At the height of Wenger’s career at Arsenal, a couple of interesting things happened. The first thing is the hubris installed in the board room after our historic unbeaten season, leading them to believe we could win anything with just some kids and a couple of pennies in the bank. The second thing is that a couple of years later, a board room rift resulted in the ousting of David Dein.

The role of David Dein

David Dein bought 16.6% of Arsenal in 1983, and slowly built his portfolio to 42% over the next eight years. Since then, he was our middle-man, our transfer broker and our fixer. He was the link between Wenger and the board, and he was the man you trusted to get things done. He was not only instrumental in bringing Wenger to the club, but also brokered the deals for Wright, Bergkamp, Vieira, Henry, Pires – the list is endless.

So when the board got rid of Dein, we lost one of the most important backroom staff members we ever had. His departure was also similar to our recent squad departures, in that no one was brought in as a proper like-for-like replacement. Dein’s club responsibilities were delegated to others, just like our departed holding midfielder responsibilities have been delegated to other positions.

With this extra burden of having to get involved with transfer details and contract negotiations, Wenger has lost some of the focus on the pitch. With Dein as his go-to guy for negotiations and making things happen behind the scenes, Wenger was able to put more effort into nurturing the project initiated by the club as soon as the contracts were signed for building the Emirates Stadium – competing at the highest level while spending less than others.

It was more of a necessity than a choice to do so, as the cost of building a new stadium meant we had to look at alternative ways of putting together a football team. And so the mighty transition started, with Wenger looking to bring in new teenagers every other year or so, to build a continuous wave of talent breaking into the first team as the older generations dwindled in quality.

But with Dein leaving the club, we lost a ruthlessness not evident in the likes of Wenger, or any other backroom staff for that matter. That ruthlessness could have meant a difference in how Barcelona spent years tapping up our best player – it’s doubtful Dein would’ve allowed such blatant disrespect from the catalans. It could also have meant the difference in both the kind of quality we could attract, and also the amount of money we’d spend on that quality.

Current tug-of-war causing trouble

When Dein left the club in 2007, he teamed up with Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov and Iranian investor Farhad Moshiri to form investment group Red & White Holdings – dedicated to buy as many Arsenal shares as possible to resume ownership of the club and get Dein back in the board room to usher Arsenal into a new era of success as the stadium debts were having less influence on the financial policy than in the early 2000′s.

Stan Kroenke makes a rare appearance at the Emirates - meanwhile, David Dein rarely misses a game

Current chairman Peter Hill-Wood saw this as an aggressive form of revenge from Dein, and started looking for an alternative – someone who could compete with Dein and Usmanov for shares and keep Red & White Holdings away from the club.

That person was Stan Kroenke, a US businessman with billions to spend and a good track record in American sports. In other words; the only reason Stan Kroenke is the owner of Arsenal Football Club is because Peter Hill-Wood didn’t want David Dein – one of Wenger’s closest allies – to return to the club.

Meanwhile, Wenger is left to try and control several areas of responsibility when he should be focused on just one – getting the first team to play proper football.

Wenger trying to be the dealmaker has resulted in a couple of blunders – most recently the mix-up with AS Monaco over summer signing Park Chu-Young, who escaped his hotel room after a late plea to pack his things and head to London. Trying to be business-savvy and merciless towards the young men he’s attempting to coach in both football and people skills just won’t work. He is forced to wear too many hats, and at some point he needs another Dein – someone who can play the bad cop while Wenger is playing the good one.

State of Arsenal’s finances

When the Arsenal Supporter’s Trust met a couple of days ago, some worrying numbers emerged – the biggest one being that Arsenal’s annual £50m transfer budget is 90% made up by Champions League money. A total of £45m disappears from the war chest if Arsenal fail to qualify for the Champions League, and that means we’ll have £5m left for transfer fees, wages, add-ons, bonuses, etc.

We also revealed numbers on Twitter recently showing Arsenal purchased 40 players since the 2008-2009 season – but only six of those players have since left the club on a permanent basis. Of the 34 players left, only six or seven would be considered to be first XI starters. It all results in the fourth highest wage bill in the Premier League, despite the fact that Arsenal have an internal wage cap around £110-120k/week, and despite the fact that Man City and Chelsea have some players on £180k/week or more.

This summer will be quite interesting in terms of how our frugal board will approach the imminent need for success, especially if Arsenal finish below fourth place in the Premier League. Buying players isn’t the ultimate answer, but strengthening the team with a couple of high class footballers in the right areas, all while trying to clear out the personnel we don’t really need, could be the first step on a new path.

If Wenger will be here for that transition, no one knows. But one thing is for certain; Wenger is not the man to try and broker the deals and make things happen. He needs a right hand man, someone who’s not afraid to get things done. From one perspective you might say that we have the same problems off the pitch as on it; inability to adapt and win ugly.

But do bear with me, for it is also quite good.

For when he wrote about catenaccio and Helenio Herrera’s Inter in ‘Inverting the Pyramid’, Jonathan Wilson could not skirt the importance of the mental aspect in the fortunes of that side. Primarily, that is because Herrera’s employ of ritiro, his dark arts and his prison-style management make for thoroughly enjoyable reading – he is, after all, the only viable candidate for ‘Scar’ in the Circle of Footballing Life (a production in which Jose Mourinho stars as ‘Zazu’).

But another reason Wilson cannot simply skip ahead to the chalkboards is because the relentless drumbeat of Herrera’s uncompromising regime was the soundtrack to the funeral of own side when Celtic in the ‘67 European Cup final pummelled catenaccio into submission.

In a footballing age that lionises managers with type-A personalities, it is easy to forget how closely married tactics are to the temperaments of the players that execute them.

This is a blog about the Arsenal, and of tactics they employ, and I shall not even get to that. If you have just suffered through that last paragraph, bear with me a bare while longer. In the moments that followed Arsenal’s terrible loss to Sunderland, it was obvious that the back four had no plan to deal with the home side’s pressing game. What was not mentioned in the smoking lounge of desktop pundits everywhere, aka Twitter, was that the team had stepped onto the pitch at the Stadium of Light, against a side they had beaten seven days ago, entirely lacking the arrogance that is crucial to a possession game.

Formation doesn’t matter

Formation doesn’t, and didn’t matter. The players remain technically compatible with Arsene Wenger’s style of play, but setting them out on the pitch to play a short-passing game is torturous for both the team, and the fans. There’s nothing wrong with style of play as far as the footballing climate suggests – the majority of Europe’s top sides enjoy their possession-based football – but it is the least productive option for a side that simply doesn’t believe they are capable of evading a pressing game.

Coquelin adds another entry to our growing injury list

Arsene could have sent the side out in a 5-3-2 or 3-5-2, but I believe the result would have been the same. The tactical changes that came with the introduction of Theo Walcott or the removal of Seb Squillaci affected periods of play, but the overwhelming tide of the game always remained heavily in Sunderland’s favor.

I surrender to you here. There are undoubtedly several talking points from a tactical perspective that I have not mentioned, but I have already introduced you to the general theme of things. This might be a dangerous precedent for my writing on this website, but these are unusual times for me and for supporters of Arsenal Football Club.

Accept this short work as a tactical piece – formations, full backs and front-facing forwards will matter little until this Arsenal team (described by Roy Keane as the ‘worst’ he’d ever seen; he certainly meant worst suited to the style of play expected of them) grow the conviction to think arrogantly, and then learn to mock teams that play with a neanderthalean affinity for bodily contact coupled with a barbaric, relentless pressing game.

A special conclusion

Teach not thy lips such scorn, for they were made for ridiculing Spurs, not for such contempt of the club you love. Alternatively, direct your anger towards a certain Stan Kroenke, whose frugal and silent leadership of the club is infuriating. Arsene Wenger is equally deserving of your criticism, but he would be better off without hearing it.

Keep the faith.

Wenger’s lineup was largely as expected aside from the selection of Thomas Rosicky on the left. Arsenal, in truth, were very poor and Milan, while clinical, weren’t great either. However they were disciplined and kept their shape well and gave Arsenal a lesson on how to put in a mature, professional performance.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Ok first, lets start with the good. Kieran Gibbs played well tonight on his return to first team action. He put in a composed performance with three tackles, four interceptions, four effective clearances, and one shot blocked. He was also efficient going forward. Laurent Koscielny was also good as usual and his injury could be a huge blow to the defence going forward for the rest of the season.

Thierry Henry, Robin van Persie, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were energetic and looked to make something happen. Van Persie often found himself isolated in the first half but did combine well with Henry and forced Christian Abbiati to make a good save after a flick from Henry saw the captain unleash a ferocious volley.

And now for the bad: Take your pick, the rest of the team was poor. Johan Djourou gave away a stupid penalty. TV5, Mikel Arteta, and Alex Song often gave the ball away far too easily. Theo Walcott was invisible again and Bacary Sagna was poor and showed some rust after missing over three months of first team football.

In fact, Szczesny, Vermaelen, and Djourou gifted Milan 3 of their four goals. Arsenal were uncharacteristically sloppy and overall it just wasn’t a good performance from what has been an inconsistent team all year long.

And finally the ugly: Arsenal’s lack of fight / team spirit. This team looked defeated at halftime and, to me at least, looked disinterested in the second half. Its one thing to lose 4-0 scratching, clawing, and going for it all until the end. But to lie down and lose in the fashion we did today is unacceptable to me.

Arsenal Tactics

This game had the potential to be an interesting tactical battle with AC Milan playing an exotic winger-less formation (4-3-1-2) going up against Arsenal’s fluid 4-3-3. However, in the end tactics had little to do with the result although I do believe Arsene did get his tactics wrong on three occasions.

With Rosicky as a left forward, Arsenal lost width and congested the middle of the pitch

First, he elected to try and play possession football against a team that is very good and very comfortable keeping its shape, sitting deep, and playing on the break. Last year, ‘Arry and Spurs got their tactics completely right by allowing AC to have possession and played on the break by exploiting the flanks where their fullbacks had pushed forward to provide midfield width.

It probably would have behooved Arsenal to play very quick and very direct. Instead, Arsenal were all but direct, moved the ball very slowly, and their movement off the ball was very poor.

Next, he selected Thomas Rosicky on the left. I’m not really sure what Arsene was thinking here. Perhaps he was thinking that Rosicky could tuck in to keep the midfield battle at four on four. In the end though, he only narrowed Arsenal’s play and forced them to play through the middle, something that played to AC Milan’s strengths.

Perhaps a better choice here would have been AOC. He could have easily tracked his full back and still provided plenty of width in attack making it two on one on both flanks and forcing one of Milan’s shutter’s out wide to deal with the overload, thus dragging AC’s midfield out of shape.

Finally, I agree with bringing Henry on, I’m just not sure I would have give up on Walcott so fast. The fact that Walcott came off meant Arsenal moved to more of a 4-4-2 shape with Henry partnering with Van Persie. This intern meant that Ramsey moved to the right with Rosicky still on the left. This only further narrowed Arsenal’s play and made it very easy for Milan to deal with any Arsenal attacks.

Conclusion

With the tie essentially over at the halfway point, it may be time to accept defeat and move on to greener pastures and focus on the FA Cup and Champions League spot in the Premier League. This may mean rotating a bit when the home tie comes around.

With that being said, its important to remember that this loss, while tough to take, is not the end of this world and we still have an excellent shot at silverware in the FA Cup. Arsenal now must pick themselves up and get ready for another trip to The Stadium of Light to face a Sunderland side out for revenge.

After battering Blackburn 7-1 last weekend, Arsene Wenger – perhaps unsurprisingly – chose to select a largely unchanged line-up for the crunch game against high-flying Sunderland, bar the inclusion of Bacary Sagna at right-back. As such, Aaron Ramsey started on the bench, with Tomas Rosicky given the nod in the hole between Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on the wings. Despite playing 90 minutes in all of the last 10 Premier League matches, Robin van Persie continued in the lone striker role, with Thierry Henry the only striker on the bench.

Sunderland on the defensive

With Martin O’Neill at the helm, and Arsenal traditionally liable to struggle in the North-East, it was no real surprise that Sunderland had evidently set up to play for a 0-0 draw. But were O’Neill’s selection and tactics too defensive?

In Connor Wickham and Ji Dong-Won, Sunderland have two players who are fully capable in the air and strong enough on the ground to hold the ball up to bring team-mates into play (Niklas Bendtner is another 6ft plus forward at the club, but Premier League loan restrictions meant he was unavailable for selection).

However, instead of either of these players, O’Neill opted to go for pace on the break – deploying Fraizer Campbell in a right-wing position, witin the h Stephane Sessegnon up front on his own. Between the two of them, they won zero aerial duels, while Vermaelen and Mertesacker won five in total with a 100% success-rate¹.

The idea was clearly to try and soak up the pressure for as long as possible, before hitting Arsenal on the break down the flanks or getting a goal from a set-piece. The former provided little to no success for the Black Cats. Whether O’Neill was banking on the inclusion of the inexperienced Francis Coquelin is unclear, but with Arsenal boasting the best defensive record from open play in the league last season, it seems an odd decision anyway.

The decision seems particularly odd when you consider that despite having one of the best set-piece takers in the Premier League (Sebastian Larsson), O’Neill left out two ‘big’ strikers who could have exposed Arsenal’s weakness from corners and free-kicks. Admittedly, Sunderland’s best two efforts prior to the goal did come from set-pieces, but both were long shots after failed clearances rather than headers inside the box.

Furthermore, with Sunderland defending inside their own half for most of the game, the whole side naturally dropped deeper to help defend and reduce the distance between defenders and forwards, with James McClean (supposedly a left-winger) making the joint-most tackles (5) in the Sunderland side. The result of this being that – without anyone big enough to hold the ball up – Sunderland were unable to keep the ball for prolonged periods and were even more tired come the end of the match.

Arsenal substitutions

As previously stated, it was no surprise that Martin O’Neill played for a draw to preserve his superb record at the Stadium of Light. It was significantly more surprising, however, that the moment that arguably lost the game for Sunderland was their opening goal.

Best loan ever? Thierry Henry has the highest goals-per-minute ratio in England this season

The injury to Per Mertesacker forced Wenger to make a change; for which he had two options. The first was relatively straightforward; bring on Kieran Gibbs or Francis Coquelin and move Thomas Vermaelen back to his favoured centre-back position. This would help give the side more width going forward, but at the risk of compromising the aerial battle with neither full-back particularly comfortable in the air.

The second (which Wenger decided on in the end) was more of a gamble. By bringing on an attacking-midfielder in Aaron Ramsey and moving Alex Song to centre-back, Wenger was able to keep control of the aerial battle as well as give the side a creativity boost and an alternative to the more skilful and direct Rosicky.

Fortunately, the substitution paid off immediately. Three minutes after coming on, Aaron Ramsey had bagged the equaliser for Arsenal with a long-range strike that bounced off both posts and rolled in. While Rosicky had had a decent game, the more simple nature of Ramsey, and his better decision-making meant the substitution was just what was needed, especially since statistics show Ramsey is far more willing to take a shot than the Czech; averaging 1.9 to Rosicky’s 1.2 shots per game this season¹.

In terms of the other two substitutions, there was very little change in approach or tactics. Arsenal had already shown a willingness to move the ball into wide positions, with van Persie struggling to impose himself on the game. The problem was just that once in a position, Walcott and Chamberlain seemed reluctant to actually cross the ball and/or failed to find their target with the majority of crosses (completing just two from seven attempts altogether1).

The experience and directness of Andrei Arshavin (even when out of form) was enough for the little Russian to do something Walcott had failed to do all game; make the right decision and deliver the perfect cross.

As for Thierry Henry, there’s nothing to say that hasn’t already been said. Two late winning goals and a last minute goal in his last home game for the club are surely enough to prove that this loan signing was worth it. From three shots on target, Thierry Henry now has three goals this season4 – he came to prove a point, and he has done so emphatically.

Conclusions

Unfortunately, even a 92nd minute winner from The King isn’t enough to cloud over what was, in truth, a disappointing performance in which Arsenal struggled to create chances and impose themselves.

One of the biggest concerns is still Theo Walcott, who continues to invite criticism with inconsistent performances poor end-product. Having received so much praise from his captain last week, Walcott was barely in the game this time and must work to improve this if he is to live up to the expectations of Van Persie and his manager.

Saying that, a trip to Sunderland is never easy – as many teams have found out recently – and Wenger must be praised for three substitutions that changed the game and put Arsenal in a commanding position in the race for Champions League football. A tough run of games follow, but if The Gunners can build momentum and keep their heads high with victory over Milan in the Champions League, and Sunderland in the FA Cup, 4th place is now a very real possibility.

If that person also told you we’d be seventh in the league by January, while Spurs are attempting a serious title bid against a free-scoring Manchester City, you’d punch that person in the face. But here we are, three months left of a season that feels like it was pulled from some alternate dimension. The priority is fourth place at the very least, but there is no way to foresee the future at this stage.

Rosicky in the ‘Cesc role’

Wenger decided to rest the over-worked Aaron Ramsey and instead attempted to utilise the excellent form of Tomas Rosicky to give the side a boost in midfield. Ramsey has been unlucky and a bit tired lately, and with Alex Song and Mikel Arteta ready to play, there was no room for Rosicky in his more effective position deeper down the pitch.

Overall Rosicky did ok, even though his defensive work was below the required level in that very important ‘false 10′ role. He didn’t win any of his four attempted tackles², and neither of his two shots were on target². The ‘Cesc role’ is basically a second forward role, meant to serve the forward three with through balls and be the focal point of the midfield. Rosicky is more of a central midfielder than a classic trequartista, and didn’t make that much of an impact even though Arsenal recorded a massive win.

Don’t get me wrong – Rosicky is a perfectly good backup for that role, but Ramsey is definitely more comfortable in the position, even though he’s misfiring at the moment. Wenger is also desperately looking for the “next Cesc”, obviously identifying that trequartista position as a key position in his preferred system. Just in the last three years, Wenger has bought no less than six youth players able to play in that role – Eisfeld, Toral, Olsson, Gnabry, Ebecilio and Galindo.

The “Barcelona Scarecrow”

Showing his critics wrong, Theo Walcott finally connected his technique to his brilliant mind to give the supporters a glimpse of what he’s capable of when playing on all cylinders. Once described by Pep Guardiola as the only player Barcelona fear, his speed and excellent vision has always been his main strengths, but the latter is also one of his biggest problems, struggling to match his theoretical approach with his practical one.

Yesterday his performance was close to perfect, or at least as good as it has to be for him to make an important impact. Using his speed, he searched for the space where he would gain an advantage over Blackburn’s left-back Martin Olsson, who is usually a very capable defender. Exploiting Blackburn’s lack of pressure, Walcott was unleashed.

The only negative was his crossing, as usual. Eight attempted crosses, none successful². This isn’t really a problem specifically for Walcott though, as Arsenal are notoriously bad at serving crosses into the box. And to be fair, crossing takes two to tango – if no one is in the box, a cross won’t be successful regardless of how well it was hit. That’s just one of those areas where statistics can be flawed – is Walcott really bad at crossing, or is Arsenal really bad at getting people into the box?

Who needs Hazard when we have the Ox?

Every season we have a breakthrough talent that gives us hope for the future. Last year it was Jack Wilshere, this year it’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The youngest player in the first team has treated us to convincing arguments as to why we shouldn’t buy another wide forward, and it’s interesting to think about the choice Wenger is forced to make when choosing between an 18-year old with a handful of first team appearances and a full international with 67 caps and almost 100 appearances for the club (Andrei Arshavin).

With Gervinho coming back, there is already a risk of hindering the development of this gem, who brings something completely different to Wenger’s system – simplicity. Chamberlain rarely fiddles around in midfield or over-complicates his actions. He goes straight for goal, no detours.

Paired with Walcott on the opposite flank, this dynamic duo can become a lethal one, especially when combined with a player-type like Robin van Persie in between them, who is a central forward drifting into deeper positions at times, alternating between a distributive role and a receiving role. Yesterday was the perfect example of when that combination works.

The other thing that Chamberlain adds above both Arshavin and Gervinho is his defensive effort. He doesn’t do many “traditional” tackles, but he successfully attempts loads of take-ons, meaning he reads opposition dribbling attempts well, dispossessing wingers and full-backs at will.

Thierry Henry

I just want to end on an emotional note. It’s truly amazing to have seen Henry back at the Emirates, scoring as many goals in a few weeks than Fernando Torres managed in the last five months. Watching him talk to our players on the bench, teaching them how to press, showing them where to run, has been heart-warming. Football is all about moments, and when Henry scores 175th Premier League goal for Arsenal in 2012, you forget about league positions and out-of-form players. I love this club.

After three consecutive Premier League losses, Arsene Wenger was in no mood to play a weakened side against tough opponents who have won more league points than any other visiting team at the Emirates Stadium (W2 D2 L1)⁴. Lukasz Fabianski was given a chance to impress in goal, while Mikel Arteta and Bacary Sagna were deemed not to be match-fit and so started on the bench. After his performance against Manchester United, 18 year old Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain also kept his place in a largely unchanged starting line-up.

0-25 mins – Pass, pass, pass

Alex McLeish – tactician extraordinaire – set up his defence in the first 25 minutes in the same way every visiting team from the lower echelons of the Premier League have done, and will continue to do. And once again, Arsenal simply couldn’t break them down, however much Van Persie and co. huffed and puffed.

Aston Villa’s defences were broadly split into two groups – the actual defence, and everyone else. A front four of Darren Bent, Robbie Keane, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Stephen Ireland dropped back to the half-way line and helped the rest of the midfield apply pressure on Arsenal’s three-man midfield – looking to force them back with the ball and stop the ball getting to Van Persie. After all, if you can’t stop him once he’s on the ball, the best thing to do is to stop him getting it in the first place.

As a result, Arsenal spent around five minutes to get anything going in the final third, when Ramsey had a shot from the edge of the box saved comfortably by Shay Given. When the midfield did manage to get the ball forward, the second defensive phase came in – Richard Dunne and Carlos Cuellar camped on the edge of their box and made sure the likes of Aaron Ramsey weren’t able to find a pass inside the area, with both making several key interceptions.

Villa’s one weakness in the first quarter of the game was – perhaps predictably with an ex-Liverpool and an ex-Tottenham player at left and right-back respectively – down the flanks. The much criticised Theo Walcott showed glimpses of the potential he should have fulfilled by now as Stephen Warnock struggled to find an effective way of keeping him out of the game. The left-back was instructed to stand off the England winger to deny him space in behind the defence, but on several occasions Walcott showed good intelligence to drop off and link up with Van Persie or run at Warnock in the first half.

33-45 mins – Arsenal too predictable

For all their possession in the opening stages of the game, it was notable that Arsenal’s best chances in the first half were a shot from Vermaelen from around 35 yards out, and a typical Walcott finish sliced 6 yards wide.

Going forward, Arsenal showed little versatility. By simply setting up a line of four defenders to block and intercept shots or passes in central positions outside the box, McLeish was able to easily isolate Van Persie, and despite threatening in wide areas, Arsenal’s midfield seemed determined to get a through-ball behind the defence.

Nothing was more predictable, however, than Arsenal’s defending. After 33 minutes, Aston Villa were allowed to score their first goal from a corner this season⁴. Three school-boy errors and Fabianski was picking the ball out of the net.

After Per Mertesacker was caught out of position high up the pitch (resulting in a cheap corner), Ramsey was then left alone to mark two players from a short-corner. After an all too easy one-two, Koscielny then failed to get off the ground and allowed Richard Dunne to power home a header.

Just 12 minutes later, Arsenal were again guilty of poor defending. With Thomas Vermaelen caught out of position from an Arsenal corner, the covering Oxlade-Chamberlain was drawn inside (towards the ball) too easily, and then backed off the man on the ball – leaving Stephen Ireland in plenty of space to pick a pass through to Darren Bent. A poor parry from Fabianski and Bent was left with an open goal to make it 2-0 at half-time.

Second Half: Arsenal more direct

After some choice words at half-time, Arsenal came out all guns blazing in the second half – taking just 9 minutes after the break to get a goal back and put Villa on edge. The first goal, while a penalty, is worth analysing.

Aaron Ramsey, who had been frustrating and increasingly anonymous in the first-half (whether overworked or simply not good enough), showed exactly the kind of determination Arsenal needed at 0-2. After winning the ball back in midfield, he continued his run forward and showed a desire to get into the box and offer movement behind the defence; ultimately winning a penalty simply by using his pace to beat Dunne to the ball. 2-1.

Furthermore, Arsenal began using the wings more, running at the defence rather than passing the ball around in front of them. Stephen Warnock had looked vulnerable against Walcott in the first half, so it was good to see his team-mates recognising that and encouraging him to run at the full-back. The goal, though fortunate in that it came off Walcott’s shoulder, was typical of what Arsenal hadn’t been doing in the first half, and what Walcott is criticised for not doing enough.

At 2-2, Aston Villa clearly began to panic. With Van Persie isolated by the two centre-backs, Arsenal instead played around him; becoming less determined to give him the ball and – as before – targeting the full-backs. It was telling, then, that the final goal came as Arsenal mixed things up. Laurent Koscielny, the surprise package in the penalty area, was allowed to ghost past Alan Hutton on the left and drew a foul from Darren Bent.

Clearly, Aston Villa were expecting a reaction in the second half. However, a defence built around physical attributes and aerial dominance were weak against quick, one-touch passing and a frenzy of movement behind them.

Conclusion

Umpteen heart-attacks, eighteen pints of whisky and three goals later, Arsenal are through to the FA Cup 5th Round. At half-time, doomsday seemed inevitable – boos (arguably justifiably) rang around the stadium and Villa were comfortable sitting on their two goal lead.

Arsenal made it unnecessarily hard for themselves, but what would Arsenal be if not difficult and frustrating? With Mikel Arteta and Bacary Sagna now returning from injury, and Thierry Henry back to sit next to Park Ju-Young on the bench, a trip to Bolton in midweek doesn’t seem nearly as daunting as before.

Lastly, the elimination of both Manchester Clubs, and distractions aplenty for Liverpool, Arsenal fans can begin to dream that the trophy drought may finally end. Before that, a difficult tie in the North-East awaits, as well as two imminent legs against A.C. Milan in the Champions League.

Early first half

For the most part, the first half was very slow with each team playing cautiously trying to assess the other. This was also partly down to the fact that each team was trying to play on the break with neither team really looking to press too highly and lose their shape.

Neither team created many great chances but Arsenal did have the better one’s early on with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain at the heart of Arsenal’s best attacking moves. Arsenal’s best chance came when a through ball down the right from Alex Song released AOC to the byline. He then took on Patrice Evra and beat him with skill and pulled the ball back for Theo Walcott who, unfortunately, made of mess of the chance.

United react and attack down the left

Both makeshift full-backs lost their marking for Man Utd's first goal, with not only Djourou backing off, but also Vermaelen slipping into centre-back space

Something that was tactically strange that United eventually noticed is that even though Arsenal were standing off and inviting pressure, they were still playing with a fairly high defensive line.

This is potentially suicidal because it allows players time to pick out an easy ball over the top.

And sure enough, Michael Carrick, who completed eight of nine long ball attempts1, was able to find time on the ball deep in the midfield and continually hit diagonal long balls over the top to Nani who tortured Johan Djourou (who was playing out of position) throughout the first half.

With United having found the weak point in Arsenal’s defence, the defending champions turned up the heat and began to attack continually down their left flank (51 percent of United’s attacks came from the left during the 90 minutes¹).

Patrice Evra and Nani continued to find themselves in very dangerous positions in the box and on the byline, and eventually United’s first goal came from a Ryan Giggs cross on the left that found Antonio Valencia for an easy headed finish.

Second half

Arsene Wenger started the second half by substituting Johan Djourou and bringing on Nico Yennaris who is a natural fullback. This was an obvious choice and ended up being a very wise one in that it shored up the right side of Arsenal’s defence.

The next thing Wenger did was instruct his team to press, which is what the team should have been doing from the get go. Many teams miss the boat that it is still possible to play counter-attacking football and press high up the pitch. The best example of this is Barcelona (for all the possession oriented goals they have, they still score a ton on the quick counter) and for an Arsenal example you could even look back to the 3-1 win over Chelsea at The Emirates last year.

The pressing helped nullified the long ball threat by putting pressure on United’s center mids and back four. This tactical change almost paid off right away when Chris Smalling slipped on the ball and game it away to Thomas Rosicky who charged forward and laid the ball off to Van Persie who showed he is still human by missing an incredibly good chance.

Arsenal were finally rewarded for their efforts by scoring after countering a United counter attack. Laurent Koscielny made an excellent tackle in the box on Valencia and quickly found an outlet pass to Rosicky who then fed The Ox who charged forward with the ball and found The Captain for a cool first time finish.

The substitution

First off, let me say that it is very easy to criticise the substitution of Arshavin for AOC simply because hindsight is 20-20. Also, I 100 percent believe Wenger when he says that Oxlade-Chamberlain was struggling fitness wise. The fact of the matter is he hasn’t played a lot this year. Also it is important to remember that the substitution was set to be made before The Ox set up RvP’s equalizer.

With that being said, I think Arsene Wenger got this substitution completely wrong. First off, Andrey has been in probably the worst form of his life. Secondly, he is a terrible defender and given the circumstances of the game, was never the right choice. And right on que, United quickly exposed him through Antonio Valencia getting into the box and setting up Welbeck’s winner.

So who would have been the correct choice? That’s a tough question to answer due to Arsenal’s lack of depth through injury crisis but perhaps Park Chu-Young would have done better due to his work rate and physicality.

Conclusion

In the end Manchester United were able to capitalize on two tactical miscues. The first being playing a high line with out pressing and the second the decision to bring on Andrey Arshavin, both of which led to the two United goals.

However, even after losing three straight, it is still important to remember that we are close to getting some key players back in Sagna and Wilshere, as well as other members of the squad, and that we are only five points out of fourth place. With a home game against Chelsea still on the fixture list, Champions League football is still an attainable goal.

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We avoided all the watermarks and bullshit, just enjoy (the download link is located below the picture).

Download zip file: Thierry Henry Wallpaper

Leeds came to the Emirates to play for a replay but Arsenal sought to have none of it. Sebastian Squillaci got a rare start alongside Laurent Koscielny at the back, with Francis Coquelin and Ignasi Miquel filling in alongside them. Arsene Wenger started his regular midfield lineup to support Andrei Arshavin, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Marouane Chamakh up front, and they controlled the game completely without being overly spectacular. Leeds were offering little in attack, and it was up to Arsenal to break them down…

Leeds, and the Arsenal back line

Leeds lined up in a 4-1-4-1 to match Arsenal’s three in midfield. Honduran winger, Ramon Nunez and on-loan Tottenham youngster, Andros Townsend, were billed to be the two key men for the Championship side and did exactly that – they were Leeds’ outlets on the counter and did their best to use pace and trickery against Arsenal’s makeshift fullbacks to craft something.

Townsend began the game on Leeds’ left, up against Francis Coquelin. Oxlade-Chamberlain, having been given a rare start, was eager to prove himself to Arsene Wenger and did a great job of shuttling back to track Townsend. Manager Simon Grayson was quick to swap his two wingers so as to give the Spurs’ loanee a more favorable matchup against Ignasi Miquel and Andrei Arshavin on Leeds’ right.

But, the odd forward foray from the wingers aside, Leeds created little of note. Ignasi Miquel sat back and was loath to overlap on the left (more on that in a bit), and the home side always had numbers back and sat deep enough to prevent the visitors from exploiting any space behind them.

Notably, Laurent Koscielny has been spotted in ridiculous positions up the field in recent weeks – with Arsenal lacking natural fullbacks to add numbers in attack, the Frenchman has been given a little more freedom to wander forward. He showed attacking initiative throughout the game and is a character to watch when he makes his runs.

Chamakh, and Arsenal in possession

Chamakh is not Thierry Henry. He’s certainly not Robin van Persie.

The natural expectation for a big forward on the field is that (a) he’s going to hold the ball up for the other forwards, or (b) that he’s going to bully defenders in the air in and around the six yard box. Chamakh does neither – and bear with me, for I have no intention of slander – but rather seems to fancy himself as someone who works best as the more advanced player of a two-striker system. Robin van Persie is comfortable dropping deep into the heart of midfield to pick up the ball and allow play to stream forward around him, but the Moroccan prefers to keep his markers engaged around the box.

The knock-on effect is that Aaron Ramsey is forced to play higher up the park and that the side then can’t rotate a midfield trio that has developed a fluidity in recent months. Throw in two makeshift fullbacks who are cautious in making forward runs (Coquelin wasn’t, but tweaked his hamstring after dashing sixty yards to overlap Oxlade-Chamberlain) and it encourages the two wide players to get narrower and narrower to help the side keep the ball.

Arsenal had no problems maintaining possession against their reticent guests, but when you get narrow against opposition that are sitting back in their own box, it becomes difficult to create chances without players like Van Persie or Thierry Henry, who are capable of the extraordinary within tight pockets of space.

But Arshavin and Ramsey had exactly the sort of games that compensate for missing your star striker. But for their wasteful shooting, their flair and movement around the box should have wrapped the game up comfortably for the home side. Danny Pugh, in particular, was given the run around by the little Russian but was the only one of Leeds’ back four who didn’t have a good game.

Chamberlain thrives on being offered short lanes of space on either flank – he struggled a little off the ball when asked to cut inside (as opposed to getting to the byline directly), and was justly substituted along with Chamakh after the hour mark. Nico Yennaris had a solid game at right-back to support The Ox, and will likely see more game time in coming weeks as Arsenal’s injury crisis in defence has gone from terrible to nightmare-ish.

Conclusion

From a purely footballing perspective, Arsenal v Leeds was a dull affair. Thierry Henry was expected to come on at some point in time to liven up the Emirates, but surely no one imagined that he would score the only goal of the game (and that too in the way that he did).

It was the fabled ‘magic of the cup’ rearing its wonderful head, and it made everyone who watched the game a witness to one of the most tearfully memorable moments in Arsenal’s history.