Morning all.
Happy birthday to Arsene Wenger who is 66 years old today.
Talking of him, last Arsene he held an interview with FourFourTwo magazine highlighting how teams should best approach five-a-side and its correlation to the 11-a-side game.
Here’s part of it which was written in the Daily Mail yesterday:
If you watch five-a-side, most goals will come from a quick burst upfield. One or two passes and then shoot. It is the teams that have too much of the ball and are playing too many passes amongst themselves that have the least success. Be quick, be ruthless and you’ll be successful.
Playing on the break with quick passes from defence can be a hugely effective and entertaining tactic in 11-a-side and the same can be said for the smaller version of the game.
By sitting back and defending you are tempting your opposition to lose their shape, frustrating them, before winning the ball and scoring on the break. But to do it well, the two full-back/midfield players are vital. They must support the defender and nullify the other team, but in a flash, break out and get among the goals.
His words were quite different to those muttered over previous years which suggested the best way to defend is by attacking. What’s this ‘shoot’ the manager refers to? Haven’t we always been guilty of trying to walk the ball into the net? Didn’t Arsene always believe in possession, possession, possession? After all, if his team is in possession of the ball, how could the opposition hurt us?
The answer of course was, and always has been quite simple. A quick break away and a goal was all any side needed and all too often, that happened. Back then, the manager would try and defend such footballing naivety by citing the opposing manger’s tactics as being boring or they didn’t choose to play football the way the game should be played. Yet it was them who walked away from the match with all three points.
Swansea at The Emirates early in 2015 is a perfect example. We had the majority of possession but couldn’t turn that into goals. One break away towards the end of the match and game over, we’d lost.
Here’s a table which lists the Arsenal victories with the lowest percentage of possession under Arsene Wenger, thanks again to The Mail:
| Date | Opponent | Competition | Possession % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20/10/2015 | Bayern Munich | Champions League | 26.86 |
| 18/01/2015 | Manchester City | Barclays Premier League | 35.33 |
| 04/10/2015 | Manchester United | Barclays Premier League | 37.82 |
| 09/03/2015 | Manchester United | FA Cup | 42.09 |
| 02/08/2015 | Chelsea | Community Shield | 43.5 |
| 23/09/2015 | Tottenham Hotspur | League Cup | 45.53 |
| 21/02/2015 | Crystal Palace | Barclays Premier League | 47.05 |
| 01/03/2015 | Everton | Barclays Premier League | 47.17 |
| 01/02/2015 | Aston Villa | Barclays Premier League | 48.03 |
| 04/04/2015 | Liverpool | Barclays Premier League | 48.64 |
| 21/03/2015 | Newcastle United | Barclays Premier League | 49.09 |
The above clearly shows that over the last few months, possession football hasn’t been the priority over the result. The Utd game just a few weeks ago was perhaps the best. We started the game at a high tempo and refused to let Utd settle in any area of the pitch. We were clinical in front of goal, grabbed three goals and then said, ‘over to you’ as the team simply sat back and nullified everything Utd tried.
As for the ‘shooting’ the boss mentions in the FourFourTwo interview – yes, we’ve even started doing that again this season. Flamini against Tottenham, Alexis against Utd, even Ozil in the same game took his shot instead of trying to find another pass. There are other examples but I’m sure you get my point.
We had just 26.86 per cent of possession against Bayern which at home, is quite unusual for any side, especially Arsenal during Arsene Wenger’s reign but so what? Does it really matter when at the final whistle, three points are in the bag?
I don’t think so, especially when up against the so called ‘better’ sides and I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot more of what we witnessed last night as the season goes on…
Bring it on I say…
I’m out for the day today so have fun…. 😉
Statistics a post full of statistics has the been a change of policy that ii didn’t know about 🙂
Morning Rico enjoyed the post as always.
Happy birthday to the gaffer.
Cheeky joe. 🙂
Good morning Rico. good post as ever.
My advice to Rico, keep waking up from that side of the bed; stats are good for the soul….. in moderation. 🙂
Morning Rico, Ts, Joe, All,
Great post…
I think the ‘Specialist In Failure’ tag forced Arsene to change his approach…before then he had told Mourinho it was very easy to sit back and defend.
morning all
nothing like a good stats post to get ginge going in the morning, maybe the ban has been lifted
ginge, munich are a bigger and better club than juve
I suppose, the answer is not just defending and looking to hit the opponent on the break, in all cases…
It’s taking into consideration how the opposition play and then tailoring your tactics accordingly…
It’s all rather obvious, and begs the question why it took so long for the penny to drop?
Maybe, as Wenger approaches the end of his career, it could be that he is loosening his controlling influence on everything and is listening to others at the club..?
Maybe….?!
Morning happy calculators.
Lies, damned lies and statistics!
Need I say more?
I say statisticians of the world unit 🙂
lol Mg.
Munchen are ginormous but this season I think Juve will make last 8 at least…
Pep can’t beat Ath Madrid, Juve, Psg or Chelski as we know from the last 2 or so seasons…
A linesman has gone to the police in Spain because he has been contacted by a referreering official and told to favor Real Madrid in next month’s match against Barcelona.
ginge, i suppose i will have to go with your opinion, seeing as you know everything about football
And now the FIFA puss begins to ooze!
Corruption to the left of me, corruption to the right and I’m stuck in the middle with FA!
I wonder what else will creep out of the cupboard? Italy we know about, now Spain, no surprises there then! But how long will it take before the English game gets smeared in this kind of tale? Not long, I suspect!
Ramsey out for 3 weeks,so we can safely say hes out until xmas and beyond
Good morning Rico and All. Who said you can’t learn Fredo new tricks?
Kev said “… and he’s listening tonothers at the club…?” Well that’s a good start. Times are changing, you have to go with the flow.
Happy birthday to the Boss!
I’ve just read Ramsey’s out till mid November, so that means it’ll be nearer Easter than Xmas, MG!
Well, Oxlade-Chamberlain has got his chance now, let’s see if he takes it?
He’s gotta learn how to defend a bit better and he’s gotta stay fit and start scoring a few goals…
Good one Rico. Love how we are being tactically sound and the to the gaffer for that (happy birthday to him). I hope the Ox really turns up. I have mixed feelings of Ramsey playing on the right, but clearly that boy puts in work. Sometimes the Ox is guilty of loosing concentration and I’d point to us conceding 2-3 goals as a result of him loosing the ball.
Well Spain being exposed for corruption. It’s about time. Hope those dominos fall into FA too. I’d bet Mike Dean would be right on top…if not the Chavs
Dean and PMGO an organization led by the 50th match ref Riley.
Or Ferguson’s puppet
Anyone still up for Wenger out?! Finally changed his ways, it started at the end of last season well the second half at least…. he’s found ways to beat the teams around him again however west ham at home the champo league games were a disgrace however not Wengers fault imo the players didn’t show heart and didn’t turn up…. I doubt Cech would of came without Wenger. I had a rant quite some time ago about people saying Wenger out and again who is available in world football you’d deliver what Wenger is currently doing/has done? there isn’t anyone Madrid and Barcelona run themselves along with Bayern with the teams they both have a director of football and a coach rather then manager….times are changing and Wenger is now finally changing with these times yes 6 years too late but I’d rather have our team and manager then anyone else in the prem. COYG
well well, very interesting that our 3 best results i.e United, City and Munich have all come when we,ve had least possesion than usual, playing without the ball and breaking in the style of Dortmund under Klopp could bring it,s own rewards. Maybe AW is beginning to change his philosophy against the better sides, If it brings success, i,m all for it, but can,t help thinking, why did it take till he was 66 for the penny to drop.
Cos he couldn’t find the ‘route’! Boom, boom
Ok I’ve got me coat!
Ramsey out until December
Rosicky, Wilshere and Welbeck only back next January…
Very problematic.
11 games at least, until the 1st January
Wilshere is back in December…
Jack is expected back for Aston Villa (a)
Johann Cryuff has been diagnosed with lung cancer… 🙁
Happy Birthday Arsene, hopefully that 3rd bottle of wine won’t cloud your judgement this weekend you old French surrender monkey.
Morning guys…
No new post today as too much to do…
I’m sure you’ll all survive… 😉
Catch up later or tomorrow…
Haha…what’s going on? Are we on another international break.
Good afternoon anyone…
Noneone is betting against Arsenal tomorrow…that’s when dear Gunners become frustrating…disappoint. It’s all prayers and hoping they’re stepping out of tradition.
It’s so lonely here today.
Ive just got the Luisa board out!
Is there anybody there?
Nope!
Fing iPad doesn’t improve does it …….”ouija board” where the **** does Louisa come from? She must be trying to get in touch with me, ……………from the other side!!!
There’s many a day, when I’m feeling at a loose end, and a bit bored, when I’ve got out my Luisa Board, and had hours and hours of fun….
It certainly helps, especially when Talk Talk are fcuking up your life…
Anyway, I would rest Sanchez and Koscielny tomorrow…
It has been a quiet day today, only enlivened by more Maureen nonsense – pushing a teenage boy (bet he was a little kid – Jose would not push anyone who could push him back – it will all be the kids fault, of course, it’s never Maureen’s fault, is it?)
The knock on effect of humiliating Dr Carneiro is that Helen Rabbatts the only woman on the FA Board who defended her has been summoned to explain herself to the disciplinary committee, and the fact that Maureen got off scot free despite no witnesses being called – and again just for the special idiot, the Doctor was not called to give evidence.
It stunk the place out at the time, and it still stinks.
What’s the difference between FIFA and the FA?
F I = F***ing Incompetent, as apposed to the FA which equates to Frightfully Atrocious.
They are both a total waste of space and are about as unbiased as bowling ball on a crown green!
Morning….
Morning Rico…
Only a new post can put live here.
Morning Tai.
I do strive to get a new post up each day but sometimes my life has to come first… 🙂
Certainly Rico…only one who lives by writing can appreciate the efforts you make daily to keep the site lively.
Thanks Tai..
New post up now….