Chelsea talking tactics: How Arsenal went from tika taka to parking the bus

Arsenal expected Mikel Arteta to be Pep Guardiola 2.0. The FA Cup win over Chelsea might have made them think that justified, but the follow up is bad.

There is a bad habit of fans and media alike to assume playing for or working with a manager makes a coach their doppelganger. This happens all the time when a manager has no experience and no one really knows what to expect. With Frank Lampard it was Jose Mourinho. With Andrea Pirlo it was Antonio Conte. And with Mikel Arteta, it was Pep Guardiola.

Mind, in Arteta’s case especially, it is not the worst baseless thread to believe in. After all, he had been Guardiola’s assistant for a few years before getting the Arsenal job. And initially, it looked true. Arsenal under Arteta post restart was a much different team than under Unai Emery. Then the summer happened and everything changed.

Now, Arsenal play a style of football closer to Tony Pulis than Pep Guardiola. They are one of the worst offensive teams in the league and it’s not particularly close. Defensively, they are pretty okay because they have to be. Their current league position is not unfair per xG or xA, so what does that mean for this fixture and going forward?

So where did it all go wrong? Much of it starts with the formation. 3-4-3 is a perfectly fine formation, but it is not suited for slower possession football. It requires much more vertical play through the wide areas to be effective. Anything else and it can go flat very quickly.

Another issue from that is when it does get into the opposition final third, it is left with crossing as pretty much the only option. That’s fine with the right players but Arsenal certainly doesn’t have the right players. Their crosses go pretty much nowhere without a real target.

Furthermore, three at the back formations can collapse quickly under pressure without the right pressing. But because Arsenal isn’t a particularly impressive pressing side, they fall back nearly right away. That makes them a good defensive team but it only makes the offensive production worse.

Why did this happen? One reason might be over adjusting to solve an issue. Chelsea saw that issue too. When the Blues switched to 4-3-3, they got better defensively but worse offensively. The Blues still had the means to be dangerous but Arsenal simply doesn’t.

And then there is the old notion of being a team on the wrong side of the down slope. Arsenal has an old squad and they are giving young players few chances. The older players are already set in their ways, getting worse, and not suited to the style. Arteta doesn’t want to do what is needed to fix that issue so they continue to spiral.

Chelsea doesn’t need to do much of anything special to get past this Arsenal side. They just need to play their normal game. Arsenal can’t impose themselves on a match and it doesn’t seem like that will change anytime soon. Arteta’s job may be on the line but expect business as usual.