It’s hard writing a tactical analysis for games like these, as derbies often end up as scrappy yet entertaining affairs where all notion of shape or instruction go out of the window, only to be replaced by passion.
Still, worth a go. Arsenal come into this on a 15 game unbeaten run, and with returing players Giroud and Ramsey, it finally seems we have a Plan B in case our flowing football isn’t clicking. This was clear on Wednesday, as it took, as well as individual brilliance, a nice cross from Ramsey to Giroud to equalise – something we would never do with Alexis. If we need a goal, expect the Frenchman to come on, and if we need to shore things up, Ramsey on the right provides balance and extra protection in the centre of midfield.
To start, Xhaka is a huge risk in terms of discipline, but a Coqneny partnership may be too conservative at home against a side likely to also play two ‘destroyers’. We’ve seen that Elneny has creativity, but Xhaka is the obvious best creator behind Santi Cazorla, so I would definitely advocate for a Coquelin-Xhaka partnership; a risk, but one that would pay off highly.
The forward line also presents some debate, but a Walcott-Alexis-Iwobi front line which has served so well this season should carry on against a Spurs defence who have been leaking some goals recently, and one without stalwart Toby Alderwield.
The kind of football that has been successful is the front 4 overload – Ozil, Iwobi, Walcott and Alexis all taking up different roles each attack and constantly interchanging; this drags the defence out of position, allowing full backs and one of the double pivot to exploit the new found space.
Defensively, I’d expect the double pivot to be more conservative and the full backs to be more attacking, purely down to the nature of Spurs’ ‘wingers’ – Lamela and Son often cut inside, meaning the double pivot need to protect the centre halves.
It’s also important to track the marauding Rose and Walker – often so effective in attack, players like Iwobi need to be extra vigilant when tracking back, or risk a right sided overload.
Overall, you may expect Pochettino to be happy with a point away to Arsenal, so expect them to try to capitalise on counter attacks – however, Wenger has the players at his disposal to stop this, as well as having enough verve to be threatening on the attack.
