Gabriel Martinelli UNLOCKED, Arteta’s Ruthless Plan: Arsenal 5-0 Crystal Palace Tactical Analysis

Arsenal 5, Crystal Palace 0 and I think if the game taught us anything today it was how devastating Arsenal can be in transition. I've been outspoken this season talking about how to platform Arsenal's attack in order to punish sides better and at any time via any route and I think that transitional ascendancy is arguably the most ruthless quality of them all when you add it to what Arsenal have as a package at the moment and in today's video I'm going to guide you through a tactical analysis of Arsenal's attacking dynamics against Crystal Palace but also why the control of the offensive transition is such a vital part of Arsenal's and Arteta's continued growth. Arteta's main concern at the start of the season was making Arsenal a better team over big distances in particular going forward instilling what I have coined the big space setup. Now what is the big setup for those of you new around here? Well it enables instant progression for Arsenal by bypassing the second and at times first phase as well either to hit our out ball which can be Havertz or if he's not starting high enough it's Jesus in between the lines. After we've hit these outlets, these targets, these out balls, it's surrounding them with second ball winners and give it wide and access Martinelli who is the wide and left free man and I'll get on to Gabriel Martinelli more later. Now this is a dynamic that Arteta has implemented that sucker punches any side across Europe but this is currently Arsenal's only main route of transitional creativity going forward. In an ideal world I think you put Havertz in the number nine who is an outlet of course playing over man-to-man presses something Arsenal struggled with last season and help us diversify our modes of building up the ball but it also, Havertz in the nine, gives Arsenal another additional runner type alongside Martinelli who's really our only one at the moment on that front line and with how Havertz has been made to be deployed thus far this season playing as a left shadow striker starting slightly deeper that change in his role to a number nine will elevate this more because his ability to get a team up the pitch in a number of ways is a very underrated quality of Kai Havertz but that's all on a tangent. I think maximizing transitions and finding runners in behind also extends to our passes and releases for the transition as well. I go back to platforming players in zones they can dominate and I think Oerdegaard has this zone of influence if he was in the left centre mid for example to access Martinelli in behind but let's say he remains in the right central midfield role dropping deeper as this all-phase midfielder but from the right interior instead we should use him I think in transitions as more of a third man not the piece that the attack flows through which is at the moment sort of his main role when we're building a transition not sort of directly going over the top but more through the phases quick build up but we should not use him as this piece to flow through because his body angles slow down progression at times on the right. I think more Oerdegaard's best role in terms of creativity on Arsenal's counter-attacks is that bounce pad I think to platform us or that final pass to release our runners or the sweeping balls as a second ball collector out towards Martinelli this is where he is unstoppable but his zone of influence from right central midfield in the transition is not big enough for the counter-attack to flow through Martin Oerdegaard. I mean let's take Fabio Vieira he can access Martinelli, Havertz, Emile Smith-Rowe whoever from any zone of the pitch. Saka also has this range but of course limited involvement from the right wing and you need to try and get him drifting in field more so we can see that Arsenal either need more in the transfer market of these runner and passer types or we have to use what we currently have just more effectively and I think Crystal Palace today was potentially the start of that. Before we touch on Palace and the Palace game in more detail I want to say that accessing players on the on the transition doesn't just come from passer types in the midfield for example we need Saliba to start hitting Martinelli more and this is a little detail that he is he can add to his game that he's very capable of adding to take him again to that next level on the ball like I said he has it within him we need to utilise Ben White's passing range more a very underappreciated and underutilised aspect of the Englishman's game and I think just in general we need to increase the switches of play and that will elevate our transitional control going forward as it is you know we're 17th in the Premier League ranked for switches played in games this season with just an average of two per game and this point I think applies more largely to how we approach low blocks as well sort of that requirement at times to be not just to increase the tempo but to be a little more diverse a little bit more vertical in our passing choices attacking for example in behind full backs to drop the whole of the defensive block that we're playing against then and then allow the space for box crashes to crash in the middle again we have the quality to do this whether it's Saka to Martinelli Saka in that right-handed half space drawing sort of four or five men with him whether it's Odegaard to Ben White a little clip over Vieira to Havertz or Jorginho to Martinelli and I think in this hybrid six slash eight role that Jorginho has played alongside Declan Rice in a more stringent pivot in recent times obviously a little cameo against Crystal Palace today and more dominantly against Liverpool in the FA Cup this connection with Jorginho and Martinelli I think is it will flourish whenever they are together and it's something we've seen and it's something that the left centre mid signing for Arsenal will need to be able to have that access to Martinelli which can be done via carrying powerful running or sort of that small space area and manipulation and manipulative dribbling or via passing and sort of that telepathic relationship with Martinelli and the left centre mid that can disrupt a defensive structure instantly or push them so far back that the thirds are so easy to play for play through and those sweeping moves that we sort of characterised the 2022-23 season with can be done again with more quantity and I think being flexible to attack space in different ways and importantly quicker when we're looking at Arsenal's play this season and closer to what we did last season will cause a surge in Martinelli's productivity and output once again you know Martinelli can be used as an instant killer of defences taking advantage and assuming the space in behind with his invading qualities or by making him not just in the transition but in our settle attacks the shooter i.e the sort of final part the final move in our settled play attacks giving him of course responsibilities in the build-up which comes with playing more low blocks and having to hug the touchline a bit more but making him our volume shooter as the best finisher at the club should be we need to maximise the amount of times he is doing this and for Martinelli this is a very important role of getting the most out of his superpower which is on transitions his ball striking etc and his devastating finishing ability which is getting him to finish Arsenal's attacks and when you have like I said this natural ball striker off both feet such dynamism and energy we can allow him to cheat at times and play off the last line like Jesus instantly did when Raya picked up the ball for Arsenal's third goal and Trossard's goal against Crystal Palace today and this I think the team the Arsenal team as a whole maybe this comes from Arteta in sort of a more psychological aspect needs to be switched on and on how to and how these dynamics on the transition being more ruthless attacking with different tempos and approaching space differently how many additional goals this can secure Arsenal this season and it could just be the difference right you know just a side note I would also like to see and I've touched on this a lot before and I've been speaking to you guys in the comments as always on it but I would also like to see more of Martinelli making those diagonal darts in behind or just accessing Martinelli more directly from goal kicks for example like Ramsdale did for Reece Nelson against Liverpool you sort of switch the two profiles around and maybe it's a much different scenario and I think add greater transitional control and devastation going forward you add this to how organised Arsenal have been this season and are defensively sort of their long legs and 1v1 capabilities right that athletic capacity that sees us dominate the defensive transitions also add our set piece dominance you have sort of all the variables and all the basis covered from besides the sort of settled play and control and situations like transitions like set pieces where variance does come more into play and ruthlessness is very important you put this again with sort of being a bit more savvy at times Arsenal against low blocks and you have a very very complete footballing outfit because Arsenal fans you're never as far away as you think especially this Arsenal side under Arteta and the transition taking pressure effectively I think off having to decompact and and break down stubborn defences by allowing your best shooters and devastating options to literally shoot more it's always going to be a good thing and this ties into what I've talked about last video with the left centre mid how it's not just always balls over the top it's the idea of the the player in this left centre mid role being able to receive the ball on their back foot get on the half turn and inject a sense of speed into attacks that sometimes sort of with the economy of touches we've had around the left interior and the paces of play and how comfortable they are dropping deep like I said getting on the half turn driving through defences carrying the ball accessing Martinelli has made it slightly difficult this season to create a balance to Arsenal's attacking dynamics and they're of course like I said these are details to perfect but of course no team is absolutely perfect and the transition going forward is the last thing for me that I have wanted to cover in my mini series of tactically analysing Arsenal's attack and Arteta's sort of methods maximising the transitions and a lot of this comes down to how we use Martinelli's superpower but I really hope you've enjoyed the video a quick sort of tactical analysis of the Palace game but also collating more larger themes as well as always I'll be in the comments down below I only ask you to like comment subscribe at the end of the video because hopefully that means you found it informative or enjoyable whichever way shape or form you derive that from but that is all from me I've been Harvey I hope you've enjoyed I'll catch you in the next one see you later