![]() The graphic below shows his successful left footed passes in the game. But perhaps he was just too right-footed to really do a job staying wide on the left. A big part of why he left Arsenal was to play in central midfield rather than being shunted out to left wing back in games like this, and watching him here it's clear he felt he could do more damage if he drifted into that role. But his natural instinct is to come inside and involve himself in central areas. Oxlade-Chamberlain at left wing back had the chance to be a real outlet, staying wide and offering crossfield passes as well as crossing opportunities, opening up space as Leicester’s compact shape deals with him. But Wenger’s players never really held consistent positions. With Leicester in their narrow 4-4-2, Arsenal could theoretically keep the two wingbacks very wide to stretch the play without having a numerical disadvantage in midfield. Their shape was actually a good fit for this game. But they didn’t really have a clear idea of how to break down Leicester’s deep block. The good side of this was evident, with Arsenal involving themselves in several intricate exchanges of play, best exemplified by Danny Welbeck’s 47th-minute equaliser. It’s no secret that his sides weren’t exactly tactically structured, and he allowed his players a lot of freedom to make their own choices during games rather than strictly cohere to a system. From an Arsenal perspective, the biggest story of the match was quintessentially Wenger. Presumably Shakespeare felt Arsenal’s back three of Rob Holding, Nacho Monreal and Kolašinac wasn't exactly secure and could be exploited by two genuine strikers. The change here is that Okazaki often pushed right up alongside Jamie Vardy. Riyad Mahrez and Marc Albrighton were both tucked in as wide midfielders, with Mahrez obviously the one with licence to attack. Wilfried Ndidi and (in a rare outing) Matty James replaced N’Golo Kanté and Danny Drinkwater in central midfield, but the idea was the same. The side set up with their conventional back four, though Harry Maguire had replaced Robert Huth by this point. They played the classic title-winning Leicester setup, with a small tweak. For Leicester, the pass map is a little less illuminating because they had few spells of sustained possession, so you’ll have to take my word for it. Sead Kolašinac is a little more advanced than the other centre backs, but he’s still very much part of a back three. ![]() The first half pass map below shows wing backs Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Héctor Bellerín pushed right up. The logic behind the switch seemed to be that Antonio Conte’s Chelsea had just won the league playing in that shape, and everyone else was flirting with it, so it might be worth a go? They were certainly committed. The Frenchman was so often an innovator, thinking about the game differently to others and finding new solutions to his team's problems, that this felt totally out of character. Doesn’t that feel like forever ago? This was at the height of Wenger’s very sudden and surprising switch to the 3-4-3 system. Craig Shakespeare didn’t know how best to adjust after he substituted Shinji Okazaki. The game was won by Arsène Wenger bringing on Aaron Ramsey, Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott. Of the 28 players involved over 90 minutes, only eight still regularly play for Arsenal or Leicester City. ![]() Two and a half years is an awfully long time in football. First up is a thrilling season opener that defined the end of two clubs’ most iconic eras. With football suspended for the foreseeable future, in the coming weeks this column will take a look at matches from past years. ![]()
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