A Lesson in Control and how to Press: Arsenal 2-0 Brighton Tactical Analysis, Arteta vs De Zerbi

Arteta di Zerbi, I think, was lined up to be a game of real tactical intrigue, where some real deep understanding could be acquired. Welcome back to the Harvey Grayson YouTube channel. I'm so glad you're joining us again, or have found us for the first time. And in today's video, I'm going to provide an in-depth tactical analysis with in-game images of Arsenal 2 Brighton 0, describing how an Arsenal team, ever-growing in coherence going forward, and one that instilled that creeping feeling of someone constantly behind your back into the Brighton players, I think, asserted the impressive gap between the two sides on the day. So with all this to come, let's get straight on into it, and I'm going to start with this creeping feeling that someone's always behind you. I'm going to call yesterday's game the game of the press. Of course, we know both sides build in a 4-2-4 and press in a man-to-man fashion. But the prowess of Arsenal's press yesterday, that we've seen throughout the season, really did prove too much for Deserby's men. Brighton have such a steadfast belief, of course, in playing out from the back, and rarely mix it with going long from goal kicks over the top of a man-to-man press, like the other elite sides. And this does come to their success and to their detriment. As I will discuss later, Arsenal on the ball, built successfully to fine-settled possession, meaning they had five men always in the last line, in their 3-2-5 or 2-3-5 set-up. And this meant they counter-pressed much more effectively, and this meant that they dominated the proceedings on field tilt. And when Brighton were forced into going long to Evan Ferguson, Gabriel and in particular William Saliba dealt with him exemplary. And this meant Simon Odinga was really the only sort of threat for Brighton in that first half in transition. And getting at Arsenal in transition, as we know, is as hard as it gets. So with Arsenal settled in Brighton's half, in and out of possession, they were able to counter-press like we know they can, starting in that 4-1, 4-1 set-up, with Rice covering the space in between the attacking and defensive lines, often marking that positionally free number 10 for Brighton that in the first half most of the time was Adam Lallana, and in the second half that was Buonannotte. This part of the pitch, in between the lines, used to be the only area of weakness in Arsenal's man-to-man press. But now it's become one of their biggest strengths in simply the pure coverage that Declan Rice offers you. Of course then, in that 4-1, 4-1 shape, Oerdegaard inhabits Martial's space in behind the 9 Gabriel Jesus. And then, Oerdegaard triggers the release of the press into a man-to-man fashion when he pushes through to form a 4-4-2 yesterday that matched up with Brighton's 4-2-4. And he often arced his run from right-to-left to shadow-mark Lewis Dunk as the free man and to press the goalkeeper de Bruggen. Arsenal's wingers then were ready to match up with Brighton's full-backs in their 4-2 build-up shape. The piece de resistance yesterday was the Havertz-Rice partnership out of possession. And that match-up on the Brighton pivot, which was comprised of Gilmour, Lallana or Gross, depending on the rotations that happened in the game. And this difference, I think, in physicality in the midfield. And this is very important for Arsenal this season because that dual capacity, that continued intensity, that engine-like midfield and press out of possession that they have, allows them to not drop off and be passive and relinquish control, as they've done against Brighton and de Zerby in the past. 3-0 at the Emirates to Brighton last season, Arsenal were passive in the press and often pressed with just three men against Brighton's build-up of four players. And then in the 4-2 victory for Arsenal at the MX last season as well, it was again more of a passive approach from Arteta because they couldn't have the intensity and also the dual winners to go toe-to-toe with Brighton's build-up for the whole 90 minutes. So it was a significant step forward in that regard as well. And it proved really difficult for a Brighton side yesterday with almost, I think, that circuit-like, drilled-in nature of those bounce balls into the pivot, back out to try and work a press and find the free man. This was a total mismatch for the intelligence, the long legs, the intensity, the levels of coherence in these out-of-possession shapes for Arsenal. And this resulted in 11 high turnovers in the first half alone for Arteta's side. A game that I thought was very similar, especially in how the first half panned out, to the Spurs game at home. Both should have seen Arsenal leading at half-time and I think maturity and decision-making can still be worked on when we do turn over the ball for Arsenal. And compounding that turnover, something I touched on in the analysis of that Spurs game, will lead to Arsenal really inciting these thrashings onside. Like Brighton, have actually been susceptible to this season for the same reasons. But this is a formidable outfit and I think Arsenal are the best in the world out-of-possession now. Like I said, a 76% field tilt, 6% higher than anyone else has imposed on Brighton this season. And for the first time, Brighton have not scored in a Premier League game since February. It was the first team to keep de Zerbe's side without a shot in the first half in the same period of time and it was the game of the press for Arsenal. And they really did rise to it. I think the first time Brighton ever transitioned into their settled build-up shape of a 3-1 was in the 39th minute against Arsenal. It really shows how dominant they were in territory in the opening exchanges. And this was the only period that Grose could really drop in between the two centre-backs, split them with that lone pivot then of Gilmour in midfield. But of course, this does leave Brighton light on the transition and even when they defend with five in rest defence in their 2-3, they can be exposed in those wide channels in behind at times because their centre-backs aren't the most mobile centre-backs in 1v1 situations. And this was shown seconds later when Martinelli was released by Zinchenko. And on a side note, as Arsenal almost went unscored, these balls to Martinelli are the ones that access him most as a player. And the reason we haven't seen them as much this season is because Zinchenko, of course, isn't normally setting high enough from inverted full-back to do this reliably. We need whoever is that left interior to have that in their repository. Like Vieira, for example, did against Everton for a Martinelli offside goal, those incisive passes. And I will keep going back to this because if we want our attack to still be optimal, this sort of relationship between Martinelli and his interior is a guarantee of five goals a season plus for Gabriel Martinelli if done correctly. But now I want to quickly touch on Arsenal in possession and growing levels of confidence and coherence going forward and fluidity. It could have been more than two goals, of course, for Arsenal, but I think our manipulation of Brighton's high and low defence was top-notch across the 90 minutes. And Odegaard's movements again in the second phase, right-centre-mid role, continues to show an increase in progression, fluidity and creativity. Because obviously he allows Arsenal to build in this 4-2-4 shape without having to use sort of unsuited players in the deeper role or increased dependency on having a Jorginho-Rice partnership as two controllers with Partey out injured, and also taking the build-up responsibility and dependency of last season off Oleksandr Zinchenko. And here we can sort of use Raya as that plus-one outfit as well to play out or to play over the top of Brighton's man-to-man press to our outlets. I think Odegaard's press resistance, technical security, balance between retention and progression and ability to dictate the tempo from any part of the pitch and in any phase makes him perfect in these deeper areas before then roaming higher in settled possession. And it's great to see that now he's not always playing on that last line as a shadow striker and he helps sort of drop outside of a block, encouraging I think White or if it's Tomi Asu to promote from that right-centre-back role and hold the width on that right-hand side, which in turn encourages Saka to drift infield and also draw another marker away from the last line of defence for Brighton in turn, and provide greater space in between the lines for players of course like Saka to operate in the half-space, but also Jesus to drop in between those lines. It's a very nice solution to our central access problem of earlier on in the season, Odegaard drifting into that 3-2 or 2-3 shape. Because it suddenly seems like we have a team of incisive passers, doesn't it? Odegaard outside of the block suddenly has the pitch opened up to him, Saka as well has a bigger zone of influence for himself to come infield, to combine, to create, to get crosses into the box, or to have that man that would be doubled up on him, drawn away by Martin Odegaard, to isolate him 1v1 against his full-back, and this was a really nice situation that we had multiple times against James Milner yesterday. But I want to take the rest of the video, because I covered so much on this channel, Arsenal shapes in and out of possession, to comment on some individual passages of play that epitomise, I think, Arsenal's strengthening fluidity in attack. I'm going to talk about manipulating a block, and one example that we had midway through the first half, there was often an overload on the right-hand side in the first half, but not in areas where Saka and Odegaard were standing on each other's toes. They were outside each other's zones, encouraging dynamic movements around them with Jesus, with Reiss, with White as well, and this sort of separated the Brighton block. At this point in the first half, they were defending with 11 men, because by including Havertz as that left shadow striker, essentially cheating defences and stealing another centre forward into the box, both him and Jesus have that gravity in these situations to really occupy central defenders, and we can see that here, the quick tempo shift of the block from right to left, and this is made even more effective by Declan Reiss's switches of plays, and he has, I think, integrated now, when we talk about the little details that make a massive difference, that pauser to get his head up, get his studs on the ball, and to sort of see which way the opposition block is moving, and then play a pass against the momentum of it. It's a really effective way to open a team up. But going back to this passage of play, Zinchenko finds Martinelli in a 1v1 by manipulating Odingaard, who is tasked with marking two players at once, and this overload on the right, isolated on the left, I think had to be the solution to that lack of pass-heavy player we had in that left half space and left interior this season, because again, Zinchenko can't always invert reliably and always have a high set point. Cheating with Jesus and Kai Havertz also leaves quite a lot of room around the penalty area, meaning Martinelli could also threaten in those Odingaard-esque situations that we see on those cutbacks from the left-hand side, but this time from the right instead. And I think this dynamic has started to occur in recent games. His goal, of course, against Luton, and the chance just after the half-hour mark against Brighton yesterday, and I think in recent weeks he definitely has been encouraged to get more central Martinelli, as sort of our problem of facilitating an environment where he shoots more does continue to be a problem. Another way we've tried to get him central more often is by rotating him and Jesus on the left wing in centre-forward position, having Martinelli darting behind, often Havertz flick on from a goal kick, sort of replicating that Tony and Brian and Bermo relationship for Brentford. But lastly, I want to talk about Havertz's goal. Reiss here was the situational left-back at the start. Trossard rotated with Zinchenko and moved into the pivot with Martin Oedegaard. These movements really unsettle a man-to-man press, and as we have seen often with Havertz as the left wing rotates into the pivot, he fills the space on the last line. In this case, Eddie and Ketty are dropped in between the lines, and those subtle passes alongside with Oedegaard opened up the Brighton defence and meant that Kai Havertz scores. So that intensity mismatch, I think, in the front line, in midfield, and defence, Arsenal against Brighton, and how Arsenal's man-to-man press matched up with the 4-2-4 build-up was always going to be imperative, and it's why I thought the press was the most integral part of yesterday's game. Brighton, of course, when they went to Ferguson, we know they don't do this often, he was moved off the ball harmlessly by Saliba and Gabriel, and this meant that it really pinned Brighton in against Arsenal, and Arsenal were able to overload with the likes of Havertz and Declan Reiss in that pivot, in that 4-4-2 man-to-man shape, marking and matching up with Gilmour, Gross and Lallana, whoever was in the Brighton pivot, that really allowed Arsenal to gain control, gain the upper edge, counter-press effectively, turn over possession, and really sustain pressure in Brighton's final third. I think that was the key yesterday, and I think it will probably be a key that continues against deserby sides, because we've seen their technical prowess in the build-up, even against really intense sides like Liverpool, has often led them to manipulate, even in a physical press, and play through the thirds, but I think Arsenal's out-of-possession shapes this season really just solidify them as the best out-of-possession side in the world for me, and that was the key yesterday, on, of course, and in alignment with growing coherence and fluidity going forward. But I really hope you've enjoyed the video, that's all we have time for today, remember to like, comment, subscribe, do everything, I only ask you to do these things at the end of the video, because hopefully that means you've found it enjoyable or informative in whichever way, shape, or form you derive that from. But that is all from me, I really hope you've enjoyed, I'll be in the comments as always replying to you, I'll catch you in the next one, see you later.