Arsenal had their defenders swap positions in moments to start the game against Manchester United. I love it, but it felt artificial. It feels more like a set play than a natural set of movements, and you can sense the other team knows that.

       

The right-hand side with Jurrien Timber rotating inside as William Saliba rotates outside; that’s strange, but it can work. Saliba makes it work because of how good he is with the ball, but you probably wouldn’t want him out wide for long. It would surprise the opposition if he was the most advanced defender down the right wing, but it’s strange.

If I learned anything from watching Ricardo Calafiori at Bologna, tall and agile defenders rotating further forward looks strange and sometimes exciting, but if it works, it can open things up when the other team doesn’t expect it because no one will be looking to mark them.

The left-hand side with Declan Rice, Jakub Kiwior, and Oleksander Zinchenko is balanced. It feels right to see Declan Rice on the back line, Kiwior out wide left, and Zinchenko in the midfield. If they came out like that at the start, I think it would work better than their preferred setup of Rice in midfield, Kiwior at left center-back, and Zinchenko at left-back. 

This is the benefit of not starting Gabriel. Gabriel needs to face play while Saliba finds ways to maneuver his big body like a tall midfielder would. If Gabriel starts, he is more likely to stay put at the back. If he doesn’t start, they are more likely to rotate.

When Arsenal signed Declan Rice I thought that was the end for Gabriel, but thankfully for Gabriel, he is too good at heading the ball in from corners. He is a specialist and a world-class defender. They built set pieces specifically for him. When you don’t start Gabriel, you gain a little bit more versatility, but I don’t think they need that versatility to win a match or the league.

This specific sequence of movement against Manchester United felt forced, though. It feels like a coach has told them, “In the eleventh minute, execute this play.” And then they run the play like a set piece. Defenders all move into position; there’s some delay between each rotation on either side. There is a sense of watching of, “Okay, great, you are moving around in a circle out wide; when is it going to end? Okay, cool, it ended; now move forward.” The Manchester United forwards barely flinch because they just kind of watch, waiting for the Arsenal defenders to stop rotating.

There is a lack of movement from the forwards to accompany the movement from the defenders. That is the main issue. The defenders are setting the table for dinner, assembling the plates, and putting the cloth on the table, and the forwards are watching. and waiting to sit to eat. The defenders set the table, and then they all eat. They are watching with us, and the United defenders. If the defenders threw some variance in and maybe tossed a chicken leg to Kai Havertz halfway through setting the table, it wouldn’t feel as rehearsed.

Bologna under Thiago Motta last season rehearsed the movements because that is how they trained, but it felt natural. It felt like they were exploiting a team’s weakness with their movement rather than moving just to try to confuse the opposition’s defense.

I love that Arsenal is trying this because it is an edge that they have this versatility. They are great at executing set plays, set pieces, “Set Piece FC”, but movement for the sake of movement looks unnatural. And “Set Piece FC” is a massive compliment to their ability to score from corners.

Match: Arsenal 2-0 Manchester United, 4 December 2024