How Mikel Arteta's Arsenal are evolving

BBC Football

How Arteta is reinventing Arsenal: high-risk build-up and a new role for Rice

The video uses tactical analysis to explain how Arteta is reinventing Arsenal after their title win, focusing on the 3-1-6 build-up, Rice's deeper role, horizontal movement and the trade-offs of a high-risk style. Its conclusion is that the new system brings defensive risk and early-season teething problems, but Arteta is moving in the right direction and Arsenal remain one of the best teams in the world.

BBC's football tactics correspondent Umir Irfan analyses how Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is trying to reinvent his team after winning the Premier League title. Umir looks into different build up shapes, which players drop deep, horizontal movement and a new role for Declan Rice. Follow more on the BBC Sport app, iPlayer and Sounds. ============= Find us here: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BBCMOTD X: https://x.com/BBCMOTD Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bbcfootball/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bbcsport bbcfootball

Transcript

Last year was unbelievable, but now it's a new season and we want to do it again. >> I know it's very early, but they're playing with a great freedom and a great belief and so they should after what they achieved last season. >> Mel Arteta is taking a risk. >> The way we played [music] in 10, we have the aggression we have to attack them to threat them to take risk. >> After finally getting over the line and winning the Premier League last season, Arteta is reinventing his Arsenal side, trying to take them to the next level. [music] >> It just puts them in a different in a different stratosphere to everyone else in the league. because that's what we've been working on and uh and we're going to give the demands at that level. [music] >> My name is I write about tactics for the BBC. >> My name's Sam and I am a reporter at BBC Sport. Amir, plenty of people last season were saying Arsenal are boring to watch. They rely on set pieces too much. But this season, you've noticed they're taking a lot more risk in their approach. They spoke about being a lot more attacking as they go to retain the league. What have you noticed specifically about them? >> Yeah, I mean, look, let's focus on their buildup play because it's similar to what they were ending the season on, but I certainly think that it showcases signs of taking risk and more importantly reinventing their side uh to not stagnate in sort of this next season. So, when you begin looking at this sort of shape, you can immediately see this 316. I think the six is very fluid and that highlights some of the risk and we'll speak about that as we go along. But Miles Lucelli sort of plays in that lone sort of midfield role and Dean Rice actually has pulled deeper into this sort of back three with the two central defenders and when they do have the ball in these areas they're looking to play on tensions in the front line. So the opposition are going to try and press them. They've got four players ready here to try and play around them and that's often against a front two or a front three but teams are increasingly willing to commit an extra player. Then it comes to a player like Odigard in these situations. Ben White does it as well from time to time to recognize the situation. He looks over his shoulder. He sees the separation with his man here and then uses that to peel off, get on the ball and give them an extra body and a 2v one in those areas. And when you see this happen, you can almost see two parts of the pitch, right? You can see this buildup unit and the attacking unit. But once they've solved this initial problem, they then look to speed up play and find their attackers. You can see Califury high up in space. Ben White as well in another attacking midfield position. So you can see the willingness to commit bodies, but also use this 31 shape that has an extra player join in moments to [music] solve the problem to then play a more attacking style of play. [music] >> Does this leave them more open though? Cuz this area of the pitch here is very congested. So if that ball isn't perfect, it's quite easy to pick off. Is that what they're open to though? They're allowing themsel to have that threat essentially. I think with any tactics, you've got trade-offs, right? So, if you want to play a more attacking style of play, you've got to accept the risk of being slightly more open defensively. Now, this is probably one of the reasons why Declan Rice is really good in that role here. We talk about the shape behind the ball when a team's attacking. And if you've got a player like Declan Rice who's so good in transition going forward, but also equally defensively, he gives you a bit of cover, but also allows you to then use his natural qualities to be a very attacking player in what would otherwise be a central defensive role. >> Where would Dean Rice have traditionally been last season? Where do you reckon we would have seen him in Arteta's first iteration of a title win inside? >> Well, last season we actually saw him in sort of those left attacking midfield positions. He had sort of a more natural holding midfielder behind him and Zub Mendy who has obviously come out for Miles Lucelli and it was Celiba who took up the positions that Declan Rice is playing in at the moment. Celiba's obviously out injured >> but I think this move to have Declan Rice playing in that first line is really impressive because it maximizes a lot of his attacking strength even though he's been pulled a lot deeper. Yeah. Yeah. So there's this really nice example actually I've got from the game against Brighton. They lost obviously, but in that game there was this time on the ball for Declan Rice to look up face forward and not playing the really tight pockets that he found himself in last season. Obviously, he was good enough in those spaces, but he's not somebody who like Odigard can sort of be very agile and twist and turn in those tiny tiny pockets. So, from here, he uses his intelligence, he uses his physical prowess. Obviously you see this rotation from Arsenal which highlights that risk agains come into the holding midfield position and Skellyy swapped with him pulling out into this wider position and then Declan Rice recognizing the space from Brighton stepping up uses his carrying ability to take the ball from a center back position speed up play and get the ball in the final third really quickly and there are fewer players left behind like you mentioned. >> Yeah. So there's that risk. But look, you've got 1 2 3 4 5 six attackers in the final third result [music] of a great sprint from Declan Rice in that moment. >> In their midfield, they went so heavy on bringing in Bruno [music] G. But there was a question of whether Mars Lewis Skelly could go. He was reportedly going to leave. >> Yeah. >> But now that versatility seems to be one of Arteta's biggest strengths, >> I think. Yeah, he underpins the system. Skelly is a brilliant footballer and in their recruitment you mentioned Gimar he's another player who can play as an attacking midfielder a holding midfielder a central midfielder I think timing wise we saw against Brighton he doesn't necessarily have that down yet and it'll come with more exposure more sort of games in that system but generally these are really talented very clever versatile footballers who have physicality and technicality can only execute these quite unusual rotations because he has played players who are comfortable on both sides, who can recognize when to go and who are also reading how the opponents are pressing. So, it's a big credit to Arteta for implementing it, but it's the players who allow it to all happen. And it's not only Declan Rice and Scaly, but we're seeing it across [music] the pitch as well, especially higher up. >> You spoke about high risk a lot. I feel like most [music] managers come out and say they play high-risisk football. They want to play it. Fans want to see it. But what specifically have you seen with Arsenal that sums up high risk for them? >> Yeah. Well, I want to highlight this specific example from the leads game because not only is it high risk in my opinion, but it's very unusual. Like I don't see many managers, players, teams use these specific ideas. And I want to hone in on horizontal movement. So teams often drop deep. So you're running from sort of a front to back. >> Everyone's everyone's talking about vertical for the everyone's talking vertical. 100% and that that's fine. But Arteta in sort of trying to reinvent Arsenal is focusing on these sideways movements. Okay? >> And it it sounds a bit complicated. So let's bring it to the to the example and and show you. So Declan Rice is in a more natural holding midfield position here because Ry is forming the back three. So you do have the license for him to move >> into that three-1 system. Okay. >> And and they're almost forming a two because Ry is acting like an extra player in this situation. So he passes the ball out to Konza. Dean Rice pulls wide and it drags the marker with him. And when he's pulling wide, you can see he's moving from a central position to a right-sided position. >> That opens up space somewhere else. And that's the idea. We know teams like to press more intently, especially in a man-to-man fashion this season, especially I would say it's probably the last couple of seasons that that's a trend that we've noticed. So he moves in this way to drag the player with him and KZA takes the ball into that space. Again we see Skelly in that sort of one position of the 3-1. >> He makes another sort of horizontal movement towards the right hand side. >> This drags another player with him. And this is a brilliant thing that I've noticed because >> Declan Rice who started in that sort of central position he moved to the right. Then once the team's shifted across to the right, makes this just pale off a sprint and an arm. >> Yeah, he's gone from the right side of the pitch almost as a right back or a right central midfielder to show for the ball on the left side of the pitch. And you can see the number four of leads questioning who should be picking him up. This player here is also sort of slow to react because it's a very unnatural movement for the right sided player >> to end up on the far side. He shows for the ball. He gets the ball in space and suddenly also have one, two, three, four players around two that can >> these players and they've accelerated play after drawing that initial pressure. So >> it's high-risisk football. It's that buildup shape that has a 3-1 base, but it's still fluid and rotating, but then these horizontal movements are pulling apart the pressure [music] from a really good pressing side. So a brilliant new system from Arteta Arsenal fans be very excited but who's going to stop them then? >> Yeah, I mean it's a good point. I think Brighton perhaps Brighton are a really good side. I think generally when you're looking at a new system and this is where Arteta might have a slight problem is by implementing new changes there are going to be teething problems right and I think the ideas are brilliant they're novel they're they're pushing forward the tactical landscape of the game and in doing so there's risk you're opening yourself up to attack better and win bigger but also be open and concede a little bit more so I think ultimately you need to take risk and not taking any risk and keeping the ta team the same as it was last season is the biggest risk in itself. So, I think he's doing the right thing. It's really nice to see. It'll get better as the season goes on, but in the early moments of the season, there might be ways for certain teams to kind of get at them like a [music] Brighton did. But make no mistake, I think this is one of the best teams in the world playing in a really exciting [music] style of play.