Match date: 14 September 2013

I chose to watch and write about this match mostly because I wanted to see just how Arsene Wenger was prepared to use his new signing, Mesut Özil. The former Real Madrid playmaker has recorded the most assists in any of Europe’s top five leagues over the last six years, and while Arsenal did not necessarily need a player like Özil, it certainly never hurts to bring in world class players.

Özil’s Role, the Implications

Wenger decided to start Özil against Sunderland, as well as playing Flamini, Wilshere, and Ramsey, meaning there was going to have to be some sort of alteration to the role of one of the latter players to make sure Arsenal got the best of out Özil through the middle of the field. The most versatile of those three is Wilshere and so it was his role that was slightly altered. Rather than simply play the dynamic midfield link that he usually plays, he had the added responsibility of pushing out to the left side of Arsenal’s midfield during some of the Gunners’ attacks and at times would drift there defensively. With that said, Wilshere was all around the pitch at the Stadium of Light, but simply had the added task of helping out Kieran Gibbs as the full back made his way up the field.

Because of Arsenal’s narrow approach on the left, Adam Johnson would pinch in and it allowed Gibbs to have a significant amount of space to run into. Unfortunately, he was largely wasteful with his crossing and for being on the ball as much as he was.

Wilshere’s movement throughout the match allowed space to open up for Özil to work as something of a false 10 as he drifted from one flank to the other, looking to play with Giroud and also to create numbers up situations for Arsenal in the wide areas, as his German counterpart, Mario Götze did so well for Borussia Dortmund last year. Özil did a good job of it as well. Below you’ll see just a screenshot of Walcott receiving the ball and Özil sprinting in from the left of the frame to look to give Arsenal a numbers up situation and build their attack.

Most of the passes the German received were in the wide areas and most the passes he played were from the outside in as you’ll see below. Again, this was because he was looking to create numbers up situations for Arsenal to work with, but he was still as his most effective when playing through the middle. It took him just 12 minutes into his Arsenal career to assist his first goal after he took down Kieran Gibbs’ ball and played in Giroud. Özil should have had two more assists as well had Walcott been effective in his finishing.

Aaron Ramsey

Even without his two goals, Ramsey had a man of the match performance for Arsenal. Some criticised Wenger and Arsenal for not signing a more tenacious defensive holding midfielder, aside from Flamini, whose opportunity to start will become less and less as Arteta and Cazorla return. However, with Ramsey’s performance today, those criticisms fell on deaf ears as the Welshman was able to break up a good amount of Sunderland’s play in the middle of the field. There is a difference between a purely physical defensive holding midfielder and one that can read the game well enough to position themselves properly for disrupt play and it is that latter that allowed Ramsey to do so well against Sunderland.

With Mathieu Flamini alongside Ramsey in the 2 in Arsenal’s asymmetric 4-2-3-1, it allowed Ramsey to play higher up the field despite being a holding midfielder, which allowed him to get involved in play more and obviously score his two goals. Throughout the game, Ramsey made 7 successful tackles, 4 of which were near the midfield line as Arsenal’s back line squeezed midfield effectively when Arsenal were transitioning from having the ball, to losing the ball. This allowed Arsenal to win the ball back relatively quickly and allowed Ramsey to dictate Arsenal’s tempo and overall play very well. With Arsenal not having much of an attack on the left, as both Wilshere and Özil played through the middle a good amount throughout the match, Ramsey mainly distributed to Walcott and Jenkinson, who had varying levels of impact on the match.

Sunderland’s Shortcomings

Having sold Sessegnon in the summer transfer window, Paolo Di Canio opted to start both Steven Fletcher and Jozy Altidore in a fairly rigid 4-4-2. Just about everything Di Canio did, however, was reactionary. Adam Johnson only started to play narrow once Sunderland realised that Arsenal were essentially not playing a left sided midfielder. Jozy Altidore only started dropping off to create a 4-4-1-1 when Sunderland realised that Flamini and Ramsey were getting far too much time on the ball to distribute and dictate the match. Even when Altidore did drop off into midfield, he was ineffective.

In the second half, Sunderland came out a better side. Craig Gardner came in for David Vaughan and added some more mobility to Sunderland’s midfield which allowed Sunderland to press much better in the second half and it made Arsenal’s back four drop off about 10 yards more from their midfield, inviting Sunderland pressure and earning them a penalty, which Gardner slotted home to equalise for Sunderland before Ramsey’s brace. You can see in the image below, a simple ball over the top beat all of Arsenal’s midfield and exposed the huge gap between the back four and midfield, but Sunderland weren’t able to make the most of these situations.

Conclusion

It will certainly be interesting to see how Wenger goes forward when selecting his team. With Özil and Cazorla in the same side, there is a need for capable holding midfielders. When Arteta returns, he is more than likely going to have a spot in the starting XI and on form Ramsey should retain his spot in the side, but there are questions throughout the team. If Arsenal continue to play a narrow midfield, it could leave Jenkinson and Gibbs very exposed.

The match in particular should have been well decided before the second half, but Kieren Westwood was able to keep Sunderland in the match by denying Walcott and was really the only bright spot for a lackluster Sunderland side. Paolo Di Canio did well at the end of last season to ensure that the Tyne-Wear side avoided relegation, but Sunderland currently find themselves at the bottom of the table with just 1 point for the opening 4 matches.