Arsenal 2-2 Liverpool: Rodgers scraps possession philosophy for counterattacking approach

Brendan Rodgers adopted an uncharacteristic counterattacking approach in an intriguing 2-2 draw against Arsenal at the Emirates. Liverpool finished the game with just 38% possession, by far their lowest total in a league game under Rodgers, and only the fourth time they've been out-possessed this season. The strategy looked as though it had worked perfectly when Jordan Henderson put the Reds 2-0 ahead in the 60th minute but Arsenal began exploiting pockets of space either side of Lucas Leiva who was sitting just in front of the Liverpool back four. Both the Gunner's goals resulted from collecting the ball in the area between Lucas, left back Glenn Johnson and center back Daniel Agger.

With the exception of Pepe Reina replacing Brad Jones in goal, Liverpool fielded the same side that defeated Norwich 5-0 in their last league outing.

Arsenal made no changes to the side that beat West Ham 5-1 a week ago.
 

The theme of the game was established early and didn't change throughout the 90 minutes- Arsenal pressed high up the pitch and looked to regain possession quickly, Liverpool sat deep, soaked up pressure and looked to play on the break.

Defensively, Liverpool used a 4-1-4-1 formation. Henderson and Steven Gerrard pressured Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey in possession while Lucas sat just in front of the back tracking the movement of Santi Cazorla. The strategy was to not allow Ramsey and Wilshere to get goal side of Gerrard and Henderson where Lucas would be forced to leave Cazorla and step to ball. Downing and Suarez tracked the forward runs of Gibbs and Sagna.

Offensively, Liverpool looked to counter through Suarez and Downing breaking in behind Arsenal's outside backs and through Henderson darting into space behind Wilshere and Ramsey and in front of the Arsenal center backs. Effectively, what was 4-1-4-1 in defense became 4-2-3-1 when Liverpool were in possession with Lucas and Gerrard rarely joining forward. The player influence graphic below shows Lucas's and Gerrard's average positions were actually as deep as Agger's over the 90 minutes.

When Liverpool found an outlet ball to Suarez, Henderson or Downing, they'd look to play the ball through to Sturridge behind the Arsenal center backs. Suarez's opener was more a result of a comedy of defensive errors from Arsenal than anything tactical but Liverpool did create some very good scoring chances off of counterattacks. Shortly after taking the lead Downing released Suarez in behind Sagna down the left flank after Liverpool had regained possession. Suarez chested and played a wonderful volleyed through ball behind the defense to Sturridge but he put his effort wide. Later in the half Downing broke into the middle of the pitch on the counter and played Henderson in behind the defense towards the edge of the box. Henderson chipped over after Szczesny left his line but the move highlighted Liverpool's effectiveness on the break.

Second Half
The second half continued in much the same way as the first. Arsenal continued to boss possession in midfield but they increased their tempo in possession and become more vertical with their passing. Liverpool were clearly straining a little more defensively early in the half as Arsenal combined with more passing combinations higher up the field. A main contributing factor to Arsenal's increased threat in the attacking half was that they began to exploit the space either side of Lucas between Liverpool's defensive and midfield banks of four. Cazorla drifted from the middle into these areas and was then able to look for gaps between the center back and fullback to slip balls through. On the right, Walcott tucked inside, leaving Lucas and Johnson to communicate whether Johnson would track him inside or Lucas would shift over. Arsenal were beginning to find pockets of space between the lines they hadn't in the first half. With the Gunners seemingly on the ascendency, Henderson's goal on the hour mark from more blundering Arsenal defending came as a bit of surprise. Mertesacker and Andre Santos, brought on to replace the injured Gibbs in the first half, were the main culprits this time as both allowed the Liverpool midfielder to beat them too easily.

However, Arsenal's response was emphatic as they struck twice in three minutes to draw the score level. As they had begun to do early in the half, Arsenal exploited the space in front of Agger and Johnson and to the left of Lucas for both goals. For the first goal Walcott was able to cut in field from the right, forcing Lucas to slide over to provide help and commit a foul. Giroud scored from the resulting kick. On the second goal Cazorla drifted unmarked into this zone and was able to play a decisive ball for Giroud whose layoff Walcott finished in style. Jose Enrique was introduced on the left wing to provide added defensive cover there after the Gunners had equalized, with Suarez moving to forward and Sturridge coming off.

Arsenal's energetic second half pressing prevented Liverpool from finding the outlet passes to spring counters they had in the second half. 10 of Arsenal's 13 interceptions came in Liverpool's defensive half. Fatigue set in for Suarez, Henderson and Downing as the half wore on and they weren't able to break into space behind Arsenal's midfield as they had in the opening period.

It was surprising to see Rodgers take such a pragmatic approach and allow Arsenal to take the game to them. His likely reasoning however seems understandable- in Wilshere and Ramsey, Arsenal had two deeper lying midfielders that like to get into more advanced areas and aren't used to the responsibility of breaking up counterattacks. He thought he'd be able to exploit space in behind these two on the break and indeed he was right- had Sturridge's and Henderson's finishing been a bit more clinical in the first half, Liverpool may have put this one to bed. That they completed just 54 passes in the attacking third, by far their lowest total of the season, is evidence they were prepared to play the bulk of this game inside their own half. While Rodgers has been praised for his belief in his possession-based system, some have suggested he may be a bit tactically inflexible. Today showed he is at times willing to adjust his tactics.

The tempo of Arsenal's passing and movement was excellent in the second half. The second goal was wonderfully worked and they deserve a great deal of credit for showing the patience in their system to come back. An enjoyable game overall and probably a fair result in the end.

Redknapp's defensive 4-1-4-1 denies space in seams, frustrates City

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QPR put in a disciplined performance to secure a valuable point in a 0-0 draw with Manchester City at Loftus Road. The defending champions saw plenty of the ball, finishing the game with 69% of the possession, yet were frustrated by a compact Rangers defense in the final third.

With Matija Nastasic and Vincent Kompany both unavailable with injuries and Kolo Toure away at the African Nations Cup, Joleon Lescott was City's only available center back. Roberto Mancini therefore had the option of playing Gael Clichy and Pablo Zabaleta either side of Lescott in a back three or dropping Javi Garcia to center back. Manchester City haven't looked particularly comfortable when they've used a back three this season so Mancini opted for the latter. James Milner dropped alongside Gareth Barry in the middle of midfield and Samir Nasri played on the right.

Harry Redknapp played a 4-5-1. Stephane M'Bia, Shaun Derry and Esteban Granero played in midfield with Granero the most advanced of the three. Adel Taarabt was responsible for tracking Zabaleta down the left flank when City were in possession but broke centrally just in behind Loic Remy when QPR were on the ball. Jamie Mackie wasn't even on the bench amid rumors he'll be headed to Stoke so Fabio da Silva played on the right side of midfield.

Redknapp has a reputation for not being terribly concerned with tactics but QPR's approach this evening illustrated he's more an able tactician than he lets on. He was understandably concerned with the ability of Aguero, Dzeko, Tevez and Nasri to find pockets of space in between the seams of defenses and therefore set out to mitigate space between the lines with a compact defensive shape. QPR would then look to break quickly on the counter. Sitting deep and countering is a strategy plenty of teams have attempted to use against Manchester City, however the positioning Redknapp had his players take was slightly different than most.

Most teams looking to defend deep and then play on the counter will drop the wide midfielders alongside two holding midfielders defensively to form a bank of four. An attacking center midfielder and the striker will then play higher up the pitch tracking either the opposition holding midfielders or center backs. The defensive shape then is effectively a 4-4-1-1. The problem here is that defending in two flat banks of four creates, a defensive one and a midfield one, creates space between the lines for opposition playmakers to drift into and collect the ball.

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Rather than having Derry and M'Bia play side by side defensively and leaving Granero higher up the pitch, Redknapp had Granero drop alongside M'bia to form a midfield bank of four. Derry then dropped off and sat just in front of his two center backs, checking any run a City player tried to make between the seams. Rather than 4-4-1-1, QPR's defensive shape was 4-1-4-1. The strategy worked well defensively. QPR allowed Barry and Milner to drop in behind the midfield four to collect the ball. Neither of the City holding midfielders are particularly creative passers and both played mostly horizontal balls in this area. Higher up the pitch, City's four attacking players struggled to find space and were closed down quickly when they got on the ball.

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Another key factor to QPR's defensive performance was the work Taarabt and Fabio did tracking City's outside backs when they looked to make forward runs down the flanks. Nasri and particularly David Silva like to play narrow from their wide starting positions, forcing the opposition outside backs in field and leaving space down the flanks for Zabaleta and Clichy to overlap into. Taarabt and Fabio both put in disciplined shifts, rarely losing track of City's fullbacks when they broke forward.

The obvious problem with defending in the 4-1-4-1 formation, as opposed to 4-4-1-1, is that when possession is won back you don't have a central attacking midfielder drifting into space behind the opposition holding midfielders to spring counter attacks. As a result the loan striker can become isolated and is forced to hold the ball up long enough for his midfielders to break forward. This was at times the case for QPR today- Remy was frequently left to chase balls knocked in the corners for him. However, Redknapp did set up a fairly effective strategy for counterattacking. When QPR won the ball back, Taarabt would look to quickly break in field from the left behind Barry and Milner. When he got possession in these areas Remy would sit on the shoulder of Garcia or Lescott and look to use his pace to get in behind. Much has been said about Taarabt's attitude and work rate but he worked tirelessly today combining his well known skill with endless running. He nearly created a goal in the first half with a ball to Remy in behind Garcia and nearly scored himself after a brilliant individual run but was denied by an impressive Joe Hart save.

What's behind Big Sam's bizarre Arsenal squad selection?

Those associated with West Ham United will be keen to dismiss Wednesday night's heavy 5-1 defeat to Arsenal as a bad day at the office against a team that, when at their best, can produce some sublime football. To a certain extent it would be fair for Sam Allardyce's side not to look too deeply into this one. After taking a first half lead, the Hammers found themselves trailing 2-1 early in the second half to two very good goals from Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud. From there their midfielders were forced to become more adventurous going forward, leaving the back four exposed to Arsenal counterattacks. The Gunners took full advantage, scoring three goals, all assisted by Lukas Podolski, in the span of four minutes.

However, the result could be rather more ominous than Hammers fans would like to believe as West Ham fight to retain their top flight status in the final 15 games of the league. Allardyce's side have won just 1 of their last 8 league games. Only Aston Villa and Norwich have collected fewer points over the last 6 games.

Allardyce surprisingly left Mohamed Diame, Matthew Jarvis and Joe Cole out of the starting eleven. Diame's exclusion was particularly surprising. He scored a fantastic goal against Arsenal in the reverse fixture and was dominant in West Ham's 3-1 win over Chelsea where he used his physical strength to overpower Chelsea's technically gifted yet diminutive attacking midfielders. Against an Arsenal midfield comprised of Jack Wilsere, Santi Cazorla, and Aaron Ramsey, all players under 155 lbs, his physical strength and powerful running could have caused similar problems. His exclusion led to speculation he was on his way to Arsenal but Allardyce has since said he'll stay in East London.

Segments of West Ham supporters have suggested Allardyce didn't expect his side to get anything out of this game, regardless of who he started, and therefore opted to protect his best players from injury to ensure their availability for more winnable upcoming fixtures against Fulham, Swansea and Villa. Whether or not there is any validity in this claim I'm unsure- Allardyce would certainly never admit to taking up this strategy. But few would argue Allardyce put out 11 players best equipped to get a result at the Emirates. If this was indeed a well-calculated long-run strategic move by Allardyce to reduce his chances of winning one very difficult game in order to improve chances of collecting future vital points, I can sympathize. He doesn't have the deepest squad and it's far more important his side retain their top flight status than compete well in one league match in January.

However, Arsenal was hardly the only difficult fixture remaining for West Ham. The Hammers still have 6 of the league's current top 7 teams left to play. Four of those game are on the road- Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Everton. They also have Manchester United and Tottenham at home. They can ill-afford to collect just a point or two from those six contests if they wish to avoid a nervy last few weeks of the season. Big Sam will certainly have to contest those games with a stronger side than the one he field Wednesday night.

If instead Allardyce's reasons for sitting Diame, Joe Cole and Jarvis were tactical, I'd be curious to hear how he would have ideally expected the game to go. While you can understand his decision to defend deep with a midfield bank of 5 in front of the back four from a defensive sense, it's difficult to determine what he expected his side to do when they won the ball back. Normally teams that sit back look to break quickly on the counter when they retain possession (West Brom have done this well most of the season). West Ham however are not a counterattacking side. According to whoscored.com, they've yet to score on the counter this season. With ten players in their own defensive third of the pitch it was easy for Arsenal to press when West Ham won the ball back. The Hammers only option was to lump the ball forward to Cole, who was completely isolated up front. Arsenal inevitably got the ball back quickly and put West Ham on the back foot again. The Gunners finished the game with 69% possession and 36% of the game took place in West Ham's defensive third.

What two months ago looked would be a comfortable league campaign for West Ham now appears anything but. If they're to ensure a second consecutive year in the top flight, it'll be important Allardyce gets his squad rotation right. Consecutive wins over Fulham, Swansea and Villa and no one will remember Big Sam's bizarre squad selection Wednesday evening.

Preview: West Ham vs. Arsenal

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Arsenal will look to go within 4 points of Spurs in the race for the final Champions League spot as they host West Ham in another London derby this evening- a game that was rescheduled due to the Boxing Day tube strike and is therefore each teams' game in hand. They couldn't ask for a much more favorable opponent at the moment as the Hammers have struggled away from home all season. Only Newcastle, QPR and Reading have collected fewer points on their travels than West Ham and they've failed to score in their last four away league games. They've managed just 5 goals away from Upton Park, the worst away goals record in the Premier League.

Arsenal will be without holding midfielders Mikel Arteta and Francis Coquelin to injury. The absences mean that Jack Wilshere will almost certainly drop in to a deeper midfield position alongside Abou Diaby after playing higher up the pitch in an attacking midfield role the last two games. Cazorla will take his place behind the forward after spending the last two games on the left wing. Lukas Podolski has recovered from illness and will likely play on the left. Theo Walcott will likely continue on the right with Olivier Giroud at center forward; however, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has recovered from illness so Wenger has the option of playing him on the right with Walcott at striker.

Sam Allardyce will be without James Collins who remains sidelined with a hamstring injury. James Tomkins will take his place. Marouane Chamakh is ineligible to play against his parent club so Carlton Cole will return to the lineup at striker.

Arsenal Approach
Unsurprisingly, Arsenal dominated with 69% possession in their 3-1 win in the reverse fixture at Upton Park in October. They'll again enjoy the lion's share of possession this evening. The key will be whether they can translate that possession into goalscoring chances against a compact and physically imposing West Ham defense.

West Ham's back four isn't especially athletic or pacey. Walcott in particular will have a big speed advantage over Joey O'Brien so the Gunners may well look to play through balls between O'Brien and Winston Reid for Walcott to run in behind. Against Chelsea Walcott tucked inside from the right wing and played high up the pitch, almost as a second forward, looking for balls played behind the defense. West Ham will almost certainly keep a deeper line than Chelsea did but I'd expect Walcott to again play high up the pitch and look for opportunities to make runs inside behind the defense. 

It'll be interesting to see where and how often Arsenal choose to press. The Hammers aren't especially comfortable passing the ball in midfield- they have the third lowest pass completion rate in the Premier League at 75%. They like to get the ball into the attacking third quickly by playing long balls into Carlton Cole and then getting the ball wide for crosses to be played back in the box. If Arsenal press and play a high line they'll both force West Ham to control the ball in a compact space in their own half and take Carlton Cole away from goal, reducing West Ham's chances to get the ball into the attacking third by knocking it long to the big striker. Cole has a bit of pace but not enough to worry Vermaelen with balls played over the top of a high defensive line. If the Gunners instead drop into banks of four it'll invite West Ham to play direct balls into the box where they're very good at winning second balls.

West Ham Approach
West Ham will work hard in midfield to prevent Arsenal's skillful midfielders from getting into any kind of a passing rhythm. They did excellently in the second half of their 3-1 win over Chelsea to get tight on Chelsea's diminutive attacking midfielders and physically impose themselves through the middle of the pitch- they'll have to repeat the energy levels and organization shown in that game if they're to have a chance this evening.

Defensively, they'll keep a deeper line to prevent the likes of Walcott and Podolski getting in behind them. They'll look to force Arsenal to patiently build attacks from the back and restrict the spaces for Cazorla and Wilshere to get on the ball between the lines.

Arsenal aren't the most physical side and the Hammers did cause them some problems in the reverse game by getting balls into the box and winning knock downs. They'll again look to get the ball to the wings and play crosses towards the back post. They'll bring the center backs forward for any free kicks in the attacking half and play the ball high into the box. Set pieces will be offer their best chances of scoring.

 Arsene Wenger press conference

Tactical Analysis: Everton 0-0 Southampton

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Southampton earned a point in Mauricio Pochettino's first game in charge following the sacking of Nigel Adkins. It was a less dour contest than the 0-0 scoreline suggests but there was a profound lack of quality in the final third from both teams, summed up by Nikica Jelavic's second half whiff from 10 yards out.

Southampton were much the better side in the first half but weren't clinical enough in front of goal as they failed to convert a host of decent opportunities. Everton created the better chances in the second half but didn't do enough to deserve the win.

Pochettino recalled Gaston Ramirez and Rickie Lambert to the starting 11 meaning Jay Rodriguez and Steven Davis, starters in the 2-2 midweek draw with Chelsea, were left on the substitutes bench. David Moyes' only change to the side that drew 0-0 with Swansea was to replace Victor Anichebe with Steven Naismith at right midfield.

First Half
The most interesting tactical feature of the first half was Southampton's pressing and their defensive positioning against Everton's favored left flank.

The Saints' four most advanced players Puncheon, Ramirez, Del Prado and Lambert looked to quickly close down Neville, Osman, Jagielka and Distin in Everton's defensive half. You could hear Pochettino through the television mics urging his players to press high up the field. The strategy made sense- the Neville-Osman midfield combination isn't especially fluid and too often there was a large gap between the two and Fellaini. As a result, Everton struggled to link play with its more advanced players through the middle. Without being afforded the time and space to play comfortably between their center backs and holding midfielders, Everton's only passing option up the field was often a long ball from the back towards Fellaini. The Saints' pressing allowed them to nick possession in Everton's half and spring dangerous attacking moves. The graphic below shows passes received by Fellaini in the opening half, many of which came from long balls, and Southampton's first half interceptions.

At times this season Everton have used long balls into Fellaini to great effect. He's able to use his size to hold off opposition defenders and flick balls on for the striker or wingers making narrow runs in behind. This strategy was largely responsible for the Toffees season-opening win over Manchester United, when the Belgian used his physical advantage to bully Michael Carrick in the center of the park (due to injuries Carrick was playing out of position at center back that evening). However, against a side sitting towards the bottom of the table, Moyes surely wouldn't have expected his side to be so outplayed in the center of the pitch.

That Everton's deficiencies in the center of the pitch were so noticeable is attributable to how effectively Southampton defended Peinaar and Baines down the left channel. The Toffees rarely rely on their central midfielders to provide the link between defense and offense- instead they advance the ball into the attacking third through the combination play of Baines and Peinaar on the left. Peinaar frequently tucks inside from the left, forcing the opposition right back in field with him and allowing space for Baines to overlap near the touchline and whip in crosses.

Southampton employed a clever defensive approach that denied Baines opportunities to overlap into space. Rather than having the right back Nathaniel Clyne track Peinaar in field, thereby opening space for Baines to overlap down the wing, Jack Cork shifted to his right from center midfield to pick up Peinaar when he came in field. This allowed Clyne to sit deeper and deny any passes into Baines high up the field. As a result, Baines was forced to receive the ball in much deeper areas than he's used to in the first half, denying him the opportunity to get in positions to apply his trademark crosses. He didn't complete a pass in the attacking third in the first half and managed just one cross from open play from a deep position (the other two crosses in the graphic below were a corner and an Everton free kick in the middle of the pitch near the halfway line).

Rickie Lambert lacks the pace to get in behind defenses. Everton therefore played a high defensive line to keep him away from the box where his size and strength can be put to greater use. However, their pressing and efficient use of the channels enabled them to create some decent opportunities. They frequently looked for Lambert peeling off to the back post to knock the ball back across the six.

Second half
The game began to shift towards David Moyes' side after he was forced to make a 58th minute substitution for Seamus Coleman after the right back suffered an injury. Moyes brought on Anichebe to replace Coleman; Neville dropped to right back, Fellaini dropped to a deeper midfield role alongside Osman and Anichebe went up top alongside Jelavic in a 4-4-2. Fellaini's switch to a deeper role, which he views as his best position, immediately made Everton more fluid in midfield, with the Belgian offering more attacking thrust than Neville. After a poor outing Jelavic was replaced in the 67th minute by Kevin Mirallas- making his first appearance since Dec. 9 after being sidelined by injury. Everton moved back into more of a 4-2-3-1 with Mirallas playing off of Anichebe. The move further increased Everton's fluidity in midfield and the tempo of their play noticeably grew. Mirallas's movement in between the lines was good- however his lack of match sharpness showed as he missed a good opportunity after controlling the ball well and misplaced a few passes.

Southampton's press was less effective in the second half. In the opening 45 minutes they won 7 tackles and 9 interceptions in Everton's defensive half. In the second half they managed 4 tackles and 5 interceptions in Everton's defensive half. As a result, they were unable to spring the same types of quick attacks they created in the first half and failed to register a shot on goal in the second 45 minutes.

Conclusion
Southampton were stronger in the first half; Everton were better in the second. Both sides had opportunities to win the game but both lacked composure in front of goal. In the end it was probably a fair result.

Pochettino will likely be the more pleased of the two managers. His side were well organized and showed good energy levels to press for the majority of the game. More clinical finishing would have given his team a massive three points, but a difficult point to a top five side should be applauded.

Moyes will rue another missed opportunity at 3 points. He'd have viewed this as a good chance to cut into Tottenham's lead in the race for fourth. It's his sides 11th draw of the season, tied with Stoke for most in the Premier League.

Wilshere excels in advanced midfield role

When Arsene Wenger's lineup for Arsenal's FA Cup replay with Swansea revealed Jack Wilshere would likely be playing as the most advanced midfielder, with Santi Cazorla shifting to the left wing, I was admittedly skeptical of the effectiveness of the change. I realize it's a shift some Arsenal fans have been calling for for some time- many believe Wilshere's best position is the #10 role and Cazorla excelled mostly as a winger prior to joining Arsenal.

However, I've always been impressed with Cazorla's clever movement and ability to find space between the opposition defense and midfield when he plays centrally off a main striker. That Wilshere is already a very good player with loads of potential is clear, but I thought the Gunners would miss Cazorla's close control and passing vision in crowded spaces around the box. Wilshere, I thought, was the archetypal box-to-box midfielder, strong in the tackle, energetic, able to beat opponents with his dribbling and possessing a wide range of passes. Playing him off of the striker, I assumed,

Wilshere injected a directness and pace into Arsenal attacks they don't possess when Cazorla plays attacking midfield. Time and again last night he was able to get the ball in the final third, turn and use his pace and skill to advance beyond Swansea's two holding midfielders. This would force one of Swansea's center backs to step to him and leave space for balls to be slotted through to Giroud, Walcott and Cazorla. A combination of poor finishing, bad luck and last ditch Swansea defending kept Arsenal off the scoreboard for 86 minutes (before Wilshere himself broke the deadlock) but Wilshere was creating good goalscoring chances seemingly at will.

Cazorla plays patiently as the #10, keeping hold of the ball and waiting for angles in which he can use his excellent vision to provide defense splitting passes. He sets a patient tempo to the Gunner's buildup play, allowing them to get numbers forward and play intricate passing combinations around the penalty area. At times this style works excellently but it can also allow the opposition time to recover into deep, compact defensive positions where they can prevent gaps from opening up for Arsenal to play balls in behind.

Wilshere's style is more explosive- he looks to receive the ball, beat a man and slip a teammate through on goal. With Wilshere as the #10, Arsenal's play in the attacking third is much more vertical and much faster. His first instinct when he gets on the ball is to face goal and run towards it. Anyone who has watched Lionel Messi knows that a central attacker who constantly looks to run towards goal at pace is a terrifying prospect. Although it would be ludicrous to compare Wilshere to the Ballon D'or winner at this stage in his career, he brings that same narrow-minded desire to get at the opponents goal Messi brings to Barcelona.


Of course this was just one game against a distracted opponent that was not at full strength. Against certain opponents Cazorla may well still be the better option at the #10 role. However, Wilshere's ability to play that position well will offer Arsenal a different option in that area of the field at a time when Cazorla's form has dropped over recent weeks. Since registering a hat trick and an assist in the Gunner's 5-2 win in December over Reading, he has just one assist and no goals in the last six games. The option of playing Wilshere higher up the field and Cazorla on a wing will allow Arsenal to alter it's approach in the final third and make them a less predictable opponent.

Preview: Manchester City vs. Arsenal

Manchester City head to the Emirates to face Arsenal Sunday, albeit with about 900 fewer supporters than expected as they voice their displeasure over the 62 pound ticket prices Arsenal will be charging for this 'Category A' fixture.

Since Sheikh Mansour's takeover of Manchester City the storylines that have surrounded this fixture have been intriguing- a clash between the nouveau riche Manchester City, who in recent seasons have lured the likes of Samir Nasri, Emanuel Adebayor and Gael Clichy away from Arsenal with higher wages, and Arsenal, the poster child for football clubs living within their means. However, their recent clashes at the Emirates have not lived up to their Category A status.

As Michael Cox wrote in his column for Soccernet today, Roberto Mancini has taken a very cautious approach to this fixture over the last few seasons, resulting in cagey, dull contests. Mancini has visited Arsenal in the league three times since taking over at City in 2009. The first two of those contests ended 0-0; Arsenal edged out a 1-0 win last season (City haven't registered a league goal at Arsenal since the 2006-2007 season). City sat deep and employed three defensive minded midfielders for most of those three games.

Lineups

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The absence of Yaya Toure, on international duty with the Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup of Nations, means Mancini will be forced to use two defensive minded holding midfielders in Javier Garcia and Gareth Barry, raising concerns among neutrals that Mancini will again be tempted into trying to make this a cautious contest. Samir Nasri is serving the final game of a three match suspension so James Milner is likely to start on the right wing. Sergio Aguero will miss out with a hamstring injury- Carlos Tevez will play just off of Edin Dzeko.

There are more questions surrounding Arsene Wenger's selections, particularly who he'll start at forward and on the right wing. Olivier Giroud picked up a slight knock against Swansea last weekend so there's a good chance Wenger will continue with Walcott through the middle. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain played 70 minutes for the under-21's Wednesday, suggesting we could see Aaron Ramsey take his place on the right. 

City Cautious Approach
Arsenal are a more dangerous side when games become open. Oxlade-Chamberlain, Podolski and Walcott thrive in games when there is enough space to use their pace to get in behind the opposition defense. There's a good chance that in the early stages, playing away from home and with key attacking players absent, Mancini will retain his cautious approach at the Emirates and maintain a compact defense to prevent the game from opening up too much. City won't have the attacking thrust of Toure through the middle and James Milner is more trusty foot soldier than creative attacker on the right: City will therefore only have 3 truly attack minded players on the field- Tevez, Dzeko and Silva. Mancini may feel his hand is forced into playing more defensive. The fact the Gunners have struggled to break down deep, compact defenses this season may offer further incentive to play deeper.

If Wenger anticipates City defending deep it may be a smart move for him to go with Ramsey on the right (I can imagine Gunners fans exiting my post now, but hear me out). David Silva will be playing a narrow left-sided position for City. Defensively, he'll be responsible for tracking the forward runs of Bacary Sagna but he doesn't have the engine or tackling ability of James Milner on the other side of the pitch (who will track Gibbs). In all likelihood Sagna will get chances to get in behind Silva when Arsenal are in possession. Whereas Oxlade-Chamberlain would keep a wide position, Ramsey will tuck inside from the right to give Arsenal an extra body to compete in the middle, drawing Clichy in towards his center backs. This will create space for Sagna to make overlapping runs near the touchline and collect the ball in space on the wing. If Clichy doesn't follow Ramsey in field, Arsenal will be able to overload Barry and Garcia in front of the City back four with Ramsey, Wilshere and Cazorla.

Of course, the danger of getting Sagna in possession high up the pitch is that it leaves space for City to counter down the left when they retain possession. As Arsenal's outside backs join the attack, we could see Tevez floating in space behind them on either channel where he'll look to spring counters through direct balls out to the wings. Dezeko's winner at WBA show that his movement can be deadly on the counter. Arteta will therefore have to remain focused on Tevez's positioning.

Arsenal Approach
It'll be interesting to see how Wenger chooses to defend. Yaya Toure often provides the link from defense to offense for City with either forward passes or his powerful vertical runs with the ball. Neither Barry nor Garcia possess the same ability to make forward passes and they certainly can't match Toure's powerful dribbling. We may therefore see City struggle to advance the ball into the final third. Wenger may elect to drop his wingers alongside Wilshere and Arteta defensively to provide a midfield bank of four and limit space in between the seams for the likes of Tevez and Silva to move into and provide a passing option. With few easy forward passing options we could see City frustrated into playing horizontal balls in the midfield between Garcia, Barry and the center backs. It's difficult to imagine Wenger being quite this pragmatic at home however.

If the Gunners choose instead to press they may force City into knocking long balls in towards Dzeko from the back but they also run the risk of leaving Tevez space to get on the ball and run at the back four. In all likelihood Arsenal will do some combination of dropping in deep and pressing. 

Conclusion
Whereas City's lineup often includes five prominent attacking threats, absences mean they'll only have three Sunday- David Silva, Tevez and Dzeko. Mancini is always cautious in this fixture to begin with- without Toure and Aguero he has an even greater incentive to be pragmatic once again. I'd expect another cagey, low scoring affair. I hope I'm proven wrong.

Tactical Analysis: Swansea 2-0 Chelsea

Two dreadful errors from Branislav Ivanovic gifted Michu and Danny Graham goals as Swansea emerged 2-0 winners in the first leg of the League Cup semifinal. Chelsea had 64% of the possession and 24 shots to Swansea's 5. Despite dominating the run of play, Rafa Benitez's side were left frustrated by Swansea's deep, compact defending. They were guilty of squandering some decent chances in the first half but created few meaningful opportunities in the second after Swansea had gone a goal up.

Both coaches selected strong starting lineups. Benitez selected Oscar on the right over Victor Moses and Fernando Torres was given the start at forward over Demba Ba.

Michael Laudrup started Michu at center forward with Jonathan De Guzman operating as the attacking center midfielder.

Swansea's approach was cautious from the outset, defending deep with all 11 men behind the ball. Routledge and Hernandez dropped either side of Ki and Britton to form a midfield bank of four. Michu dropped alongside De Guzman and the two picked up Chelsea's deeper lying midfielders Ramires and David Luiz. Ivanovic and Cahill were left free and given time on the ball.

In the opening stages Chelsea's three attacking midfielders were able to find space between the seams and create meaningful goalscoring opportunities with quick combinations around the 18. Mata was guilty of squandering two decent chances and Ramires probably should have made Swansea keeper Gerhard Tremmel work harder after he'd done well to burst into the box with a powerful dribbling move from midfield.

The Blues were most dangerous when they won the ball back in their defensive third and looked to transition forward quickly while Swansea were out of position. Once the Welsh side had time to recover into their defensive shape, Chelsea struggled to break them down.

As he tends to do, Torres continued to drop into the midfield and wide to the channels to get on the ball. No one seems to refer to him as a false 9 but in fact that's how he plays. While his movement into deeper and wide positions offers Chelsea an extra forward passing option and allows them to create overloads, it also leaves no one higher up the pitch to trouble the opposition center backs. They can simply sit in and pick up any runs into the box by Chelsea's attacking midfield trio (I wrote about this in detail on Monday).

As the second half wore on Swansea continued sitting deep and left De Guzman and Michu to try to hold the ball up and create an attacking threat on their own. Azpilicueta and Cole pushed forward and looked to overlap Oscar and Hazard as Chelsea chased on equalizer. However, Hernandez and Routledge diligently tracked the Chelsea outside backs. As a result, Chelsea often looked to attack through the middle- David Luiz and Ramires played higher up the pitch as the game wore on- however, Swansea were too compact and too deep for Chelsea to find any gaps to slip balls in behind.

Substitutions
Laudrup brought on Dwight Tiendalli, a fullback, for Wayne Routledge in the 62nd minute. Tiendalli slid in at right back, Angel Rangel pushed forward to right midfield, and Hernandez moved to left midfield. The substitution was made to shore up the right side of Laudrup's defense and prevent Cole and Hazard from creating overloads down that sideline. Throughout the first half Hazard and Cole had combined well to get into dangerous positions down the left. Rangel, a right back used to getting up and down the sideline, tracked the movement of Ashley Cole while Triendalli stuck with Hazard. Cole was unable to make overlapping runs into space following the substitution.

Chelsea introduced Frank Lampard for Ramires in the 71st. In the 81st and 83rd minutes he brought on Ba and Marko Marin for Torres and Oscar, substitutions he should have made earlier. Prior to Ba and Marin coming on Chelsea's attacks were far too narrow- their combination passing was never going to break down such a crowded defense and they needed to become more direct by getting the ball wide and hitting crosses. Ba's aerial threat and physical strength provided the more direct threat Chelsea needed in the final third. Within seconds of his introduction he dangerously flicked a long ball from Ivanovic goalward and moments later got on the end of cross from Marin. It was particularly surprising Benitez waited so long to bring on Ba given Swansea's center backs Chico Flores and Ashley Williams have difficulties against more physically imposing forwards.

Laudrup made his final substitution in the 83rd minute, bringing on Danny Graham for Michu. Graham pounced on Ivanovic's blind back pass to put the game away in the second minute of added time.

Conclusion
Swansea defended deep and were well organized at the back, particularly in the second half. They created little but deserve credit for keeping a full strength Chelsea squad off the score sheet at Stamford Bridge.

The game could have ended differently for Chelsea had they taken one of their early chances but as the game wore on and they were forced to break through a packed defense they were short on ideas. Their attacks were too narrow and prior to the introduction of Ba they lacked someone with the physical presence in the box to get a scrappy goal.

Links 1/9/13

• Manchester City send almost a third of ticket allocation back to Arsenal
• 'Kevin Parker, the general secretary of the Manchester City Supporters Club, said: "It's the most expensive amount I can ever remember paying for a ticket in my life, for a Sunday afternoon game which is live on satellite television."And it's not as if finding a television to watch the game on is difficult nowadays. Even if the game wasn't live, to charge £62 to watch it is ridiculous, but to charge that amount when people can see it live on TV is crazy."'

•  Paul Wilson" The Premier League must introduce Financial Fair Play for away fans
• 'The top London clubs are notoriously expensive and Arsenal are the dearest of the lot now the wage bill is so high, as a result of having to pay players exorbitant amounts to prevent them leaving for, er, Manchester City. It would be wrong to pin the blame for high ticket prices elsewhere on City supporters – the club did not stop to check with its fanbase before doing its bit to contribute to the inflationary rise by throwing stupid money at players such as Robinho and Emmanuel Adebayor – but what City have to come to terms with is that since winning the title they are Category A, top drawer, and will be priced accordingly.'

• Michael Cox: The Decline of Dani Alves
• 'Statistics from Barcelona's La Liga campaign sum up Alves' minimal impact. Alba has contributed two goals and four assists from 15 starts, Adriano has scored five times from nine starts and even Montoya has provided two assists from four starts. Alves has begun 10 matches, yet hasn't directly contributed to a single Barcelona goal. '
• Paul Wilson" The Premier League must introduce Financial Fair Play for away fans
• 'The top London clubs are notoriously expensive and Arsenal are the dearest of the lot now the wage bill is so high, as a result of having to pay players exorbitant amounts to prevent them leaving for, er, Manchester City. It would be wrong to pin the blame for high ticket prices elsewhere on City supporters – the club did not stop to check with its fanbase before doing its bit to contribute to the inflationary rise by throwing stupid money at players such as Robinho and Emmanuel Adebayor – but what City have to come to terms with is that since winning the title they are Category A, top drawer, and

•  Nostalgic paintings by Paine Proffitt

• 'Since moving to England 10 years ago, Proffitt has focused on portraying working man's life. 'Football is central to who we are and where we come from,' he said. Proffitt's paintings are inspired in part by surrealism and cubism, and are created using layers of acrylic on canvas. The colour and texture is steadily built up over a period of several days before the details, collage elements and lettering are added. Proffitt was commissioned last season to produce the cover artwork for West Bromwich Albion's programmes and is this season working with Port Vale and Aberdeen.'

•   Jonathan Wilson: Nigeria and Ghana battle the egos in Africa Cup of Nations buildup

• 'There is a new mood of militancy about west African football. The buildup to previous Cups of Nations has often been dominated by will-he-won't-he sagas as big-name players decide whether they really want to take a month out of the league season to go to play for their countries. This year, the coaches have hit back. The Ghana coach, Kwesi Appiah, on Monday omitted Marseille's André Ayew from his squad after the Marseille winger reportedly turned up late for a squad get-together; he follows Nigeria's Steve Keshi, who had already refused to select Peter Odemwingie and Shola Ameobi on the grounds they didn't seem bothered enough about representing their country.'
   

Footballers should be held to higher ethical standard

Luis Suárez has been undoubtedly typecast as the villain after Liverpool’s controversial 2-1 win in the FA Cup over fifth-division side Mansfield Town. I cannot imagine that any other player on Liverpool would have been criticized to the extent that Suárez has been for a similar offense. For instance, if the ball had struck Steven Gerrard's outstretched wrist, few would have labeled him a cheat. That raises the question: has Suárez been unfairly maligned? The culture of football is such that players are not expected to fess up when they commit an infringement, and to a large extent, players are even expected to break the rules surreptitiously in order to gain any advantage they can over opponents. We see this in form of jersey pulling, shoving opposing players to make space, and simulation. While many commentators express disgust and disapprobation at this sort of activity, few are surprised by it. This cheating, which by the way is the appropriate term for the behavior, is as prominent a feature of the modern game as tiny Spaniards dictating the run of play. So, in an important sense, it is completely unfair to blame an individual player for a systemic problem in the sport.

On the other hand, cheating should not be tolerated, and condemning perpetrators of such acts seems not only appropriate but also a promising method to discourage further cheating. Sure, many footballers will continue to seek unfair advantages, but they will need to consider the cost to their reputation.¹ Few individuals take pride in being known as a cheat. Moreover, if the football community—fans, commentators, players, managers, and referees—forcefully make clear their disapproval of cheating, the sport's governing bodies will be pressured to implement policies (e.g., retroactive punishment for simulation) to reduce its prevalence in the game.

A related issue is whether a player's intent matters.² That is, should we condemn Suárez if he did not deliberately handle the ball? This is a more complicated issue that I am still thinking through. While not a perfect analogy, an unintentional handball is like a cashier giving you extra change (e.g., change for a $50 when you only paid $20), and the deliberate handball is akin to stealing money from the cash register when the cashier isn't looking. The latter is unambiguously theft, while many people would not consider the former an act of theft. Nevertheless, in both cases, the cashier is unfairly worse off. In my view, it is clearly wrong not to return the extra money that does not belong to you.

Regardless of whether the handball was intentional or whether the perpetrator of the handball is considered a serial cheater or an upstanding citizen, Mansfield Town have every right to feel aggrieved. That players in the past have not confessed to rule infractions, intentional or otherwise, is not an adequate justification and does not make it right. This moment in the FA Cup fixture presented Suárez with an opportunity to atone for his past misdeeds and demonstrate that he is indeed "misunderstood," as he asserted in an interview at the beginning of this season. I firmly believe that Suárez would have transformed his reputation and garnered immense respect from football fans everywhere had he told the referee that the goal should not stand, as Miroslav Klose and Daniele De Rossi did in similar situations. Instead, he celebrated the goal by kissing the wrist that allowed him to score unfairly.³ He perpetuated his status as Public Enemy Number One and demonstrated what we all already knew: he is a fierce competitor who believes in winning at all costs. The real shame is that the victims, the players of Mansfield Town, likely will never play a more important game for their club on such a large stage. Suárez could have given Mansfield Town the replay they so deserved. Sadly, he did what most footballers would do—he didn't fess up and he chose to win.

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1. The example of Suárez seems to suggest that some players do not have reputational concerns. He has been condemned widely for his past antics and yet he seems to care little. He deliberately handled the ball on the goal line to prevent Ghana from advancing in the World Cup and then distastefully celebrated with glee when they missed their ensuing penalty; the FA convicted him of racially abusing Patrice Evra, and he later refused to Evra's outstretched hand in a pre-match handshake.

2. It is unclear whether the Suárez handball was in fact intentional. My interpretation of the video is that it was deliberate, but others quite reasonably disagree.

3. It should be noted that he kisses his right wrist after every goal, as he has tattoos with name of his wife and daughter on his wrist.

FA Cup tactics recap

Chelsea 5-1 Southampton: Ba gives Blues more direct threat in final third
Chelsea bounced back from their shock league defeat Wednesday to QPR to run away 5-1 winners at St. Mary's in Demba Ba's debut outing. It took the Senegalese striker just 35 minutes to get on the score sheet at his new club and he added a second at the hour mark.

Ba's movement in the penalty area was excellent and his performance illustrated how he'll enable Chelsea to be more direct and use more width in the final third than they do with Fernando Torres in the lineup.

Torres is not the type of striker that remains in the box and gets himself into dangerous positions to poach goals: rather he likes to move into positions where he can become involved in the buildup play. He tends to either drop into midfield or float into the channels to receive the ball. Because Chelsea always play with only one center forward, Torres's movement back into midfield and into wide areas means the Blues are often left with no one to pounce on balls played into the penalty area. 

When he drops between the lines to get on the ball, Chelsea's play tends to become quite narrow. Their wide midfielders pinch in field to offer passing options and look for quick combinations down the middle. When he floats into the channels he's often able to create overloads for the opposition outside backs but it also leaves Chelsea with too few players in the box to attack balls played in from wide areas.

Ba offered a different option Saturday. He tended to stay in central areas high up the pitch alongside Southampton's center backs, rarely dropping back into the space occupied by Mata. This allowed Mata more space in between the seams to get on the ball and use his creativity to pick apart the Southampton defense. Moses and Hazard were able to stay in wider areas and Mata moved from flank to flank from his central attacking midfield position to create overloads in the channels. Because Ba remained in and around the penalty area, Chelsea always had at least one person to aim balls in the box to when they got the ball in wider areas in the attacking third.

Ba offers Chelsea a physical presence in the box and his aerial ability will allow them to play with more width and send more crosses into the box. His instincts and movement in the penalty area are excellent, highlighted most clearly by the near post run he made on his second goal. Just moments later he demonstrated his clever movement in the box once again as he peeled off to the back post to receive a cross from Hazard (or was it Mata/Cole/Moses???). His headed effort was saved but the move showcased a direct threat Chelsea hadn't shown all season.

West Ham 2-2 Manchester United: United struggle in final third against powerful Hammers midfield
Alex Ferguson fielded a lopsided 4-3-1-2 and Manchester United struggled to dictate play in the final third. Tom Cleverley and Paul Scholes played center midfield and Shinji Kagawa was employed higher up the field as the link man behind the front two pairing of Danny Welbeck and Javier Hernandez. Rafael was used at right midfield meaning Manchester United had more numbers on the right side of the pitch than the left.

Early on Ferguson's side were able to take advantage of overloads down the right, causing matchup problems for West Ham's left back Daniel Potts. Smalling pushed on down the touchline from right back while Rafael tucked inside. Hernandez made diagonal runs into the right channel leaving West Ham to defend 2 v. 3 down that flank. Unsurprisingly the Red Devils' opener came from a well worked one-two down the right between Hernandez and Rafael.

The opener seemed to wake Allardyce's side up and minutes later they drew level in very West Ham-like fashion: a free kick ultimately fell to Joe Cole on the left flank who whipped in a fine cross for James Collins to head home.

With the scores level, West Ham used their work rate and physical strength in midfield to frustrate Ferguson's side. The game closely resembled West Ham's 3-1 league win over Chelsea early in December when the Hammers physically battered Chelsea's diminutive attacking midfielders. The likes of Eden Hazard and Juan Mata were simply overpowered in the Blue's attacking third leaving Chelsea unable to link defense to offense and create meaningful scoring chances.

Kagawa had a similar experience Saturday. Playing as the link man behind Welbeck and Hernandez, he was unable to find the space to get any kind of meaningful touches on the ball. When he was able to get in possession he was quickly closed down and bullied off the ball by the likes of Alou Diarra and Jack Collison.

The experiences of Chelsea and Manchester United suggest using a player with physical strength in possession to play the attacking midfield role is perhaps a better bet against West Ham than a smaller creative player. Had Wayne Rooney been fit he would have been able to use his strength and power to get the ball in tight pockets of space, keep possession and win free kicks.

Ultimately, as they so often do, Fergie's substitutions made the difference as Ryan Giggs provided an incredible ball over the top to Van Persie whose first touch and finish highlighted why he's the best striker in the Premier League.