Arsenal and the 4-5-1

Tactics can be the most intriguing aspect of football. The formation which a manager uses can signal a lot of things. The most commonly used formation, as most people know, is the 4-4-2 (i.e. four defenders, four midfielders, and two forwards).

But, the moment you mention the "4-5-1" to a fan, he or she will go—that's defensive.

You can be forgiven for thinking that way. In the English Premier League, a 4-5-1 almost implies a 4-6-0 when employed by mid-table teams against the "Big Four"—especially when they're playing away from home. These teams try to stifle their opponents and catch them on the counter-attack.

So, you can easily think that a 4-5-1 is a very defensive formation.

Arsenal under Arsene Wenger have always produced some aesthetically pleasing football. He is also an advocate of the 4-4-2 and uses it whenever he has the players to fill those positions. He almost always preferred this formation over the 4-5-1, but all that changed in the F.A. Cup final of 2005.

Arsenal were devoid of all the strikers except Jose Antonio Reyes and Dennis Bergkamp. Everybody expected the two of them to play together, but Wenger chose to play a 4-5-1, with Reyes on the left-side of midfield. The game was one I would not like to remember purely because Arsenal lacked the spark in the final third.

Manchester United dominated the match from kick-off and were very unlucky to lose the game on penalties.

Wenger was asked after the match about why he chose to play the 4-5-1 over his tried and tested 4-4-2. He said in response that he felt that the team was too "open" when they lost 4-2 to Manchester United at Highbury in a game that was played earlier that season and that he wanted more bodies in midfield.

That game set the precedent for Arsenal to use the 4-5-1 when they played the more "physical" oppositions.

Arsene Wenger, for his part, has made this formation an equally attacking one. The fantastic run in the Champions League 2006-07 was due to Arsenal's 4-5-1 which included the very clever Freddie Ljungberg, Robert Pires/Alexander Hleb, and Cesc Fabregas.

It also included the more direct Jose Antonio Reyes and the "holding" midfielder, Gilberto Silva—but this was purely an attacking 4-5-1.

Ljungberg would play in the hole just behind Thierry Henry and make his superb diagonal runs in behind the defense. Pires/Hleb would sometimes step in when Ljungberg would be caught out due to marking, and sometimes Fabregas also covered the position. That position behind the striker was almost a "revolving door."

When Ljungberg and Pires left, Alexander Hleb and Tomas Rosicky took on the responsibility, and although they weren't able to replace them in terms of the goals scored, the 4-5-1 maintained its stability. Even Henry's potent threat was replaced by a more "out and out striker," Emmanuel Adebayor.

Arsenal visited Old Trafford in the 2006-07 season with the Gunners having had a very poor start to the season. Arsene Wenger chose the 4-5-1 so that his team wasn't too "open," and Manchester United were barely allowed any chances in the game.

In the final moments of the game, Fabregas stepped into that role just behind the striker and slid a ball through to Adebayor, who finished rather coolly.

Even against AC Milan last season, when Arsenal were in San Siro for a very difficult tie, the 4-5-1 worked a treat. Although Abou Diaby played on the left-side of midfield, the team played with the revolving-door policy with Fabregas and Hleb interchanging positions regularly and the movement simply destroyed the Rossoneri.

Arsenal also used Emmanuel Eboue in the right-side of midfield last season and that meant that the defensive stability in midfield was ensured. Even when they play the other "Big Four" teams like Chelsea and Liverpool with Robin van Persie, Wenger elects to play him on the left-side of midfield.

Although a lot of fans don't like that particular move, it means that Arsenal have one extra body in the middle of midfield.

Arsene Wenger is clearly finding newer and better ways to modify formations and make his team play some superb football.

For Arsenal, the 4-5-1 has not only ensured defensive stability but it has brought some very good results in the final third as well. Defenses are not able to cope with the movement and the passing of Arsenal in general, and with one extra midfielder, the task becomes that much tougher.

Other teams might think that the 4-5-1 is defensive, but that certainly isn't the case with the Gunners.