Arsene Wenger seems to split opinion even amongst his own fans. When the relatively-unknown Frenchman first joined the Gunners back in 1996, he revolutionised a club that had been in transition ever since George Graham left over 12 months earlier. His replacement Bruce Rioch had only lasted a year at the club since being appointed boss in 1995, as he struggled to impose himself on the London giants.
Rioch signed Chris Kiwomya. Then again he signed Dennis Bergkamp, thus he will always be remembered somewhat-fondly at Arsenal. However, playing with the likes of Ray Parlour and David Hillier was probably not the experience Arsenal Chairman Peter Hill-Wood had sold to him, and Arsenal fans were rightly worried that Bergkamp may not have been happy if things continued.
We all remember the statements from Arsenal players a month or so into Wenger’s reign, as Arsenal improved dramatically. It almost got tiresome. The once rigid and weary-looking back four suddenly turned into sprightly, yoga-loving teenagers, expressing themselves, and each praised Wenger for giving them mental strength and belief.
Nearly fifteen years on and Wenger is still at the helm. He is now Arsenal’s most successful manager ever, despite the club not having won a trophy since 2005. For a Frenchman with no previous knowledge of English football (a fact Sir Alex Ferguson once famously castrated Wenger for when Wenger began to criticise fixture congestion), achieving such success is nothing short of remarkable. As Jonathan Pearce commented on last night’s Match of the Day, Wenger is soon approaching his 17th semi-final when they meet Wigan in the League Cup .
However, Wenger’s insistence on his policy of filling a team with skilful players who love to pass the ball, feel the ball and caress the ball has attracted criticism from people who are unhappy when this style does not get results. It is an old argument now, one that has been going for years, and one that doesn’t look like going away anytime soon if Match of the Day continues to keep the likes of Alan Hansen and the old biddy Mark Lawrenson in jobs.
It is a criticism often forgotten when Wenger’s side are in-form and picking up results, and those who are in Wenger’s camp must often melt in anger at the hypocrisy at times of the British media. How many times have we lazily heard pundits criticise Arsenal for lacking a more direct ‘Plan B’ when attacking, only to hail the magical passing style of the ‘Plan A’ that rips apart a team the week after with no acknowledgment of the prior criticism dished out. You cannot have it both ways Mr Pundit.
The other criticism of his recent sides has been the perceived ‘lack of backbone’ that supposedly leaves a soft centre for aggressive teams to take advantage off. Wenger’s early Arsenal sides had a strong midfield pairing of Emmanuel Petit and Patrick Vieira, but since the two departed, Wenger has chosen to feature neat, technical centre midfielders instead of a more combative type.
The current midfield features a very similar type of player. Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri, Tomas Rosicky, Denilson, and Andrei Arshavin are all skilful, diminutive right-footed players with great technique. The promising left-footed Jack Wilshire appears to be offering simply a Southpaws version of the aforementioned players, rather than offering an alternative. Alex Song and Abou Diaby have a significantly bigger physique than them, but DIaby is deceptive and is a box to box player with a fine touch, and Alex Song would prefer to stay on his feet than slide in like a rampaging Scott Parker.
Wenger’s team does have a major weakness in that their defence is not up to the standards set by his previous Arsenal sides. Laurent Koscielny and Sebastien Squillachi have not yet settled and they have missed Thomas Vermaelen badly. Those who argue that Arsenal’s defence is not protected enough by its midfield should note that that Manchester United’s first choice defensive partnership of Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic are consistently excellent despite United not employing a ‘Makalele-type’ midfielder in front of them.
Arsenal’s midfield, according to some will never win anything, with robust Premiership sides like Stoke and Wolves getting ‘stuck in’, ‘winning the battle’ and making the Gunners drop vital points consistently. It is this that apparently leaves some Arsenal fans frustrated with Wenger, and when pundits every week are saying the same thing, mud sticks.
Wenger’s disbelievers consider Wenger of being either ignorant, naïve, or not good enough to instil physical competencies in midfield, but the simple truth is that the manager, as always, sees it differently. Rather than trying to improve on areas with apparent deficiencies, Wenger tries to improve on his teams strengths.
Let us not forget the first half of the first leg between Arsenal and Barcelona in the Champions League last season. Arsenal were destroyed in that half not by a side who were intent on disrupting their play, but by a side that simply wouldn’t let them have the ball (Although admittedly Barcelona did work extremely hard when they didn’t have the ball).
Barcelona are undoubtedly the benchmark for Wenger, and although some clubs are so far away from the standard of the Catalan giants, Wenger knows that his team are close to emulating them. Consequently Wenger tries to maintain a fluent passing style, which we all know has looked ridiculously good at times and has outplayed the very best.
Wenger entered the Premiership with an open mind, a thinker. It is clear he sees the way Arsenal play as the way to success. He doesn’t want to play like anyone else, he doesn’t want to bow to media and fan pressure to buy more physical and experienced players, but he does want to win trophies.
Does every team have to play the same way? With a defensive midfielder in front of a back 4, a big striker up front with aerial presence or a five-man midfield to suffocate the opposition? All are viable tactics but it is up to the manager to see what he feels best. This is Arsenal’s most successful and longest serving manager after all.
Why thus, should anyone try and mould a free-flowing easy-on-the-eye Arsenal side into something that we believe could be more productive if it means we lose the charm and beauty of their style of play? It would be criminal for Arsenal or Wenger to change their principles. Wenger should stick to his Plan A, just as Spain and Barcelona do, and he deserves a lot more respect from what he currently gets.
Let’s not forget, children growing up playing the game look to those they watch every weekend for influence on their own game, copying their stopovers etc. If the future of England international football is to improve, it will do no harm for children to see players passing the ball to each other patiently and skilfully, with an emphasis on technique and possession. Spain and Barcelona have re-written the rule-book as to how to become successful at the very top level, and the youth of today should aspire to play like them and not like a side managed by Sam Allardyce or Mick McCarthy.
With Robin Van Persie essentially having been out of the first team for 12 months, and Cesc Fabregas suffering from injury problems this season, Arsenal have been shy of arguably their two most talented players this term, yet find themselves top of the league at the time of writing. Samir Nasri’s fantastic double yesterday against Fulham proved that other players are stepping up, and with the lack of a decent top Premiership side left in the League Cup it looks likely that Wenger will finally win a first trophy since 2005, a trophy he has not yet won. It may not be the only trophy he picks up this season.
Showing posts with label Sam Allardyce. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sam Allardyce. Show all posts
Sunday, 5 December 2010
Sunday, 19 September 2010
Refreshingly Direct?
The never-say-die attitude of the Premiership again came to the fore yesterday, this time at the Stadium of Light, as Darren Bent’s late, late goal denied Arsenal of what would have been an excellent three points against Sunderland. Arsene Wenger was perhaps justified in his complaints about how much stoppage time was played, but he must be cursing the slack defending that again cost his side a valuable win. As Bent punished yet another sloppy clearance by Gael Clichy, Wenger must have had flashbacks to St Andrews two seasons ago, when Clichy gave a ball away in his own area then proceeded to concede a penalty against Birmingham. The penalty, duly converted by James McFadden, was a dagger in what was a realistic Arsenal title challenge back in 2009. It also prompted a hilariously childish rage by William Gallas, who showed such apparent passion for the Gunners as an Arsenal captain that day, that he now plays for rivals Tottenham.
Although Arsenal ended the game with 10 men, and thus can point to utter misfortune that they conceded the goal when they did, they never really seemed comfortable with what was being thrown at them. Steve Bruce favours directness in his tactics, with two strikers being supplied by two wide men. Indeed, it is perhaps this attacking set-up which explains Sunderland’s success in home fixtures, whilst their success on their travels is sporadic at best. When the Stadium of Light is at full-volume, the directness of Bruce’s tactics seem to work in tandem with a crowd that try to suck the ball into the opposition’s goal, encouraged by their side’s eagerness to move forward. You do get the feeling however, that some Sunderland fans are just relieved to see the ball as far away from the bumbling defensive partnership of Titus Bramble and Anton Ferdinand as possible.
Such is the fashion in the modern game to set up with a five-man midfield and build play slowly through possession, it was somewhat refreshing to see a team achieve success in direct play, turning defence into attack quickly and efficiently. However, this set up has attracted criticism from football purists, especially when clubs like Arsenal, Manchester United and Barcelona have proved you can play pretty football and be successful.
Thus it is rare when tactics that are completely the opposite are employed in the Premier League. Whereas clubs like Wigan and Blackpool have attempted to try and play a passing style, other clubs have adopted a hugely contrasting approach. Stoke City in particular play a style reminiscent of many team in the 1980’s, a decade which saw teams like Wimbledon punt long balls up to their centre forwards. Even Arsenal, a team who easily play the best football in the Premiership in the modern era, were advocates of the long ball approach under George Graham way back in the late 80’s and early 90’s.
Such a strategy was hated by fans and critics alike, but it gave particular problems to centre-backs, who had to deal with aerially-dominant forwards like Mick Harford, John Fashanu and Andy Gray. Everton in their defence played some great football and were highly successful in the 80’s, but then again Fashanu and long-ball merchants Wimbledon were also successful, beating ‘Pass and Move’ Liverpool in the 1988 FA Cup final. Only Gary Mabbutt would be one to not praise Fashanu’s footballing career, as the former Spurs defender was on the end of a nasty elbow by the former Gladiators presenter in the early 90’s.
In the modern game you could almost compare Stoke’s success at avoiding relegation to the feats of ‘The Crazy Gang’, such is the power and finance of the Premier League’s top clubs. Of course, there are other clubs that have done well to stay up over recent seasons, but none have achieved the success with such an extreme direct style of play. The simple art of dealing with a long ball into the area was natural to the defenders of 30 years ago, but foreign defenders used to playing against neat and tidy opposition, who keep the ball on the floor, are not used to deep, high deliveries coming into their penalty area. One couldn’t imagine the youth coaches of Real Madrid and Barcelona spending hours on the training ground instructing young defenders to head balls away from inside their six-yard box.
Premiership audiences have seen football evolve into a more technical game since the league re-launched itself in 1992. Thus when Stoke, (or anyone who La Liga-bound Sam Allardyce manages) do launch long balls into the oppostion's penalty area, from positions where most clubs would take a quick, short free-kick, the result is refreshingly enthralling. Clubs who find success with this tactic may develop this strategy further if they remain open to inventiveness. Why not increase the height of a long free-kick pumped into the penalty area, making it drop down into the danger area like an atom bomb? Attacking centre-backs will be then be competing against the centre backs from the defence – an equal tussle that could easily result in the type of confusion already seen at the Britannia Stadium most Saturday afternoons thanks to deliveries from Matthew Etherington and ridiculously long throw-in's by Rory Delap. There’s no doubt utilising the unique qualities of Delap have been relatively successful since Stoke were promoted, thus if team’s don’t have a Cesc Fabregas or a Mikel Arteta, why not bypass the midfield and instead launch long balls into a set of giant 6 ft 7 strikers? Deal with that Wenger.
Critics of course may point to the successful clubs of recent years playing with totally different tactics. The likes of Arsenal and Manchester United have played some scintillating football and won many, many games. Tony Pulis however, not only realises that he doesn’t have the cash at Stoke to buy players like Fabregas, but is innovative enough to know that there can be another way to play and compete against Premiership opposition. Allardyce was the first to show signs of complete innovation when rules regarding off-sides were amended five years or so ago. He consequently positioned two players standing way off-side during free kicks, who were allowed to remain onside as long as they didn’t touch the first ball played into the box. Indeed see here for such a goal that caused so much bedlam, that it caused Ian Walker to score a calamitous own goal.
You only have to look at Chris Samba’s goal for Blackburn yesterday against Fulham to see a goalkeeper and defence struggle against an unusual tactic, in this case Paul Robinson’s giant punt. Of course, many referees would have seen the blatant foul by El Hadji Diouf, but it’s not the fault of Diouf or the much-maligned Allardyce that the goal was allowed to stand.
In open play, the danger of the long ball is that you run the risk of losing possession quickly and consistently, and if you are up against top quality opposition you may not see the ball again for 2 to 3 minutes. However, in set piece situations, even a harmless-looking free kick 80-90 yards from goal, there is no reason not to send up the big men, as you would a corner kick. It might not be pretty, and fans may have something to say when they are forking out 50 quid for a match ticket, but if winning is all-important, then as long as it stays within the legalities of the game, then surely any tactic to win is as justifiable as the next tactic. Create the chaos, anything could happen.
Although Arsenal ended the game with 10 men, and thus can point to utter misfortune that they conceded the goal when they did, they never really seemed comfortable with what was being thrown at them. Steve Bruce favours directness in his tactics, with two strikers being supplied by two wide men. Indeed, it is perhaps this attacking set-up which explains Sunderland’s success in home fixtures, whilst their success on their travels is sporadic at best. When the Stadium of Light is at full-volume, the directness of Bruce’s tactics seem to work in tandem with a crowd that try to suck the ball into the opposition’s goal, encouraged by their side’s eagerness to move forward. You do get the feeling however, that some Sunderland fans are just relieved to see the ball as far away from the bumbling defensive partnership of Titus Bramble and Anton Ferdinand as possible.
Such is the fashion in the modern game to set up with a five-man midfield and build play slowly through possession, it was somewhat refreshing to see a team achieve success in direct play, turning defence into attack quickly and efficiently. However, this set up has attracted criticism from football purists, especially when clubs like Arsenal, Manchester United and Barcelona have proved you can play pretty football and be successful.
Thus it is rare when tactics that are completely the opposite are employed in the Premier League. Whereas clubs like Wigan and Blackpool have attempted to try and play a passing style, other clubs have adopted a hugely contrasting approach. Stoke City in particular play a style reminiscent of many team in the 1980’s, a decade which saw teams like Wimbledon punt long balls up to their centre forwards. Even Arsenal, a team who easily play the best football in the Premiership in the modern era, were advocates of the long ball approach under George Graham way back in the late 80’s and early 90’s.
Such a strategy was hated by fans and critics alike, but it gave particular problems to centre-backs, who had to deal with aerially-dominant forwards like Mick Harford, John Fashanu and Andy Gray. Everton in their defence played some great football and were highly successful in the 80’s, but then again Fashanu and long-ball merchants Wimbledon were also successful, beating ‘Pass and Move’ Liverpool in the 1988 FA Cup final. Only Gary Mabbutt would be one to not praise Fashanu’s footballing career, as the former Spurs defender was on the end of a nasty elbow by the former Gladiators presenter in the early 90’s.
In the modern game you could almost compare Stoke’s success at avoiding relegation to the feats of ‘The Crazy Gang’, such is the power and finance of the Premier League’s top clubs. Of course, there are other clubs that have done well to stay up over recent seasons, but none have achieved the success with such an extreme direct style of play. The simple art of dealing with a long ball into the area was natural to the defenders of 30 years ago, but foreign defenders used to playing against neat and tidy opposition, who keep the ball on the floor, are not used to deep, high deliveries coming into their penalty area. One couldn’t imagine the youth coaches of Real Madrid and Barcelona spending hours on the training ground instructing young defenders to head balls away from inside their six-yard box.
Premiership audiences have seen football evolve into a more technical game since the league re-launched itself in 1992. Thus when Stoke, (or anyone who La Liga-bound Sam Allardyce manages) do launch long balls into the oppostion's penalty area, from positions where most clubs would take a quick, short free-kick, the result is refreshingly enthralling. Clubs who find success with this tactic may develop this strategy further if they remain open to inventiveness. Why not increase the height of a long free-kick pumped into the penalty area, making it drop down into the danger area like an atom bomb? Attacking centre-backs will be then be competing against the centre backs from the defence – an equal tussle that could easily result in the type of confusion already seen at the Britannia Stadium most Saturday afternoons thanks to deliveries from Matthew Etherington and ridiculously long throw-in's by Rory Delap. There’s no doubt utilising the unique qualities of Delap have been relatively successful since Stoke were promoted, thus if team’s don’t have a Cesc Fabregas or a Mikel Arteta, why not bypass the midfield and instead launch long balls into a set of giant 6 ft 7 strikers? Deal with that Wenger.
Critics of course may point to the successful clubs of recent years playing with totally different tactics. The likes of Arsenal and Manchester United have played some scintillating football and won many, many games. Tony Pulis however, not only realises that he doesn’t have the cash at Stoke to buy players like Fabregas, but is innovative enough to know that there can be another way to play and compete against Premiership opposition. Allardyce was the first to show signs of complete innovation when rules regarding off-sides were amended five years or so ago. He consequently positioned two players standing way off-side during free kicks, who were allowed to remain onside as long as they didn’t touch the first ball played into the box. Indeed see here for such a goal that caused so much bedlam, that it caused Ian Walker to score a calamitous own goal.
You only have to look at Chris Samba’s goal for Blackburn yesterday against Fulham to see a goalkeeper and defence struggle against an unusual tactic, in this case Paul Robinson’s giant punt. Of course, many referees would have seen the blatant foul by El Hadji Diouf, but it’s not the fault of Diouf or the much-maligned Allardyce that the goal was allowed to stand.
In open play, the danger of the long ball is that you run the risk of losing possession quickly and consistently, and if you are up against top quality opposition you may not see the ball again for 2 to 3 minutes. However, in set piece situations, even a harmless-looking free kick 80-90 yards from goal, there is no reason not to send up the big men, as you would a corner kick. It might not be pretty, and fans may have something to say when they are forking out 50 quid for a match ticket, but if winning is all-important, then as long as it stays within the legalities of the game, then surely any tactic to win is as justifiable as the next tactic. Create the chaos, anything could happen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)