Deadballs. Defensive play. Delay of time. This is the “new” Arsenal. The artists who played party football under Arsène Wenger without winning the league have been replaced by fighting cocks who use all means. On the way to the title, Martin Ødegaard’s team has become flexible, robust and cynical. Some would say too cynical. Four cramps Arsenal took nine minutes to kick off against Manchester City on Sunday. Nine minutes. Arsenal led 2-1 away to the reigning champions and played the second half with 10 men, which is football’s version of being thrown into the lion’s den with your hands tied behind your back. So they bided their time as often as they could. They spent an average of 42.7 seconds per set piece, according to Opta. Only once this season has a team spent more time on set pieces. And then we don’t include the cramps. Arsenal’s players laid down on the grass four times. On one occasion, coach Mikel Arteta gave a message to 17-year-old substitute Myles Lewis-Skelly, who ran to goalkeeper David Raya. Soon after, Raya had a convulsion. SITTING ON THE GRASS: Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya suffered a cramp against Manchester City. Photo: Dave Thompson / AP The game was stopped, City’s rhythm was broken and Arteta gave the players instructions. City equalized seven minutes into extra time, but 2–2 was strong for Arsenal. Right? Smart? Cheating? If Arteta asked Raya to pretend he had a cramp, he crossed the line of what is legal. Everyone knows what City – and countless fans – think about the matter, but Arteta claims that all the players had cramps, and he knows one thing: Nobody can prove anything here. Dark arts The British have something called “dark arts”. There are tricks that take advantage of weaknesses in the rules, and the rules say nothing about how quickly you have to take set pieces. As long as Arsenal have not done anything illegal, you can say that they simply did what they could to survive in a desperate situation. Arsenal are chasing their first league title in 21 years, and their main rival is City. They could not relinquish the victory. They definitely couldn’t lose. DUEL: Arsenal’s Jurrien Timber in a duel with Manchester City player Jeremy Doku Photo: Dave Thompson / AP All teams exploit weaknesses in the regulations from time to time. City are good at creating free kicks that stop counterattacks without receiving yellow cards. But it’s not just against City that Arsenal have wasted time. Top of the table For two weeks, one of the league’s top teams has played like a bottom team. It is the bottom teams who tend to drag out the time, because the less football is played, the better for the struggling team. Before the game against City, Opta found that Arsenal had spent the most time on set pieces in the league this season at 31.8 seconds per set-piece. Arsenal bets heavily on corners and spends time getting the players into position, but they have also spent a lot of time on kick-outs and throw-ins in games where they have struggled. At home against Brighton, they played almost a whole half with 10 men. Away against Aston Villa, they were missing Martin Ødegaard and Declan Rice. Arsenal have also used tactics typical of bottom teams. The new Mourinho They have defended deep, countered and let the opposition have the ball a lot. This strategy was logical against City, but before that Arsenal didn’t have the ball most against Atalanta either, and against Tottenham before that again the ball possession was down to 36 percent, an extremely low figure for one of the world’s best attacking teams. These three matches have all been away, spread over eight days. But no one would have thought that Arteta would be so defensive. COMPARED TO MOURINHO: Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta. Photo: PAUL ELLIS / AFP Opta has compared Arteta to José Mourinho. It should have been a joke, because Arteta was taught by Guardiola, who reacts to wrong passes by turning 180 degrees, grimacing and kicking the nearest water bottle. And Mourinho is a sort of Voldemort for anyone who loves creative attacking football. He is a master at destroying the rhythm, slowing down the tempo and parking the team in front of his own field, and in his glory days he won big games by almost giving the ball away. But in recent weeks, Arteta has played like Mourinho. SIMILAR STYLE: Jose Mourinho, here with referee Lee Mason before a match against Manchester United in 2018. Photo: LEE SMITH / Reuters Gave the ball away on purpose Against Tottenham, Arsenal lay deep and won on a goal from a corner, a copy of a so-called “Mourinho masterclass”. With 10 men against City, Arteta switched to five in defence, played without a striker and asked the team to mash the ball up. Most had thought Arteta would retain some sort of attacking threat, but two of Arsenal’s players went the entire game without hitting a successful pass. This has never before happened in the history of the Premier League. The strategy was reminiscent of when Mourinho had Thiago Motta sent off with Inter away to Barcelona in the Champions League in 2010, also against Pep Guardiola. Inter “parked the bus” in front of their own field, clinched the ball away and progressed to the final. Arteta is good at creating beautiful football. He is so good at destroying. Missing Ødegaard So one can put on Norwegian glasses here and ask: Has Arteta adjusted the team so much because he is missing Ødegaard? These three “defensive” games have come right after Ødegaard injured his ankle for Norway against Austria two weeks ago. Ødegaard is the team’s creative spark, and last season he was Arsenal’s best at, among other things, these things: Passes through joints Passes that lead to completion Successful passes into the penalty area If your most creative player is out, it makes sense to have the ball less. MISSING: Martin Ødegaard is out with an injury. Photo: BENJAMIN CREMEL / AFP Furthermore, Ødegaard is among the world’s best in the pressing game, and with less running power, Arteta may have put the team lower. That may have been a factor. But even with Ødegaard, Arteta had probably played cynically. The pragmatist Arsenal, for example, had the ball almost as far away against Tottenham last season. Instead, these three games have shown just how flexible Arteta is. He doesn’t usually play offensive football because it’s pretty to watch, but because he thinks it’s the fastest way to victory. If he meets City away, he changes things, and with a red card he changes even more. On Tuesday he reminded the press that his Arsenal side had faced City with 10 men twice before, and lost. Why repeat the mistakes? If you want to get rid of the delay, you have to change the rules. Because Arteta will always use all means to win. He has realized what Mourinho found out a long time ago: If you want to take the title from Pep, you have to know more than just playing football. Published 25/09/2024, at 18.15
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