The Dossier: What lessons must Arsenal learn ahead of Borussia Dortmund rematch?
The Gunners have been stung on the counterattack all
too frequently this term and must find a greater balance between attack
and defence if they are to resist the fast-breaking BVB
By Ewan Roberts
It never rains, but it pours. With just a solitary win against Burnley to show for their efforts in November so far, now Arsenal are tasked with overcoming a Borussia Dortmund side who have been electric in Europe – despite their struggles domestically – and who visit the Emirates Stadium needing just a single point to book their passage to the next round as group winners.
Arsenal could hardly have picked a worse opponent to face off the back of Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Manchester United, both in terms of the quality of the visiting side and the philosophy extolled by BVB boss Jurgen Klopp.
Even without the injured Marco Reus, who was also absent when the Gunners were dismantled earlier this season, Dortmund’s style is the very antithesis of Arsenal’s, their Achilles heel: pace and penetration over plodding possession, efficiency over superfluousness. The streaming blur of yellow and black shirts that awaits the north Londoners will test them to breaking point.
It will also reveal much about the stubbornness of Arsene Wenger and whether his players are really “naïve”, as he so often labels them, or merely following instructions. So soon after watching United slice through his back-line with ease on the break, now the Frenchman must try to tame a Dortmund outfit who are relentless on the counterattack.
In fact, last season’s Bundesliga runners-up have already scored four counterattack goals in the Champions League this season – the most in the competition, with the other 31 sides having managed just seven between them.
The Gunners got a taste of that breathless speed and dynamism when they visited Signal Iduna Park in September. Both Ciro Immobile and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang proved too elusive for a punch-drunk Arsenal defence and the only eyebrow-raising aspect of the match was that Dortmund only scored twice – much in the same way that United’s second goal on Saturday felt inevitable, the only surprise being that it took so long to happen.
More pragmatic managers would treat this Dortmund side with the caution they deserve. In the Bundesliga, opponents have sat deep, limited space on the break and soaked up pressure, doing to Klopp what he usually inflicts on others. Dominating the ball is not a state in which Dortmund ever look entirely comfortable, and they have slumped to 16th place with seven defeats in 12 games.
Domestically they have the second-most possession behind Bayern Munich, but in the Champions League – where they face title winners and challengers accustomed to dictating play – they have experienced a 5.1 per cent drop off and are ranked just 15th. Arsenal, meanwhile, are fourth, behind only Bayern, Barcelona and Juventus.
Dortmund’s weakness is fairly obvious. Give them the ball, given them territory and then break against a back-line that often looks cumbersome and immobile on the turn – beat BVB at their own game, essentially.
But such a gameplan is entirely at odds with Wenger’s deeply ingrained philosophy, a possession-based ideology from which he rarely deviates – regardless of the strengths of the opponent he is facing – but which could leave his side horribly exposed, just as they were on their earlier visit to the Westfalenstadion (Dortmund needed just 21 final-third passes per shot on target that night, compared to 120 for the Gunners).
That was much the same case against Louis van Gaal’s United, whose injury-hit, weakened back-line overcame a nervy opening to contain Arsenal with relative ease before the home side unlocked the back door and invited the Red Devils to get another, game-killing goal – it would have been even more comfortable but for Angel Di Maria’s wayward dink. Still, at least the Gunners had “80% possession” according to Wenger (it was actually only 61%) – that’s what really matters, right?
Team Ranking — Champions League
 | FC Porto | |
 | Chelsea | |
 | Shakhtar Donetsk | |
 | Borussia Dortmund |
“I don’t know why we had nobody at the back at all,” moaned the Frenchman afterwards. “You can see two versus one in your own half that you will be punished against these players.” It seems to have escaped Wenger that he was entirely responsible for Arsenal’s gung-ho attitude. He is the manager after all.
It was his decision to leave Mikel Arteta and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as the side’s ‘holding’ midfielders, though that would be a generous description of the duo. It was his decision to allow Kieran Gibbs to essentially play as a left winger. It was his decision not to sign a defensive midfielder or centre-back in the summer, leaving the out-of-position Nacho Monreal as the last line of defence.
The shambolic openness of Arsenal’s play that day was not a one-off either. Against Anderlecht, despite leading, they continued to flood bodies forward and ultimately blew a three-goal lead. “They’re tactically clueless,” cried Paul Merson on Sky Sports. Days later they repeated that trick at Swansea, with Madou Barrow granted the freedom of Wales to drive forward and win the free-kick from which Gylfi Sigurdsson equalised.
If attack can sometimes be the best form of defence, then perhaps the opposite is also true. Wenger’s philosophy dictates that every member of his side must be able to contribute offensively – “we have fewer specialists…we are more versatile going forward because everyone has the potential to go forward,” he says – but there’s an almost total disregard for balance, an obliviousness to the defensive yin to attacking freedom’s yang.
Wenger need only look at league leaders Chelsea to see the benefit of a specialist defensive midfielder, with the Blues having become more attacking, not less, following the introduction of safety net Nemanja Matic. Without such a player perhaps Arsenal can’t play any other way than they currently do, but that will spell disaster against Dortmund.
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