Jamie Carragher and Mikel Arteta were in discussion about the Spaniard’s style of play at Arsenal, including how he sets up against certain teams, no more than their north London rivals, Tottenham Hotspur.
Arsenal beat Antonio Conte’s men at the Emirates prior to the World Cup break, with Thomas Partey opening the scoring with a thunderous first-time finish from outside of the box.
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher spoke to Arteta, and asked him, about how Tottenham have ‘so many bodies’ inside the box when they are defending and if he has to adapt, as a result.
The Arsenal boss spoke about how there is ‘always space’ on the pitch, but made it clear that the window of opportunity to strike that killer blow is ‘very small’.
And Partey showcased that against Spurs because, if he took a first touch, rather than shooting against Tottenham, then he would have been suffocated off the ball and that ball wouldn’t have hit the back of the net.
Nonetheless, this is what Carragher and Arteta had to say about Tottenham’s defensive tactics, as they told MNF Special on Sky Sports.
“This is one of the goals you got against Tottenham (Partey goal),” said Carragher. “I think it’s the first goal. I think it’s one of the ways you have to score a goal against Tottenham because they get so many bodies (in the area).
“I just wanted to ask you before when you said about having different plans for slightly different teams. I always feel like this is almost a tactic that teams have to think about in games leading up to Tottenham because they have so many bodies in the box (highlights this just before Partey’s goal). Is that something you spoke about before the game and getting shots off from outside the box?”
Arteta responded: “Every manager, we do that. We try to analyse as well how they defend the box, with the spaces. Their behaviours in relation to the players that they have inside. But the pitch is so big. There are always spaces. You just have to attract the right players and use the right ones.
“But that window is very small in the Premier League. When the window opens, in half a second, the window closes. So, you need to execute and put the ball through that window very quickly. We managed to do that now better and better and faster.”
CAN TOTTENHAM SPOIL ARSENAL’S PARTY?
It was going very well for Arsenal, before the World Cup halted their momentum and now they will have to find that back again.
Towards the second half of last season, when Conte became comfortable in his seat at Hotspur Way, they leapfrogged their rivals in securing fourth spot.
Whilst that was a brilliant effort, they will have to pull off something special to produce that now because this Arsenal team is going places.
Their reverse fixture – at Tottenham – isn’t far away because the duo will meet on January 15.
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