The Growth of Arsenal: In Praise of Motion without the Ball

(Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Under Arsene Wenger, Arsenal Football Club has been touted as employing a modern take on Johann Cryuff's Total Football, full of grace and progressive ball movement. 

While no one will claim Arsenal is the only club attempting this style, or even the foremost in its application, it's clear that Wenger and the club are determined to play in a certain fashion, and will sink or swim on their own terms.

As such, pundits to date have also defined this style as pass-happy and suggest its success is dependent on the originators of the passes: the play-makers and field generals like Cesc Fabregas, Patrick Vieira, and Dennis Bergkamp.

However, in reviewing the evolution of the team since the mid 1990s, one could argue that the success of the style, and thus of Arsenal, might lay more in the talents of those receiving the ball rather than in the flashy distribution. 

Bergkamp embodied this vision for passing flair.  While not the most gifted athlete, Bergie had excellent ball control and would routinely slip balls between defenders to feed the darting runs of players like Robert Pires, Freddie Ljungberg, and most notably Thierry Henry. 

To be sure, most of these dynamic assaults would not have been possible without the skillful passing from Bergie and the rest, but it was the creative movement away from the ball that enabled these passes to even be an option: Pires and Ljunberg drifting from out wide to open space within the defense; Ashley Cole's crashing runs from the deep defensive third to apply more pressure and give midfielders options for moving the ball around. 

As these players moved around, quality shot opportunities would eventually open up and someone would invariably be good enough to capitalize.

Now fast forward as Arsenal transition to a new crop of players.  Two seasons ago Arsenal, with a lineup startlingly different from "The Invincibles" of 2004, made a surprising run for the EPL title—despite having just released offensive talisman Henry to make a big money move to Barcelona. 

Pundits tipped the Gunners to struggle, however, Cesc Fabregas emerged as a confident field general while Emmanuel Adebayor played like a revelation in Henry’s place.  A comparable level of flair and offensive potency remained though the names had changed.  Now the passes flowed from players named Hleb, Rosicky, van Persie, and a young Theo Walcott.  

Conventional wisdom suggested Arsenal had simply replaced capable ball handlers with more capable ball handlers, but there was more to it than that.

Defensive midfielder Mathieu Flamini did a masterful job patrolling the back line, working with William Gallas to maintain the ability of the defense to push forward in a way that contributed to the offensive flow.

The outside midfielders, then, were able to continue their integrated fluidity, making the type of runs that eventually freed space for Adebayor or others to take quality shots.

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