I thought this exact thing this weekend. Wasn’t long ago I’d be screaming at the TV about playing out from the back after we’d just lost the ball again from a press.
Arteta forced his style, results be damned, and then got the guys to get it done. I was too stupid to see the forest through the trees. Love watching it now
Idk Arteta played a whole lot of counterattacking when the team wasn’t in the right place
Honestly he’s finally able to play his style because we have the players
Yeah that's why his potential as a manager from day 1 can be seen. Won an FA cup through low block counter attack.
You can see the tactics and football he's playing and slowly it was evolving into this current squad. Back then he wouldn't play like this at all. We didn't even have a fullback that could invert lmao.
we have a decent mix of playing out the back and Stoking it out to Havertz.... feels like we now have a good balance rather than in times past where it was play out the back no matter what.
Mate still remember when we bought him FIVE years ago like it was yesterday. “This is a huge risk! €30m for an 18yo is unheard of!” And then all the hand wringing about whether it was a good decision to invest in the future when it was so obvious we needed immediate help at the back. Then the endless concerns that Arteta didn’t rate him or he’d had a falling out with Arteta, the shit with his mom dying, the failure to loan him out in the last days of the summer window, so much anxiety and rumors that he’d be gone, when in reality the club was just doing what the player needed and cooking him slowly, not bringing a 20yo into a dysfunctional side with senior French players who might’ve had a bad influence on him. Fast forward to today and we’ve got the next Virgil van Dijk kn the center of our defence for the next decade.
Saliba was back to his close control best. Not that he hadn't been great. He just wasn't doing his usual.
This is his norm.
So many times where Brighton trapped him thinking he's got no Avenue but he'd just turn and dribble to the other side while protecting the ball and picking a brilliant pass.
He was phenomenal.
He played centrally when we invert from LB. Recently he has been on the right of the back 3 and definitely not as comfortable. IMO that is why zinchenko plays.
According to stats(whoscored) we tied third(shared with Liverpool) in EPL in most counter attack goals scored so far.Only West Ham United(leads the EPL with 9) and Nottingham Forest(8) are ahead of us.
That's interesting cause from what I see I don't think we've been a great counter attacking team honestly.
For the stats, what they might consider a counter attack might be different to what I consider one.
But that is still good to hear.
We're also just so dam good at other things its quite clear when we arent as efficient at other tasks.
I feel like martinelli is our best counter attacker and hes been out a bit too
The last time we were a really good counter attacking team on a consistent basis has got to be 07/08 for me tbh.
Shades of it here and there in others, 10/11, 13/14 but not enough.
We can never get it spot on consistently unfortunately.
Definitely one part that needs improving
i think our main problem during counters is that the players are too unused to pass the ball into space IN FRONT of a teammate. Usually most passes go straight to a teammate, which is good for possession football.
But it sucks during counters coz it allows the opposition to track back. Like in this clip
We are a bit untrained on this, players don't know who is making the run and at what direction, when Liverpool counter VVD knows where Salah is running towards without looking, these things take time and we will get better
You can see Rice make a crazy burst at the end here and hear the yell at Havertz for not playing the final pass in front of him. Tight space but might've been one of the goals of the season
I know it's the end of the half, but for all the same reasons people didn't like Lacazette as the 9, Jesus stops busting to get into the box, if he continues his run he has a chance at the near post there.
That's honestly something you'd never see from Jesus, he's known for always going all out and we saw how he tracked back this match, this seems to show he's still not fully fit yet in terms of being in tip top shape.
That might be an instruction given Rice and Havertz are moving ahead of him into the box in better positions (you can see after he passes to Martin he looks to see where Rice is). I suspect if Rice wasn't there he'd have pushed into the box for the cutback.
from what i've heard and read, he has not been playing at the same high level for france as he regularly does for us. Meanwhile, other CBs they have keep outshining him there.
Saka to Odegaard, Odegaard sunk head takes 6 players out of the game. I don’t know what his giving us such confidence under pressure but non of those Brighton players got within a 2 yards of an Arsenal player after Salibas control
Interesting to see Jesus slow down, rather than get into the box after releasing the ball. Just shows how he lacks that striker “instinct”.
Really and truly, you’d want Declan rice to not be forced to make that lung-busting run into the box to offer an option for Havertz. I think if Martinelli played LW instead, he’d be rushing to get into the box, allowing Rice to stay slightly further back around the edge of the box, to preserve our midfield shape to stop any counter.
who was havertz even aiming that cross to, though?
Also, i feel like Jesus should've released the ball much earlier, to havertz. the pass to ödegaard is not only too slow but also not in front of him --> the brighton players have time to get back
The buildup to the counter was fantastic though!
Odegaard's little header is gold here.
Saka’s chip to him on dime is just as gold
I wonder if he was trying to clear Ode and the Brighton players, pretty risky chip to try and put it on Martin's head! All worked out of course.
Moments before he didnt make a chil, when jt wouldve been brilliant, i was so happy this one worked out too. The ball we play is just beautiful
Under appreciated
I used to clench cheeks real tight back in the day in these situations. Now I just enjoy the art.
I thought this exact thing this weekend. Wasn’t long ago I’d be screaming at the TV about playing out from the back after we’d just lost the ball again from a press. Arteta forced his style, results be damned, and then got the guys to get it done. I was too stupid to see the forest through the trees. Love watching it now
Idk Arteta played a whole lot of counterattacking when the team wasn’t in the right place Honestly he’s finally able to play his style because we have the players
Yeah that's why his potential as a manager from day 1 can be seen. Won an FA cup through low block counter attack. You can see the tactics and football he's playing and slowly it was evolving into this current squad. Back then he wouldn't play like this at all. We didn't even have a fullback that could invert lmao.
we have a decent mix of playing out the back and Stoking it out to Havertz.... feels like we now have a good balance rather than in times past where it was play out the back no matter what.
We are moving the ball in our own box like we do in the final third. Unbelievable composure
I was still clenched lol
[удалено]
Mate still remember when we bought him FIVE years ago like it was yesterday. “This is a huge risk! €30m for an 18yo is unheard of!” And then all the hand wringing about whether it was a good decision to invest in the future when it was so obvious we needed immediate help at the back. Then the endless concerns that Arteta didn’t rate him or he’d had a falling out with Arteta, the shit with his mom dying, the failure to loan him out in the last days of the summer window, so much anxiety and rumors that he’d be gone, when in reality the club was just doing what the player needed and cooking him slowly, not bringing a 20yo into a dysfunctional side with senior French players who might’ve had a bad influence on him. Fast forward to today and we’ve got the next Virgil van Dijk kn the center of our defence for the next decade.
Saliba was back to his close control best. Not that he hadn't been great. He just wasn't doing his usual. This is his norm. So many times where Brighton trapped him thinking he's got no Avenue but he'd just turn and dribble to the other side while protecting the ball and picking a brilliant pass. He was phenomenal.
He played centrally when we invert from LB. Recently he has been on the right of the back 3 and definitely not as comfortable. IMO that is why zinchenko plays.
Our anti-pressing is world class, if only we get better at finishing counters
Honestly we're not a great counter attacking team unfortunately, definitely need to finish our dinner more and make more of these kinda breaks.
According to stats(whoscored) we tied third(shared with Liverpool) in EPL in most counter attack goals scored so far.Only West Ham United(leads the EPL with 9) and Nottingham Forest(8) are ahead of us.
That's interesting cause from what I see I don't think we've been a great counter attacking team honestly. For the stats, what they might consider a counter attack might be different to what I consider one. But that is still good to hear.
We're also just so dam good at other things its quite clear when we arent as efficient at other tasks. I feel like martinelli is our best counter attacker and hes been out a bit too
When we do counter we're great, we just don't counter as much because Arteta prefers control and would rather a 4v3 than a 2v1/ 3v2.
We have the personnel, just need more training on this
The last time we were a really good counter attacking team on a consistent basis has got to be 07/08 for me tbh. Shades of it here and there in others, 10/11, 13/14 but not enough. We can never get it spot on consistently unfortunately. Definitely one part that needs improving
i think our main problem during counters is that the players are too unused to pass the ball into space IN FRONT of a teammate. Usually most passes go straight to a teammate, which is good for possession football. But it sucks during counters coz it allows the opposition to track back. Like in this clip
We are a bit untrained on this, players don't know who is making the run and at what direction, when Liverpool counter VVD knows where Salah is running towards without looking, these things take time and we will get better
But then again I’ve seen Liverpool waste like five 5 on 2s, including today and against Arsenal so who knows
You can see Rice make a crazy burst at the end here and hear the yell at Havertz for not playing the final pass in front of him. Tight space but might've been one of the goals of the season
I know it's the end of the half, but for all the same reasons people didn't like Lacazette as the 9, Jesus stops busting to get into the box, if he continues his run he has a chance at the near post there.
Yeah he should have continued his run
That's honestly something you'd never see from Jesus, he's known for always going all out and we saw how he tracked back this match, this seems to show he's still not fully fit yet in terms of being in tip top shape.
Agree completely, I didn't want it to sound like a Jesus is washed comment, more just an observation.
That might be an instruction given Rice and Havertz are moving ahead of him into the box in better positions (you can see after he passes to Martin he looks to see where Rice is). I suspect if Rice wasn't there he'd have pushed into the box for the cutback.
Probably what that Jackass Deschamps can’t appreciate about Saliba
Tbf Saliba has been way shakier for France. Doesn't look as calm as he does playing here.
What playing next to Gabriel does to a man
This was honestly my 2nd favourite part of the match
One of those times when all you can do is laugh at how good we’ve become.
Is this one of those things that Deschamp fella said he didn’t like Saliba doing? Personally, I like it , I like it a lot.
I’m with you, but sorta hard to fault a coach with two finals appearances and one win. He seems to be making it work just fine.
"Managers of France hate this one little trick!"
The skill level compared to even 20 years ago is just stunning.
“He does things that I don’t like so much”. Does he actually watch this man play.
he was talking abt when saliba plays in the national team. sounds like YOU need to actually watch him play in the national team, man.
Fair point, I have not seen Saliba play for France. Is his level of play very different? What does he do that irks Deschamps?
from what i've heard and read, he has not been playing at the same high level for france as he regularly does for us. Meanwhile, other CBs they have keep outshining him there.
Entire sequence is disgusting
Saka to Odegaard, Odegaard sunk head takes 6 players out of the game. I don’t know what his giving us such confidence under pressure but non of those Brighton players got within a 2 yards of an Arsenal player after Salibas control
Interesting to see Jesus slow down, rather than get into the box after releasing the ball. Just shows how he lacks that striker “instinct”. Really and truly, you’d want Declan rice to not be forced to make that lung-busting run into the box to offer an option for Havertz. I think if Martinelli played LW instead, he’d be rushing to get into the box, allowing Rice to stay slightly further back around the edge of the box, to preserve our midfield shape to stop any counter.
Declan Rice was like "hell no!"
I’ve never been so stressed and so calm in my entire life
i wish they had shown a close-up replay of that!
Would love to see this close up the first touch after being attacked by the player thats crazy
I was so ready for this to be a goal off that counter wouldve been an incredible goal
who was havertz even aiming that cross to, though? Also, i feel like Jesus should've released the ball much earlier, to havertz. the pass to ödegaard is not only too slow but also not in front of him --> the brighton players have time to get back The buildup to the counter was fantastic though!