**Why Arsenal Are STILL Getting Better Under Mikel Arteta — Transcript & Summary | SozAI**
Source: https://sozai.app/transcript/arsenal-getting-better-mikel-arteta/

Analysis of Arsenal's improving performance under Mikel Arteta, focusing on their tactical rotations and attacking freedom in a key win over Chelsea.

## Key Takeaways

- Arsenal's attacking freedom and positional rotations are key to breaking down organized defenses.
- Chelsea posed a strong challenge but were ultimately outmaneuvered tactically by Arsenal.
- Havertz's versatile and physical play is crucial to Arsenal's attacking success.
- Man-to-man defensive marking can be vulnerable to intelligent positional play and rotations.
- Arteta's tactical approach is fostering Arsenal's growth and better performances.

## What the video covers

- Arsenal overcame a major early-season challenge by defeating Chelsea with solid defense and creative attacking play.
- Chelsea, under Javi Alonso, showed strong organization and posed significant threats despite limited xG.
- Arsenal's positional rotations and attacking freedom unsettled Chelsea's man-to-man defensive system.
- The video highlights key moments including Havertz's intelligent movement and goal, showcasing his all-around contribution.
- Chelsea's defensive gaps were exploited by Arsenal's flexible front line and overlapping runs from fullbacks.
- Arsenal's ability to rotate players in attacking positions forced Chelsea defenders to constantly adjust marking.
- Havertz's physical and technical performance was a standout, embodying the ideal striker for Arteta's system.
- The analysis includes detailed breakdowns of tactical plays, including how Arsenal created and exploited space.
- Chelsea's defensive and midfield issues under pressure were noted as areas needing improvement.
- The video concludes that Arsenal's evolving style under Arteta is leading to continued improvement and success.

## Chapters

1. 00:00 Introduction and match overview
2. 01:24 Arsenal's attacking rotations and early chances
3. 02:35 Chelsea's attacking threats and xG analysis
4. 03:48 Tactical breakdown of Havertz's goal
5. 04:56 Havertz's overall performance and role
6. 06:11 Detailed look at Arsenal's positional rotations
7. 07:24 Fullback involvement and attacking freedom
8. 08:43 Chelsea's defensive struggles and game conclusion
9. 10:48 Closing remarks and channel promotion

Answers

## Questions about this video

What tactical approach helped Arsenal win against Chelsea?

Arsenal's use of positional rotations and attacking freedom disrupted Chelsea's man-to-man marking, creating space and opportunities that led to their victory.

How did Havertz contribute to Arsenal's performance?

Havertz had one of his best performances, contributing with intelligent movement, link-up play, pressing, and physical dominance, making him a key factor in Arsenal's attacking success.

Why was Chelsea's xG low despite creating chances?

Chelsea's chances included some that didn't register well in xG metrics, such as sliding attempts and shots from difficult angles, which underrepresented their actual threat level.

## Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown

00:00

Speaker A

Hello everybody, and welcome back to the Adam Clearary Football Channel. I'm not Adam Clearary. Well done to the observant amongst you. I'm Archie Corbett. I'm filling in for him today.

00:10

Speaker A

But let's get straight into it because Arsenal overcame what is undoubtedly their biggest challenge of this barely three-game-old season in their win against Chelsea. And while their defensive performance was characteristically solid, limiting JP Morgan and co to below 0.4 xG throughout the entire 90 minutes, it was actually their creative positional play and attacking freedom that won Arsenal this game, which isn't something that we'd often say about a Mikel Arteta Arsenal team. So, let's have a look at how they did it.

00:26

Speaker A

Right. So, as I alluded to, this is Arsenal's biggest challenge of the season so far. And I want to do my imaginary cap to Javi Alonso for getting this Chelsea team looking so organized in and out of possession. They're incredibly flexible when trying to build out, varying regularly between trying to unpick Arsenal's press with deep passes and combinations to just kind of lumping the thing to give Arsenal's backline something to think about. And it was the intent that Chelsea played with which had me, an Arsenal fan who was sat in the upper tier of the clock end, really quite worried during points of this game. Take this moment here where Arsenal's pretty attacking rotational play has left them in this spot. And don't worry, I will get to the attacking rotation play a little bit later on in this video. But some nice movement has got Urge Guard and Lewis Skelly into this gap, and it's a promising Arsenal attack. But Fana jumps in, and Chelsea win it back. And at this point, I wouldn't usually say that Arsenal are in heaps of trouble. Now, if we do a quick count of what we can see here, then the two center backs should be unoccupied at the back, and Rice is also there to cover. And with no Chelsea players staying high, the quick counter really shouldn't be on. But without even looking, Xiao Pedro instantly gets the ball and first time puts his laces through it into the one gap that Arsenal have left on that far side. Because as you may well have seen by now, Ricardo Califuriori basically wants to play anywhere that isn't left back. And it actually creates a lot of chances for Arsenal on the ball. But we're actually yet to see teams actively try and exploit this positional freedom that he has until now, which Chelsea do here because it drags Gabrielle out to that left-hand side where he really doesn't want to be, and then Netto is able to isolate him 1 v 1, and Chelsea are a post swift from making this 2-1 going into halftime. And I know I mentioned at the start that Chelsea had just below 0.4 xG for the whole 90 minutes, but I don't think the numbers really do it justice as to the chances that they were creating during this game because there was that Netto chance and then there was the sliding in at the back post from Xiao Pedro which won't show up in any xG numbers. This actually very decent Morgan Rogers chance that he should have done better with, this pile driver from Reece James that had David Ryer scrambling, and then this Estal chance towards the end of the game that David Ryer brilliantly tips over. All of these plus the actual goal that they score, and Chelsea were knocking on the door throughout this game, and I think they actually kind of had the Arsenal defense quite worried, which is no easy feat. CS caps dotted, respect paid. Chelsea did play very well in this game, and they look much better under Javi Alonso. But Arsenal actually won this game. So, let's talk about them because it's the positional rotations and the attacking freedom, like I said, that actually won Arsenal this game. And honestly, it left Chelsea all over the place defensively. Let's have a little look at the Havertz goal in the first half. And it starts with Chelsea's back four all man for man on the edge of the box because just quickly, Chelsea really want to try and be man-to-man when out of possession, and it's actually what kind of led to their downfall in this game. So the ball's worked around to this near side, and you can see immediately that both Havertz and Erdigard drop away from the Chelsea center backs, but both center backs actually react very differently to this.

00:44

Speaker A

So Laqua initially jumps onto Erdigard before thinking better of it and just sort of marshals him from a distance.

00:57

Speaker A

But Fana gets dragged all the way out here with Havertz creating this massive gap between him and Laqua. Remember this space that he creates because it might become quite important in a matter of seconds. So by this point, Havertz comes so far out that he's actually in an offside position. So Fara [snorts] half leaves in B. But if we look at this delightful little reverse angle of it, it's this tiny movement that Havertz makes that absolutely kills Fafara because you can see there's a moment here where Fana literally has his back to him before turning around appealing for offside and losing Havertz altogether essentially in one motion. Laquire tries to cover across, but because the gap Arsenal have created is so seismic, he's not able to do so quickly enough. Havertz gets his shot away, and Martinez goes down in installments, and that's Arsenal back on level terms. And again, let's go back to the space that Havertz created initially versus voila, the space that he actually ends up shooting from for the goal. And you can see that this movement's very intentional and incredibly intelligent attacking play. And just a quick word on Havertz, because for me at least, this was actually one of the best performances I've seen him have in an Arsenal shirt, maybe ever. He was involved in everything good that Arsenal did on the ball in this game. Whether it was running beyond to stretch the Chelsea back line, dropping in to provide link-up play, winning jewels, drifting out to his right-hand side like I mentioned and creating space for his teammates, winning the ball back when pressing. He did it all. And physically in this game, he was really impressive as well. He actually clocked the joint highest speed for any player in this match. And he also won the most aerial jewels. Though physically he was a really dominant threat up top for Arsenal, and honestly, I think he's the perfect striker profile for this Arsenal team, and it goes all the way back to those positional rotations that I keep banging on about but haven't actually addressed yet. So yeah, let's actually address those because especially after that goal, Havertz kept drifting out to this right-hand side creating that same space. But which players filled it was a complete lottery because for the goal that we just saw beyond Havertz, it was actually Lewis Skellyier that was at the back post occupying the third center back. Then let's take this moment here, and that's a front line currently comprised of left back Ricardo Califuriori dropping just in behind right back Ben White and right winger Pao Saka who are occupying the center halves. Then at this point in the second half, you've got center back Gabrielle who's just joined the front line, and no, this isn't even after a set piece. This is a rotation in open play, and Gabrielle's just on the last line. And essentially, these constant rotations that Arsenal had in the final third meant that Chelsea were always having to shift their man-for-man marking. And the winning goal is a beautifully neat summation of everything that I've just shown you so far in this video. So Arsenal win the ball back, and Erdigard is immediately looking for the out ball. And he finds it with Havertz who has once again dropped off from the center back into this pocket of space here. But as we've already seen so far, when the center backs have no one to mark, let's just put them in here. Say when Havertz does drop off, they don't really know whether to go with him or just to leave him and mark nobody. This time it's Laqua, and he just lets Havertz drift into that space, and for him to la

01:12

Speaker A

had me, an Arsenal fan who was sat in the upper tier of the clock end really quite worried during points of this game. Take this moment here where Arsenal's pretty attacking rotational play has left them in this spot. And

01:24

Speaker A

don't worry, I will get to the attacking rotation play a little bit later on in this video. But some nice movement has got Urge Guard and Lewis Skellyy into this gap and it's a promising Arsenal attack. But Fana jumps in and Chelsea

01:35

Speaker A

win it back. And at this point, I wouldn't usually say that Arsenal are in heaps of trouble. Now, if we do a quick count of what we can see here, then the two center backs should be unoccupied at

01:43

Speaker A

the back and Rice is also there to cover. And with no Chelsea players staying high, the quick counter really shouldn't be on. But without even looking, Xiao Pedro instantly gets the ball and first time puts his laces through it into the one gap that Arsenal

01:57

Speaker A

have left on that far side. Because as you may well have seen by now, Ricardo Califuriori basically wants to play anywhere that isn't left back. and it actually creates a lot of chances for Arsenal on the ball. But we're actually

02:09

Speaker A

yet to see teams actively try and exploit this positional freedom that he has until now which Chelsea do here because it drags Gabrielle out to that left hand side where he really doesn't want to be and then Netto is able to

02:22

Speaker A

isolate him 1 v1 and Chelsea are a post swift from making this 2-1 going into Halime. And I know I mentioned at the start that Chelsea had just below point 4xG for the whole 90 minutes, but I don't think the numbers really do it

02:35

Speaker A

justice as to the chances that they were creating during this game because there was that Netto chance and then there was the sliding in at the back post from Xiao Pedro which won't show up in any xG numbers. this actually very decent

02:46

Speaker A

Morgan Rogers chance that he should have done better with this pile driver from Ree James that had David Ryder scrambling and then this Estal chance towards the end of the game that David Ryer brilliantly tips over. All of these

02:59

Speaker A

plus the actual goal that they score and Chelsea were knocking on the door throughout this game and I think they actually kind of had the Arsenal defense quite worried which is no easy feat. CS caps doted, respect paid. Chelsea did

03:11

Speaker A

play very well in this game and they look much better under Jabi Alonzo. But Arsenal actually won this game. So, let's talk about them because it's the positional rotations and the attacking freedom like I said that actually won

03:23

Speaker A

Arsenal this game. And honestly, it left Chelsea all over the place defensively. Let's have a little look at the Havt's goal in the first half. And it starts with Chelsea's back four all man for man on the edge of the box because just

03:35

Speaker A

quickly Chelsea really want to try and be man-to-man when out of possession and it's actually what kind of led to their downfall in this game. So the balls worked around to this near side and you can see immediately that both Havz and

03:48

Speaker A

Erdigard drop away from the Chelsea center backs but both center backs actually react very differently to this.

03:54

Speaker A

So Laqua initially jumps onto Erdigard before thinking better of it and just sort of marshals him from a distance.

04:00

Speaker A

But Fana gets dragged all the way out here with Havs creating this massive gap between him and Laqua. Remember this space that he creates because it might become quite important in a matter of seconds. So by this point Havas comes so

04:15

Speaker A

far out that he's actually in an offside position. So Fara [snorts] half leaves in B. But if we look at this delightful little reverse angle of it, it's this tiny movement that Havz makes that absolutely kills Fafara because you

04:27

Speaker A

can see there's a moment here where Fana literally has his back to him before turning around appealing for offside and losing Havs altogether essentially in one motion. Laquire tries to cover across but because the gap Arsenal have created is so seismic he's not able to

04:43

Speaker A

do so quickly enough. Havz gets his shot away and Martinez goes down on installments and that's Arsenal back on level terms. And again, let's go back to the space that Havz created initially versus voila, the space that he actually

04:56

Speaker A

ends up shooting from for the goal. And you can see that this movement's very intentional and incredibly intelligent attacking play. And just a quick word on Hvertz, because for me at least, this was actually one of the best

05:09

Speaker A

performances I've seen him have in an Arsenal shirt, maybe ever. He was involved in everything good that Arsenal did on the ball in this game. Whether it was running beyond to stretch for Chelsea back line, dropping in to

05:20

Speaker A

provide link up play, winning jewels, drifting out to his right hand side like I mentioned and creating space for his teammates, winning the ball back when pressing. He did it all. And physically in this game, he was really impressive

05:32

Speaker A

as well. He actually clocked the joint highest speed for any player in this match. And he also won the most aerial jewels. though physically he was a really dominant threat up top for Arsenal and honestly I think he's the

05:44

Speaker A

perfect striker profile for this Arsenal team and it goes all the way back to those positional rotations that I keep banging on about but haven't actually addressed yet. So yeah, let's actually address those because especially after that goal, Havitz kept drifting out to

05:59

Speaker A

this right hand side creating that same space. But which players filled it was a complete lottery because for the goal that we just saw beyond Havs, it was actually Lewis Skellyier that was at the back post occupying the third center

06:11

Speaker A

back. Then let's take this moment here and that's a front line currently comprised of left back Ricardo Califuriori dropping just in behind right back Ben White and right winger Pao Saka who are occupying the center halves. Then at this point in the second

06:25

Speaker A

half you've got center back Gabrielle who's just join the front line and no this isn't even after a set piece. This is a rotation in open play and Gabrielle's just on the last line. And essentially these constant rotations

06:36

Speaker A

that Arsenal had in the final third meant that Chelsea were always having to shift their man-for-man marking. And the winning goal is a beautifully neat summation of everything that I've just shown you so far in this video. So

06:48

Speaker A

Arsenal win the ball back and Erdigard is immediately looking for the out ball. And he finds it with Havz who has once again dropped off from the center back into this pocket of space here. But as we've already seen so far, when the

07:01

Speaker A

center backs have no one to mark, let's just put them in here. say when Havz does drop off, they don't really know whether to go with him or just to leave him and mark nobody. This time it's Laqua and he just lets Hav drift into

07:14

Speaker A

that space and for him to lay off to Califury and he gets the ball out wide to Solace. And despite how well Christo Solace does here, I don't want you to look at him. I want you to look at the

07:24

Speaker A

runs that are happening off of him because that's where the magic really happens. Firstly, let's look at the run that's carried on by Califuri, which just kind of epitomizes this positional freedom that Arteta's giving his side.

07:35

Speaker A

He just keeps going into this channel, dragging Laqua once again out of the danger area through his movement. And secondly, let's look at the current man for man situation that Chelsea have got going on in the middle of the park. Reys

07:48

Speaker A

James hasn't tracked either runner, which is bad. Romeo Lavy has been drawn towards Solace, which is also bad. And suddenly with no midfield presence at all, Wesley Fara is left 2v1 in what is undoubtedly the most dangerous part of

08:03

Speaker A

the pitch. And if you're Chelsea, that simply can't happen. It's a combination of poor tracking back and school boy ball watching which allowed that pass inside. A really, really clever dummy from Havs and a completely free Martin Erdigard who keeps his call and Arsenal

08:18

Speaker A

win this game. And if you're sat there thinking, hang on, I think I've seen this film before. or isn't this the exact same goal that Martin Erdigard scored in the charity community English Super Cup League final just 3 weeks ago

08:30

Speaker A

against Manchester City? You'd be right. In fact, if we just play them side by side quickly, you've got Solis cutting in and playing a ball across. You've got Califury with the direct run into the exact same channel. Havtz drifting just

08:43

Speaker A

in front to occupy defender and Erdigard with a completely free run on goal. And that's kind of the game there. Chelsea have things they clearly need to work on out of possession, including but not limited to having a functional midfield

08:56

Speaker A

that can actually cover large spaces. Kaisedo's return should certainly soften that blow a little bit. But regardless, it is definitely a concern. But on the ball, there were identifiable patterns of play. There was purposeful moves in attack, which is something that we've

09:10

Speaker A

not really seen from Chelsea until Jabi Alonzo's come in kind of in quite a while, which is new and good. So, they were really positive signs not to go all Jason Kundy on you for Chelsea. But yeah, like I said at the top of the

09:24

Speaker A

video, I think this was a really unconventional Arsenal win of sorts. They were definitely defensively solid.

09:30

Speaker A

We've seen that in many an Arsenal win over the last few years. But what I was so impressed by was that positional freedom that their attacking players had and I think that's really aided by having a combination of Sacka, Erdigard,

09:40

Speaker A

Havitz, and even Ben White on this right hand side to get those little wide triangles going to let Ben White come on the outside. He's really good at that.

09:48

Speaker A

He really likes doing that. And then you've got someone in Christos Solace on the far side who just loves to hold the width. He's got very little interest in drifting too far inside. And that allows Ricardo Califuriori to just go wherever

10:00

Speaker A

the hell he wants. I mean, look, this is his heat map, right? I was going to show this, but let's This is his heat map from Arsenal's left back. Look at all this. Look at all that's a left back.

10:10

Speaker A

It's not a left back, is it? But that's what he did in this game. Right, that's enough yapping from me. That's how Arsenal were able to overcome their biggest challenge of the season so far, but we're three games in. Lots of other

10:21

Speaker A

games, lots of other challenges that I'm sure we'll all cover. You can subscribe to the Adam Clearary football channel.

10:26

Speaker A

He will be back imminently with lots of lovely videos. I'm off on holiday for a week. So, I'm very much looking forward to that. You can get me across all the socials where I may or may not be

10:34

Speaker A

posting about said holiday if you're particularly asked. That will appear here at Arch Corbett. And please do donate to Adam. He is doing an incredible job raising money for charity. He's really close to hitting his goal and he's running like an

10:47

Speaker A

absolute madman. So, please do donate. It's going towards a great cause mind. He's spoken about it loads in videos already, so I won't go over that, but they do an amazing job of mental health support here in the UK. So, please, if

10:59

Speaker A

you've got any spare change lying around, the link will be in the bio and it will be the pinned comment of this video. Uh, I'm going to go. So, thank you all very much for watching. Like I say, Adam will be back. Also, if you

11:09

Speaker A

have you noticed, I've got like a little scratch down the side of my face. I've got it playing Sunday league football.

11:13

Speaker A

I'm not going to be like the worst James Bond villain of all time. And I got it yesterday and it's really annoying cuz I was doing a video today. So, I said to the bloke, we did it. I'm doing a video

11:23

Speaker A

tomorrow. Do you mind not scratching me? And he did. Anyway, I'm going to go. Is it that side or this side? I can never really tell. I think it's this one. If you might not be able to see it. If you

11:31

Speaker A

can see it, don't don't be worried. It's fine. I'm going to go. No one's worried, are they? Goodbye.

Topics: Arsenal Mikel Arteta Chelsea football tactics positional play attacking rotations Havertz Javi Alonso xG analysis Premier League


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