On Friday, Arseblog News asked Renee Slegers about some of the defensive reasons for Steph Catley playing at left centre-half. During the North London derby we were really struck by some of the attacking opportunities her selection in that position has created. Slegers was coy when we asked her about that after the game.
‘I don’t want to talk too much about what we want to try to create but we want to try to create numbers in different areas of the pitch.’ It is understandable that Slegers doesn’t want to talk too much about it but opposing analysts will have noticed by now and so have we. Selecting Catley as a centre-half has allowed Arsenal to get another attacker in advanced areas in McCabe.
Usually, we would list Arsenal’s formation as a 4231, which is a good median approximation of the shape. As below.
But in reality, deploying Catley in a hybrid centre-back / left-back role, has enabled Arsenal’s in possession structure to look more like this.
Playing Catley in that left defensive channel means McCabe can push right up and be an extra attacker with the added bonus that it pushes Mariona inside a little, which is where you want her ideally. We saw this shape in build-up consistently during the North London derby.
Seeing this constantly. Back three in build up, McCabe pushed right up. Arsenal have found a way to get another attacker in McCabe and pushed Mariona a little more inside in the process.
— Tim Stillman (@tim-stillman.bsky.social) November 16, 2024 at 2:24 PM
We actually see it right from kickoff. The ball goes back to Catley and McCabe is already separating from the other three defenders and pushing up.
Absolutely immediately we can see that McCabe is pushing up onto the same line as Mariona and Maanum, the players behind Alessia Russo. You want Mariona in this half space as more of a wide 10 and McCabe pushing on effectively makes her a fifth attacker.
The thinking of this setup is simple. It puts the ball players in the interior of the team (Catley included) and has two powerful, direct players on the outside, in McCabe and Foord, stretching the pitch.
As the ball works its way back, we see Catley is basically at left-back, Fox is essentially a wide centre-half and McCabe is so far advanced she is not even on the screen. Arsenal built in a 3-2-5 shape consistently in this game to give them an extra attacker. That is a big part of the reason Catley has been brought into the team at left centre-half, because she is often asked to act as a left-back anyway and to find that pass to McCabe at left wing-back.
Coaches often talk about having five attacking lanes and McCabe consistently pushed up so that Arsenal had a (L-R) line-up of McCabe-Mariona-Maanum-Foord behind Russo.
As Arsenal continue to build the attack here, again we see Mariona inside and McCabe on the outside of the attack, where you would expect an attacker to be.
It not only creates an extra player in the attack but it means that Mariona can concentrate on picking up the ball in areas like this. Her pass ricochets into the path of Russo who lashes it home first time.
Again, as Arsenal build here, you can see that Fox, Williamson and Catley are on roughly the same defensive line. Little and Walti are so parallel they could be on a fussball table. McCabe is in line with Maanum. In possession, McCabe is not asked to be part of how Arsenal play out from the back, she is asked to get into the attacking line and create numbers there.
For the purposes of this article I am not going to focus too much on the right side suffice to say that Emily Fox is such a huge asset to the team and while Foord is very useful to Arsenal as the widest player in that right lane, Fox is so effective because she pops up inside with underlapping runs so well.
This sequence ends in a shot for her which is blocked. Fox shoots on average more than any other full-back in the league and she isn’t exactly taking those shots from the touchline. Her ability to invert is crucial to how Arsenal attack.
Every good team has a structure but a little bit of slack to rotate within their framework. Here Catley picks the ball up again in that wide centre-back area.
But this time Mariona is in the widest of those five attacking lanes with McCabe underlapping. Mariona picks the ball up on the extremity and plays a pass into the inside forward position where McCabe is. McCabe gets a cross in from here which is cleared.
We get a really nice idea of that shape again here. Walti sends the ball wide to McCabe, who is very much not parallel with the other defenders and very much is parallel with the attackers.
McCabe gets the ball on the extremity and sends in a cross which Foord just fails to meet.
As Arsenal build towards their second goal here, once again we see Catley, Williamson and Fox on roughly the same line. You can just about make out McCabe’s boot on the wide touchline. Again, McCabe is not being asked to build, she is being asked to attack. Catley is closer to that left-back position but her role is to build. Tottenham continually struggled to cope with this 3-2-5 shape Arsenal adopted.
We see the principle again here which we did see plenty under Eidevall’s charge, but it’s certainly coming through in a clear way. Fox, Williamson and Catley are assembled in a back three here and, again, McCabe is not asked to be parallel with the defenders when building happens, she is asked to push on with the attackers.
And Catley being a left footer simply means she can access passes like this far more easily.
We see it repeat in the second half. Fox, Williamson and Catley building in a three and McCabe pushed so far on she’s not on the screen. But Mariona is on the screen and not where you would expect to the left winger to be.
And again, the point of playing Catley LCB is not just because she is used to covering the LB space but because she can do this as soon as she gets it.
Wubben-Moy and Codina are right footers, they can make this pass but not as naturally and, ultimately, as quickly.
As the move progresses, it actually ends with McCabe being offside and she was offside because of how high she was asked to push up.
The camera angle doesn’t quite capture it but for the third goal, Mariona is able to be this central in the move because McCabe is pushed up so wide and high on the left.
As soon as Stina puts the ball in the net, we see how advanced McCabe is. Again, this is not really a defender in the proper sense of the word. She is the fifth attacker.
And once more for luck here, we see Fox, Williamson and Catley in that back three shape and McCabe pushed right on.
Catley has that angle of pass with her left foot and McCabe is once again so advanced that she isn’t on the screen.
When Tottenham try to build from the back, McCabe is again pushed right up to the attacking line to force a high turnover. Catley’s experience as a left-back is crucial in allowing this because if Spurs break this line of pressure, Arsenal know that Catley is experienced at defending the left-back space.
Putting the Australian at left centre-half has enabled Arsenal, simply, to get another player into the attack in McCabe and it’s been the tactical innovation that has, in my view, most contributed to Arsenal becoming a more potent attacking force in recent weeks.
Renee has made a system to fit the players. Not too tight so they’re restricted, not too loose that it’s shapeless. The system fits them. The players know it, and feel comfortable and confident to perform.
When will this interlull end????????