Tactics Watch: Tottenham vs Arsenal

We analyse the factors behind Arsenal's 2-1 defeat against Tottenham in the North London derby.

There were high stakes for both sides in the game that invariably influenced the way both managers set their team out. 

Both Arsene Wenger and Andre Villas-Boas set their teams out with a high line, focused on retaining the ball in midfield and tried to play the ball out from the back.

Odd strikers choices work differently

Given that both managers chose to play high defensive lines, it was strange that they chose the strikers that started; Emmanuel Adebayor and Olivier Giroud were not the most mobile players and were ineffective when carrying the ball in from outside the penalty box.

In Tottenham's case, Villas-Boas' move was vincicated as he planned to have Adebayor play a withdrawn role to draw Thomas Vermaelen and Per Mertesacker out of position for his speedy attacking midfielders to run into gaps between them. 

The plan worked after both their goals came from passes in between the two Arsenal central defenders but Jermaine Defoe would have been a better choice as a starter - Tottenham looked far more lethal after the England striker came on and did not add to their goal tally only due to wastefulness in front of goal.

However, it was quite the opposite for Arsenal.

Wenger instructed Walcott to stay out wide to draw Benoit Assou-Ekotto away from the box and had Giroud hang around the outside of the left-sided defender Jan Vertonghen. It was a good idea in theory as it gave Giroud space to exploit and provided a better angle turn and strike the ball with his right foot but it did not turn out well in practice.

Giroud had many chances early in the game and deserves praise for getting into good positions and having an excellent first touch but he was too slow when on the ball, which meant that Vertonghen was able to put in several last ditch tackles to save the game or Hugo Lloris could smother the ball at his feet.

Wenger later realised this and put Walcott up along Giroud to provide the speed but by then, Tottenham's line has shifted back considerably and Assou-Ekotto started tracking Walcott back as well.

Arsenal's early dominance

Because of the high defensive lines, the ball was frequently in the midfield zone and this was where Arsenal asserted their authority from the start.

It was down to the type of player that was receiving the ball right before transiting the play into the final third of the pitch. Wenger put Jack Wilshere in the role while Villas-Boas chose the in-frorm Gareth Bale, rather than Lewis Holtby or Gylfi Siggurdson, in the same role, which suggested that Bale's deployment was more for his speed to support Adebayor than his ability to link up play. 

Wilshere and Bale are very different players - the former was assured on the ball and knew where to find the quick pass but the latter tends to look up to see whether he can go for a dribble before electing to pass. 

Because of that, Arsenal were able to keep the ball in Tottenham's half with snappy pass combinations while Spurs' attacks more often than not fell apart because Bale found too little space to dribble into and did not have the passing ability to pierce defensive lines.

In fact, Tottenham did not have the ball in their attacking third of the pitch until the 16th minute and their opening goal was their first shot on target.

Spurs' solid midfield base

Moussa Dembele and Scott Parker were the unsung heroes for Tottenham. They were involved in most of their creative passing moves, brought the ball up well to allow their attackers to run behind the defence and won the ball well in the middle of the park.

Villas-Boas set the two of them out to stick closer to Santi Cazorla and Jack Wilshere as the two pose the most threats sending passes into the box instead of holding their positions higher up in midfield to disrupt play early on. 

It allowed Ramsey and Arteta time and space, but it was a worthy trade-off - Ramsey lacked the killer pass and frequently take too much time deciding his next move when spearheading attacks while Arteta was the designated base player, which means that he will not join in on the attack.

In hindsight, switching the roles of Ramsey and Arteta might have yielded better results and it again highlighted Arsenal's need of a strong holding midfielder to allow one of their best passers of the ball the chance to contribute higher up the pitch.

Either way, Tottenham's midfield base deserves top praise for providing solid cover for their defence and keeping the ball well among themselves - any other Premier League side will be hard-pressed to find a duo that can match them in what they do.

Conclusion

The game was an open one which could have gone either way with both sides exposing their back lines. 

In the end, the game-winning goals were scored because of poor defending from the Gunners, who should have already known the threat Tottenham can pose behind defensive lines with their speed.

It would also be harsh to put the blame fully on Wenger for the defeat. He was under pressure and chose a calculated risk that could have paid off with Arsenal creating a plethora of chances before Tottenham had their first decent attempt on goal in the 37th minute. The game was lost more because of the lack of true quality up front against a compact defence, which again highlights the need for Wenger's need to either spend for a top striker or get a proper holding midfielder that will allow players like Arteta to contribute up front.

On the other hand. Villas-Boas deserves praise for turning Spurs into a tight pressing side. The excellent overall performance that showed that they were not just about Bale, who had a quiet game except for the goal he scored.

Source: Fox Sport