18 Yard Box continues its build up for the mega clash between the Gunners and the Blues. With just less than 3 hours to go, its time to look into the manager's tactics.
The war of words had begun well before the day arrived. With Mourinho trying to play mind games with the Arsenal manager by stating that his team are still behind Arsenal in this match, Wenger has regarded Chelsea one of their toughest opponents. However, it remains to to be seen what tactics the the two managers chose to employ in order to get closer to the title.
18 Yard Box discusses the tactics which the two teams have used to so far.
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The war of words had begun well before the day arrived. With Mourinho trying to play mind games with the Arsenal manager by stating that his team are still behind Arsenal in this match, Wenger has regarded Chelsea one of their toughest opponents. However, it remains to to be seen what tactics the the two managers chose to employ in order to get closer to the title.
18 Yard Box discusses the tactics which the two teams have used to so far.
ARSENE WENGER V/S JOSE MOURINHO (TACTICAL ANALYSIS)
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Its unusual to include managers in a battle section. However, this battle needs mentioning. Where Wenger has been relying on the brand of ‘sexy’ football, Mourinho prefers to adopt a more functional approach to the game. Both managers rely on a 4-2-3-1 formation. However, both differ in the style of play.
Arsenal’s philosophy sees the implementation of a 5 man midfield (or usually a 4 with one winger) and a central striker. The striker holds the play and waits for his men to arrive in support. There is always one player who would try to make the penetrative runs behind the defenders. The Gunners follow a philosophy of ‘total football’ where each player can play in a variety of positions.
The Blues on the other hand play more of a false 9 instead of a proper 4-2-3-1. As greatly described by Ancelotti, Chelsea rely heavily on their midfield 5 to grab the goals. Two box to box midfielders in the form of Lampard and Ramires followed by the creative triplet of Oscar, Schurrle and Hazard has seen Chelsea win plenty of games. The only cause for concern is that despite having three quality strikers, Chelsea have not been able to bring either of them into play much. Moreover constant rotation of his midfield has seen the Chelsea side struggle in between.
Both sides consists of a quality defence not living upto its potential. Lapses in concentration, leaking silly goals and faulty marking techniques in set pieces have caused both sides to leak in goals. Although Arsenal’s defence has improved under Steve Bould, the 6-3 drubbing against City has surely shown that it is possible to go past their defence with ease.
When it comes to on field tactics, Mourinho is never the one who would shy to make changes in the first half or even just after half time if he feels that the game needs changing, When it comes to Wenger, he usually adopts a holdback approach and makes the substitutions usually around the 65th minute mark. Mourinho usually turns out to be the aggressor amongst the two.
We could very well see a defensive approach by Mourinho with Oscar, Hazard and Schurrle starting behind Torres. Ramires and Lampard could make the cut for the two remaining midfield position. Arsenal on the other hand could include Cazorla, Ozil and Waclott behind Giroud with Ramsey and Flamini making the midfield numbers. Injury to Koscielny will see Vermalen take the captain's armband. Having not won once in his previous meetings with Mourinho and top spot at stake, Arsene Wenger will not get a better opportunity to ruin his counterpart’s flawless record against him. With Chelsea side struggling to get goals and kill the games off, this provides Arsenal the impetus to take the game to the Blues at the Emirates. |
Written By,
Rishabh Ghai
Rishabh is a writer for Goal.com India, International, contributor for AIS and a writer and editor for 18 Yard Box.
Follow Rishabh Ghai on Twitter
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