‘We can get at them’: Dean Smith shares interesting take on Arsenal’s style of play

Follow us on Google Discover

Dean Smith has raved about Arsenal’s style of play and claimed that they are a team who can ‘play both ways’, as he told his press conference ahead of today’s game.

But the Aston Villa boss also claimed that there is ‘a period in a game’ where he feels they ‘can get at them [Arsenal]’.

Arsenal go into this fixture on a high after beating Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford last week, whilst Villa have suffered back-to-back defeats after winning four on the bounce.

Smith shared an interesting take on Arteta’s style of play at Arsenal, but for the most part, he was pretty complimentary at what his opposite number is building at the Emirates.

“It’s a club that’s in a certain transition period,” said Smith. “They had a really good result against Manchester United last week and Molde.

“He [Arteta] has got a certain way that he wants to play and he wants his players to buy into that. They have had a couple of misses this season as well, so we know that there’s a period in a game that we can get at them, so we have to make sure we pick them periods well.

“I think they counter-pressed Manchester United really, really well. They won the ball back really quickly and high up the pitch. But they have scored five, six, seven goals from open play this season and probably more than other teams in terms of building up from the goalkeeper as well.

“They can play both ways. They can go and high press you and win the ball back high. But they are very comfortable at playing out from the back as well. We have to find a good balance of when to press them and how to attack them.”

Arsenal’s major problem has always been their defence, but slowly but surely, Arteta has made them hard to beat and they currently have the best defence in the league.

The next step is to be more attack-minded and push higher up the pitch. And as Thomas Partey showed at Old Trafford, he is certainly allowing them to be more aggressive and on the front foot.

But Arsenal’s main aim is to now add consistency to their game and push up the table because securing Champions League football is a priority this season.