Attacking II (Re-Print)

Arsenal Use Width To Attack Middle
How To Get Behind The Backs 
While Keeping The Ball On The Ground

FROM 2011-12 Season...the old 192 Square Feet archives:

More excellent running by a winger/wide player to expose the center of the defense.  Theo Wolcott (who subsequently missed the 1v1 with the GK...he makes fans and critics absolutely nuts, but in this instance did very well to get in) breaks in from the right of the Arsenal attack, and uses great timing and angling of his run to get in on the GK.  Man U showed us something similar a week or two ago, and I captured that play featuring Danny Welbeck (in the second set of photos) here.



Picture #1:  Arsenal attacking the goal to the left, with a central player receiving the ball on the edge of the center circle as Arsenal break out of their own half.  Wolcott begins to ease in from the touchline, running at the center back to ensure he is onside- were he to run behind the center back, the wing back marking him might just step upfield and put Wolcott in an offside position...

...while the center mids combine (rather than turning into two defenders) allowing the second CM (just receiving ball here) to play where he is facing (Wolcott) and take advantage of the position of the central defenders (pushed up to back up the defending CMs)...

...and while the defenders read the pass forward, the speed of the ball and the pace of Wolcott make it nigh impossible to keep up...

...and though Wolcott is clearly onside, three of the six defenders involved stop and raise their arms.  Granted, probably none of them could have caught Wolcott anyway, but it's hardly a thorough, 

professional job of defending.  The flag is clearly down (top of picture).

In the final analysis, Wolcott made a perfect run, and timed it very well to the movements of the central players, who both did a good job of reading the defense as well as Wolcott's movements.  This is, without a doubt, a credit to the training ground work of Arsenal, and it is easy to see this particular instance as a scenario Arsenal will undoubtedly practice repeatedly.