Aaron Callot
One upshot of Chelsea’s failure to qualify for Europe last season is that, having lost two of their opening five Premier League matches, Antonio Conte switched to a three at the back formation. With the right personnel (preferring Matic to Cesc Fabregas, dropping John Terry and re-intoducing Victor Moses to the side) the team was transformed into odds on favourites for the Premier League, with an impressive sequence of victories.
Critically, Conte was able to work on the formation in training, while four of the other five sides competing for the title were committed to a number of midweek European fixtures that prevented such focus on honing their tactical approach and formation.
Granted, there is no way that an 11 day break equates to what Chelsea were able to achieve with their gaps between matches, but one wonders whether or not Arsene Wenger has looked at the recent demoralizing away defeats at Chelsea and Bayern Munich in his preparation for the Liverpool fixture at 5.30 this evening.
The Gunners’ tactics in certain away games have been bold to say the least, with their preference to take on the opposition with their possession football, and less focus on preventing their hosts creating their own opportunities to score.
There seems a lack of solidity. Yet, we know they are capable of changing their approach. One example is the memorable 2-0 away victory at Manchester City in the January 2015. Very little possession, but solidity and counter attack. Then, compare the 5-1 defeat at Liverpool little under a year previously, a key fixture in the derailment of another promising title challenge. Arsenal had far more of the ball than Brendan Rodgers’ side that day, but left themselves badly exposed.
It’s well documented that in the 1997-98 double season, the players held a meeting to determine how the side would play after a home defeat by Blackburn. The defensive players effectively ordered Vieira and Petit to focus harder on preventing the opposition coming through. The change, which brought about success, had nothing to do with Wenger. A similar story exists about the players deciding to change their approach for the aforementioned victory against Manchester City in 2015, the start of a run that saw them only lose two of the remaining 16 Premier League matches, and retain the FA Cup.
Wenger trusts his players to do the right thing on the pitch, without, it seems, a great deal of intervention as far as tactical set-up is concerned. So, perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprised that, instead of extra sessions in training, we are seeing photos of Alexis Sanchez and Mustafi enjoying sunshine breaks due to the opportunity afforded to them by the postponement of last weekend’s game with Southampton.
Of course, time spent on the training ground honing tactics and formation does not guarantee success. Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool enjoyed a similar autumn to that of Chelsea, and Klopp was more familiar with his players. What seems to have resulted is that Liverpool, in contrast to Arsenal, generally do well against the other top sides, but slip up more than they should against, in theory, less challenging opposition. Who knows whether or not Klopp is such a nice guy behind the scenes with his players, and if this leads to an element of complacency.
With a view to the visit of Arsenal, that does not augur well, and after a string of disappointing results, the law of averages suggests Klopp’s side are due a win. It’s a match that could prove hugely influential for both sides in their chase to secure a top four spot, and defeat for the Gunners would heap even more pressure on Arsene Wenger to step down this summer. Let’s hope he has prepared his team so that a similar humiliation to that seen at Anfield in 2014 (and indeed not so long ago in Munich) can be avoided. Or maybe the players have found time to have another meeting…
