Arsenal’s Problem Is NOT A Striker: Tactical Analysis, Transfers, LCM, Improving Arteta’s Attack #3

The left-centre mid. For me, and it has been throughout the whole season, the key part in maximising Arsenal's attacking dynamics is improving this left-centre mid role, or more generally, I should say, the midfield composition. This is the key for enhancing Arsenal's attacking dynamics. And it's not just the position that Arsenal lack in this left-centre mid role, as this comes as the next video in my sort of series that I'm doing of how to optimise Arsenal's attack in 2024, but it's also the specific type of profile that the squad is lacking that can fit this left-centre mid role that I'm going to get into today. Welcome back to the Harvey Gratian YouTube channel. I'm so glad you found us or are joining us once again. So the left-centre mid signing, whenever it comes, whether it's a stopgap in January or a big name in the summer or later down the line, should have three qualities that I will cover today. Essentially, should be a do-it-all type without being greedy. And I will also suggest a couple of players for this role at the end of the video. But the left-centre mid should be able to, first of all, manipulate the block, as I'm going to talk about first, add progression with his passing and also with his carrying, and be a competent defender. And I mean a natural dueller, but also space blocker, so intelligent defender as well. But let's start with being able to manipulate a block because I think, especially in this left half space where the left interior or left-centre mid would normally act for Arsenal, this is something that has been significantly lacked this season. Because we're talking about a natural passer of the ball here. 100 plus touches and passes a game to go alongside, in the long run, Declan Rice who will be in the number six position. And add to this someone with an ability to reliably move the ball through blocks and quickly too. This will allow us to take advantage of, I think, when we use our momentum cleverly, for example, to pass against the direction of a block or switch from side to side very quickly, before the opposition retreat into a compact shape again. And I think this type of shuttler of the ball, let's call it, this constant active option in between the lines or dropping outside of the block, is something we've missed in recently in the defeats to West Ham and to Fulham. And just period overall across the season, it's about playing the game at their tempo with this left-centre mid signing. I think circulation has been limited with just the one deeper midfielder role in Martin Odergaard. And before that when Odergaard was playing on the last line as in our two shadow strikers system, even less so. And with that more passive option with Havertz in the left interior, which has been more of a shadow striker, or Trossard who's, I think, efficiency with touches is much better in the false nine when his role is simplified. I think we've also lacked the players with the ability to be vertical from their current zones and that need to worry a defence in behind them as well. This is all what the left-centre mid is assigning can bring us. This abundant passer, naturally incisive and also an anchor point on the left-hand side to take the dependency off Rice and Odergaard, access Martinelli more, which of course in the part of getting more out of Martinelli, getting him closer to goal, becoming our volume shooter. And I think, for example, with this left-hand sided figure in the central midfield role, this means we can take the dependency off Zinchenko and play a more combatant defender in his place. And I think taking advantage of space in behind more generally with players with sort of larger zones of influence is a way to do this. I think often we build through the first phase really quickly and access or can access the space in between the lines in the second phase, but it's the left-centre mid. We do not have a player, I think, able to get on the half turn quickly and play forwards with enough speed to, again, take advantage of when a block isn't settled in the last line and we really have to start then becoming far too intricate with our play. And accessing Martinelli with the ball is a massive one. And I think by not having those tight space shufflers and with my left-centre mid signing, I think preferably you'd want a stocky but powerful body type and this means they're able to create room for themselves in tight spaces, create separation as well over five yards, which is really all you need in those areas. Combine this with a natural incisiveness as well and suddenly Gabriel Martinelli in behind can be done with much more reliability and also variety, i.e. not just isolating him wide left like we've done this season largely. And a passer type in this left-centre mid suddenly means we can just make the most of Martinelli's sort of devastating ability to assume space and his ability to be that clinical one-on-one finisher that is really, in terms of profiles in our squad, one-of-a-kind and something we need to take advantage of much, much more. And this relationship with Martinelli is inextricably linked to this left-centre mid roll right, that telepathic relationship where Martinelli just gets running straight away and the centre mid doesn't even have to get their head up because they already knows and it's why I bring up the Vieira to Martinelli pass against Everton so much. I think this is something Odegaard can also do from left-centre mid due to his preferred body angles and capacity to be much more vertical from the left-hand side and be great at sort of passing over large distances. Jorginho can also do this from the left-hand side interestingly, he has the zone of influence to access Martinelli in behind, especially if he's given this support with Rice in the pivot and I think it just all comes down to this manipulating of a block, being able to or have the feeling in the defenders that they're at our mercy constantly with the ability to become more direct I think at any point, with always this tangible possibility of creating something out of nothing. It's about balancing our left with the right-hand side, not having too strong a dichotomy that splits the two I think and I think if there's any side in the world who was reduced to sort of the dependency on nice combinations and intricate play against a settle block like we were against West Ham for example, largely through the passing lanes of Odegaard and Saka, they would struggle just as much as us and this comes as a team who created almost three expected goals against West Ham. It's sort of the inherent quality of the players that we already have doing this but we can be better. I think the ideas of speed and assuredly playing through opposition lines that we need in this left centre mid role, manipulating a block, really links to progression in the carrying as well because central carrying has flatlined for Arsenal this season and I've hinted at this previously but that proficiency I think to absorb and get on the half turn in these tight areas and decompact an opposition block instead of more intricate patterns of play is very very important in this regard because without a proper centre mid next to him for a large majority of the season, Rice's progressive potential, carrying and carrying centrally, has been largely limited. Zinchenko's as well I think reduction in dynamism post his sort of flurries of injuries that he's had recently, Jesus of course we've already touched on and also a less active force in the left-hand sided half space with Havertz has meant central access, central carrying has been largely reduced and I think being able to create this separation centrally or not being able to is hindered us massively and we need more manipulative ball carriers to be able to do this. Players be able to face play as soon as they receive, take it on their back foot again on that half turn and I think give David Rye for example more of an option to hit in between the lines, we saw Ramsdale do this so much in his Arsenal career and I think a lot of people have asked why we haven't seen that from David Rye, often he doesn't have someone like Emile Smith-Rowe to hit like Ramsdale does and I think we mitigated this at times last season when Smith-Rowe wasn't playing by Jesus dropping left in our build-up, now it's sort of dropping much more on a vertical axis and I think then the lack of Emile Smith-Rowe has sort of exemplified the lack of Arsenal's central ball carriers this season and I think it actually creates a much larger variety of shots for the team, just having the ability to inject some dynamism into play, quickly combine and take out a line of a press so easily and we don't quite have that at the moment. Timber and Thomas Party of course gives us speed in central areas, carrying and passing wise much more and I think that willingness to play vertically with also the balance of retention that they would have around them in the rest of the team, without this has seen us have much wider entries into sort of dangerous territory instead of creating much more dangerous 1v1 moments for our wingers by having our carriers create sort of a lot of gravity in the centre, we saw Jesus did this so much last season, not so much this year. And these runners of course were also under an overlap but Kaio Saka and Gabriel Martinelli giving better centre mid and winger complements if you will to them to rotate in field, more passing options I think as a team to make us as a whole more of a threat and talking about Martinelli, having I think a level of desire, quality and mobility to carry and just generally be closer to him and more of an active force next to him in general is going to get so much more out of him again. Rice against Manchester City when he was promoted into this left 8 role when Thomas Party was substituted on just showed how this extra level of carrying and mobility, just getting closer to Martinelli brings so much more out of him. But lastly what does this left centre mid role have to give us and what do we demand from him out of possession because of course Havertz who as we've talked about maybe more plugging a gap in the left interior but if he is to move to a number 9 in the long run with an addition of a left centre mid we need to be able to fill his defensive capacities and why is Kai Havertz so good out of possession? Well he's great at managing space, closing off angles well, pressing by shadow marking the free man behind him and also is able to cut passing lanes really aggressively due to his sort of spatial intelligence and also mobility. Of course the long legs have featured a lot on this channel in describing Kai Havertz in profile. The willingness to duel I think really has to be there as well with this left centre mid recruit even if they're not sort of this empowering six foot four figure that Kai is I think just a desire to duel in general has to be there. I think when Erdegaard triggers that switch from our 4-1-4-1 zone to 4-4-2 man-to-man press we have to be able to have that left centre mid who can match up with the opposition pivot for example and steal the ball, collapse when the ball is played into their pockets and play in tandem with Declan Rice. Long legs of course help but being quite like Havertz as I was saying is not essential. I think he gives us great ability to control sort of when it gets pinball-y in tight areas but Havertz in the number 9 of course always allows this and we just need that competent and willing defender who blocks space really well because of course he's going to have Declan Rice next to him in all of our outer possession shapes he'll be just behind him in the 4-1-4-1 zone covering in between the lines alongside him in the 4-4-2 and I think especially deeper it's why Jorginho alongside Rice in the pivot works so well because the balance of the pair as a pivot is so perfect and Rice and Jorginho as a pivot and why it works so well is another video that's coming later and has been recorded. So if these are the requirements for Arsenal's left central midfielder I guess you're asking who could possibly be the answer? Well if we're talking about in January where we're much more pressed and up against financial fair play and a cheaper move could really be the one, I want to pick out Mats Weiffer from Feyenoord. Why? Of course he's a relentless dueller, he's got the similarly long legs to Kai Havertz, he's an active option in the build-up so he can be that hybrid 6-8 figure, he's a dominant passer, he's got straight line running power as well to carry and access Martinelli and a surprising ability from what I've seen him, if anyone's watched him more give me some more sort of in-depth analysis on this, but I think he's got a real ability to get on the half term and actually manipulate a defence in those small spaced areas which I was really happy to see of someone of his profile. Of course he can deputise as a 6 as well and either give Rice a complete rest or allow him to play as an 8 if we want to and he wouldn't be supremely expensive, a better option again in terms of financial fair play, he's got a lot of relative experience as well for his young age, I think he's just 22. If we can't get this over the line in January and maybe it has to be a recall for Sambi Lukongolo, let's look further ahead into the summer where there's a real chance going for top top quality. I think I'm not going to give a definite order but in terms of realistic additions, I still think Frankie de Jong is and this is assuming that Pedry is kept at Barcelona and de Jong is seen as the more sellable asset of the two. Barcelona of course they need funds and they've got a lot of depth in this left 8 interior area, they've sort of got this gluttony of wealth in this area. I think Joshua Kimmich as well, both these players have devastating block breaking qualities, again what we need. Yusuf Farfana I think is up there as another one, I don't really see Onana who we've been linked to from Everton as necessarily that needle mover from the summer but a lot depends on his fee as well of where I stand on that. Real Madrid's stance on Camovinga could be an interesting one as well but for these reasons that I've outlined, it's why players like Curtis Jones are ruled out because I love Curtis Jones perfectly and I think as out and out number eights goes, there are not really many better in the Premier League but I'm talking about this abundant passer, this death by a thousand passes who keeps the match complete, keeps the opposition block completely at their mercy. The idea that they have that incision to find something from from nowhere to kill a block and I don't think Jones for his athletic capabilities, his abilities and leading a press and carrying, he just isn't that passer type which is really the fundamental requirement for this left centre mid role. Another name of course is Manuel Locatelli, he's also tremendously willing to duel, contrary to popular opinion and he's incredible in short spaces even if he lacks that five yard burst. And of course Douglas Luiz and Douglas Luiz is not a stop gap by any means, I'm a massive fan of the Brazilian, he's comfortable in making pass after pass and after pass, always willing I think to hasten the tempo and play through the lines, speed up the play through a block, take advantage of space. He is crossing variety, comfortable carrying, a large zone of influence of course which is an important one to help maximise Arsenal in the transition which I'm going to get onto next. I think he's intense as well, this links to his stamina levels, he keeps up his I think level of physicality in the duel across 90 minutes and he's just willing to defend which is a big one and for me he's, I think Douglas Luiz is the benchmark to base all of our left centre mid targets off. This doesn't mean he's the best but he has all of sort of the tick box qualities that I've just outlined to some degree. But that's all for this video on the left centre mid, the next video in terms of optimising Arsenal's attack is going to be on how we get the most out of the transitions but I've also got videos on Arsenal's decreasing unpredictability on the way when we look so unpredictable at the start of the season then finally as I've alluded to that video on Declan Rice and Jorginho and why that pivot is something we should really look to invest in going forward as a short-term solution this season. But that is all from me, I really hope you've enjoyed, I'll catch you in the next one, see you later.