Arsene Wenger says that he was seeking defensive stability as he selected a back three for the first time since 1997 for the 2-1 win over Boro.
Laurent Koscielny was flanked by Gabriel and Rob Holding, and although it wasn’t perfect it helped bring about a much needed win.
It was a big departure for Wenger, and something new for the team, and after the game he explained his thinking.
“I felt that we were recently a bit vulnerable defensively and to give a bit more reassurance to the team,” he said.
“Recently we faced many direct games, I thought before the game maybe they’d play with Gestede and Negredo and go for a very direct game. Those are the reasons.
“It worked well in the first half, we didn’t give any chances away and we were quite solid on set-pieces. In the second half on one or two occasions, I felt we could have been a bit more dominant in the air, but overall yes.”
Wenger also quipped that it was a sign that even the old leopard can sometimes change their spots.
“The first time in 20 years, that shows you that even in my age you can change!
“But sometimes when a team lacks confidence, just to add something new to believe helps to focus and overall the fact that we conceded three at West Brom, three at Crystal Palace, I felt it was needed.”
So, I’m not a football tactician by any means and havent watched the game. How does 3 at the back work? I looks like you play 3 center halves giving you more security as opposed to having two, but that leaves the flanking midfielders having to track back diligently, is that so? And does the defender in the middle of the three move forward to support the midfield?
There can be a few ways in which it is an effective system. Usually it gives you a spare centre back, whose role will often be to step out of the back a little more, be proactive and use possession – almost like an extra midfielder. David Luiz has played that role very well for Chelsea and I think it would suit either Koscielny or Mustafi. It does also tend to ask a lot of the wing backs, who need to be an effective attacking option and provide the team with width while also adding to the defence. As there… Read more »
also i read a good article on how wenger can fine tune this formation to get the best out of the team . their points were essentially
play alexis as striker because we need a mobile forward.
play ramsey and ozil behind him , as ramsey can score goals.
play xhaka and elneny in centre midfield
play gibbs instead of monreal
I’d like to see Iwobi play with Ozil.
that’s a good choice.
Btw, is mustafi injured?
Yes, the wing backs have to do their jobs defensively (Monreal didn’t for the Boro goal), and these days in modern football we don’t see anymore the man in the middle of a back 3 (the sweeper) supporting the midfield, it certainly didn’t happen yesterday (Gabriel kind of did it, but it was more to provide another option for Ox, since we played much more on the right). First of all, it helps in the defensive transition, since we as a possession team likes to play with 8 players in the attacking phase. With this system, we maintained a much… Read more »
Moreal was exposed because Xhaka was out of position..although he could have done better by getting closer to downing or showing him the outside instead of the inside..you have to give to give him credit for even having the energy to track back at full speed which i liked but that took serious amount of energy from him he didn’t have the legs to get tighter before the cross. But I liked what i saw and with the players we have I thought this should’ve been a system should’ve implemented a long time a go as an alternative to our… Read more »
So its more to do with allowing you having the 5 across midfield to screen the defence, because having the extra bodies in midfield *should enable the team to control the midfield better and cover the channels on either side more efficiently. And as you pointed out, you would get the added height too, because you can play 3 centre backs instead of two. It also helps a lot with preventing counter-attacks because it should make it much harder for teams to break out past that many midfielders. Its a super effective formation to play, but as you mentioned the… Read more »
I think we are better off with Montreal tucked in to the left side of the back 3 but we lack choices for left wing back. Gibbs I’m not entirely convinced. Ox can be switched to left wing if Bellerin comes in on the right. Ideally I would prefer Mustafi on the right of the triumvirate but we then have to balance height. Maybe then left side needs Holding for height but Montreal has more experience. Its tricky. I think we will still be vulnerable because we play with what we have and obviously it is a new system that… Read more »
Wondering if Gibbs might work better in this system than Nacho
Throw in bellerin and move Ox to the other side
Ox was very effective on that side though
Bellerin is a natural wing back, but Ox has never looked as effective on the left flank as on the right, so given his strong performance last night, I think you keep him there for the time being (unless you move him forward into the front three, along with Ozil and Alexis). If we choose to play this long term, Bellerin will get his chance. As for the other side, it’s tricky, because Gibbs is the more natural wing back, but Monreal is the better overall footballer. Again, in the longterm, I might think of moving Monreal to the left… Read more »
i think gibbs might be better
He’s good going forward and has plenty of pace
I like the idea of Gibbs, as its always great to have the young English players come through from youth set up and through to the senior team – but for me, I don’t think he will ever be Arsenal quality.
We need a new left back and potentially a new right back too, well depending on what Bellerin does, but even if he stays, there is still a case for getting someone in because we really need to get Debuchy out.
Was thinking more for the rest of the season. It would be nice if he could succeed here but it isn’t looking likely.
i really doubt
Lol
#Wengerout. Ouuut
There is a lot of mini formations you could do with ease in the middle of the game if you train your players for it. The 3-4-3 makes your tactics more flexible and easier to manipulate. For example, anytime during the game Monreal could be asked to come back n form a back four with Gabriel as right back. You could have a deep lying DM to form sort of diamond defense with your three defenders and the DM. Or you could push your centermost CB and push him forward to make a mini triangular defensive setup in your side… Read more »
Welbeck could be good on that left side… hard worker and pacey.
Interesting thought. Or Perez perhaps.
Would be great if interview went like this:
‘So what was your thinking behind a back three?’
‘Well I thought… Fuck it. Can’t get any worse can it? Plus it’s not like we’ve got anything to lose. Might throw my dog in the striking role next week if I feel like.’
*drops mic*
Yet we had a 5 man midfield that they just bypassed like it wasn’t even there… If you want defensive solidity why not stick the Coq in there and tell him to screen the that 3 man backline? Wenger doesn’t make a whole lot of sense these days… Go back to a formation that you haven’t used for 20 years… Instead of sticking Alexis up top as was working for the start of the season… That sorts out the defensive solidity then.. you know, other than allowing a team basically bottom of the league to have more shots on target… Read more »
Lol
Keeps bangin on about it since when? We won, end of, be happy and be proud. COYG’s!!
We won against West Ham. I’m curbing my enthusiasm as not to get brutally let down. CHange our recent form to WW and we’ll talk.
Yep and we finished 2nd last season because we were terrible.
Wake up, this isn’t last season. We’re in dire straits. I’ll take a win but besides 3 points I didn’t see any improvements in our game. We have City, Spuds. .. we’re struggling with a 19th placed team. We’re being beaten by bottom halfers.. We finished 2nd last season because others were terrible but we were just first losers. Wenger I love you…. whyyyy….
we were terrible. Everybody else was just more terrible.
We were considering we knew our closest competitors would be in transition and it would be our best chance of winning the damn thing and we let Leicester finish above us.
The fear was that as soon as the others got their shit together, we would be in a worrisome situation is looking the case this season.
I think simply saying “we finished 2nd” kinda hides all the underlying issues we’ve had for a few years now (especially last year) that has come back to bite us in the arse-nal.
Wenger does tactics and almost everything he does makes sense in the way he or any manager thinks. If that is working or not doesn’t mean that he’s not using some good ideas or trying to do new and refreshing things. If our team is collectively crap, hit the wall with him, are in the end of a cycle AND are problably going to struggle for years, it doesn’t mean that everything is terrible and are all his fault. In life you have to put things in perspective. Also the term “tactics” have to do with a awful lot of… Read more »
Well done ‘master tactician’. Now please leave the club. I can’t take pleasure in any victory until Wenger is gone.
Essentially it’s effective when you don’t have an outstanding centre back pair.
Conte is able to mask sideshow bob’s insanity but making him the balls out stopper and covering him with two covering sweepers.
I reckon our current centre backs are currently suited to :
Stoppers : Gabriel, Mustafi
Cover : BFG, Holding
Can do both : Koscielny
With a back 4 you basically need 2 Koscielny types nowadays.
I understand the joy over a much needed win but enough about how the back three gave us all this blah blah blah and it blah blah blah helped us win. If Ayala hits his free header anywhere aside from at Cech it would be a different story right now. Yes we won, but we sure didn’t look convincing and I feel a better team would have done us one. People on here are commenting that Wenger trying something new was good enough for them and we could have lost but the new formation was enough of a positive for… Read more »
If Ayala was spotted wrestling Giroud to the floor, we’d have had a penalty and possibly been 1-0 up inside 20 minutes. So that could be a different story. A lot happens in a game which affects the final score so saying if our goalie didn’t save Ayala’s header, it would be a different story, yes you are right. But the same can be said for everything else in the game. If we went with the usual 4-3-3, we may have won 5-0 or we may have lost 3-0. Who knows?!?! If he didn’t change things and we lost again,… Read more »
I think his point is that, with three at the back or not, we still cannot defend a set piece to save our life. They crossed the ball into the box twice in the exact same manner and on both occasions, they almost resulted in a goal for Boro.
Mootilated, that was exactly what I was getting at. Yes we got the three points away from home. But we didn’t look great defensively, even with the new system. Everytime they had a free kick they could lob into the box it was a nail biting moment. I also understand the relief brought in by a change of formation but we can’t get overwhelmed by the “shiny new thing” euphoria. Change at our club takes so long to transpire that when it does we just jump on the wagon without thinking and we need to stop doing that collectively as… Read more »
I wouldn’t get your hopes up about any realistic outlooks from the comments section over here. As much as I love this website, finding level headed debate is very difficult. Opinions on here change from week to week depending on the latest result. Just have a look at the comments after a win and after a defeat and the Thumb Up/Down ratio 🙂
What is being discussed here is based on the story above any other is off topic
Are there more deluded and easily gullible fans anywhere in the universe?. The old man is desperate to sign the contract including going out of his way trying formations he himself doesn’t even believe in.All in the name of not wanting to be labelled a washed up tactician who at his age can’t really learn new tricks. Please for Christ’s sake Wenger leave our club and retire
I think too much is being made of the formation change, our formation often fluctuates throughout matches. To me it’s more about keeping balance and depth on the pitch at all times. Too often we get caught with way too many players up the pitch that overrun the play leading us susceptible to counter attacks and long balls. Whether we play with 3, 4 or 5 in the back to me doesn’t matter as much as players being more aware of their responsibilities to always keep defensive shape when we have the ball so that we are in position to… Read more »
Mark, I am afraid you have been watching the games instead of reading pundits. Are you seriously suggesting that the ability, desire, awareness, and concentration of the players on the pitch is more important then the name you give their starting positions?
Yes and Gabriel bombing forward thinking like a full back could quite easily cause us major problems if tried next Sunday. Last time we used the formation it was with Adams, Boulders and Keown, with Dixon and Winterburn ahead as wing backs – spot the difference?
The fact that it took ages for him to realise it is why he needs to go.
Too late.. that chelsea game is exactly when we should’ve change system
A win is not enough cos we may lose the next one? Isn’t that all the more reason to make the most of this feeling?
Is it just social media? I do not remember a more miserable sub-set of fans ever (obviously not all) even when we used to occasionally finish out of the top 10.
Cmon guys, we won. Arsene tried something new. Our 2 big stars scored. Our young CB had a pretty darn good outing.
Have a look pre-70s for when things were really bad!
I remember a game where Don Howe started 2 centre backs plus an extra one in midfield. When asked why we were playing 3 centre backs, the answer came “Because the other two are injured, so we can’t play 5!”
The first season without a St Totteringham’s Day may seem harsh to newbies, it was the norm at one time. Don’t let those days return.
sorry in advance for the length (I wish i got to say that more often) I do commend the change in tactics by Wenger but I feel he is fighting an uphill battle in respect to personnel through which he has to implement this new formation, none of them suit the roles they have been given within it which is not surprising really since the team has been built so staunchly upon the 4-2-3-1 system for years. Its funny but this system is one I have been wandering why the U21’s don’t play as the change in roles and positional… Read more »
Is Perez back fit yet?
OX and Elneny over Xhaka and Ramsey in that midfield any day.
If we are sticking with this three at the back then this is what i would like to see – i think there would at least be a few more goals.
—–Perez——-Sanchez——-Walcott—–
Gibbs——Oxlade——Elneny——Bellerin
——Gabriel—-Koscielny—-Mustafi——-
——————–Cech———————-
Keep changing then. And maybe the coaching methods too. Keep changing to the type of coach that teaching players how to defend better.
Ture dat.
Wenger Out
Yesterday was just proof that Wenger still doesn’t know what our strongest 11 or formation is!
Its not really just the defense and an extra Cback but it ensures we aren’t as thin in the middle. I think part of the issue is our idiosyncrasies in midfield. We are still not balanced. Granit provides the deep passing but neither Coquelin or Ramsey provide the control work Santi does. Also Ramsey isn’t the best tackler and Granit has perhaps wisely abstained from tackling. Thereby the extra body at the back plus the two secondary attackers just ahead at more numbers centrally. Its expedient for the players we have at the moment but clearly work in progress and… Read more »