How You FINALLY Saw Arteta’s Masterplan When Arsenal Beat Luton

Hello everybody, Adam Cleary from 442 here and I've gone today on the internet and I've seen a lot of people saying stuff like, oh Arsenal were lucky against Luton weren't they? Oh they scraped through there, they're never gonna win a title playing like that. But by way of an introduction to this video allow me to lay out my point before you, I don't think I've ever seen them look more like title winners than they did against Luton. So to address the elephant and all the national radio phone and callers in the room, it's Luton, I get that straight away, that's not the kind of place Arsenal should be going and having any problems really if they're expecting to win the Premier League. But at the risk of going like all Joe Pesci on this, come on, come on, you know football doesn't work like that, you can go absolutely anywhere, play absolutely anybody and get given a game. What matters and what's really important in the sense of, hey I'm trying to win a Premier League here, is how you respond to that, how you deal with it. And Arsenal, more than once against Luton, dealt with it. And they didn't just deal with it really well, they dealt with it in a way they weren't dealing with those situations last season. Like their most recent trip to a newly promoted side, they went away to Nottingham Forest and they got beat 1-0. They dominated that game, they had something like 84-85% possession in that match and got beat 1-0. They couldn't find a way to score. So what was different against Luton? What has changed? Well this is the 11 Mikkel Arteta went with and you'll notice the big glaring thing here is the decision he made. At left back he wanted another central defender in the squad so they could deal with Luton's physicality, but otherwise pretty much what you'd expect. And the reason this team was able to see off three separate Luton comebacks, two of which self-inflicted, which we'll talk about a little later, is because, and hear me out, they don't have a goalscorer. You've lost your mind there Adam, that's absolutely crazy. Is there some kind of gas leak in this room? Maybe, possibly, there is a bit of a funny smell, but this is exactly the kind of team that Mikkel Arteta wanted to build. There was loads of talk in the summer and now that the January transfer window is coming back around there is loads of talk again that Arsenal should go out, break the bank and go get a goalscorer. Ivan Toni gets mentioned, Vala, Tala, Vala, whatever he's called at Juventus, his name's always in the frame. People think that's what they're missing, but Arteta himself has said they're not really in the market for that kind of player because, and this is going to blow your mind, if there's one player who scores a huge chunk of all your goals then the opposition is going to know where a huge chunk of all your goals come from. So the reason our man Gabi here is perfect for this Arsenal side, more for saving the planet but not when it inconveniences me. So the reason our man Gabi here is so perfect for this Arsenal team is because he scores some of their goals, not loads of them, and he creates some of their goals but not loads of them. The idea is supposed to be, if you're the opposition, you don't know where the goals are coming from. So the reason I said at the start that this Arsenal team has never looked more like title winners to me personally is because they scored four goals last night with four separate goal scorers, and after the first one had gone in, each of the subsequent three goals was created directly as a result of the opposition remembering the one that came before. Allow me to explain. So first goal comes as a result of a really quick bit of thinking from Gabi Jesus, they get the throw in and while Luton are resetting they get it to Saka, he gets into the box and he cuts it back for Martinelli. If you're the opposition, what is the lesson to learn there? Do not switch off on Saka, stay on him at all times. For the second goal on the right hand side, again Ben White lays the ball back to Saka and the Luton defence, remembering what happened the first time, think oh can't let Saka go, can't give him any space, and two players get drawn towards him. This in a fraction of a second opens up the space behind those two defenders for Ben White, Saka plays him in instead, he gets to the byline, floats a great crossover and Jesus scores the second goal. They were so busy worrying about Saka, they forgot to worry about Ben White, oops. But let's just have a quick look at what else is going on in this goal, because how is Jesus able just to get a free header against a team that's got these three big centre-backs? Ah yes, I see, he drops outside of the box, as he is prone to do, being that kind of false nine player, and then he arrives late, meaning there's nobody there to pick him up. Hmm, better make sure that doesn't happen again. For the third goal, Saka punts it upfield into the box towards Jesus and the Luton defence, remembering what happened last time, double up on him in the box. Somebody challenges him directly, that's probably his man, but they also keep a watchful eye on him with the second player, just in case he slips through and makes a run into a dangerous zone. Good defending there, Luton, lesson well learned. I'm sure this won't open up an entire other opportunity for a different Arsenal player to score a goal. Oh wait, getting pulled across to Mark, Jesus leaves this room here that Kai Havert is able to ghost into. Jesus knocks the ball across to him and he has the simplest of finishes. Okay, okay, okay, but surely that's it now, okay? Watch Bakaio Saka, be mindful of the overlap, don't let Jesus get free in the box, and make sure someone is picking up Kai Havert, right? That's four separate lessons learned, there's no way Arsenal could find another goal. Deep, deep, deep into injury time, the ball comes out to Martin Odegaard in this half space here, an area he simply adores to cross from, and Luton have just a couple of seconds to make sure they are set right to defend the impending ball. And if we just stop it right here as it's coming back into Odegaard, Luton have, in the area the ball is almost certainly going to arrive in, four players to mark Arsenal's four players. They haven't got caught out, they're set pretty well, but already here it is immediately apparent that the best possible destination for this cross is Declan Wright. He's got fractionally more room in front of him and fractionally more room behind him. Now Callum Morris here has a decision to make. Declan Rice is not free, there is a defender in close attendance, but he is behind him, he can't see what Rice's movement is, so what Morris should do is step across, pick him up, and make sure he doesn't get a run on him. But in the back of Callum Morris's mind is Kai Havert, he knows he is also in the box and he just scored the last goal, so he's got to quickly check where Kai Havert is to make sure he's able to move on to Rice. And this is not only my favourite bit about this goal, but I will bet your bones and your balls that it is our tennis as well. As that ball is rolling back to Odegaard, Callum Morris quickly has a look around to try and find Kai Havert. And this is frame by frame, minute stuff, but it's just so good, right. As he is taking that look around, Declan Rice takes a big step back, preparing to obviously take another big one forward, but that means that when Morris turns his head back around to see him, Rice has moved. So he goes to move with him, but because Rice is already in the middle of doing this motion, it basically means he throws him. When he looks, Morris has two yards on Rice, and when the ball comes in from Odegaard, that two yards has flipped the other way. He can no longer get across to make that challenge. Now admittedly, it's not great from the defender, but Rice has a run on his blind side, so he's never going to be favourite to win that ball. What you would want is for Morris to recognise the danger, go with him, and just make it harder for him to get a clean connection, but that doesn't happen because he's thinking about where Kai Havert is. And he's thinking about where Kai Havert is because they weren't thinking about that at the third goal. They were thinking about where Gabi Jesus is, and they were thinking about where Gabi Jesus was for the third goal because they weren't thinking about where Gabi Jesus was for the second goal. They were thinking about where Pakaio Saka was. And the fact this makes a really beautiful, neat little chain is not a coincidence. Mikel Arteta has built a team where you do not know where the goals are coming from. That is the point. Well, I'm almost convinced, Adam, I can hear you say, but is there one really neat little statistic that backs this all up? Yeah. Distribution of goal scorers across the Premier League this season. Arsenal are joint top of that particular stat. No team has had more different goal scorers than they have. And I mean, since we're doing statistics. Arteta wanted to build a team that was physically strong and resolute and could not get bullied from set pieces. They have conceded the lowest number from them this season. And not only that, they have scored the most from them this season. He's done that. Also wanted to build a team that was incredibly disciplined and patient on the ball and could problem solve on the pitch. They wouldn't just force things or rush them. They would retain possession until an opportunity presented itself. They are second only to Manchester City, the undisputed world heavyweight champions of this style of football for the number of sequences in a game where they complete 10 or more passes. And more importantly, for the number of those sequences that lead to an attempt on goal. But it's not just patience and perseverance is that he also wanted to build a team that was super aggressive in winning the ball back on the rare times they did give the ball away. They would jump on the opposition to get that back and create a whole other different type of chance. And he has they are number one in the league for the number of high turnovers, basically any time they win the ball back in the opposition third, that then leads to a goal of goal. And for the real nerds out there, they have the lowest passes per defensive action in the Premier League this season. And if you don't know what that means, it's just like on average, how many passes are the opposition allowed to have before you either win it back or otherwise just clatter them. And when you have all of these different things working in harmony, what do you get? You get a team that isn't just capable of playing brilliantly and getting big wins against Manchester City, but you also get a team that can turn up a way to Luton with a couple of injuries and tired legs and actually not play that well and have a goalkeeper throw two into his own net and still win that game. And it is those two things above all others. That's four that can win you a Premier League title, like take points off your championship rivals, make sure you win those games. But also when you're not at your best and some team you should have no problems against score three goals against you, find something somewhere in this team to get you over that line. But just the bottom line here is that last season, Arsenal gave Manchester City six points and they got beat away to Nottingham Forest and beat away to Everton and they dropped points against Atlanta. And coincidentally, they did all of that and didn't win the league. And just quickly to the naysayers and the detractors who haven't actually been that impressed with this team who say, oh, they're not really at it this year. It doesn't look as cohesive. They're not at their best, right? They're top of the league. If they're getting more points than Man City and Liverpool when they're apparently ****, what do you think is going to happen when they're not? Now, if we may just return to stat world for a quick second, there is one slight caveat to all of this. The building blocks do appear to be in place for this team to finally win the league, but there is one thing, one possible banana skin that could stop them. And there is one other statistic that Arsenal currently sit top of the pile of, and that is mistakes leading directly to a goal. Now, they are patient and they are disciplined, but for reasons that we'll have to cover in another video, they have destabilized their backline and it's giving away goals they can't really afford to give away. And when it comes to the goalkeeping situation, it's not an ability thing, by the way, it's absolutely something that's going on up here. Like last night, David Rye came for a cross and put in quite possibly the meekest attempt to get one I have ever seen. So yes, just to wrap up my 25 million thoughts in one neat little package for you, Arsenal, I think they look like they might win the league, but if they don't sort this guy out at the back, either just by getting Rye's brain put back in or putting Ramsdale back in or just doing something else entirely, they may come unstuck. They go really good at getting four goals against Luton, but they can't go into every game needing to find four goals. Anyway, though, my dear, dear friend, if you have enjoyed this video, and I certainly have, please do consider subscribing to us here at 442 on YouTube. It's the kind of thing we do. I think it's really cool and possibly maybe you do, too. And just an enormous thank you to anybody and everybody who voted for us in this year's FSA Awards. I went to the thing and I had a really nice time, even though we didn't win. Had to sit there and do my really pleased for the winner, thoroughly deserved face, even though obviously inside I was kind of feeling like, it's a disgrace. It's embarrassing. That's how I feel. That's how everybody feels in that room. Next year. Meantime, though, grab me on socials at Adam Cleary, C-L-E-R-Y, 442 in the corner of the video. Latest bag. I keep saying it's nearly not on sale, but it still is. So go buy that. Harry Kane's on the cover, Arsenal fans. You'll enjoy that. And until next time, I've been Adam Cleary. This is 442. These may be your Premier League winners. 23, 24, what year is it? Bye!