Arsenal 2010-11 Preview: Offensive Tactical Breakdown

As the season approaches and Arsenal fans the world over prepare for what will hopefully be a fruitful campaign, one question remains: how will this season be different than the last? Despite a few new faces courtesy of the transfer window and the academy, most of the key playmakers who will make or break the campaign are leftovers from last term. So how will the Gunners fare up front?

09-10: What Went Wrong:

In mid-October, it seemed that the Gunners would steamroll their way to a league title in style. The Gunners were on pace to score over 100 goals after drubbing most of the sides they faced. But as the season trodded on, the goals slowly started to disappear. The disappearance of Robin van Persie in mid-November certainly placed a strain on the Arsenal forwards, especially having scored six goals in six games preceding his untimely injury. Just before that, Nicklaus Bentdner injured his groin early in the Spurs game the last day of October. That left Eduardo, Vela and Arshavin, all of whom are fast and talented, but small, and certainly not imposing enough to be a centre forward in the Premier League.

Arsenal play a pretty simple 4-3-3 formation, with two wingers flanking a lone centre forward. The idea is that the centre forward will be dangerous enough to draw the attention of both central defenders. This creates two 1v1 opportunities on the wings, which are perfect for Walcott and Arshavin to create space along the touch line and make the team dangerous in the final third. Now, van Persie and Bentdner (and now Chamakh) are able to create success in this formation, not because they are more talented than Arshavin, but because they are more physical. They are big and tough enough to make space in the heart of defence. When Arshavin came up against big centre backs, they manned him off the ball both in the air and from open play. His only resort was to shoot early or play layoff balls in midfield to Fabregas and Nasri. His play was made one demensional, and one centre back was always able to lay back, making the threat of Theo and Rosicky on the wing less dangerous.

How Will This Year Be Different?

So last term's follies could be described as not a lack of talent, but a lack of depth. Enter Marouane Chamakh. Now Le Prof has 3 options at centre forward and countless wingers. Robin van Persie is finesse. He can create play with the midfielders, as well as make inummerable chances on his own. Chamakh is a target man. He is direct, creates chances from crosses, free-kicks and corners, and is deadly with his head. He is the plan B to RvP, when possesion fails. Bentdner is a mix of the two. He plays well with midfield and can strike the ball like van Persie, or he can tower over you in the penalty area and score from crosses. Jay Simpson and Sanchez Watt also have the potential to move onto the bench this year. But the first choice is clearly van Persie, with Bentdner and Chamakh playing when needed.

Monsieur Wenger has even more choices for wingers. Several are only wing players, including Arshavin and Walcott, as well as Vela and Eduardo. Expect to see Arshavin start on the left, with a fight for playing time on the right. Walcott will resume his typical role of super-sub, at which he is amazing. His night against Barca is evidence that he can change a game after the hour mark. Eduardo may be gone by the beginning of the season, so Vela has a realistic chance to start.

But what about the midfield-based wingers. Wilshere, Nasri and Rosicky all play on the wings as well, and also the fill in at right-back, Emmanuel Eboue.

At the end of the day, it should be a fight between Wilshere, Nasri and Vela. Rosicky will remain a deep sub for both attacking midfield players and wingers, Walcott stays a usual game-sub, and Emmanuel-Thomas, Barazite and Lansbury can have their chance to fill a similar role as Rosicky.

That would give us a depth chart like this:

Arshavin                                 van Persie                               Wilshere

Eboue                                    Bentdner                                 Vela

Nasri                                      Chamakh                                Rosicky

JET/Barazite                            Watt/Simpson                         Lansbury      

If the Gunners can keep up scoring goals all year, they will be able to win trophies and break this dismal streak.