Match date: 27 September 2014

Arsenal had one of their best performances last week against Aston Villa, with Paul Lambert blaming it on a sickness in the squad, it could not account for the good play by Arsenal. Tottenham, however, lost 1-0 to West Brom.

Any derby, however, brings a different side out of teams and so, as expected, the North London derby was a tight affair.

Arsene Wenger left Alexis Sanchez on the bench, with Oxlade-Chamberlain and Özil on the outside of Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere, as Wenger continued setting his side out in a 4-1-4-1.

Pochettino named Ryan Mason in the starting XI after the English midfielder scored against Nottingham Forest in last week’s league cup match. Adebayor, who has scored the most goals in the North London derby, started up top for Spurs.

Tottenham Sit Deep, Arsenal Use Full Backs 

The most notable point from this match was how Tottenham set out. Pochettino’s teams are usually know for their excellent pressing and quick, vertical play, see Southampton last year. However, for this match, Pochettino set his side out to sit deep, allow Arsenal to have the ball as much as they would like, and absorb the Gunners’ pressure. It was surprising to see from an idealist like Pochettino, but was executed well by his players, despite disciplined performances being sometimes rare in derby contests.

Tottenham mostly sat in a mid to block, in a 4-4-1-¼-4-2, with Chadli behind Adebayor and allowed the likes of Arteta, Mertesacker, and Koscielny to have plenty of the ball. Below, you can see a good example of Tottenham’s midfield and forwards in their defensive shape. Adebayor and Chadli did well to block off the passing lanes into Ramsey and Wilshere, while the space between the midfield and back four was under-utilised by Arsenal.

Tottenham’s midfield were able to stay relatively compact as well, as Arsenal’s wide men, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Özil, the latter especially, were intent on coming inside to try to get on the ball. Özil played in a more central position against Aston Villa, and the team benefited greatly from it, but against Tottenham his starting position was back on the left, although he was given more freedom and acted a ‘false winger,’ coming inside and linking up well with the midfield three, especially Wilshere. With that said, the space in midfield was limited, and it had an influence on Wilshere’s game as he was unable to get on the ball as much as Arteta and then Flamini and Ramsey, with the Welshman dropping noticeably deeper once Flamini came on for Arteta to help distribute from deep. Below, you can compare where on the pitch Özil found success receiving the ball compared to Wilshere (Wilshere was subbed out in the 63rd minute). Notice that Wilshere had to drift into the half space to the left to get on the ball more.

With the narrow midfield, Arsenal were forced to use Gibbs and Chambers as their vertical outlets. The two found plenty of space and were often isolated against Naughton and Rose because of Tottenham’s midfield reacting to Arsenal’s. Both full backs got very high up the pitch, with Chambers, in particular having more success. The new Arsenal defender had a shot go just over the bar and was fouled twice in a very good position for Arsenal free kicks.

With all that said, Tottenham did a good job at limiting Arsenal’s chances as they allowed Arsenal space in the wide areas. Without Olivier Giroud, Arsenal did not really have a consistent target in Spurs’ penalty area to aim for and so crossing and Arsenal’s play in the wide areas was mostly not a threat to Tottenham and they were able to win the ball back in those areas of the pitch fairly consistently. For much of the match, Tottenham kept Arsenal playing in front of them, stayed compact, and broke when they could.

Spurs Going Forward

For a neutral, and perhaps Spurs supporters as well, it was disappointing to see how Tottenham approached the game. Pragmatic, yes, but very little acting intent and with players unsuited for the system.

With Pochettino asking Tottenham to play on the break, it certainly didn’t suit Eriksen, who is arguably their most creative player. The former Ajax man is used to his side having possession of the ball for longer periods and probing rather than playing direct and on the counter. Lamela, however, plays much more direct and has the pace and trickery to play good counter attacking football and despite setting up Tottenham’s goal with good vision, he was never successful in dribbling at the Arsenal back four in the attacking half. He also failed to clear the ball that led to Arsenal’s goal.

Adebayor is a decent target player, but his best bit of play was occupying the Arsenal centre backs so that space could open up for Chadli, who found space between Koscielny and Gibbs for his goal. He had another opportunity earlier in the match, but fluffed the chance, as Tottenham looked for him making runs in the channel between Mertesacker, exploiting his lack of pace, and Chambers, who would get high up the pitch to support the attack.

Spurs Score, Arsenal React with Özil Central

In an example of the old ‘against the run of play,’ Spurs were able to score early on in the second half. Flamini was slow to receive a pass, allowing Eriksen to get a tackle in. The ball fell to Lamela, who played Chadli in for a goal. It was really the first time that Tottenham showed any intent in pressing the ball and they got rewarded for it.

Arsene Wenger made a change seven minutes after, bringing on Sanchez for Wilshere, which was his third substitution of the game, with Arteta and Ramsey withdrawn due to injury in the first half, replaced by Flamini and Cazorla, respectively. At that point in the match though, Arsenal went from playing a 4-1-4-1, to a 4-2-3-1, with Wilshere and Flamini behind Özil. Cazorla played from the left and Oxlade-Chamberlain played from the right, but three were very fluid in their movement.

With the introduction of Sanchez, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Cazorla alternated dropping alongside Flamini and allowed Sanchez to operate on the right. The switch to a 4-2-3-1, allowing Özil to operate in his prefered position saw the German played much better football and get involved more on the ball. He was able to find space between the lines much more often and gave Arsenal someone in that area of the pitch, which they were lacking for the first half. Wilshere loves to dribble at opponents from deep and Ramsey loves to run through the lines, stretching the defense, for passes, but neither are adept at receiving a ball on a half turn in a tight space to then thread a teammate through like Özil.

Conclusion

It was a match in which Arsenal dominated, but they were allowed to do so by Pochettino, who had his team sit back and defend rather than press the Gunners. It was an interesting approach, but with runners like Wilshere and Ramsey in the midfield, as well as Oxlade-Chamberlain, it made sense to sit deep and not allow Arsenal’s midfield runners to thrive, but a quick revert to their pressing ways allowed Tottenham to score their goal.

Arsenal were unable to get another goal to win the match, but certainly would have had it not been for Hugo Lloris. Özil’s shift into the middle of the park made Arsenal look a much more threatening side, with two players to play into, rather than just Welbeck, who had a relatively good game with all things considered. It will be interesting to see where Wenger places the German playmaker against Chelsea.