Martin Zubimendi and Eberechi Eze high five against Manchester City David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Fluidity in midfield isn’t a new concept for Arsenal, but adding more technical players in the centre of the pitch has given Mikel Arteta’s team a different dimension.
Over the past two seasons, Arsenal have shown multiple times how they can create space in these areas and intelligently occupy it.
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Yet, the acquisitions of Martin Zubimendi and Eberechi Eze this summer have raised the technical level in the midfield zone, and having a fit Riccardo Calafiori roaming inside from left-back only adds to this. This is especially important with Martin Odegaard out injured. Arsenal are yet to confirm a timeline for their captain’s return, but it is a blow during a busy time in the fixture calendar.
The sort of midfield fluidity brought by the summer signings is something Arsenal are keen on, as Arteta explained when asked about the interchanges between Zubimendi and Declan Rice after the 3-0 win against Athletic Club in pre-season.
Martin Zubimendi has added fluidity to Arsenal’s playAlex Pantling/Getty Images
“Especially with the qualities that they have and the way they can complement each other in that space,” the Arsenal manager said. “We saw another evolution today and things that the team can really benefit from to be much more unpredictable and more of a threat, especially from these inside positions.”
This season, Arsenal’s dynamic midfield is enabling them to directly attack the channels with chipped passes into space.
In this example, from the 2-0 defeat of West Ham United in their final match before this international break, Calafiori is in a central position to complete a box midfield…
… but he roams towards the right half-space to overload that area of the pitch. Calafiori’s movement forces Mateus Fernandes to leave Martin Odegaard, which in turn keeps West Ham’s left centre-back, Maximilian Kilman, in a higher position to track Arsenal’s captain.
This manipulation of Fernandes and Kilman allows Rice to find Bukayo Saka’s run behind the defence by playing a direct ball into the channel. Saka ‘scores’ from this move, but he is offside by a yard.
In another example, against Leeds United in August, Calafiori is in an in-field position next to Zubimendi, with Ethan Nwaneri and Rice operating as the attacking midfielders.
As Ao Tanaka is blocking the passing lane to Calafiori, Gabriel plays the ball wide to Noni Madueke. Simultaneously, Rice attacks the space between Leeds’ right-back and right centre-back…
… which forces the latter, Joe Rodon, to take a couple of steps to the right, and pins Daniel James by the halfway line.
Rice’s run is instrumental to this attack because it prevents James from moving up to press Calafiori, and drags Rodon away from Viktor Gyokeres, putting Arsenal’s centre-forward in a one-versus-one situation.
Madueke then plays the ball to Calafiori, who immediately chips it into the space behind Rodon with a one-touch pass. This type of ball into the channel plays to Gyokeres’ strengths, especially in an isolated situation.
Arsenal’s centre-forward then picks up the ball in space and dribbles inside, before driving it into the back of the net.
Arteta said after that 5-0 win over Leeds that the rest of the team are adapting to new signing Gyokeres.
“That will help us to evolve and find other ways of attacking teams and connecting with each other,” Arteta said. “It’s clear where Viktor is really dangerous, what his superpower (is) and let’s put him as much as possible in those kinds of scenarios because something good could happen.”
Successfully finding Gyokeres with passes into the channel was on show again in the 2-0 Champions League victory against Olympiacos two weeks ago.
Here, Arsenal start their attack quickly, with Mikel Merino moving to the left-back space. Zubimendi plays the ball to Merino…
… and then dashes forward to vacate the central area of the pitch for his team-mate to attack.
Olympiacos’ central midfielders — Dani Garcia and Santiago Hezze — don’t commit to Merino because of the positioning of Zubimendi and Odegaard…
… and more importantly, because of the threat of Arsenal’s front three. If Garcia or Hezze presses Merino, one of Olympiacos’ centre-backs will need to jump forward, leaving the rest of their defence in a three-versus-three situation — an optimal scenario for Gyokeres.
Olympiacos’ dilemma allows Merino time on the ball, and he finds Odegaard’s dash behind the opposition midfield. The Norway midfielder smartly attacks the space in front of Olympiacos’ right centre-back, who is pinned by Gyokeres…
… which gives him an extra fraction of a second to dribble past that defender.
Now Gyokeres is isolated against left centre-back Lorenzo Pirola, Odegaard plays the ball into the channel…
… and the move leads to Arsenal’s opening goal of the match.
Direct balls into the channels also allow Arsenal to play low crosses across goal, but the attacks need to be built up correctly to create advantageous situations for the front three.
In this example, from the 3-0 defeat of Nottingham Forest last month, Chris Wood is trying to press Cristhian Mosquera while blocking the passing lane to Calafiori. Meanwhile, Elliot Anderson, Ibrahim Sangare and Morgan Gibbs-White are marking Arsenal’s midfield trio.
To break the press, Mosquera plays a ball to the dropping Nwaneri, who quickly bounces it back to the free Calafiori. The important move, though, comes from Zubimendi, who dashes forward into space, dragging Gibbs-White deeper and preventing him from pressing Calafiori.
Zubimendi’s movement creates space for Calafiori to dribble into and allows him time on the ball because the Spain midfielder pins Gibbs-White. The England midfielder can’t press the Italian because Forest’s central midfielders are unable to pick up Zubimendi: Anderson is out of position after following Nwaneri, and Sangare is marking Merino.
As a result, Calafiori can play a direct ball into the channel to find Eze’s run behind the defence.
Eze then plays a pass across goal for Gyokeres to make it 2-0.
Attacking the channels isn’t restricted to Gyokeres and the wingers, though, as Jurrien Timber showed in that match against West Ham.
Here, the Dutchman is in an advanced position as Saka resets the attack. Initially, Fernandes is keeping an eye on Timber, but Eze’s positioning forces him higher up the pitch, and with El Hadji Malick Diouf marking Saka, Arsenal’s right-back is free in the right half-space.
Zubimendi finds Timber with a direct ball into the channel, who then wins the penalty that seals the game.
So far this season, Arsenal’s direct balls into the channels are proving to be an effective attacking solution, with their fluidity in midfield being the ultimate catalyst behind it.
“(We need to) make sure that when we are evolving, we are maintaining the great things that we do and just tweaking and making things that can give us big value,” said Arteta in August. “That is what we have done, and we are going to continue to do — you will see them.
“The evolution comes from the individuals. It’s about the players, putting those players in those positions as often as possible to express their qualities.”
Credit: www.nytimes.com
