Goals, Match, Title?
Few teams have been on par with Arsenal this season. Even fewer teams have dominated them, but that is exactly what Brighton did on Sunday afternoon. 59% possession away at the Emirates, 6 shots on target versus 2- it was a Champions League calibre performance. De Zerbi, as assured as ever, when asked whether they could make the top four this season responded with a gem of an answer: “We deserve to qualify for Europe…… which Europe I don’t know”.
Tactically, the game was won in the unlikely duel between Odegaard and Colwill. Levi Colwill, Brighton’s 6’2 19 year old centre half on loan from Chelsea, was tasked with effectively man-marking Arsenal’s captain in a curveball decision. He followed Odegaard across the pitch and was at times seen near Arsenal’s box as he pressed the Dane. On the ball he was imperious with his distribution and often played the pass through the lines or over the top for Mitoma/Enciso to chase. Pochettino would have certainly been impressed watching the game and I suspect Brighton will have a fight on their hands to keep him.
Jason Steele was also crucial to their territorial dominance as he demonstrated the ultimate ‘pass first, lump it last’ mantra of ball-playing keepers. Eyebrows were raised when Sanchez was dislodged as De Zerbi’s first choice keeper (the manager also eerily stated post-match they came to an ‘agreement’ for him to be excluded from the squad), however this performance went a long way in justifying this decision. For all of Sanchez’s qualities, he could not have produced a passing display as accomplished as Steele did, particularly against Arsenal’s intense press. Barring Ederson he appears to be the most capable goalkeeper with the ball in the league. Brighton winning the possession battle was the most pertinent factor in their victory, as they took away Arsenal’s greatest strength. Arteta’s team have been built to control the game on the ball, thus on this rare occasion they did not know how to react to spending large passages of the game without the ball. Their press was ineffective for the most part and they were not clinical with the chances they created.
Separately, it was great to be sat a metre or so away from from the Brighton coaching staff as I was able to get a peak into the type of analysis they perform during the game from the stands and the information they feedback to the team. A lot of the talk focused around areas of numerical overloads, key positional advantages, and overall formational structures. I loved every bit of it and it got my analytical juices flowing- certainly something I would love to do and will look to explore.
I could go through the whole pitch and see the tactical wins for Brighton. Caicedo’s inclusion again as a right back with Grob moving back to his favored midfield position provided further balance to the team. His physicality allowed him to contend with Martinelli and Troussard, whilst his technical ability provided greater control on the ball. Arsenal on the other hand were neutralised in many areas. The loss of Zinchenko significantly hampered their positional structure as even though Tierney is a fine left back but his skills aren’t complimentary to their system. The lack of possession also stripped Xhaka and particularly Jorginho of their utility as they spent more time chasing shadows than dictating play. In a game like this, Partey’s inclusion from the start would’ve been more suitable. By the time of his introduction it was too little too late.
The attackers of Brighton, namely Mitoma, Enciso, Ferguson and Welbeck all fared admirably. The former two carried the ball well and were a constant threat in behind. Enciso started at left wing in the first half and was their outball, whilst in the second half Mitoma switched to that side and took over the game with his driving runs past White. He is proving to be virtually unmarkable (except against Wan-Bissaka of course) and can single-handedly drive the team up the pitch. Ferguson’s physical battle against Gabriel was fascinating to watch and each gave as good as they received, however the balance shifted with Welbeck’s introduction as the game became more stretched. His intelligent movement into the gaps between defence and midfield puzzled Gabriel, who didn’t know whether to follow him in or pass him on. For the publicised deficiencies in Welbeck’s game he is certainly a gifted linkup striker.
The reverse could be said for Arsenal’s forwards, as Jesus, Saka, Martinelli and the aforementioned Odegaard all struggled. Jesus was completely snuffed out of the game and barring a well saved near post shot in the first half he did not pose a huge threat on goal. The game was a gentle reminder of his occasional over-reliance on activity outside of the box when his primary focus should be on scoring goals. I still believe his substitution was a harsh call, particularly given they were in need of a goal and could have changed to a 4-4-2 to accommodate for Nketiah. Saka missed a few chances and seemed slightly off the boil in what was a flat performance from the attack. Arteta’s substitutions were puzzling to say the least and I believe he deserves criticism for it. He he now been exposed for either poorly timed or poorly chosen replacements, with this game particularly concerning. In what world will it ever make sense to take off your in-form captain and best striker when in search of an equaliser in a must-win game? Hindsight is a comfortable privilege for those who needn’t face the consequences for their choices, so it is easy for me to make the critique- I’m sure he had a reason…. albeit a faulty one.
Now to post match comments- in short their sentiments were the following:
Arteta:
Disappointment and an overriding feeling of frustration.
The team needs to accept what happened in the second half. After the second goal the team had no answers; the first half there was a lot of duels and interruptions in play (the referee was indeed whistle-happy). However in the second half we lost focus and individually we were below par.
De Zerbi:
A feeling of happiness and pride. Since the defeat against Everton the days have been very difficult.
The players showers they are serious people, they are great people, and then we can speak about football, our style, the quality of the players, but first of all we won the game because we suffered a lot after the last defeat.
When asked about his playing style he mentioned how he can decide how they lose, not how they win, and if he is to lose he wants to do so playing his style with the courage to play out from the back.
He mentioned that the one who played with with the most courage was Colwill, given how he defended Odegaard.
Regarding European football and whether they would qualify for this, he spoke of this being his sole focus and the future being one where he wants to dream. For him, he wants to reach for the impossible target, with this target focussed on what Brighton can currently achieve.
Finally, he confirmed that they start to plan games roughly four games in advance.
Overall, De Zerbi is becoming a favorite of mine both on and off the pitch. He has the makings of a Real Madrid manager. I wouldn’t be surprised in a year or two if he was approached by them, but I doubt he will be available by the time they move on from Ancelotti.
To a simple life;