Thread by @eyetestfb

How good is Arsenal’s defense this season & where can they improve? A Thread 🧵👇🏼

Arsenal have one of the most exciting, and young defensive cores in the league. Important context before we start: Tavares, Ramsdale, White, and Tomiyasu are all new. Including Gabriel and Tierney, they’re all 24 or younger. Saliba (on loan) is 20.

Currently under arteta, arsenal play with a back 4. the CBs are tasked with aiding in the build-up by breaking lines via driving runs, hitting balls into channels, or helping to oscillate the ball around the back if options aren’t available. Heat Maps for both 👇🏼

The CBs are expected to be on the ball ALOT due to Arsenal’s desire to control possession. in contrast, the fullbacks are typically asked to provide width in the build-up and aren’t as involved on the ball until the 2nd phase of play when the ball is in midfield. KT, Tomi, Nuno👇🏼

When Granit Xhaka isn’t available, the CBs are required to do more passing work because neither Partey or Lokonga are elite receiving passes to feet while facing goal, GX is an expert at this and often will drop into the 1st phase to offer an easy line break. lokonga will learn.

https://twitter.com/_halfspaces/status/1463948778407436298

without GX, the CBs have to be aware of their surroundings, active scanners and be able to play at angles that might not naturally suit them (disciplined). White and Gabriel fit this requirement perfectly in different ways.

Gabriel is hyper-confident and plays with the audacity of a veteran. White is technically gifted on the ball and a very intuitive tackler with elite awareness. he can play pretty much any pass and puts his body on the line (sometimes foolishly) to block shots/tackle attackers.

The fullback core is one of the deepest in the league and Mikel Arteta has cultivated a sqaud with utility players such as Chambers and Maitland-Niles who can play a variety of positions (Saka is also in this category but he’s a RW first). add that to the starting unit of -

With the FBs and you’ve got a diverse skillset and loads of options on each side - KT + Nuno are explosive chance creators via crossing and both read the game enough to also contribute defensively whereas Tomiyasu is a technical, two-footed pnp monster with angles in his game.

Notice the trends. each side of the defense accomplishes something different with equal importance. notice how Arteta values balance, he wants the left side of his defense to be left-foot dominant and the right side to be right dominant. against the better teams this is key -

because it shuts off angles and closes down gaps. for example, when Gabriel checks over his shoulders on long balls, his blind spot is over his right shoulder, this is ideal because his blind spot is further from goal/at a more difficult angle. the best teams will still exploit -

this to a certain extent due to pure quality but it’s an example of how a meticulously crafted defense can minimize danger to the opposition. On the other side, White and Tomiyasu represent the right-side of the defense which typically has more angles to work with.

The RFB must be able to invert, allowing the ball-dominant CB to have time to drive the ball and have cover on the back so the CB can play switches + balls through the channels as well as giving them a wider option if the opposition press. Tomi and White fit this need to a tee.

Lastly, the keeper - the most important piece of the arteta’s defensive puzzle. in this system the keeper is essentially the fail-safe. his job is to bail out the backline when things go wrong AND to bail out the build-up when it stalls. in niche situations, the keeper also -

must be able to take over the build up in order to alleviate pressure (via long balls). Talking pure quality, Leno works. He isn’t great with his feet but he possess enough quality to play out. what he doesn’t provide is the mental profile and accurate long passing.

Mikel has completely repaired the major build-up flaw in this system, finding the closest keeper we’ve seen to ederson since he joined the league in Ramsdale.

https://twitter.com/DailyAFC/status/1430641312802430978

Onto weaknesses: White and Gabriel have weaknesses that can be exploited. KT/Nuno and Tomi less so but they have flaws. Gabriel and White both struggle with their aggression at times, jumping out to make tackles that aren’t always necessary and can leave them in no-mans-land.

Re: the FBs it’s all about on-ball play: KT is better than Nuno during the build-up. If he needs to drop in with the CBs he can do so well due to great awareness of the pitch and an ability to read the game live, Nuno is still adjusting and we saw this exploited vs. Liverpool.

For Tomiyasu, it’s his willingness to attack and overlap that has plagued him thusfar, his positioning (heat map👇🏼) vs. Liverpool looked to me like a player caught in two minds - he’s being cautious of Mane but needs to be involved in the final third to create overloads out wide.

Without a defensive “captain” in the team who plays higher up the pitch and it able to order the backline around, this can become even more dangerous because when a CB steps off the line the midfield/FBs MUST move quickly to plug that gap. Until GX is back this is a worry.

Gabriel’s game will slow down as he grows and, while White’s aggressive tackling comes from a lack of size and upper body strength, his timing will improve. KT/Nuno and Tomi have specific weaknesses that can be exploited but these issues are coachable eg. Tomi’s positioning.

Ramsdale also suffers a little from lack a pure length as a keeper although his elite positioning has more than compensated for this thusfar.

Overall: Arsenal’s defense are top 3 in the league in my opinion. They’re young so they need time to gel and flow together but the signs are there. Maybe a veteran CB would help but there’s no doubt that Arteta is laying the foundations of a really strong unit for years to come.