Three things we learned from Brighton 1 – 1 Arsenal
The festive season is upon us and that means the fixtures are coming fast and furious. Arsenal had another opportunity to keep close to the top of the table but managed to lose some ground with a 1-1 draw versus Brighton.
Let’s take a look at the three things we learned from this disappointing draw.
Emery the Tinkerman
During the run of 22 unbeaten Emery was hailed for his tactical adjustments that would secure Arsenal the points it needed in that impressive run that went through the loss to Southampton last week. And to be fair four months without being beaten is an impressive feat.
However, the run isn’t without its criticisms and even his need to “tactically adjust” can be looked at with some scrutiny more so as they seem right now to be hurting more than helping.
First, a little background on Emery, pre-Arsenal.
At PSG Emery set up his tactical system with a starting XI that worked from the first whistle. When things didn’t work, he was hesitant to change too much. In other words, he wasn’t the trigger-happy substitution freak he seems to be now.
For Emery, the way of playing is “his way” which we can best define as someone who heavily scouts and tries to counter his opponent. And there is nothing wrong with that approach but just like Wenger’s letting the players play themselves out of their messes doesn’t always work, adjusting tactically at every moment shouldn’t dictate everything.
As best we can determine the first half is used to dictate intel on the team and then tries to exploit it in the second half. Eventually, as it looks right now, it doesn’t always work, sometimes you must let things play out longer. Simply, you have to adapt little by little throughout the entire 90 and the flow of the game take a little longer.
Right now, the adjustments are looking almost too cautious. Maybe he doesn’t want to take risks this year. Maybe with the injuries mounting up he doesn’t want to take any risks and plays cautious like he did yesterday. What better reason is there for keeping three defensive midfielders on the pitch while removing the creative attacking influences of Özil and later Lacazette?
Those two removals unbalanced the side and everything we had going forward broke down. In fact, by the 80th minute, there was one stat out there that said we hadn’t mustered a shot since the 30th minute.
Emery’s player approach leaving a little to be desired (right now)
We all know that Emery was fired from PSG because of how he managed his players. He was fired because the Paris club are predominantly run by the players and the manager, Emery, was along for the ride. But there are some moments that highlight a worrying sign in how he does handle some of his more difficult relationships.
The breakdown of the relationship between manager and Hatem Ben-Arfa seems perfectly analogous to how both Ramsey and Özil are being handled. By the end of the relationship, Ben-Arfa was told he had to leave the club, as the manager doesn’t want you.
It was a relationship that was left in tatters and resulted in Ben-Arfa being demoted and ultimately suing the club.
Could it be for all that he does to promote harmony that once he loses faith in a player, they never get it back to the point of continually being left out of thinking? It’s beginning to look that way with Ramsey and to a lesser extent Özil. It could be that Özil is only getting more opportunities because of the size and status of his current contract versus Ramsey.
But let’s be frank, you cannot do well in this league with drive and inspiration alone. If you point to Leicester as being opposite to that statement, realise Leicester is a fluke. The top six are the top six year over year. Sure, money is a factor but each of those teams has wealth of creativity and vibrancy we’re not seeing.
Could the players be more concerned with not losing his favor then playing with inspiration and instinct?
His relationships with players comes across as being more positive based on his perception of the player’s work ethic. The harder a player works is all that matters. Doesn’t matter if they are actually being successful on the pitch if he perceives you to not be working hard you are done no matter what it sacrifices and well, that can only take you so far.
He has to adapt to the resources he has rather than abandoning them – like he apparently has done to Ramsey and a lesser extent Özil. Sure, if you want to bin Ramsey because of contractual demands seeming high and you don’t want to depend on him that’s fine.
But he is, in my opinion, mishandling Özil and now Lacazette and it’s hurting his team’s ability to compete. Sometimes tactical reasons aren’t enough. You should balance that with the personalities you have.
Emery’s style of play still unclear
We know Emery’s preferred system of play is a 4-2-3-1/4-3-3. He uses the system with two deep-lying midfielders to act as the transition from back to front and likes to use his fullbacks for attacking width with the wide forwards tucked in. And there is, of course, his trademark desire to play out of the back.
That system has been tweaked now and then to play as a 3-4-3 which I think is more down to player personnel than tactical adjustments. It is the system that gets the best out of Sead Kolasinac as a wing-back rather than depending on him as an out and out fullback.
Yesterday we asked followers on social media what his style of play was. It’s not system style, how does he want his teams to play. The answers were as varied and diverse as our followers.
Some were technical and close to what I think you’d call a style but overall my take away is this, you can’t really tell.
We know he likes to press from the front and play with energy on and off the ball but neither of those are seen in any kind of abundance except sporadically. The press is attempted but there is always one player, usually, a midfielder left open for the outlet and allowing the opposition to play out of the press. As for energy, well, there isn’t any.
The most common answer we received, was there isn’t a truly defined style of play. It’s not like Pep with his constant rotations or Klopp with it’s gengenpress. It’s not anything noticeable beyond the desire to play out of the back.
It’s quite possible that the lack of discernment in style of play has more to do with both Emery and the players still learning. Emery learning the league and the players still learning from him. When he adjusts maybe they still lack the understanding and ability to do so and thus control a game.
And maybe as Emery is still learning he too needs to learn when to slow down and control or ride the intensity of the game.
Extra time
If it seems like we’re extra hard on Emery this week, we are. It’s the same approach I’ve always taken with Wenger. I like Emery and I think ultimately, he will stabilise this club and get it back on track or at least in line with trends in the game that are happening right now.
Still, the approach I took with Wenger was praise when praise is warranted and criticise when necessary. It will be no different with Emery and while we should bear in mind that this is his first season here and the team was in a state of disarray, when he gets it quite wrong he needs to be called out on and that’s what we’ll do.
