Tuesday 15th April 2014
19:45
Emirates Stadium
Arsenal vs West Ham United
Analysis
After a nice weekend off from the football, West Ham rock up to North London on Tuesday evening knowing that a positive result could stop the Gunners finishing in the top four for the first time since the dawn of time.
Arsenal had a relatively successful weekend, making the FA Cup final, but, in reality, struggled to break down and defeat a Championship side, limping to a penalty shootout victory.
And Arsenal's struggle on Saturday was just the tip of the iceberg. The Gunners have failed to win in 90 minutes in all of the past five games, and have only won one league game since the start of March.
Danger Man
Despite their recent poor form, this Arsenal team possesses a list as long as your arm of players who can cause significant damage to a West Ham United defence.
We will be aided somewhat by an injury list that includes Mesut Ozil, Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott (definitely out), Lukas Podolski, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Tomas Rosicky (doubtful), but Arsenal are well stocked in attacking outlets.
Centre forward Olivier Giroud has managed an impressive 13 goals and 7 assists in his 31 league games this season; recently back from injury, Aaron Ramsey has not yet rediscovered his scintillating early season form that saw him grab 8 goals and 6 assists in his first 17 appearances of the seasons; and even in the poor form of the last six games, Spanish magician Santi Cazorla has managed to create more than 2 chances per game for his team mates.
And it is Cazorla who stands out as Arsenal's most dangerous man on Tuesday night.
In his three appearances against West Ham so far, Cazorla has managed three wins, two goals and one assist. By that reckoning, Sam Allardyce should be marking the Spaniard up as the biggest threat too.
This season, Cazorla has created 1.96 chances per game in the Premier League (53), bagged four assists, and has managed to net himself four goals. He has also completed 54% of his 83 attempted take ons, has a wonderful 87% passing accuracy, and has hit the target with a very impressive 64% of his attempts on goal.
Despite his impressive stats this season, it is arguable that Cazorla was performing at an even higher standard last season - creating 2.5 chances per game, and registering 12 goals and 11 assists.
But even with this drop in form, Cazorla will pose a very real threat to West Ham's defence on Tuesday night. Arguably his best performance this season came against Fulham in January. Cazorla completed 4 out of 4 take ons, 80 out of 86 attempted passes, 3 out of 5 crosses, created five chances for his team mates to score, and bagged both goals in a 2-0 victory.
The image below shows why Cazorla was so difficult to deal with that day.
What you can see, is that the little Spaniard was heavily involved in the attacking areas of the field, popping up all over the park. On paper, Cazorla lined up as the left winger on the day. However, you can easily tell that the licence he is given to roam meant the Fulham defence had extreme difficulty in tracking him.
How do you stop them?
When Arsenal are playing at home, the honest answer is that you don't really stop them. Since their opening day defeat by Aston Villa, the Gunners have not lost a single home league game.
The last three teams to go to the Emirates and not lose were Swansea City, Manchester United and Manchester City. Of those, Swansea and United adopted similar approaches, and I feel this is how West Ham should approach the upcoming game.
Look at the images below, and you'll see some similarities.
To combat Arsenal's strength in attacking midfield, and weakness down the flanks, both United and Swansea took a similar approach. In both games, the away fullbacks pushed high up the park in an attempt to exploit the space left behind the rampaging Arsenal fullbacks.
As a result, the centre back pairings (Smalling #12 & Vidic #15, and Chico #4 & Williams #6) split and adopted rather wide positions behind the fullbacks to provide cover.
Rather than leave a huge space for the Arsenal attackers to exploit, both sides used defensive midfielders to sit in between the centre backs, almost forming a new back four (Carrick #16 & Cleverley #23, and Britton #7 & Shelvey #8).
This is a slight variance on how West Ham have tended to play this season.
Despite operating with two defensive midfielders in the past few months, the fullbacks have tended to be reluctant in getting forward, meaning a flat back four protected by two midfielders.
The image below shows the average positions of West Ham's players in the last two matches, against Liverpool and Sunderland. What you can see, is that the defence and attack are clearly divided into a defensive six and a front four. Guy Demel and Pablo Armero were both adventurous against Liverpool, but they tend to spend the majority of their time defending.
Teams who fail to get their fullbacks forward against Arsenal allow the Gunners to send Bacary Sagna and Kieran Gibbs forward to support the flanks and occupy the fullbacks. This lifts the defensive and positional burden from the wide attacking players like Cazorla, freeing them to move inside and outnumber the defence.
The key to getting something from Arsenal at the Emirates, is to remain defensively solid, but do not lose your sense of adventure, and attacking intent.
Weakness
Arsenal's biggest weakness for a number of years has been the lack of a true holding midfielder. Mathieu Flamini will be suspended for the game on Tuesday, so it is very likely that Mikel Arteta will perform the role.
If we look at the average position maps of Arsenal's last three games, we can see a clear pattern emerging.
Both fullbacks (Sagna #3 & Gibbs #28 / Monreal #17) push forward as wingers to allow the wide players (Podolski #9, Cazorla #19 & Oxlade-Chamberlain #15) the oppotunity to move inside and support the striker. As a result, the defensive pairing (Mertesacker #4 & Vermaelen #5) split to cover the wide areas.
By offering this cover for the fullbacks, Arsenal leave a large gap in between their central defenders - an area that can easily be plugged by a natural, disciplined defensive midfielder.
What you can see from the images below, is that Mikel Arteta (#8) very rarely drops in to form a back three. Only in last Saturday's FA Cup semi final against Wigan Athletic did Arteta drop in between his centre halves.
What Arteta should be doing is becoming a third centre back, a role typified by Steven Gerrard against Manchester City at the weekend (see the image below).
What this means, is that Arsenal's central defenders are likely to be left to fend for themselves against Andy Carroll and both West Ham wingers. Should West Ham be able to utilise the big striker and his wide team mates effectively, there should be plenty of opportunity to cause Arsenal problems on the break.
Arsenal are one of those teams that seem to blow hot and cold all season, but, no matter their form, always manage to blow hot against West Ham. The chances are we will struggle to get anything from a team unbeaten in their last 15 home league matches. But if we can defend resolutely, and attack Arsenal's weaknesses, we could just upset the apple cart.
Weakness
Arsenal's biggest weakness for a number of years has been the lack of a true holding midfielder. Mathieu Flamini will be suspended for the game on Tuesday, so it is very likely that Mikel Arteta will perform the role.
If we look at the average position maps of Arsenal's last three games, we can see a clear pattern emerging.
Both fullbacks (Sagna #3 & Gibbs #28 / Monreal #17) push forward as wingers to allow the wide players (Podolski #9, Cazorla #19 & Oxlade-Chamberlain #15) the oppotunity to move inside and support the striker. As a result, the defensive pairing (Mertesacker #4 & Vermaelen #5) split to cover the wide areas.
By offering this cover for the fullbacks, Arsenal leave a large gap in between their central defenders - an area that can easily be plugged by a natural, disciplined defensive midfielder.
What you can see from the images below, is that Mikel Arteta (#8) very rarely drops in to form a back three. Only in last Saturday's FA Cup semi final against Wigan Athletic did Arteta drop in between his centre halves.
What Arteta should be doing is becoming a third centre back, a role typified by Steven Gerrard against Manchester City at the weekend (see the image below).
What this means, is that Arsenal's central defenders are likely to be left to fend for themselves against Andy Carroll and both West Ham wingers. Should West Ham be able to utilise the big striker and his wide team mates effectively, there should be plenty of opportunity to cause Arsenal problems on the break.
Arsenal are one of those teams that seem to blow hot and cold all season, but, no matter their form, always manage to blow hot against West Ham. The chances are we will struggle to get anything from a team unbeaten in their last 15 home league matches. But if we can defend resolutely, and attack Arsenal's weaknesses, we could just upset the apple cart.
Head to Head
45% Head to Head Win % 29%
74 Won 48
43 Drawn 43
48 Lost 74
269 Goals Scored 222
222 Goals Conceded 269
Recent Form
W L D D L D Last 6 L L L W W L
5 Goals Scored 7
13 Goals Conceded 9
W L W W D D Home/Away Form W D W L L W
13 Goals Scored 7
8 Goals Conceded 5
Form Player (excl. GK)
(Last 6 League)
Mikel Arteta - Andy Carroll
6 Appearances 6
540 Minutes Played 504
139 Sum Squawka Performance Score 134
23 Average Squawka Performance Rating 22
423 Passes Attempted 190
389 Completed 119
92% Success Rate 63%
4 Chances Created 5
0 Assists 1
0 Attempts on Goal 14
0 On Target 6
0 Goals 2
5 Take Ons Attempted 7
4 Successful Take Ons 2
80% Success Rate 29%
27 Tackles Made 11
10 Successful Tackles 4
37% Success Rate 36%
13 Interceptions 1
10 Clearances 8
5 Blocks 1
5 Defensive Actions Per Game 2
21 Aerial Duels 100
7 Won 58
33% Success Rate 58%
0 Defensive Errors 0
0 Leading to a Goal 0
Last Meeting
26 December 2013
1-0 Carlton Cole 46'
1-1 Theo Walcott 68'
1-2 Theo Walcott 71'
1-3 Lukas Podolski 79'
4-2-3-1 Starting Formation 4-2-3-1
Wojciech Szczesny - Adrián
Bacary Sagna - Joey O'Brien (63')
Per Mertesacker - James Collins (38')
Thomas Vermaelen - James Tomkins
Kieran Gibbs - George McCartney
(65') Aaron Ramsey - Mark Noble
Mikel Arteta - Mohamed Diamé
Theo Walcott - Joe Cole
(81') Mesut Ozil - Kevin Nolan (75')
Santi Cazorla - Matt Jarvis
(85') Olivier Giroud - Carlton Cole
Subs
Lukasz Fabianski - Jussi Jääskeläinen
Naxto Monreal - Rǎzvan Raţ (38')
Carl Jenkinson - Guy Demel (63')
(81') Mathieu Flamini - Jack Collison
Serge Gnabry - Matthew Taylor (75')
(65') Lukas Podolski - Alou Diarra
(85') Nicklas Bendtner - Modibo Maïga
Absentees
Injured/Doubtful
Arsenal: Naxto Monreal, Laurent Koscielny, Abou Diaby, Jack Wilshere, Mikel Arteta, Serge Gnabry, Tomas Rosicky, Ryo Myaichi, Theo Walcott, Lukas Podolski, Mesut Ozil, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
West Ham United: George McCartney, Joey O'Brien, James Collins, Kevin Nolan, Marco Borriello
Suspensions
Arsenal: Mathieu Flamini
West Ham United: n/a
Opposition Last Time Out (League)
vs Everton
Goals Scored: 0
Goals Conceded: 3
Starting Formation: 4-2-3-1
Wojciech Szczesny
Bacary Sagna Per Mertesacker Thomas Vermaelen Naxto Monreal
Mikel Arteta Mathieu Flamini (66')
Santi Cazorla Tomas Rosicky Lukas Podolski (66')
Olivier Giroud (71')
subs:
Emiliano Viviano
Carl Jenkinson
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (66')
Aaron Ramsey (66')
Hector Bellerin
Kim Kallstrom
Yaya Sanogo (71')
Best Player: Thomas Vermaelen(SR: 40)
Worst Player: Aaron Ramsey(SR: -16)
Top 5's (Min 5 Apps)
Goals Scored
Olivier Giroud 13 - 7 Kevin Nolan
Aaron Ramsey 8 - 6 Carlton Cole
Theo Walcott 5 - 4 Mohamed Diamé
Lukas Podolski 4 - 3 Joe Cole
Mesut Ozil 4 - 3 Ravel Morrison*
Assists
Mesut Ozil 8 - 5 Kevin Nolan
Olivier Giroud 7 - 4 Andy Carroll
Theo Walcott 6 - 4 Mark Noble
Santi Cazorla 4 - 3 Matt Jarvis
Jack Wilshere 4 - 2 Stewart Downing
Passing Accuracy
Laurent Koscielny 93% - 83% Mark Noble
Per Mertesacker 93% - 81% Stewart Downing
Mikel Arteta 92% - 79% Kevin Nolan
Mathieu Flamini 92% - 79% Joe Cole
Thomas Vermaelen 92% - 79% Joey O'Brien
Chances Created per game
Mesut Ozil 2.9 - 1.8 Stewart Downing
Santi Cazorla 2 - 1.5 Mark Noble
Theo Walcott 1.8 - 1 Matt Jarvis
Jack Wilshere 1.4 - 0.9 Kevin Nolan
Aaron Ramsey 1.4 - 0.9 Andy Carroll
Successful Dribbles per game
Jack Wilshere 1.9 - 1.9 Mohamed Diamé
Santi Cazorla 1.7 - 1.1 Mark Noble
Mesut Ozil 1.6 - 1.1 Stewart Downing
Aaron Ramsey 1.5 - 0.9 Guy Demel
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain 1.5 - 0.6 Matt Jarvis
Tackles per game
Aaron Ramsey 3.5 - 2.8 Mark Noble
Mikel Arteta 3.2 - 2.2 Mohamed Diamé
Laurent Koscielny 2.5 - 2 James Collins
Kieran Gibbs 2 - 1.8 Matthew Taylor
Kim Kallstrom 1.7 - 1.8 Kevin Nolan
Aerial Duels Won per game
Olivier Giroud 4.3 - 8.5 Andy Carroll
Bacary Sagna 3.4 - 4.2 James Tomkins
Per Mertesacker 2.6 - 3.5 James Collins
Thomas Vermaelen 2.3 - 2.5 Carlton Cole
Kieran Gibbs 1.6 - 2.2 Winston Reid
Manager
Arsene Wenger - Sam Allardyce
56.9% Current Club Win % 41.5%
572 Won 54
238 Drawn 32
194 Lost 44
53.6% Managerial Career Win % 40%
773 Won 348
321 Drawn 231
346 Lost 291
4 Sides Managed 7
4 League Titles 2
11 Cup Wins 0
AS Nancy-Lorraine First Managerial Role Preston North End
01/07/1984 Start Date 30/09/1992
29y 287d Experience 21y 196d
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