Arsenal
ArtetaBall 2.0 - From Journeyman to Master Craftsman?
By Merlion
March 22 2024
The Beginning When Pep Guardiola took charge of Barcelona in 2008/09, it was a shambles. He quickly got rid of Ronaldinho and Deco. Eto’o got a stay of execution and was sold the next season. During his era, 7 out of starting-11 were La Masia products. And his midfield of Iniesta-Busquets-Xavi-Messi utterly dominated midfield. One little known fact was that at La Masia, Guardiola was the model “4’ which subsequent youngsters like Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets and Fabregas were coached to play like Guardiola. Hence, during his reign, Guardiola’s teams were also known as “a team of midfielders” without a no. 9. This is possible with Messi.
But at Bayern Munich, he inherited Lowandowski; at Man City Aguero, and he bought Haaland. Guardiola has evolved from Barca and now plays with a deadly predator.
Similarly, Mikel Arteta inherited a toxic dressing room and he needed two seasons to clear the debris left over from Arsene Wenger and Gazidis/Don Raul/Mislintat (I don’t blame Unai Emery, just the wrong man at the wrong place at the wrong time).
The Journeyman finally got most of his parts in place, started work on his “masterpiece” during the 3rd season, and what a marvellous “masterpiece” surpassing all expectations. And in this 4th season, this is the team he has developed as a craftsman.
The Visionary
A playmaker is one who see the opportunity, and a visionary sees where the opportunity will be. That is Martin Odegaard, a visionary. He sees openings and executes passes where defenders are caught off-guard. In 2024, Odegaard is hitting form and starting to develop telepathic understanding with Saka and White at right flank with the trio understanding each movement and preference. When Saka is running with the ball and being closed down by 2 or 3 defenders, he has the option to pass to an overlapping White or to Odegaard opening himself to receive a pass. The 3rd option is Saka cutting inward with both White and Odegaard as decoy, creating a shooting opportunity for himself or cross to the centre where Rice or Trossard or Havertz is waiting for a cross or a cut-back.
There is a 4th option that is still work-in-progress. The quick Crossfield pass between Ribery and Robben in Guardiola Bayern Munich. Martinelli is playing in isolation most of the time, free at left flank when right flank was congested with Saka alone attracting at least three defenders intending to bottle him at bye line and rendered him harmless. The intent is for Saka to pass the ball immediately – half touch – to a free Martinelli before he is closed down.
Thomas Muller’s game was so instinctive that a new term “Raumdeuter” (space interpreter) was invented for him. Kai Hevertz is the same and cannot be pigeon-holed into a fixed position like no. 8 or 9 or 10. Some of Arsenal fanbase questioned his ability, possibly adding to his low confidence, tentatively playing as no. 8 and Arsenal fans arguing that he is useless as a lone striker as proven by his stint at Chelski. It needed a Dubai Winter Break for Arteta to work out a role for Havertz – a half-forward (As a regular attender at Arsenal I have actually found the crowd quite supportive of him. Editor).
Arteta realised his mistake in playing Havertz in midfield, taking over from Xhaka. Instead, in 2024, he started Havertz as a half-forward with freedom to drift into midfield and search for space to run in, anticipating the space where the ball will be delivered. Plus, given the freedom to roam, Havertz excels the as the passer to the assister, with his tactical intelligence to pass immediately to a free player to setup another teammate with a clear shooting chance. Havertz is no angel, physical and counterpresser the ball carrier immediately, with a tackle or a bodycheck.
The left flank has no attacking threat when Martinelli is working in isolation and there is still lack of understanding amongst Martinelli, Rice and Odegaard. Martinelli has only two options – turning the corner at bye line or cutting directly into centre like Thierry Henry. Arteta needs to develop Martinelli into a “Henry” that cuts in smoothly centrally with a deadly shot allowing Odegaard having a left-side option to create scoring opportunities.
The more they play together the better Odegaard become in delivering his visionary passes, with Havertz seeking space, and both Martinelli and Saka attacking down the flanks and Rice just behind to execute his accurate crosses. We have inverting fullbacks and inverting wingers that will overload and overwhelm the defence creating gaps and spaces even for a low block for us to exploit. That is the Vision of a Master Craftsman Mikel Arteta – a team of playmakers that have the vision to create scoring opportunities with their telepathic passing, pace and mobility.
The Commander
In freeing Rice, Havertz and Odegaard to play high up to overload defences, there must be someone behind to command the middle behind them, to dictate the rhythm, to switch plays and to anticipate counterattacks by stepping into spaces to intercept long passes or just to holdup the recipients long enough for teammates caught high up to return quickly to reorganise into shape.
Copying Guardiola Bayern Munich with two worldclass inverting fullbacks in Alba and Lahm, Arteta copied the same tactic such that during attacks, it is a 5-3-2 formation with inverting fullbacks folding into the centre. The purpose is to block off all attacking channels down the middle in which the opponent can counter. But it leaves a high gap of 50m behind. The weak link was Zinchenko with his poor positioning, failure to win the ball high up, resulting in a route one football finds joy in counterattack with a quick forward.
In 2024, Arteta found the solution in Jorginho playing deep, shielding the centrebacks. This is based on Rinus Michels’ Total Football which dictates a minimum of 3 players staying behind to protect against counterattacks with the vast space left behind by a highline. Jorginho is a highly technical player with superb football intelligence, anticipated plays and positioned himself to snuff off any dangers. From deep, he is able to dictate the rhythm, slow down as necessary and switch angles of attack as necessary. His superb passing skills setup plays and pick up players on the run.
This is the Commander missing in 2023. Arteta realised this and found it in 2024.
The Twin Tower
Like Havertz, Arsenal fanbase were upset at Raya for replacing their favourite. He was not really welcomed and took sometime for Arsenal fans to accept him as the replacement for Aaron Ramsdale. Arteta immediately signed up Raya when he was available, to provide competition for Ramsdale. It is unfortunate that during the initial few league games that Ramsdale started, he preferred to kick long balls instead of consistently playing it out of defence with an accurate pass. Ramsdale was dropped and the rest is history. What a little feature not known was that Raya is an organiser, vocal in organising his defence.
Arteta had created a solid and mean defence with the Twin Tower in Saliba and Gabriel developing telepathic understanding, each one instinctively covering for each other when out of position. Throw in Ben White who sweeps in behind when both of them are caught outside the box, and Arteta is on the way to create a Back-4 as good as the Fab 4.
Arteta fielded Kiwior as the emergency LB when both Zinchenko and Tomiyasu were out injured. Kiwior struggled as an inverting FB .
In 2024, Arteta fixed LB issue by instructing Kiwior to play as an orthodox LB and not necessary to invert. This means that during 5-3-2 attacking plays, Rice-Jorginho-White is the Middle “3” with Kiwior at left flank bye-line supporting Martinelli (or Trossard).
The Master Craftsman
On March 31, 2024, at Etihad Stadium, Mikel Arteta will present his final “AretaBall 2.0” thesis to the Football Guild for enrolment into the rank of Master Craftsman. Will this Apprentice prove he is the equal of his Master then?
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024:04:04:23:06:13 by Padre Pio.
Kiwior is not required to invert bcos Arteta has White inverting on the right side. And playing Havertz as a false nine, Havertz can invert back into left midfield to provide midfield numbers which Zinchenko was providing when he played. Not optimal as Zinchenko is a better passer of the ball than Havertz but the left side defence is much stronger with a dedicated LB who is strong in the air to deal with opponents' high balls going to Arsenal's left defence.
Arteta has set up a good system. But we need that x factor in attack. Like a Reyes, or Doku type.
Jorginho has done very well. But that is another area we can improve. Similar to how we had the template in attack with Lacazette, and upgraded with Jesus. The same applies to the 6. We need a Jorginho type, just taller, faster and stronger.
"๐๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐. ๐๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ, ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด."
Quote:80'sGoona
Good article Merlion.
.......................We need a Jorginho type, just taller, faster and stronger.
I believe Zubimendi is a good option to replace Jorginho.
โWe speak the same language,โ Gabriel told Stadium Astro. โI am Brazilian but I speak French.
โOn the pitch, the communication is very important. We are good friends and sometimes I need to say, โAh Saliba! F*** sake!โ โ heโll say it to me as well.
โItโs good for us. He understands me and I understand him.โ
Saliba, meanwhile, quizzed about his partnership with Gabriel, said: โI love him, he loves me. Itโs easy to play with him!โ
In the same interview, Gabriel and Saliba also named Arsenal star Jorginho as the player in Artetaโs squad who would be most likely to one day enter management.
[metro.co.uk]
The Twin Tower communicates in French!
"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.
Partey is the one who needs to go and be replaced as you can't have your supposed no.1 DM constantly out injured. So either Rice slots back to DM with Jorginho as his backup and we get a new #8, or we get a new no.1 DM to replace Partey like Zubimendi with Rice playing the more advanced role he has been in recent weeks (I think he's excellent at both).
"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results".
- Albert Einstein
Otherwise, sadly, that will have to be the end of Partey here. Such a waste.
I think Artetaball could actually hinge on having that style of no.6. Rice isn't it. E.g. I think Rice, Odegaard and Wirtz would be horrible.
Some sources suggest that even if Brighton had not rejected a series of offers, the last of which was circa ยฃ70m, for Caicedo, Arsenal would have still manoeuvred to get Rice as they did in July 2023.
His game-changing impact, ability to bring the best out of his team-mates, and how he has shifted the narrative around Arsenal even from the most hardened of pundits tells the story as to why.
Arteta's use of Rice as both his defensive screen and dynamic eight is a nod to how far away he feels the midfielder is from his ceiling.
It was interesting that when Frank Lampard presented the 25-year-old with a custom pair of Copa boots to mark his 50th England cap this week, when he captained the national team for the first time, Rice responded: "I thought special boots were only reserved for players who win the Ballon d'Or and stuff."
Arteta believes Rice can be in the mix for that top honour and all the other major individual accolades. He is already among the favourites for Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year.
Rice allows Arsenal to dictate play as a controller in the six, and as a disruptor in the eight. Arteta has the luxury of switching between both those versions based on the opposition.
Rice has scored six goals in the league this season playing further up the pitch
"The manager likes the fact that I can get around the pitch and disrupt play," Rice told Sky Sports News in an exclusive interview.
"So when we're pressing teams high up, he likes me in that more advanced role. And with the ball, I've been playing in a completely different position. I've been playing in a pocket. He's been telling me about arriving in the box, body orientation, turning in pockets. It's been completely different to what I would do in that No 6 role. So, it's a lot to learn, but it's something that I'm really enjoying because it's making me a better player."
In his first series of external interviews after joining Arsenal, Rice had told Sky Sports News he was "already seeing football in a completely different way. You think you know football growing up and when you play, but when you meet managers like Mikel, you realise you don't really know anything about football. It will take some time to adapt."
Rice said the opportunity to work with Mikel Arteta was a big factor in his decision to join Arsenal
I remind Rice of how taxing he assumed his adjustment to an unfamiliar playing style would be and he does not waiver.
"The way Mikel wants to play and wants to attack opponents, the way he sees me playing in his team, it was very different to what I'd been used to, so it took a lot of time for me to get used to that."
The reality is Rice has been immense from the off and has armed Arteta not just with reassurance but as someone who revels in responsibility.
In the summer, all the talk was about the midfielder's head-spinning fee. "Obviously with the price tag, people are always looking at your performance," he says. "People are always going to say something."
They are saying that he turned out to be a steal. "That's nice to hear," he adds with a sheepish smile. "I've been in big-pressure situations this season, games where if we hadn't won we'd be slipping away from the teams at the top.
"You feel that pressure before the games, you know in your mind that you have to go out there and do everything you can to win, get three points and really thrive off that moment. That's where you learn the most about yourself and obviously as a team as well."
The lesson, given he is in double digits for goal contributions, is that he needs to get more accustomed to celebrations. Mostly when I score, I just don't know what to do to be honest with you," he laughs.
The video you are trying to watch cannot be viewed from your current country or location
All angles of Rice's superb strike against West Ham, which completed the Gunners' 6-0 win over the Hammers
"Because I'm not used to scoring, I don't have my own celebration. Maybe I should come up with one. So when I've been scoring, it's just pure delight. Pure emotion, pure passion and, like I said, wherever I can help the team out and score goals, it's a real bonus.
"Half the time, I'm watching my amazing attacking players score the goals, so it's nice for me to chip in with some and I've got a nice target I want to try and get to and I'm gonna keep pushing for that."
Four more goals to add to his six will do the trick. Is there anything like it? That buzz? "Look, that feeling, you can't replicate it at all," Rice says.
"When you score a goal, when you see the ball hit the back of the net and you hear 60,000 buzzing, it's just such a special feeling. You have to be able to do it to understand it. It's really hard to talk about, but that feeling is just so special and one I never wanna get bored of."
Rice needs to also get familiar with lifting the top prizes even though he is too humble to perceive himself as a leading contender for them.
"I think there are so many good players in the Premier league in my position," he says. There are so many good attacking players as well. It's so good to be spoken about in that manner but we've still got such a long way to go.
"I think them awards, they're nothing to me at the minute. The main things are the ones we want to get as a team and we're right in it."
In large thanks to him.
[www.skysports.com]
Mikel Arteta found his "Transformer" for ArtetaBall 2.0.
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