da brwin： As we move into the sixth week of Premier League fixtures, Arsenal’s clash with Chelsea is a game between the fourth and fifth placed teams in the league, but it’s also a clash of two most prevalent systems in the Premier League these days.
da marjack bet： On Saturday evening, we will see Arsene Wenger’s 4-2-3-1 pitted against Antonio Conte’s 4-1-4-1. That is, a two-man midfield behind a number 10, up against a three man midfield. Essentially 4-2-3-1 v 4-3-3, depending on how you see it.
Interestingly, that’s a debate we’ve seen rage over the last few weeks. Paul Pogba’s performances in the Manchester derby sparked a deluge of ‘Paul Pogba can’t play in a two-man midfield’ comments. They’re probably right – you lose his ability to drive his team forward if you ask him to hold, yet he looks undisciplined if you ask him to go forward. Pogba has become the poster boy for the two v three debate, but if you want to delve right into the meat of that argument, watch Arsenal v Chelsea closely.
The problem facing Jose Mourinho at Manchester United has been the problem facing both Chelsea and Arsenal over the past year or so. On Saturday evening, we’re going to see evidence of how both clubs have gone about solving it.
When Chelsea won the league in 2015 – under Mourinho himself, of course – the starting XI almost picked itself; and Mourinho’s midfield consisted of Nemanja Matic and Cesc Fabregas playing behind Oscar, the number 10.
The problem is, you don’t get a lot of steel by playing Cesc Fabregas as part of a midfield two, especially if you ask him to do what he does best and ‘make plays’. He’s a playmaker at heart, of course, not a holding midfielder. (But that’s how Mourinho used him, and that might go some way to showing how he’ll approach the Pogba problem).
The same problem also faced Arsene Wenger: is Santi Cazorla really a man to add steel to your midfield?
Arsene Wenger’s general plan, ever since he came to England, seems to have involved playing with a 4-2-3-1. Even the 2005 FA Cup final is a good example.
As Arsenal lined up on the teamsheet with a three man midfield of Gilberto Silva, Patrick Vieira and Cesc Fabregas, it looks like he favoured the three. But in reality, Gilberto and Vieira were the disciplined, holding midfielders in that formation, with Fabregas roaming in the space created by the depth of the two midfielders and Dennis Bergkamp up front.
The idea is that the forward occupies the defenders high up the pitch by posing them a problem (these days think Giroud and his physicality or Sanchez and his pace), whilst the midfield two sit deep and occupy the other team’s midfield two closer to Arsenal’s own defensive line. The result: space for the number 10 to do his thing between attack and defence.
On the other hand, Jose Mourinho didn’t have an N’Golo Kante-type player at his disposal during his second spell at Chelsea – and perhaps didn’t want one – so deployed players like Willian and Oscar in the team to play in the advanced roles to press the opposition. This had two purposes: one was to stop or slow the counter attack, the other to potentially win the ball back higher up the pitch. It negates the need for two defensive midfielders – you just need players who can fill the space whilst the attackers press and then you’re back in shape.
That way you don’t stop Ozil playing between the lines, but you stop the service to him in the first place. The limitation against Arsenal is the fact that players like Cazorla and Xhaka are good enough to find Ozil even under pressure.
But here’s the crux of Saturday’s match: N’Golo Kante is a player who will occupy the same space that Wenger naturally tries to create for Mesut Ozil.
We know how Chelsea will use Kante, though Antonio Conte has options ahead of him, too: Cesc Fabregas and Nemanja Matic can play ahead of Kante, or he can use Oscar as more of a number 10, safe in the knowledge that Kante will provide defensive cover.
What we don’t know is how Arsenal will approach the game. Granit Xhaka is Wenger’s chosen solution to the problem, someone to add the steel to the midfield, to stop counter attacks and be disciplined going forward in the big games, but who can also start attacks and passing moves out of defence against the teams who will sit deep.
Chelsea’ three-man midfield will pose him a problem, however. You’d imagine that Kante will prevent Arsenal being able to stretch the space between Chelsea’s midfield and defence, but you’d also imagine that playing two defensively-minded midfielders as part of a two behind Ozil will prevent Chelsea from being able to counter effectively.
That’s the conundrum for Wenger. The solution could be to play Ozil in a wider position. If Ozil and, perhaps, Santi Cazorla operate on either side of Kante, they can pull him out of position. Rather than playing into Conte’s hands with one attacking creator, playing two gives him a problem: how does his sole sitting midfielder deal with a potential threat to his left and to his right?
That’s where Wenger’s natural propensity to stretch the midfield could come into play. If Alexis Sanchez plays up front, Chelsea’s defence won’t want to push up to give him space in behind. That will create lots of space in front of them, especially if Chelsea’s midfield isn’t disciplined – and that’s all space Kante has to cover unless he gets help from his midfield. It’s too much space for even Kante to cover, and could leave him exposed.
If Arsenal start brightly, they could really startle Chelsea’s midfield and force them into a shape they didn’t intend on playing as Nemanja Matic could be forced to help out Kante, creating the two-man defensive midfield they didn’t want to play with in the first place.
But if Chelsea start brightly, Arsenal could find their entire attacking threat nullified by N’Golo Kante’s ability to cut off the space Mesut Ozil will want to operate in.
So a lot depends on team selection. Will Wenger be brave? Will Conte see weaknesses in Arsenal’s defensive midfielders? Will Wenger simply disregard Chelsea’s lineup and just set his team up as normal, looking to create space for Ozil where there is none?
One thing’s for sure, Jose Mourinho will be watching closely. This is more than just a battle between two huge clubs: this is a battle between ideologies.