Tactical Notes (Arsenal v Ipswich)

SHAUN CALVERT explains how he looks at Ipswich’s structure and shape in his tactical notes, focusing on how McKenna’s side looked to compete with Arsenal earlier this week.

1- What do you see?

Sooooo…………….readers of this blog will have seen previous tactical notes about games over the last two seasons, focusing on the shape and structure of Ipswich’s team setup. This season I have looked at the Blues out-of-possession away at Brighton and the division of midfield responsibilities against Everton. In this note, I want to go back over how I see Ipswich playing, building from the basic formation every game and explain how I do my analysis, outlining what I see and what I’m looking for.

First of all, I want to break down the basic starting points and then the phases and sections that I make notes on, ending with some conclusions about the Arsenal game earlier this week.

2- The Basics

Football is really a simple game with two sides, you are either in possession of the ball (attacking) or out of possession of the ball (defending). Each team can decide how to set their 11 players up and Kieran McKenna chooses a 4-2-3-1. Within that certain players or positions ‘roll’ around, moving around depending on:

• How many opposition players have been committed to a certain area.

• What area(s) they are ‘allowing’ the opposition to have the ball.

• Decisions made about how aggressively they try and win ball back, relative to how often they look to ‘sit-off’, keep shape and block off passing lanes.

• Game state and score line, opposition pressure and game momentum, as well as the time left on clock

• ‘Chaotic’ moments such as turnovers and transitions, second phases of set-pieces, etc.

Each team will have an approach based on:

• Their coach’s preferred system.

• How the opposition are set up and prefer to play.

• Players available.

3 - Phases of Play

There are essentially 3 phases of play, dividing the pitch into 3 sections (thirds), making for 6 basic phases in total (3 in possession, 3 out of possession) –

• The 1st phase is build-up from the back for the attacking team, with a corresponding pressing phase for the opposition, who have to decide whether to go with a high line or go to mid-block and what their pressing triggers are (maybe when a pass goes to a certain player, maybe on a weaker foot or maybe when a pass goes backwards into a certain area). This can be split into a further 2 defined sections - goal kicks and when a team wins possession in their defensive third.

• The 2nd phase is possession in central areas. Are they looking to play through the lines or play in behind? For the opposition the main choices are whether to press or go to a low block and whether they look to force them wide, to keep central areas closed off.

• The final phase is in the area of attacking towards the goal and looking to get crosses in or create overloads or get in behind. For the opposition mainly the question is how many players to get behind ball, how many in each defensive line and what to do when they win the ball back.

Other Areas:

• Set plays (can include goal kicks, kick offs, throw-ins, etc, as well as corners and free-kicks).

• Transitions or turnovers.

4 - Match analysis - Having laid out that basic framework, here’s my analysis of the shapes and structures that we say in Arsenal v Ipswich, based on using the above-mentioned phases of play.

Summary:

Arsenal – Base formation of 4-3-3 – attacking width is held by the outside forwards (Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli), with attacking rotations and Declan Rice as the main sitter in midfield (joined in possession by both full backs at times), then Kai Havertz connecting with the forward line and Martin Odegaard, the main creative player, drifting around.

Ipswich 4-2-3-1 – Base Formation of 4-2-3-1 - attacking width is held by Leif Davis (left back) and Johnson (right wing), with 2 centre midfielders and 2 tens, then dropping into a low block in the defensive third, during the attacking final phase of Arsenal’s build-up.

5 - Ipswich - back 4 shown at kick-off

6 - Arsenal – 1st phase of build-up possession 

Arsenal mainly played short, trying to build through the lines, with Rice being the main ‘connector’ between the first two lines.

• Arsenal built up mainly in a 2-3-2-3 with both full backs moving into midfield with Rice (sometimes this was a 3-3-2-3 with the GK joining in).

• Ipswich set up out of possession in a 4-4-2 (a “mid-block”) with one of the tens (Omari Hutchinson) joining Liam Delap but generally allowing Arsenal to have the ball in their back line and not aggressively pressing (similar to their approach and shape at Tottenham).

• Arsenal have a 3v2 in their back line and Ipswich have a 4v3 in their back line

7 – Arsenal – 1st phase into 2nd phase 

In this example Arsenal build up possession and move around the Ipswich mid-block. After Hutchinson tries to press the Arsenal centre backs split, Rice moves forward and Odegaard drops in to link play.

8 – Arsenal – 1st phase of build-up possession in 2nd half – Arsenal with the same 2-3-2-3 (3-3-2-3 with the GK) but Ipswich now pressing more aggressively in a 4-2-3-1.

9 – Arsenal – 2nd phase of build-up possession – Arsenal 2-3-2-3 / Ipswich 4-4-2.

10 – Arsenal – 2nd phase of build-up possession – examples of rotations:

• 10’ - Havertz and Rice swapping over, meaning Kalvin Phillips follows Havertz and Rice takes the space.

• 13’ – Gabriel Jesus now moves to the left ten or “half space”, with Havertz heading to the middle.

• 35’ – Odegaard in the top line.

• 68’ – Odegaard out to right midfield, Jurrien Timber to right wing and Martinelli comes inside.

11 – Arsenal – Final phase of build-up possession – Arsenal go to 2-3-5 and Ipswich to 5-4-1 to match up 5v5 in the back line and sit in a ‘low block’.

12 – Ipswich – 1st phase build-up possession – in the first half, Aro Muric mostly went long from when the ball was played back to him and from goal kicks or with ball in hand.

One thing to highlight is that from most of the goal kicks, Dara O’Shea went to right wing and Ben Johnson back to right back, to try & have an aerial out ball and height advantage over Miles Lewis-Skelly.

13 – Ipswich – 1st phase build-up possession – when Ipswich did try to play from the back, Arsenal pressed aggressively, man for man, in a 6v6.

14 - Ipswich – 1st phase build-up possession – Now, some examples of Ipswich successfully building out from the back:

• 32’ – Muric plays the ball into Cajuste and then receives it back, with Ipswich in a 3-4-3 and an Arsenal high press to make a 6v6. The ball goes out through Hutchinson, from a Luke Woolfenden pass, with Johnson high wide right (as Wes Burns would be in other games).

• 87’ – Ipswich goal kick, with the centre backs split and right and left backs wide (2-4-2-2) and Arsenal in a 4-4-2.

15 - Ipswich – 2nd phase build-up possession – Ipswich move into a 2-3-2-3 with the right winger (Johnson) high and wide to the right. Arsenal in their 4-4-2, Woolfenden then steps into midfield and Phillips steps into the back line.

16 - Ipswich – final phase build-up possession – very few examples of these but we can see what Ipswich were looking to do in these phases:

• 1’ – Davis provides the width on the left, making an attacking 6 with 2 centre midfielders and the 3 behind Delap.

• 70’ – The right back (O’Shea) goes beyond the right winger (Johnson) with Arsenal set up in a 4-4-2.

17 - Set Plays – as per usual, both sides loaded the back post on corners when attacking and the defending team went with a mixture of zonal and man-marking.

One point of note is that Delap was used as a marker, rather than his usual zonal role, with Phillips taking on a zonal role.

18 – Conclusions

• In my view it was the usual base formation of 4-2-3-1 for Ipswich but because so much of the play, especially in the 1st half (with 86% possession for Arsenal and Arsenal dominance in territory and field tilt), was for Arsenal and the Gunners committed so many players to the attacking top line Ipswich had a 5 in their back line during those phases. This was to match them up, reduce wide overloads and keep short distances to try and prevent balls ‘slid’ down the side of the centre backs. This is something that we have seen on numerous occasions this season and last season too, but it tends not to be so noticeable when an attacking player like Wes Burns is playing right winger.

• This appeared to be as a result in a change of approach / tactics / game plan, rather than formation, with similarities to the games at Man City, Brighton and Tottenham. This is as opposed to the aggressive man for man high press that we adopt in some games (with Newcastle being the most recent). Personnel were chosen to better suit a containing shape and the requirement to drop into a mid then low block (e.g. Johnson at right wing and Sam Szmodics as the left ten).

• As is the case in most games, the 1st half was a more ‘structured’ affair with the game then becoming more ‘chaotic’ in the second half with the disruption of the substitutions whilst Ipswich tried to push for an equaliser and Arsenal became more ‘protective’ of their lead, with Ipswich pressing slightly more and retaining possession with greater efficiency.

19 - That’s all folks, apologies for the length (not a phrase that I get to say often). If you don’t agree with all of the above then I would maybe recommend watching the game back, considering the phases and points above, or just enjoying the excellent performance from Ipswich. Happy New Year!