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The Roar

The Roar

Daniel Richards

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Joined September 2022

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In one of the biggest match-ups of the season and arguably the most historic derby in English Football, Antonio Conte got his tactics horribly wrong.

Conte set up his side to sit deep and let the Gunners command the game and hit back on the break with the pace and class of their star-studded forwards. The wingbacks- Emerson and Perisic, slotted into a back five whilst defending and ran the lines when Spurs were in attack.

Arteta’s side also used a system in which their fullbacks were used as attacking outlets and options. Zinchenko drifted into midfield on occasions and played the role Cancelo plays for his old club – Man City. The Gunners formed a diamond in midfield, Odegaard as the attacking outlet and Xhaka and Thomas Partey as your conventional central midfielders. This then allowed Saka and Martinelli to create width for Mikel Arteta’s side and Gabriel Jesus to be the central point and target man.

As Conte’s side were happy to sit back deep and defend, the Gunners pushed all of their players into the opposition half when attacking, suffocating and depriving Spurs of any possession and any penetration. When Spurs won the ball back they were forced to clear immediately and return the possession back to Arsenal because of their positioning and Arsenal’s high-intensity pressing. Arteta’s side manoeuvred the ball around, moving opposition players and exploiting space.

They used the width to their advantage with the first goal coming off a Saka run into the box, who squared it to White who then played in Partey who placed it into the back of the net.
Arsenal’s second goal also came from the width of Saka, exploiting the narrowness and lethargic nature of the Spurs backline.

Emerson was punished from his tackle on Martinelli and was awarded a red card. There was really no way back from there for Spurs as they refused to adopt a new game plan and were dominated in the numbers when trying to defend.

The third goal, was insult to injury for Spurs. Arsenal had their foot on the whites throat and pushed hard. This time the attack came from the opposite wing to Saka and Martinelli cut inside to lay off a back to Xhaka who finished spectacularly with his ever-reliant left foot.

All in all it was a sublime performance from Arteta and his men although Conte’s reluctance to take the game on ended up costing his side the three points. Arteta’s side commanded and controlled the game manoeuvring the Spurs to get into spaces of penetrating opportunity. Spurs were suffocated because of their game plan and couldn’t get on the attack. Arsenal attacked wave after wave and eventually broke down the white wall on three occasions.

Gunners sink 10-man Spurs to stay top, Liverpool stumble in six-goal thriller, Hammers find relief

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Football
 
2022
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