Newcastle 0- 1 Arsenal: Tactical Review

Arsene Wenger celebrates at the final whistle during the Barclays Premier League match between Newcastle United and Arsenal at St James’ Park on May 19, 2013 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Getty Images)

On a night when every goal could have meant a different permutation for 3^rd and 4^th place, all 3 of the London clubs held on for gritty wins, which thereby ensured Chelsea and Arsenal Champions League spots at the expense of Tottenham Hotspur.

Arsenal’s trip to Newcastle was easily the most dreaded of the final day fixtures, considering the fact that the Gunners have previously lost twice against the Magpies on the last day of the season. But after some resolute defending by their defenders against a surprisingly inspired Newcastle attack, Laurent Kosceinly’s lone goal rescued a vital win for Arsene Wenger.

Wenger’s selection of Mikel Arteta was a surprise as the Spaniard was declared definitely unfit a few days ago. The rest of the team also remained the same from the Wigan game, with Lukas Podolski still preferred over Olivier Giroud, despite the French striker finishing his 3 games of suspension.

Pardew’s Newcastle had finally registered a win against QPR last week, and the team remained unchanged. Pardew set up with two strikers in Papiss Cisse and Yoan Gouffran supported by a four-man midfield of Hatem Ben Arfa, Yohan Cabaye, Cheick Tiote and Jonas Gutierrez. The back four was filled by Mathieu Debuchy and Mapou Yanga-M’Biwa on the flanks with Fabricio Coloccini and Steven Taylor in the centre. Reserve keeper Steve Harper was playing his last game for the club.

Even though Arsenal were the in- form team previously, it was Newcastle’s double strike force that affected the game substantially. Newcastle put three men to defend the right-flank against Theo Walcott, and this effectively plugged most of Wenger’s tactics.

Wenger is known to field a familiar team just to maintain the rhythm. This always seems to be a good choice on paper, but has often led to injury issues and unrest on the bench due to lack of rotation. In spite of this policy, the Frenchman’s selection of Arteta came as a huge surprise. Arteta’s on-field leadership has been invaluable for the Gunners over the past 15 games and the Spaniard’s early season troubles against larger strikers seemed to have been sorted out. Also Jack Wilshere’s lack of fitness might have affected Wenger’s call. But Arteta early exit within 15 minutes left Wenger out of a 3^rd substitute.

Pardew’s 4-4-2 causes problems, Koscienly’s brave show

Even with Arteta on, Arsenal’s start to the game was in 2^nd gear. Rarely has any opposition manager chosen to field a midfield duo with two strikers against Arsenal, but Pardew’s choice to take the game to the Gunners’ really gave the Toons a new voice. Gouffran had initially come into the team as a wide left forward, but has been seen as a central striker in the past 2 months. So here he was teamed up with Cisse upfront, with Ben Arfa on the left as another key attacker.

Newcastle’s tactic was simple enough; put six men at the edge of the box when defending and then play a long ball towards the front 2. The strikers took high-up positions on such occasions and Gouffran was able to hold off Per Mertesacker expertly on many occasions. The French striker was repeatedly allowed to turn by the big German defender and it was Cisse’s runs during such occasions that mattered most. It was here where Laurent Koscielny proved his worth by putting in a man of the match performance at the back. Even within the first 20 minutes Cisse was allowed to drift in one-on-one with Koscielny, and if not for the Frenchman’s accurate tackling Newcastle would definitely have scored the goal that would have brought wild celebrations in London.

While this was the two pronged attack when Newcastle were on the ball, the Newcastle attacking duo fell back effectively while off the ball too. It was mostly Gouffran who came in next to Arsenal’s deepest midfielder Arteta initially and this unsettled the Gunners’ attacks. Here Cisse used to take a much more central role next to Koscielny, and this is where the main difference from the early season Newcastle lay; with Demba Ba and Cisse, it used to be the case of 1 striker through the centre while the other sticking to the fullback higher up the pitch.

(R) Laurent Koscielny celebrates scoring the Arsenal goal with (L-R) Santi Cazorla and Per Mertesacker during the Barclays Premier League match between Newcastle United and Arsenal at St James’ Park on May 19, 2013 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. (Getty Images)

Walcott’s runs plugged, Ramsey free but indecisive

Arsenal had scored early first half goals in all 3 of their encounters till now, with Walcott as a major source of attack. But here Pardew had sent Gutierrez, specific instructions to thwart the English winger. Gutierrez spent most of the time in defence and the Argentine along with Cabaye and M’Biwa immediately converged into Walcott whenever the ball was at his feet. To Theo’s credit he was always able to wriggle through the first 2 of these 3 but was unable to get free and put in the cross. Even his rare attempts of crossing were negated due to Arsenal age old problem; no presence in the box.

Though Podolski was played upfront, the German was rarely allowed any sort of room around the box due to Newcastle’s wall of six. Along with the defenders, Cabaye and Tiote also pushed back into defence whenever Arsenal’s midfield was advanced. Due to this Arsenal had to pass the ball back so as to find an opening from behind, and it is in such cases that Newcastle pressed well. Cabaye preferred to stay in front of the back four and press Tomas Rosicky while Tiote spiritedly pushed forward only to press Arteta. And with Santi Cazorla spending most of the game spotting Ben Arfa’s runs, Aaron Ramsey was the only free midfielder Arsenal had.

Ramsey has had an inspired second half of the season, and many would name him the sole reason for Arsenal’s late steadiness. But this was not to be one of the Welshman’s best nights. Even though he was allowed space and time on the ball on many occasions, Ramsey just like many other Arsenal midfielders sought to find Walcott as the only out wide. And due to Newcastle’s pressing on the English winger, rarely was Ramsey’s pass successful in that direction. The Welshman’s other route was to himself dribble out towards the wings in order to get Cazorla into some sort of space. But again Tiote and Cabaye’s excellent pressing thwarted these attempts.

Arsenal’s goal came early in the second half from a set-piece routine, and ironically it came about at a time when the Magpies looked more likely to score. Coloccini was playing Koscielny onside from Podolski’s flick back, and the Frenchman volleyed in brilliantly. Though Koscielny was the eventual match winner, his man of the match performance is a more of a reward for his defensive display. Coloccini was the one caught out in this case, and even throughout the game it was the Argentine who was often neglecting his positioning. When Newcastle were keeping the deep line, Coloccini was often the one to step out to cover Podolski lurking in front of this line. This allowed Walcott to go through on goal on a couple of occasions, and Theo ought to have scored one of these.

Chamberlain mature in deep role, Ben Arfa restricts Gibbs’ overlaps

Wenger’s substitution of bringing Alex Onlade-Chamberlain on for Arteta might have sounded weird with Wilshere and Coquelin on the bench, but the manager’s decision to play the young English winger as the deepest midfielder was totally out of the blue. So Chamberlain and Ramsey made a rare sight in midfield, but here again Chamberlain is going to earn huge acclaims for his performance. The youngster has always shown energy to attack when brought on, but now he was seen happy to distribute from deep and then stay back rather than attack. This tactic would be down to Wenger’s last ditch advice, as a deep Newcastle backline would have definitely restricted any direct running that Chamberlain would have inflicted if played forward.

Also Chamberlain in much more quicker than Arteta to get the ball off his feet, but again the Englishman lost out to the Spaniard in terms of experience. On more than one occasion Chamberlain rushed into a tackle where Arteta would have stood back or fouled and the youngsters’ presence in midfield encouraged Ben Arfa to cut-in much more.

Ben Arfa had made a much less spirited start to the game than expected, but his threat at this high-up position had caused Gibbs to restrict his attacks. Arsenal’s left flank was isolated most of the times when the midfielders were looking for a cross field there, and this was due to Gibbs’ marking of Ben Arfa. And rightly so the French-attacker came to life in the 2^nd half. Ben Arfa saw a much more of the ball in this half and started his trademark dazzling runs. He got the better of Ramsey many times and it was down to the combination of Chamberlain and Gibbs to cut the Frenchman down.

Arsenal players celebrate their victory after the final whistle in the match between Newcastle United and Arsenal at St James’ Park in Newcastle Upon Tyne. (Getty Images)

Conclusion

Substitutions by both managers were definitely tactical but they rarely created much change due to Arsenal’s dire need to defend deep rather than attack. Pardew’s introduction of Anita for Cabaye was a like for like change but Marveaux’s introduction for Gouffran shifted them to a 4-3-3 with Ben Arfa now central. Wenger was again late to bring on Giroud for the ineffective Podolski, and the French striker was able to affect the game only in defence and holding up the ball ahead.

Overall this was a very scrappy game after Arsenal’s goal, and up to that point Newcastle were creating the better chances to score. Pardew’s staff might not receive the 1 million pounds that Mike Ashley would have promised before the game, but the team will definitely be relived after the 7-1 shoreline in their previous meeting with Arsenal.

Arsenal under Wenger go into their 16^th consecutive Champions League, though this via a qualifier next season. Spurs’ lead in March looked unbeatable this time around, but crucial injuries to Gareth Bale and Moussa Dembele along with the a deep run in the Europa League has helped the Gooners celebrate St. Totteringham’s Day yet again.

Top of the match: Laurent Koscielny

Flop of the match: Lukas Podolski