Execution is the vital part of any plan in football.
Tactics and ideas don’t play out on their own. They are tailored to the profiles of the players available and require a high level of execution to pay off in the Premier League.
In Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat against Bournemouth on Saturday, their disastrous technical execution prevented them from playing through the opponent’s press, even if they had the right ideas at times.
On the other hand, Andoni Iraola’s side — one of the best high-pressure teams in the Premier League — carried out their usual plan and smothered Arsenal’s build-up.
Bournemouth’s hybrid press centred around forcing their opponents to build through Gabriel, who is less proficient on the ball compared to his centre-back partner William Saliba.
Meanwhile, Bournemouth’s left winger Marcus Tavernier acted as a bouncer on the doorway to Arsenal’s midfield to ensure goalkeeper David Raya didn’t have easy access to these positions. And, in case Arsenal managed to work the ball towards the right side of their defence, Tavernier could sprint back to cover Ben White.
Mikel Arteta’s side did, however, manage to play through the press on multiple occasions. But when they did so, their next action failed them.
In this example, the ball is on the other side, with Eli Junior Kroupi pressing Raya while blocking the passing lane into Gabriel. Behind him, Alex Scott and Ryan Christie are pressing Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi, with the Scotland midfielder signalling to Marcos Senesi to pick up Kai Havertz.
On this occasion, Havertz perfectly times his movement towards the space behind Scott, which means Bournemouth’s centre-backs can’t switch their markers in time and the German receives Raya’s pass in acres of space.
The problem for Arsenal is what happens after that. In a four-vs-four situation, Havertz’s attempted pass to Gabriel Martinelli is sloppy.
Another way Arsenal tried to break the press was to use White in a narrow position as Bournemouth were moving forward.
Here, Scott and Christie are tracking Rice and Zubimendi in midfield, with their team-mates in their pressing positions as Evanilson slowly moves towards Raya.
Havertz’s movement towards the ball occupies Tavernier, and White attacks the vacant space as Raya plays the ball to Rice. The timing of White’s movement is essential because if he moves early, Senesi can push up and mark him, and if he is late, Scott can aggressively press Rice.
Arsenal time the move well, but Rice’s pass is overhit and White is unable to control it.
In another example, White moves inside as Rice is returning the ball to Raya and Bournemouth are jumping forward to execute their pressing roles.
Again, the timing of White’s movement is good because it puts Senesi in a momentary one-versus-two situation and prevents the centre-back from committing to Havertz. Senesi chooses the safer option and holds his position, which enables White to head the ball down towards the free Havertz.
However, Havertz fails to control the ball properly. It bounces up and hits his hand, giving Bournemouth a cheap free kick.
“A lot of opportunities when we break their press, regain the ball to run and to have open spaces, (but) we were far from efficient,” Arteta told TNT Sports after the match.
“In the second half, you expect a different game, but we did a lot of strange things today. You have to give credit to the opposition as well for what they do: the way they capitalise on our actions and errors.
“We were far from the level today.”
As the match went on and the pressure increased, Arsenal’s technical shortcomings were apparent in more dangerous areas.
Here, Christie is marking Zubimendi while Scott smartly positions himself between Havertz and Rice to be able to cover both options.
As Evanilson moves towards Raya, the latter entices the press and dummies a pass with his right foot to Havertz, which takes Christie a couple of yards away from Zubimendi.
Raya then quickly plays the ball to the free Zubimendi with his left foot, but his pass is overhit.
The constant loss of possession affected Arsenal’s confidence on the ball, and weird decisions were being made.
In this situation, Evanilson is pressing Saliba and trying to force Arsenal towards their left side, with Scott and Christie marking Rice and Zubimendi, and Rayan in a narrow position to support the midfield if needed.
Raya tries to stretch the press by playing the ball to Rice, and Zubimendi moves forward to attack the space behind Bournemouth’s double pivot.
Zubimendi’s movement causes a brief confusion between Scott and Christie, leaving Rice free for a second. However, Raya goes long instead of playing the ball to Rice.
It was fitting that Bournemouth’s winner came from a high-press situation, where Arsenal failed to build their attack.
In the lead-up to Scott’s goal, Evanilson arcs his run to press Raya while blocking the passing lane into Saliba. Behind him, Scott is tracking Zubimendi, Tyler Adams and Kroupi are sandwiching Rice, with the latter ready to jump towards Gabriel.
Rice’s movement towards his goal briefly delays Kroupi’s press, which gives Gabriel more time on the ball. But the Arsenal centre-back is slow to find a passing option, and Bournemouth retrieve possession.
“Today, there were basic things that we did extremely badly against a team that, when you do that, they are going to capitalise,” Arteta told reporters after the match.
“It’s a lot of good things that they (Bournemouth) have done, and credit to them, but there’s a lot on our plate to look at ourselves.”
Against Bournemouth’s press, Arsenal’s catastrophic execution meant that any idea they had failed over and over again.
