Scouting report : Arsenal

Chart represents Chelsea’s strategy against City. Has nothing to do with Arsenal, and is just the starting page of my notes.

Arsenal play a different form of the 4-2-3-1 ( getting sick of saying this) . Two static center-backs with full-backs that push forward at every chance. However they’re slightly inefficient.
In the middle we have two midfielders, one defensive and the other holding. Unlike other teams, where one pushes and one defends, the other midfielder (usually Arteta) opts to sit around the half-way line and play passes into the middle . He spreads play along the flanks and the central zone. Like most teams, Arsenal have a problem with width. Arteta somewhat nullify’s it by spraying balls wide and encouraging the full-backs to push forward a bit more. You can talk all you want about Ozil, but Arteta provides something different, which is highly essential to Arsene Wenger’s team.
In the front three we have wide players who function as interiores again. They come in a lot more centrally than usual ones though, creating central over-loads which help the full-backs push forward as well. Downside to this is, there are barely any 2v1 situations against the opposition full-back. Considering Chelsea’s wide players retreat back to defend, Arsenal will most definitely have problems down the flanks.
In the middle we have star man Mesut Ozil. Some say Arsene would never spend better 42 million on anything else again. He gives Arsenal a direct attacking threat, something they have lacked over the years in an attacking midfielder. His ability to pick out a man, and have himself easily picked out is a remarkable quality. Also has functioned as a second striker while playing in the hole behind the striker (though this is mostly an observation made when the wide players squeeze up in the middle and thwart Ozil forward)
Upfront we have the striker who can combine with the midfield while at the same time make those runs in behind the defense. A target man during set pieces.

While transitioning to defense, everyone presses high, especially Arteta. His aim is to press right at the man with the ball (if its around his zone) and cut off options for him to pass the ball forward. Thus he forces the ball side-ways or backwards, giving the Arsenal players a chance to recover back into position. Ozil too has been seen to join in on this pressing phase.
It’s highly unlikely for them to play two defensive blocks of four, but it is a high possibility when they come up against Chelsea. However one can never be too sure.
The wide players have themselves well positioned to break forward. It was well noticeable against Napoli. They would carry the ball forward, or provide unnecessary distraction for the retreating defenders, often aiming to mess up the defensive line before they organize structurally.
Now finding out defensive frailties isn’t quite easy. However one that could be observed is exploiting the positional freedom given to Arsenal’s wide players. While pressing, they are allowed to press high, while leaving open spaces which would naturally have to be covered by another player. This could be one of the pivot players or a full-back himself.
If Chelsea were to pass the ball quickly, make indirect movements into the final third while turning the full-backs inside out, what could be perceived as a defensive block could be entirely destroyed. This would create space for someone like Mata or De Bruyne (who are likely to start) , a clear opportunity to play a through ball that splits apart the final defensive line when a striker makes a run in behind the defenders.

While moving into defense, Arteta usually pushes up, but not too much. The wide players cut inside and form a quadrilateral in the center. The ball is played around them, while the full-backs try to push forward. Ozil meanwhile tries making runs in the final third. While he isn’t doing that, he is trying to pick out either the striker or one of the wide players.
Problem Arsenal have had so far is natural width. Despite pushing full-backs forward, their problems are akin to the one’s Chelsea had against Basel, Norwich, etc.
If Chelsea are to defend deep, then there doesn’t seem that they would have much problems. Though I hardly think Mourinho would do that, considering Arsenal might just play kids. A growing trend seen in the Chelsea philosophy is to have brilliant starting minutes that lead up to the first goal, and then go into reverse drive by defending deep and making it harder for the opposition to score.
At the Emirates though, Jose might have something different up his sleeve. I can’t imagine the horror of being an Arsenal fan and writing a scouting report on Jose’s team.

Something else that has been talked about quite a lot is why central players such as Wilshere and Ramsey ( not counting Cazorla as he has previous experience of playing as an interiore) are playing in a wide position on paper.
Arsene definitely knew that if players like Walcott and Chamberlain are out, he’ll need a quick solution. The only way to do this was apply the philosophy behind interiores and push your full-backs up for width, the latter as said before, hasn’t worked well yet.
Ozil’s lateral movement into the final third alongside Giroud, gives the wide players even more space in the middle to move the ball around. Not only that, Ozil’s movement also drags player away from static positions or their own zones of pressing. A prime example being Tettey, who was used by Norwich manager Hughton, to man mark Ozil out of the game. Though Tettey did succeed in holding Ozil off, the other players found more than enough space to cause Norwich problems.
Arsenal might be playing kids, but this would be their first real test against title challengers. There is no doubt that the Emirates, is about to be set on fire, not just entertainment wise, but also on a whole new tactical level.