Arsenal FC: A Tactical Review of the Game Against Borussia Dortmund

Arsenal's Champions League fixture against Dortmund was eventful. The German champions came to the Emirates on a high, defeating high-flying Bayern Munich 1-0.  Arsenal came into this fixture in the same vein, with five consecutive wins in the Premier League leading them to seventh place from 17th.

Dortmund lined up with what was meant to be a 4-2-3-1, but switched to a 4-4-1-1.

Kagawa started as the link man, connecting the defensive midfielders Bender (the more energetic) and Kehl (29,hardened tackler) to the Polish poacher, Lewandowski. Gotze played a tucked-in wing position on the right, and Grosskreutz played a more direct, run at the defence, attacking role.

To cover for Neven Subotic, Felipe Santana was called in, but the basic structure of the back line was unchanged. Marcel Schmelzer (emphatically attacking) and Łukasz Piszczek had license to attack and left space that Hummels (in a near-libero role) had to cover. Santana had to do less on the other side.

Dortmund pressed high up the pitch in banks of four, trying to isolate Robin Van Persie and to close down space for the midfield three. However, this pressing resulted in Kagawa being pushed further forward than in a traditional 4-4-1-1 or a 4-2-3-1.

Kagawa and Lewandowski did not press very well, instead opening up space in the back four by squeezing the midfield from the front. This left Mertesacker and Vermaelen to play the ball  and led to Arsenal having the most possession, but in trivial areas.

The first half went according to plan for Dortmund.

They pressed high. Arsenal played on the counter. They had more shots on goal than Arsenal. They looked favourites to win. Arsenal played their usual formation, a fluid midfield 4-3-3 which turns into a 4-1-2-3 and a 4-2-3-1 at times.

As stated previously, Ramsey, Arteta and Song were squashed when Dortmund pressed up. Arsenal tried to break through Walcott running ahead of Marcel Schmelzer, taking advantage of his forward runs. This resulted in a rightward shift for Robin Van Persie and right-based thinking for Aaron Ramsey, creating a "zone of creativity'' from which most of the chances of the first half for Arsenal came.

The first half saw Bender and Gotze hacked down by injury. Moritz Leitner and Ivan Perisic came on for them. Perisic for Gotze was a like-for-like change.

Leitner, however, was a completely different case. He was quite energetic, often leading a counter-attack.  He stretched the midfield four, making it look like a 4-1-3-2 at times.

At the start of the second half, Dortmund tired due to their pressing, and Arsenal settled into their natural game. They pressed Dortmund the way they had in the first half.  

Their pressure created the first goal—Arteta winning the ball for Ramsey to turn back and pass to a defender who passed to a running Song, who dribbled through a circle of three to cross for Van Persie to head it in at the far post.

The second goal came from a corner won through good pressing and passing. Vermaelen headed to Van Persie who scored with a header.

Conclusion

The game was won by Arsenal's flexibility and greater physique. Their ability to switch between a counter-attacking game and possession-based pressing game gave them the edge over Dortmund who tried to the same but were less effective.