@@harveygration At this point of the season, we can only hope City slips up. I'm excited on where Arteta is gonna take this team next. I think we really need a difference maker star player that will carry us through tough games.
If we are going to let Partey go, we need to find a Saliba kind 6, We simply dropped about 6 points because of not having a Partey, Jorginho gave us some points also, I think Rice is best at 8 than 6 unless we find another odegaard to play left 8
I expect Declan to still play lots of games in the 8 for us but the 6 is most likely where the bulk of his mins in an Arsenal shirt is going to come IMO. The main problem for us was not have two of those aforementioned players available for a large enough chunk of games. Partey-Rice was always the plan this season. Next season we need to find a way to replace Partey’s passing whilst upgrading on his legs too
I have the exact same idea as Lawrence. I would sell Partey this summer if Saudis wants him for good money. Arsenal need a n6 and a n8 to compete in all competitions. Rice trusts enough Partey to cover up while he’s n8. He would trust even more an Ugarte or a Palinha, n6 specialists as him in defending the back 4. He understandibly doesn’t trust Jorgi to protect, speed wise. I would take Kimmich or Goretzka as priorities, if not,Onana, Douglas Luiz as n8, Palinha, Zubimendi,…there is a lot of n6 and n8 available
If we let Partey go after his diminished availability has hampered us this season, I can see the club going hard for Zubimendi from Sociedad...hell, i can see them going pretty hard for him anyway, as Jorginho is rumoured to be off to Juventus anyhow.
@@akielstraker nah Jorgi has a two years contract proposal. I don’t think he’ll refuse that. Yes Zubi would be good. But Kimmich is available and has a champions league winning experience, he’s nearly 30, we need these profiles. Will help the youngs. Goretzka too
If we were to replace Partey, we would need to find someone at least as good at direct passing. Otherwise we will drop points in some games and miss out again... We were mature enough to win some of "those games" especially at the start of the season but we weren't the same before we got Partey back 4 games ago.
Brilliant analysis of what can be quite complex to breakdown since it seems so random at times but there's order to the chaos. Looking at Tomiyasu and the positions he was taking up yesterday I was just seeing Timber. His press resistance and drive on the ball was made for that role. Hope he gets a solid preseason and doesn't suffer from the issues players with his injuries normally suffer from when they return
Super kind of you Ken-I think that sums things up pretty nicely! And yes, as the Timebr video will hopefully explain, this free LB birth is tailor made for Timber!
Excellent video. I was at the game and noticed quite how much more flexible our build-up looks. It's been been gradual, but now such a contrast to last season, where it really was the Zinchenko show. Really fascinated to see how Arteta evolves us next season, with Timber returning and potentially a new central midfielder.
Thanks ever so much. The best thing is we don’t actually know what Arteta is planning. There have just been lots and lots of experiments (esp in pre-season). I’m sure this off season will be the exact same. Can’t wait!
Top vid Harvey,I do believe rice is a long term 6 but can’t help to feel that would limit him he’s got so much ability and potential going forward,he’s getting better game by game.
Thanks again! Part of me agrees, but if you can give him a proper partner that can fill in at the 6 and pivot from LCM, his attacking output can still be impactful but we also will have (hopefully) it balanced by a marquee LCM. There is lots of vanishing points though, and truth is Mikel could do so many things next season!
it must be a great feeling how good Havertz has been for you. His numbers have been staggering in the last couple of months, G/A is greater than matches played
I must admit the feeling of vindication is quite nice. But Havertz was ALWAYS going to succeed at Arsenal, the environment was too good for him not to.
i like the idea of the 344(diamond). All depends on the defensive capability of odegaard on the right cm role tho. If he can step up it would open the way to accomodate another Goalscorer without sacrificing our chance creation (like city did with haaland and alvarez) and we could even play this "more offensive" formation in big games. Nice video and amazingly broken down! Keep up the good work my man!
Thanks so much mate! Lot will depend on who we can get our hands on in the summer and if we can upgrade the athleticism of our midfield. It will get expanded upon in my Timber video, but it’s a tangible possibility next szn
All I thought about from your statement of them having more freedom in positioning and them expressing themselves is the "Ancelloti tactic" that's exactly what he said he does, he lets them do what they think is best offensively and they only have a structure defensively and heck it works.
Partey was the missing piece apart from Timber. Jorginho can PASS like Partey, but he lacks the pace and strength that TP5 has. Like, it’s crazy just how badly we’ve missed him in the midfied cus now Rice has his shackles unbound and he can play box to box
It’s very frustrating. And the thing is Partey is nowhere near where he was physically in times gone by too. As a club we probably should have expected this tho and prepared in due course. We won’t make the same mistake this summer.
Great to see different faces to arsenal... Keeps teams guessing, seeing the midfield completely change IE Jorg the left 8 v pool, ode dropping deep, just need timber to link with haverts and mart on the left and we're flying
@@harveygration yep 100 Percent, we haven't seen an inverter with his skillset yet, most teams opt for a penetrative passer, IE zinnys 10 yard line splitters, or Trent 50 yard diags etc.. timber is completely different profile he is a penetrative runner and dribbler!! The closest we have seen was cancelo at city when inverted.. I'm so exited to see what this does for the team
Harvey, I have being thinking about a rigid 3-5-2 for cup( Champions League, FA, Carabao) competition's next season. Kindly do an analysis of this context: Raya Timber -Saliba -Gabriell White - Rice- Partey - Odegaard - Martinelli Kai - Saka Compactness & Allowing for dominance in the game 1-0 nil to the Arsenal.
My preferred option for these big knockout ties, especially away from home, are a strict double pivot (ex.Partey-Rice); I think there is an argument to be had Ode’s zone of influence is quite larger enough in these big space match ups to warrant an inclusion. Instead, just going Martinelli as a runner, Kai as another outlet/link man at CF, Saka on the right and allowed to move central with the inclusion of a proper second ball gobbler and dynamic runner alongside Kai (should be ESR if all went well, but Fabio, Jesus etc). A kind of 4-2-4 if you want to embrace transitions. Your side is more control of the ball which I don’t mind at all; but I doubt there is a world where Timber/White can play on the SAME side (too much moving). However, if you move Timber to the other side behind Odegaard, and Martinelli into the front line. You get a similar system to what we play now just w the Odegaard allowed left to access Gabi. This can also work.
Thank you mate! Was defo more nuanced but I really enjoy these types! I also think it’s integral for us to understand this with regards to how Arteta wants to platform his squad going forward. Mentally he seems freer and that is reciprocated by the players. Much more natural across the pitch.
@@harveygration love the insights you’ve drawn out because now I understand the team a lot more and why we look different now compared to the beginning of the season. Excited to see how the introduction of Timber influence the dynamics and whether that would bring Martinelli back into the fore.
Let me start off firstly by congratulating you on yet another excellent bit of content once again. Right, now that we have the pleasantries and formalities out of the way, lets dig into what i have observed based on some of the stuff you mentioned in your video. I remember on Saturday, the commentators in the Arsenal game did mention that every outfield arsenal player had at least 1 shot in the match. It seems like arteta is evolving with his team. An interplay between positionism and relationism which is quite synonymous with thiago motta's bologna, inzaghi's inter an even Michel's Girona (to an extent). In previous years gone by, positional play seemed to be the dominant philosophy, however, football has evolved in the years gone by. Most recently in the last couple years from my recollection, Fernando Diniz and his obsession with relationism which is clearly the antithesis of positional play has seemingly influenced a new generation of coaching and coaches. With relationism it basically insinuates or more so blatantly highlights (😂) that structure is useless, however, as I mentioned before we have seemingly unearthed a new generation of coaching and coaches who have seemingly married both ideas to say "hang on a minute, we can be very fluid within a structure". As you said "fluid rigidity" The more i watch football, i tend to recognize that modern coaches are increasingly adopting this hybrid approach that merges these concepts (just like hybrid pressing is being increasingly used now as well). I have noticed 2 ideas in this approach: 1) Structured positional base: The team maintains a base formation, providing a framework for player movement and ensuring defensive stability. 2) Relational freedom within the structure: So it's basically where the players are given the freedom to move within their positions to exploit spaces and create attacking opportunities. It's almost as if this hybrid approach offers the best of both worlds: tactical organization and flexibility, control and creativity. To end things off I'd like to call this new approach flexi-positioning because it captures the essence of the approach by combining "flexi" (meaning flexible or adaptable) with "positioning." It emphasizes the structured positional base that provides a foundation while acknowledging the freedom for players to move within those positions based on the game situation. I can breathe now after saying a mouthful lol
Thanks so much for the kind words, but more for the comment-this is incredible stuff-and I absolutely agree with you. In the summer I did a big piece on what I called your hybrid term: fluid rigidity. It means keeping a fixed structure but allowing rotations within said system. After pre season, Arteta left this side of the game; but, in the 2nd half of the season, more and more Arsenal are adding this unpredictability and fluidity back. As I mentioned, this current iteration of Arsenal built up sits between the relationism we see at Real Madrid (or the apt examples you gave), and the uber rigidity of Pep’s City. Arteta is a hybrid coach-there is not a doubt about that. If I had to place him on a scale where rigidity is 0 and relationism is 10, he is probably about a 4. I think the bigger picture is the most important though: Arteta feels he can trust these players and allow them to use their own intuition-for future platforming this boads very very well. Thanks so much for the awesome comment, you are spot on my friend!
@harveygration Firstly, thank you for the compliment. Lastly, what an excellent comment to follow up your elite content with. Arteta is really blending approaches and borrowing ideas in the buildup phase, as you noted here. I even saw glimpses of such in the bayern game 1st leg where our buildup phase almost resembled a horseshoe with rice dropping to lb and odegaard to rb. Just look at the tactical board you had out between 5:25 to around 5:35 in your video relative to this video done by statman Dave on Thiago Motta's bologna from 5:05 to around 5:50 in his video th-cam.com/video/rYvd_CbRC50/w-d-xo.htmlsi=yjjsRvTTaPMCbIe5 . There seems to be some similarities in their buildup and there was even a glimpse of further similarities with saliba's marauding run which almost led to a goal and calafiori's movement (though the bologna player's positioning may be a bit more aggressive ) basically giving insight into future possibilities as to how we may attack Additionally, that part where you mentioned that Arteta can trust his players to use their intuition probably can be linked back to why he's tried to not change the team selection as much so as to create excellent team chemistry and understanding among the players which is seemingly the denominators to execute this philosophy. There has to be constant communication and an understanding between the players beyond just tactical instructions. be sure to check out that piece you wrote in the summer
Great video! On the topic of IP structure, does more frequent rotations have limitations and should teams just focus more on rigid structures with specific zone dominators across the field or is the value from incorporating both rigidity and fluidity just too great to lean onto one specific idea
This is an incredible question. I’m normally in the camp of encouraging rotations so long as each key zone is still occupied-i.e. fluid rigidity. Arsenal seem to have mastered the perfect balance of that, whilst at times straying into more flexible structures, but this is (importantly) ALWAYS where there is absolute control of the ball. We also have one of the best group of players in terms of tactical understanding around, so this all helps. Asking the players to solve things themselves a bit more is just another ingredient added to the mixture. But all in all, fluid rigidity is what we’ve seen from Arsenal (I used the term a lot in pre season). It’s part of what makes Arteta such a hybrid manager
I'm excited about what the 3-4-3 could look like next season. Would Rice be the 6 which may been inverting from the rb position? Will Havertz remain up top which could bring in a player like Viera/ESR as the 'Raumdeuter' type and a player like Bruno G as the left sided 8 in the diamond? So many possibilities!
Rice will most likely be the fixed 6, just there all the time, but I’m sure he will occupy the LCM role multiple times in the season still. I go into more detail in the Timber vid, but yes basically it leaves room for an ESR/Vieira introduction. This won’t be a set and forget structure though, just likely another tool in a growing Arsenal that fits the rotations we are seeing currently very well
I think Tommy in the LB position is actually more of a progession offensively as he is more creative going forward which actually compliments Rice better when Rice is in the left midfield/8 role.
@@harveygration I will be waiting. I think this season Arteta had to adapt his team due to missing players and it actually improved the team. Im looking forward to next season and what Arteta and co. can come up with. Somewhere in my mind im visualizing an INVICIBLES 2 season ahead lol ... but anything close to that would be just fine as well.
It hasn’t stopped. It’s the most common system we use in settled play still; but there is just a bigger emphasis on how things may become more flexible in certain moments. Kiwior also didn’t just tuck in as a LCB, he rarely inverted but found himself occupying the L8 position very regularly and overlapping the winger. Whites inversions have stopped on the other hand but it’s mostly just down to the profiles Arteta is using now. Partey back means the last thing we need is an additional body in midfield with White, who can stick to adding dynamism to RHS etc etc
@@harveygrationthat is true great video as well do you think it would make more sense for white to start higher when odegaard drops deep so it becomes more of a 2-3-5 rather than a 3-3-4
@@harveygrationthat is true what would you say the difference between when we invert the lb and rb would it be when it’s the left back ie tomiaysu or zinny they become a second pivot whereas when white inverts irs more of an inverted wing back as he bombs on and still makes runs
I’ve got a lot of unrecorded vids I unfortunately just did not have time to edit whilst I had all my work. But I’m transferring their content into other vids coming up!
Love you content, but to put it simpler it s just rondos moving up the pitch. There is a saying in football 11 v11 is in the tunnel. When the game starts it is lots of small sided games of rondos. In the clips you showed there were lots of SSG and Rondos.
Harvey as I heard, Mikel will try to bring another lb in the summer. what do you think, why do we need left back, when we have timber, zinchenko, tomiyasu and kiwior? Meanwhile Saliba has no cover 🫣
@@harveygration Waiting for the most unpredictable transfer window I have ever seen 😂 GK, Diomande, Bruno G, Olise and Isak would be great but let's see We need something new for next season. Winning league against pep with only 1-2 point gap looks impossible
Arteta have another step in mind to score more I imagine. It takes time so there’s risks of draw. I think he tried it in the wrong time against Aston Villa. Anyway I think still this season was still short of top class striker…Without this, competing against KDB, Haaland, Alvarez,…is difficult
@@billa-ictresearch2018 nah, if arsenal won against West Ham at home or against Newcastle away…we woudve been where we want. Now city have ever in their hands
Would love to see him evolve Arsenal to their first league title in 20 years on the 20th anniversary since the Invincibles, but have a feeling he blew it at home against Aston Villa. Winning the title is the only evolution I want to be hearing about.
harvey do u think with poch changing chelsea system with cucurella as inverted fullback and chelsea having so many top players are u worried chelsea have more chances of league titles than arsenal in a few years, also which english team do u think will dominate next few years. are u worried abou chelsea,liverpool,spurs or are arsenal clear?
Poch’s alterations have been first class after the Arsenal result-it’s actually a similar pendulum system to us as well with 8s dropping deep alongside the 6 and inverted fb. Poch’s problem has been sticking to the 4-2-4 into 3-2-5. There are also still a lot of question marks which I don’t have time to go into, but I think they would’ve been in the T4 if this was their set up the whole year-which makes it even more frustrating. Still though, lots of things to see re OOP stuff and also individuals to assess how high their ceiling is. But he deserves time now
It’s the only other position I’ve ever discussed him being in outside of the CF. Allows him to link play, create/assume space, make third man runs, gobble second balls-proper raumdeuter here. But for me the CF is still is home, agreed.
Partey and jorginho are not going anywhere,elnenny is going for free and might be joined by lokonga on the way out we can't afford to lose 3 midfielders in the same window,the priority for arsenal should be a striker and a right winger and a left back if zinchenko leaves.
Why do you say "without you noticing?". More and more of this type of content is coming up on TH-cam. And I don't get that statement. What do you think I'm doing when I watch a game of football? I think most fans are watching the game and taking in everything about it. So yes I have noticed very, very many things this season that Arteta and the coaching staff have implemented this season. Maybe I should start a football fan channel telling people what they have seen....
The title really isn’t meant to be deeped that much-it’s to do with getting clicks etc-and I’m sorry if it’s come across in a negative light. It’s literally just to create the impression of an intriguing video that takes a look at something not given due notice yet. That’s literally it.
What you are describing is not that different from what we ve seen last year. In fact, Teta went from what wasn't working in 1st half of this season to what worked last year in the second half of this season, which is what many have been calling for, and it took teta long time to figure it out. Of course with the actors being different, there will be differences in build up and etc. On teta losing partey and missing him, let's not forget that before his injury partey played at rb in pl, so you can't claim that it was his plan all along, so that's misleading or making excuses for teta, still good video tho 👍 btw on timber, if you are alluding to timber inverting into the bottom of the diamond next season thats probably likely, the only thing is not sure how he ll perform as a deep playmaker, we haven't seen that much of him
Twitter: @GrationHarvey if you want more :)
Less FaceTime more analysis screen and visualization of what you're saying while you're speaking in the background. otherwise cool analysis
I think the tv commentators mentioned this yesterday that every outfield from Arsenal had at least one shot at goal.
True! Now it’s just getting them on target and not just a shot
Oh god.. I was thinking about this while watching the game.. "all are shooting" ❤
cant wait for next season
Arsenal keep evolving…🤛. Fingers crossed for a good end to this one though!
Same
@@harveygration At this point of the season, we can only hope City slips up. I'm excited on where Arteta is gonna take this team next. I think we really need a difference maker star player that will carry us through tough games.
If we are going to let Partey go, we need to find a Saliba kind 6, We simply dropped about 6 points because of not having a Partey, Jorginho gave us some points also, I think Rice is best at 8 than 6 unless we find another odegaard to play left 8
I expect Declan to still play lots of games in the 8 for us but the 6 is most likely where the bulk of his mins in an Arsenal shirt is going to come IMO. The main problem for us was not have two of those aforementioned players available for a large enough chunk of games. Partey-Rice was always the plan this season. Next season we need to find a way to replace Partey’s passing whilst upgrading on his legs too
I have the exact same idea as Lawrence. I would sell Partey this summer if Saudis wants him for good money. Arsenal need a n6 and a n8 to compete in all competitions. Rice trusts enough Partey to cover up while he’s n8. He would trust even more an Ugarte or a Palinha, n6 specialists as him in defending the back 4.
He understandibly doesn’t trust Jorgi to protect, speed wise.
I would take Kimmich or Goretzka as priorities, if not,Onana, Douglas Luiz as n8, Palinha, Zubimendi,…there is a lot of n6 and n8 available
If we let Partey go after his diminished availability has hampered us this season, I can see the club going hard for Zubimendi from Sociedad...hell, i can see them going pretty hard for him anyway, as Jorginho is rumoured to be off to Juventus anyhow.
@@akielstraker nah Jorgi has a two years contract proposal. I don’t think he’ll refuse that. Yes Zubi would be good. But Kimmich is available and has a champions league winning experience, he’s nearly 30, we need these profiles. Will help the youngs. Goretzka too
If we were to replace Partey, we would need to find someone at least as good at direct passing. Otherwise we will drop points in some games and miss out again... We were mature enough to win some of "those games" especially at the start of the season but we weren't the same before we got Partey back 4 games ago.
Brilliant analysis of what can be quite complex to breakdown since it seems so random at times but there's order to the chaos.
Looking at Tomiyasu and the positions he was taking up yesterday I was just seeing Timber. His press resistance and drive on the ball was made for that role. Hope he gets a solid preseason and doesn't suffer from the issues players with his injuries normally suffer from when they return
Super kind of you Ken-I think that sums things up pretty nicely! And yes, as the Timebr video will hopefully explain, this free LB birth is tailor made for Timber!
Excellent video. I was at the game and noticed quite how much more flexible our build-up looks. It's been been gradual, but now such a contrast to last season, where it really was the Zinchenko show. Really fascinated to see how Arteta evolves us next season, with Timber returning and potentially a new central midfielder.
Thanks ever so much. The best thing is we don’t actually know what Arteta is planning. There have just been lots and lots of experiments (esp in pre-season). I’m sure this off season will be the exact same. Can’t wait!
great analysis
Really appreciate it, thanks so much
Next season we are taking major honors. trust in mikel!
I can feel it
Arsenal will be unstoppable
Top vid Harvey,I do believe rice is a long term 6 but can’t help to feel that would limit him he’s got so much ability and potential going forward,he’s getting better game by game.
Thanks again! Part of me agrees, but if you can give him a proper partner that can fill in at the 6 and pivot from LCM, his attacking output can still be impactful but we also will have (hopefully) it balanced by a marquee LCM. There is lots of vanishing points though, and truth is Mikel could do so many things next season!
Good analysis.
🙏
it must be a great feeling how good Havertz has been for you. His numbers have been staggering in the last couple of months, G/A is greater than matches played
I must admit the feeling of vindication is quite nice. But Havertz was ALWAYS going to succeed at Arsenal, the environment was too good for him not to.
i like the idea of the 344(diamond). All depends on the defensive capability of odegaard on the right cm role tho. If he can step up it would open the way to accomodate another Goalscorer without sacrificing our chance creation (like city did with haaland and alvarez) and we could even play this "more offensive" formation in big games. Nice video and amazingly broken down! Keep up the good work my man!
Thanks so much mate! Lot will depend on who we can get our hands on in the summer and if we can upgrade the athleticism of our midfield. It will get expanded upon in my Timber video, but it’s a tangible possibility next szn
All I thought about from your statement of them having more freedom in positioning and them expressing themselves is the "Ancelloti tactic" that's exactly what he said he does, he lets them do what they think is best offensively and they only have a structure defensively and heck it works.
Mikel is capable of this, and wants to emulate it in PARTS. think it just takes time sometimes, especially for a 42 yo in his first job!
Appreciate the preperation for this, great analysis, subbed x
Thanks ever so much, great to have you with us❤️❤️
Awesome analysis
Much appreciated ❤️
trossard is underrated by most fans
Leo is a gem!! ❤
Generic comment #12, how is trossard underrated.
Most fans? Arsenal fans? 😮😮 Very few!
@charles9489 his goal celebration.?
No he's not we all know his quality
Love this analysis, keep it up mate 💪🏾
Thanks so much mate! Really appreciate you taking time out to comment ❤️
Great analysis, as ever, keep it up
Many thanks, as ever!
Unbelievable again, simply unbelievable
That is incredibly kind of you-thanks for your unbelievable support ❤️
Partey was the missing piece apart from Timber. Jorginho can PASS like Partey, but he lacks the pace and strength that TP5 has. Like, it’s crazy just how badly we’ve missed him in the midfied cus now Rice has his shackles unbound and he can play box to box
It’s very frustrating. And the thing is Partey is nowhere near where he was physically in times gone by too. As a club we probably should have expected this tho and prepared in due course. We won’t make the same mistake this summer.
very informative and clearly explained and presented. new subscriber here mate. keep up the good work
Super kind of you to take the time to leave a comment mate! So glad you’ve joined us. Plenty more on the way❤️❤️
Great to see different faces to arsenal... Keeps teams guessing, seeing the midfield completely change IE Jorg the left 8 v pool, ode dropping deep, just need timber to link with haverts and mart on the left and we're flying
Unpredictability is going to be the defining facet of this team moving forward. Timber in that Tomi role is frightening.
@@harveygration yep 100 Percent, we haven't seen an inverter with his skillset yet, most teams opt for a penetrative passer, IE zinnys 10 yard line splitters, or Trent 50 yard diags etc.. timber is completely different profile he is a penetrative runner and dribbler!! The closest we have seen was cancelo at city when inverted.. I'm so exited to see what this does for the team
Harvey,
I have being thinking about a rigid 3-5-2 for cup( Champions League, FA, Carabao) competition's next season.
Kindly do an analysis of this context:
Raya
Timber -Saliba -Gabriell
White - Rice- Partey - Odegaard - Martinelli
Kai - Saka
Compactness & Allowing for dominance in the game 1-0 nil to the Arsenal.
My preferred option for these big knockout ties, especially away from home, are a strict double pivot (ex.Partey-Rice); I think there is an argument to be had Ode’s zone of influence is quite larger enough in these big space match ups to warrant an inclusion. Instead, just going Martinelli as a runner, Kai as another outlet/link man at CF, Saka on the right and allowed to move central with the inclusion of a proper second ball gobbler and dynamic runner alongside Kai (should be ESR if all went well, but Fabio, Jesus etc). A kind of 4-2-4 if you want to embrace transitions.
Your side is more control of the ball which I don’t mind at all; but I doubt there is a world where Timber/White can play on the SAME side (too much moving). However, if you move Timber to the other side behind Odegaard, and Martinelli into the front line. You get a similar system to what we play now just w the Odegaard allowed left to access Gabi. This can also work.
Bro this video is insane!
Thank you mate! Was defo more nuanced but I really enjoy these types! I also think it’s integral for us to understand this with regards to how Arteta wants to platform his squad going forward. Mentally he seems freer and that is reciprocated by the players. Much more natural across the pitch.
@@harveygration love the insights you’ve drawn out because now I understand the team a lot more and why we look different now compared to the beginning of the season. Excited to see how the introduction of Timber influence the dynamics and whether that would bring Martinelli back into the fore.
Let me start off firstly by congratulating you on yet another excellent bit of content once again.
Right, now that we have the pleasantries and formalities out of the way, lets dig into what i have observed based on some of the stuff you mentioned in your video. I remember on Saturday, the commentators in the Arsenal game did mention that every outfield arsenal player had at least 1 shot in the match. It seems like arteta is evolving with his team. An interplay between positionism and relationism which is quite synonymous with thiago motta's bologna, inzaghi's inter an even Michel's Girona (to an extent).
In previous years gone by, positional play seemed to be the dominant philosophy, however, football has evolved in the years gone by. Most recently in the last couple years from my recollection, Fernando Diniz and his obsession with relationism which is clearly the antithesis of positional play has seemingly influenced a new generation of coaching and coaches. With relationism it basically insinuates or more so blatantly highlights (😂) that structure is useless, however, as I mentioned before we have seemingly unearthed a new generation of coaching and coaches who have seemingly married both ideas to say "hang on a minute, we can be very fluid within a structure". As you said "fluid rigidity"
The more i watch football, i tend to recognize that modern coaches are increasingly adopting this hybrid approach that merges these concepts (just like hybrid pressing is being increasingly used now as well). I have noticed 2 ideas in this approach: 1) Structured positional base: The team maintains a base formation, providing a framework for player movement and ensuring defensive stability. 2) Relational freedom within the structure: So it's basically where the players are given the freedom to move within their positions to exploit spaces and create attacking opportunities.
It's almost as if this hybrid approach offers the best of both worlds: tactical organization and flexibility, control and creativity.
To end things off I'd like to call this new approach flexi-positioning because it captures the essence of the approach by combining "flexi" (meaning flexible or adaptable) with "positioning." It emphasizes the structured positional base that provides a foundation while acknowledging the freedom for players to move within those positions based on the game situation.
I can breathe now after saying a mouthful lol
Thanks so much for the kind words, but more for the comment-this is incredible stuff-and I absolutely agree with you.
In the summer I did a big piece on what I called your hybrid term: fluid rigidity. It means keeping a fixed structure but allowing rotations within said system.
After pre season, Arteta left this side of the game; but, in the 2nd half of the season, more and more Arsenal are adding this unpredictability and fluidity back.
As I mentioned, this current iteration of Arsenal built up sits between the relationism we see at Real Madrid (or the apt examples you gave), and the uber rigidity of Pep’s City.
Arteta is a hybrid coach-there is not a doubt about that. If I had to place him on a scale where rigidity is 0 and relationism is 10, he is probably about a 4.
I think the bigger picture is the most important though: Arteta feels he can trust these players and allow them to use their own intuition-for future platforming this boads very very well.
Thanks so much for the awesome comment, you are spot on my friend!
@harveygration Firstly, thank you for the compliment. Lastly, what an excellent comment to follow up your elite content with. Arteta is really blending approaches and borrowing ideas in the buildup phase, as you noted here. I even saw glimpses of such in the bayern game 1st leg where our buildup phase almost resembled a horseshoe with rice dropping to lb and odegaard to rb. Just look at the tactical board you had out between 5:25 to around 5:35 in your video relative to this video done by statman Dave on Thiago Motta's bologna from 5:05 to around 5:50 in his video th-cam.com/video/rYvd_CbRC50/w-d-xo.htmlsi=yjjsRvTTaPMCbIe5 . There seems to be some similarities in their buildup and there was even a glimpse of further similarities with saliba's marauding run which almost led to a goal and calafiori's movement (though the bologna player's positioning may be a bit more aggressive ) basically giving insight into future possibilities as to how we may attack
Additionally, that part where you mentioned that Arteta can trust his players to use their intuition probably can be linked back to why he's tried to not change the team selection as much so as to create excellent team chemistry and understanding among the players which is seemingly the denominators to execute this philosophy. There has to be constant communication and an understanding between the players beyond just tactical instructions.
be sure to check out that piece you wrote in the summer
Top work
Thank you so much, Clive. From a man I respect and learn so much from-and listen to all the time on ArsenalVision-I can’t thank you enough.
Great video! On the topic of IP structure, does more frequent rotations have limitations and should teams just focus more on rigid structures with specific zone dominators across the field or is the value from incorporating both rigidity and fluidity just too great to lean onto one specific idea
This is an incredible question. I’m normally in the camp of encouraging rotations so long as each key zone is still occupied-i.e. fluid rigidity. Arsenal seem to have mastered the perfect balance of that, whilst at times straying into more flexible structures, but this is (importantly) ALWAYS where there is absolute control of the ball. We also have one of the best group of players in terms of tactical understanding around, so this all helps. Asking the players to solve things themselves a bit more is just another ingredient added to the mixture. But all in all, fluid rigidity is what we’ve seen from Arsenal (I used the term a lot in pre season). It’s part of what makes Arteta such a hybrid manager
awesome video
Thank you so much. Means a lot, truly.
I'm excited about what the 3-4-3 could look like next season. Would Rice be the 6 which may been inverting from the rb position? Will Havertz remain up top which could bring in a player like Viera/ESR as the 'Raumdeuter' type and a player like Bruno G as the left sided 8 in the diamond? So many possibilities!
Rice will most likely be the fixed 6, just there all the time, but I’m sure he will occupy the LCM role multiple times in the season still. I go into more detail in the Timber vid, but yes basically it leaves room for an ESR/Vieira introduction. This won’t be a set and forget structure though, just likely another tool in a growing Arsenal that fits the rotations we are seeing currently very well
I think Tommy in the LB position is actually more of a progession offensively as he is more creative going forward which actually compliments Rice better when Rice is in the left midfield/8 role.
Wait till you see Timber in that role.
@@harveygration I will be waiting. I think this season Arteta had to adapt his team due to missing players and it actually improved the team. Im looking forward to next season and what Arteta and co. can come up with. Somewhere in my mind im visualizing an INVICIBLES 2 season ahead lol ... but anything close to that would be just fine as well.
How comes Arteta stopped the 3-2-5 build up with white as an inverted fb with kiwior lcb it worked really well
It hasn’t stopped. It’s the most common system we use in settled play still; but there is just a bigger emphasis on how things may become more flexible in certain moments. Kiwior also didn’t just tuck in as a LCB, he rarely inverted but found himself occupying the L8 position very regularly and overlapping the winger. Whites inversions have stopped on the other hand but it’s mostly just down to the profiles Arteta is using now. Partey back means the last thing we need is an additional body in midfield with White, who can stick to adding dynamism to RHS etc etc
@@harveygrationthat is true great video as well do you think it would make more sense for white to start higher when odegaard drops deep so it becomes more of a 2-3-5 rather than a 3-3-4
It’s what often happened tbf. Much of it is left up to the players no which I prefer.
@@harveygrationthat is true what would you say the difference between when we invert the lb and rb would it be when it’s the left back ie tomiaysu or zinny they become a second pivot whereas when white inverts irs more of an inverted wing back as he bombs on and still makes runs
MY GUY
Thanks again brother ❤️ when we doing a show next?
You expose Arsenal tactics
I was waiting for bayren’s analyzes why we were so poor !
I’ve got a lot of unrecorded vids I unfortunately just did not have time to edit whilst I had all my work. But I’m transferring their content into other vids coming up!
Arsenal must be the most analysed team in the EPL. They can’t stop trying to unpick how this team works.
first & only sub because you deserve it buddy
That’s so so kind of you, mate. Can’t thank you enough. So glad you are enjoying, it’s the only reason I do this! ❤️
Love you content, but to put it simpler it s just rondos moving up the pitch. There is a saying in football 11 v11 is in the tunnel. When the game starts it is lots of small sided games of rondos. In the clips you showed there were lots of SSG and Rondos.
Harvey as I heard, Mikel will try to bring another lb in the summer. what do you think, why do we need left back, when we have timber, zinchenko, tomiyasu and kiwior? Meanwhile Saliba has no cover 🫣
Cant see us going for a lb. In terms of the defence, the Saliba replacement is the biggest hole.
@@harveygration Waiting for the most unpredictable transfer window I have ever seen 😂
GK, Diomande, Bruno G, Olise and Isak would be great but let's see
We need something new for next season. Winning league against pep with only 1-2 point gap looks impossible
I’ll get some transfer vids on the way in due course!
Jurien Timber's J is pronounced
With Arteta. I think Arsenal might go unbeaten next season.
We’ll see. With the slip ups this season and all of december they have a long way to go to get to an invincible level
Arteta have another step in mind to score more I imagine. It takes time so there’s risks of draw. I think he tried it in the wrong time against Aston Villa. Anyway I think still this season was still short of top class striker…Without this, competing against KDB, Haaland, Alvarez,…is difficult
U have scored more and consumed less... You are where u have to be and Mancity is in the same situation.. top teams
@@billa-ictresearch2018 nah, if arsenal won against West Ham at home or against Newcastle away…we woudve been where we want. Now city have ever in their hands
Would love to see him evolve Arsenal to their first league title in 20 years on the 20th anniversary since the Invincibles, but have a feeling he blew it at home against Aston Villa.
Winning the title is the only evolution I want to be hearing about.
Fair enough. But regardless of whether it comes this season or not, it will happen.
Is it evolution, or is it within our DNA to be adaptable to situations given to us?
It’s probably something inherent that we are slowly returning to :)
How about saliba went all the way to have a shot?
It was situational but we can probably expect it to happen every now and again with him being shifted further right atm
harvey do u think with poch changing chelsea system with cucurella as inverted fullback and chelsea having so many top players are u worried chelsea have more chances of league titles than arsenal in a few years, also which english team do u think will dominate next few years. are u worried abou chelsea,liverpool,spurs or are arsenal clear?
Poch’s alterations have been first class after the Arsenal result-it’s actually a similar pendulum system to us as well with 8s dropping deep alongside the 6 and inverted fb. Poch’s problem has been sticking to the 4-2-4 into 3-2-5. There are also still a lot of question marks which I don’t have time to go into, but I think they would’ve been in the T4 if this was their set up the whole year-which makes it even more frustrating. Still though, lots of things to see re OOP stuff and also individuals to assess how high their ceiling is. But he deserves time now
truthfully i don't want to ever see havertz at the top of the 3-diamond-3
It’s the only other position I’ve ever discussed him being in outside of the CF. Allows him to link play, create/assume space, make third man runs, gobble second balls-proper raumdeuter here. But for me the CF is still is home, agreed.
Partey and jorginho are not going anywhere,elnenny is going for free and might be joined by lokonga on the way out we can't afford to lose 3 midfielders in the same window,the priority for arsenal should be a striker and a right winger and a left back if zinchenko leaves.
Why do you say "without you noticing?". More and more of this type of content is coming up on TH-cam. And I don't get that statement. What do you think I'm doing when I watch a game of football? I think most fans are watching the game and taking in everything about it. So yes I have noticed very, very many things this season that Arteta and the coaching staff have implemented this season. Maybe I should start a football fan channel telling people what they have seen....
The title really isn’t meant to be deeped that much-it’s to do with getting clicks etc-and I’m sorry if it’s come across in a negative light. It’s literally just to create the impression of an intriguing video that takes a look at something not given due notice yet. That’s literally it.
What you are describing is not that different from what we ve seen last year. In fact, Teta went from what wasn't working in 1st half of this season to what worked last year in the second half of this season, which is what many have been calling for, and it took teta long time to figure it out. Of course with the actors being different, there will be differences in build up and etc. On teta losing partey and missing him, let's not forget that before his injury partey played at rb in pl, so you can't claim that it was his plan all along, so that's misleading or making excuses for teta, still good video tho 👍 btw on timber, if you are alluding to timber inverting into the bottom of the diamond next season thats probably likely, the only thing is not sure how he ll perform as a deep playmaker, we haven't seen that much of him