Kevin de Bruyne was the star of the show as City approached the game at the Emirates with slightly more of a focus on counterattacking than one would expect from a Pep Guardiola team. This led to the sides having a more-or-less equal share of the ball until later on in the game, but Arsenal […]
The Premier League served up a Monday night matchup between two sides in poor form. West Ham United, hovering a point above the relegation zone, would play host to Arsenal who were situated in the mid-table area of the table. The visitors came into the clash having only earned a point in their two fixtures […]
Counterattacks, set-pieces and penalties were at the heart of a truly chaotic encounter which teased a winner but failed to deliver one. Early optimism for Arsenal quickly flatlined as they, once again, proved to be architects of their own downfall. Tactical analysis and match report by Peter Munnely. After claiming three crucial points at Everton […]
Unai Emery might have thought he was on the cusp of a good result. Arsenal’s decent first half display managed to mostly contain Leicester’s threat while creating chances off their own back. However, a second half midfield collapse proved too much to handle following many missed opportunities. Tactical analysis and match report by Peter M. […]
Vitória’s defensive organization made this game an uneventful affair from an attacking point of view, as Arsenal were often stuck in their u-shaped circulation and unable to make breakthroughs. Eventually Arsenal took the lead from a Shkodran Mustafi set-piece header, but were unable to hold on as Bruno Duarte secured a late equalizer for Vitória. […]
For any top six team, facing Wolves is usually a tough prospect. This may be even more true for a side such as Arsenal, whose struggles were on show despite a new-look midfield. The visitors gave them a helping hand in the first half, but the second half only amplified what Arsenal lacked as the […]
A match so painfully short of effective attacking mechanisms that neither team pushed on to be the dominant force, as both sides mostly mirrored each other’s defensive shape. The most that could be said on the invention front was Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s various tweaks throughout, which were positively reactive but equally limiting at times. Tactical […]
In a match filled to the absolute brim with high quality chances, it is a bit of a mystery how there was only one goal prior to the eightieth minute. In the leadup to a devastating end, Adi Hütter’s approach was as clever as it was naïve, given the subsequent gap in quality in each […]
Unai Emery, already known for his tactical experiments in big games at Arsenal, once again attempted to pull a rabbit out of the hat in this weekend’s big-six clash. Instead, what he pulled out was, yet again, nothing. The application of an untried diamond system proved costly, albeit survivable thanks to Liverpool’s relatively cautious approach. […]
What might have seemed like an intriguing opening day fixture not so long ago quickly turned into something out of last season’s script. Arsenal’s struggles to penetrate compact defenses away from home proved to be a tough a test again. Were it not for Newcastle’s own structural problems, the visitors might well have come away […]