape. That's more likely to be Arsenal's problem, because it takes a heck of a lot of coaching and real commitment to that style.
posted on 25/3/15
"You're equating Ibra and Giroud because they're both tall and slow, but the difference with Ibra is that he won't ever try to press, whereas Giroud will. He's a willing and hard worker who has scored goals directly from pressing opposition 'keepers for example."
That is a difference, but even if you found a manager who could get Ibra working hard, he's still too slow to do it effectively. You look at teams that do it well and it's because they get to the player with the ball so quickly, not allowing them to play out from the back. Do you really believe Giroud can do that, no matter how hard he works? We've seen it a lot with Sanchez recently that Sanchez will go sprinting 35 yards to press a full back, Giroud will try to cover the ground and mark the CB but he doesn't get anywhere near.
"That's more likely to be Arsenal's problem, because it takes a heck of a lot of coaching and real commitment to that style."
Yeah absolutely. A lot of people just think good pressing is a case of everyone running round, but in reality to do it properly it requires a lot of work on the training pitch, remember reading that it took Pep about 6 months of continous working and drilling on it to get it right. Who's going to do that for us? Our training sessions look like a jolly boys outing sometimes.
posted on 25/3/15
The more some of you talk about Giroud is the more I wonder what player you watch or if you only watch MOTD. A high pressing game suits Giroud just fine. We had one when he arrived.
He's happy to be a pain in the butt to the goalie and CB's and has even made himself 2 or 3 goals from nothing, pressing the defenders and keeper. His lack of pace isn't an issue because he sits highest and doesn't have much ground to cover.
His workrate is not an issue as Ozil's would be but we would have to rotate him an Welbeck more due to the extra demands from the high pressing game. Also the high pressing would put midfield runners much closer to Giroud. We'd be pinching the ball and slipping it in behind all game long.
We will almost certainly revert to that high pressing game again once Gabriel has settled in. Expect to see it next season.
posted on 25/3/15
Didnt Giroud get a goal against Southampton my chasing down Boruc? I remember him robbingthe last defender against QPR too, lead to a chance, but not a goal.
That's just off the top of my head...
I think when he's up top on his own and is the only one chasing down he can look slower than he is, because he's up against 3 or 4 players movign the ball around. But he can press teams just fine when he has help.
posted on 25/3/15
If we go back to playing a highline it'll give us more freedom in attack but our defence could very easily go back to how it was during Toure/Gallas/Vermaelen days
posted on 25/3/15
I doubt we'll go back, Ramboue.
We changed in 2013 when Bale and Lennon I think it was ran us ragged at WHL, immediately after that game we started playing very deep and ground out wins and caught them for our 4th place trophy. It's basically where our newfound ability to win ugly over the past 2 years has come from.
Really can't see Wenger starting again just because Mert is out of the team.
posted on 25/3/15
The more some of you talk about Giroud is the more I wonder what player you watch or if you only watch MOTD.
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I do not wonder anymore
posted on 25/3/15
Chris
That's exactly how Wenger likes/wants to play. We really only stopped playing that way because it didn't work without Song, compounded by a slow Mertesacker.
Coquelin in the middle and a more mobile CB is a direct route back to playing that way. Doubtful we'll see it this season, maybe an odd game, because players are settling doing what we are but trust me, next season, you will see a return to the high pressing, ball stealing Arsenal we were. Only this time we'll have the defensive discipline to make it work.
Unlike Song Coquelin doesn't seem to be at all interested in scoring/making goals. Young Francis gets his kicks out of bossing his midfield. The lil General
posted on 25/3/15
Yeah, maybe, just hard to see it working with both Giroud & Ozil in the side.
Time will tell
posted on 25/3/15
Good article
It's part of the reason I've always been a little uneasy with Mertesacker playing at the back for us - even when we had a great defensive record.
I think there are merits to both side of the debate on the Giroud front.
On the one hand, he is very hard-working and he does seem to be very good at dispossessing the opposition when he gets close enough.
However, football is a game of inches, and being half a yard quicker can really make the difference between dispossessing the defender, and allowing them to make the pass/clearance.
I think a pressing system can work with Giroud as the focal point - Lambert worked well in Pochettino's system despite a lack of pace - but someone like Welbeck is always going to be able to put defenders under pressure more quickly.
Unless we're playing against really good ball-playing CBs, I suspect Giroud would be fine if we pushed high enough.
However, I do agree on the Ozil front. It's not just his lack of aggression, but also the system we play to accommodate him.
I've never been a fan of him on the wings, and IMO, his best position is in the hole in a 4231. But playing him in this role means either:
1) Ramsey can't press as high, or;
2) When Ramsey presses high, there'll be a lot of space left in the midfield area, as Ozil doesn't tend to drop in like Cazorla does.
I think the best we've looked from both a pressing and a defensive standpoint has been when we've played the 433/4141, as Ramsey has more freedom to push forward and press high-up the pitch.
Obviously, there are other pros and cons to this tactic, but regardless of exactly what system we play, I think there will always be question marks about where Ozil fits in to a pressing system.