I expected Dinamo to play a similar style to West Brom on the weekend and to sit back in the low box and defend but Dinamo sprung a surprise and pressed Arsenal hard for the first 30 minutes. When Arsenal broke the press and scored the first goal, thanks to a swift counter attack, the complexion of the match changed and Arsenal were able to play with a lot more freedom, eventually scoring three goals and keeping a clean sheet defensively.
Dinamo’s press was obvious to anyone watching but just to show you the power of stats I’ll break down the first 30 minutes:
In the first 30, Dinamo attempted 16 tackles and won 13. They also made 10 interceptions and forced Arsenal into 14 additional turnovers (bad touch and dispossessed). Arsenal also had 12 missed passes in our own half (I’m counting where the pass originated). And Arsenal was 3/8 dribbling, meaning we lost 5 dribbling duels. To give some context, in the full 90 minutes Dinamo only attempted 40 tackles, 20 interceptions, forced 29 turnovers, and Arsenal finished the match with just 18 missed passes originating in our half (not counting Cech’s long kicks). And Arsenal finished the match with 16/28 dribbles. That means that in the first 30 minutes of the game Dinamo put over half of their defensive pressure on the Gunners.
Alexis was the most targeted player for that pressure. He had 12 turnovers on the day and it’s no surprise he had six in the first 30. By the end of the match, he was dispossessed 8 times and had 4 unsuccessful touches. Dispossessed stats happen when the player has the ball but he’s not trying to dribble a man and it is tackled away. That means Alexis had the ball tackled away 8 times when he was kinda standing still. That’s a lot. In fact, only Hulk (5.8 per game) has been dispossessed more than Alexis (4.6) in the Champions League this season.
But like all stats just saying “Alexis turned the ball over too often and the dispossessed stats prove it” doesn’t tell the whole story. Alexis was dispossessed 8 times today because he was the target of the Dinamo press and he was often left alone to fend for himself. There were also several Dinamo fouls which weren’t called which saw Alexis cough up the ball. Just like the West Brom match where I got taken to the shed (rightly) for suggesting that Özil could have tried to create more, the context (in Özil’s case where Giroud had a poor game in front of him) is just as important as the number.
It’s also important to note that Alexis created the first goal. Yes, he was under pressure. Yes, he was giving the ball away as the Dinamo trap worked on him. But he still managed to break that pressure and give Arsenal a much needed relief valve with the goal.
Cazorla played a pivotal role in breaking that pressure as well. He went 7/7 dribbling today (which is fantastic) and was 3/3 in the first 30 minutes. But it was his dribble out of the Arsenal defensive third in the 28th minute which set up the Arsenal opening goal. He beat his man, passed to Flamini, Flamini to Alexis, Giroud made a run, and Alexis picked out the run of Özil. 1 successful event for each of those players, combined like some Japanese cartoon called “Goaltron”, to give Arsenal the lead and change the game.
It’s also important to note that despite the pressure, the turnovers, and the slightly frustrating play, Arsenal were creating chances in those first 30 minutes. Including Özil’s header, Arsenal created 5 shots (3 in prime, 1 big chance) to Dinamo’s 1 (shot in prime).
Joel Campbell was especially effective in that period and he made 6/7 entry passes into the 18 yard box, setting up Cazorla for a really good chance on the edge of the 6 yard box.
Interestingly, it was both Alexis and Campbell who attempted the most passes in the 18 yard box. Both players went 7/13 on the day in that stat, totaling 14/26. That’s almost as many passes as all of Arsenal managed against West brom (18/41). But again, the context is different. West Brom had the lead and were able to sit very deep while Dinamo was forced to attack thanks to the early goal by Özil. The open nature of today’s match, Dinamo attempted 515 passes while WBA attempted less than half that with 247, meant that Arsenal had more space to pass the ball.
Still, Joel Campbell had an outstanding match and his attacking pressure finally paid off when he got an assist for Arsenal’s third. Though that still required some work from Alexis, who won 1 of his 3/6 dribbles, to finish!
After Arsenal got the first two they needed to close up shop and they did. Dinamo took 9 shots on the day (8 in the second half) but 6 were from outside the box, and only the one was a real threat which Petr Cech saved perfectly when it took a deflection off Flamini and looked like it was going to sneak into the corner.
Arsenal needed to be “clinical” on the day and they did just that scoring 3/4 of the big chances they created. For the record, that Özil back-headed shot created by Alexis counted as a “big chance” by Opta. Maybe a bit harsh? That was, after all Bergkamp level audacity to try that shot.
Arsenal weathered 30 minutes of pressure, broke the pressure with some great skill by Cazorla, got the go-ahead goal through Özil and Alexis, shut up shop so that Dinamo couldn’t get back into the game, and finished the chances presented to them.
All around fantastic match from the Gunners. On to Athens, where the Greeks will play the part of Troy and Arsenal the part of the Trojans.
@7amkickoff
Sexy. Thanks.
“Alexis was dispossessed 8 times today because he was the target of the Dinamo press and he was often left alone to fend for himself. There were also several Dinamo fouls which weren’t called which saw Alexis cough up the ball.”
im not sure i completely agree with this. it seems like alexis is trying to do too much on his own. i can understand if he does that with chile, but at Arsenal he’s surrounded with very unselfish teammates. i wish he’d pass the ball sooner, continue his run, and get it back.
I wish I was a little bit taller
I wish I was a baller
i wish i had a girl, if i did
I wish I had a girl who looked good, I would call her.
You mean Arsenal the part of the Greeks…
Maybe he meant to say “Trojan Horse”? Anyway, strange because there are any number of analogies available for Athens / Greece itself. Arsenal could be Sparta or Sulla, for instance. Or the poets to Plato’s Republic.
Fantastic analysis as always, 7am. Quick question, was Campbell’s volley a prime shot?
Didnt look prime from where i was sitting.
Ay ooooh!!
Just… a bit outside.
Clearly Zagreb’s instruction on Sanchez was to close down always, tight marking always and tackling hard.
But they forgot to show him on his weaker foot…
Wenger’s half time talk about the need to guard against complacency clearly worked a treat.
For our next match Wenger should tell Ozil, Sanchez and Campbell to pick up from where they left off.
So how many goals must we beat the Greeks to qualify?
2
Or by 1 if we score 3. I think.
did anyone else notice the freedom the attack played with when Giroud was subbed, i know we were 3 up but the number of false 9s was amazing, we had no focal point so the midfield stepped up and decided to play total football. it wasn’t even counter attacking it was subliminal. i believe that that is the way Wenger would love us to play. the last 20 mins was arsenal as we have all dreamt about, one touch, energy,pace, freedom, skill, mind over matter sex ball. seriously re-watch the last 20 mins. Anyway, Greece will be tough but i… Read more »
Fair point there, and that’s what the team would look like with Walcott up front I guess. But then again, you’ll want to see good football when it really matters, and not when the other side is already 2-0 down.
Perhaps one reason they couldn’t maintain the press is because for this game they weren’t doped off their tits.
Just a thought.
#dead
NB :MY laughter is dope free
excellent to see a steady and noticeable improvement in JC’s play. Ozil was god again.
Surely if Olympiakos is Troy defending itself, Arsenal will be the Greeks, not the Trojans… unless that’s some kind of US condom analogy to do with penetration, such as how can were score without our Coq?
The stats confirm Arsenal used the old rope-a-dope and Zagreb took a real hit. Crack performances from the men we all roll up to see. The first goal was like bing-bang-BONG, and the team was on a high thereafter. Ramsey’s return injected some extra feel good factor as Dinamo’s token resistance was never enough. Highly addictive when he plays like this, Ozil is in Ballon D’Or territory, and you’re tripping is you disagree. Now let’s all just inhale/exhale before smoking some canaries.
Good result but Wenger still has to get some DM in January; can’t rely on Flamini for the next few months without Coquelin.
the Arsenal we really know. Getting a performance when its needed. when we don’t need a performance we play like we did in the 1st leg…now its down to the wire because we assumed we’d win the first two easy games and then……??????
?
I thought Joel was outstanding tonight. With him and Alexis on the wings, we have frightening pace. Will he keep his place at Norwich, or will the Welsh wonder plug the right hand side? I’d stick with the Costa Rican. He’s improving game by game.
Was quite disappointed with the turn out, plenty of empty seats and a rather muted atmosphere. One number I was interested in was the attendance, which is recorded as 58,978. Strange, that is about only 1000 less than NLD a few weeks back, but certainly didnt looked and feel like so. A game of such importance, a Champions League night, wheres everyone?
Arsenal always have and always will report ticket sales instead of attendance.
There are loads of reasons why people buy tickets and don’t show up to matches.