An exploration of Arsenal's high line
What went wrong against United when defending the counter, and how Arteta might fix it
TL;DR: The following is an effort to answer a simple question:
"We gave up multiple goals on the counter against United while running a high line. What gives?"
First, Some Table Stakes
I'll begin with a few alerts:
⚠ This post includes no made-up, bullshity new stats. Sorry, everybody.
⚠ This post is not a definitive overview of the modern high line. That honor goes to Stuart James and John Muller, who penned an excellent overview over at The Athletic: "A game of risk and reward: The art of playing a high line." If you're looking for a deep-dive, that's where to start.
Instead, I'll try to weave together their insights with an Arsenal-focused look at our last match, and what it portends for the future.
As always, I'll be at the absolute limits of my understanding. Join me.
How High Was Arsenal's Line Last Year?
Let's start with a look at how high the line actually has been. Last year, Arsenal ranked about sixth in the Premier League in overall line height (a deceptively hard thing to measure).
You'll notice how the top teams are the top teams:
With that said, this measure (the average height of a team's centre-back's touches) doesn't tell the whole story of a high press.
For that, let's dig a little deeper.
How Has Arsenal’s Pressure Changed This Year?
To see how we stack up this year, let's look at another stat.
We'll use something called PPDA (Passes Allowed Per Defensive Action): introduced by Colin Trainor in 2014, it's a metric to quantify high press intensity in the final 60% of the field. The basic way to look at is "how many passes do you allow your opponent to have on their 60% of the field without committing a defensive action." The lower the number, the higher the intensity. The higher the number, the more "hands off" (legs off?) your team is.
I pulled the numbers from the last full season, and the first six games of this one:
Two things to point out there:
We've jumped from 9th to 4th when it comes to high-press intensity
We're currently high-pressing at a similar intensity to Liverpool over the course of last year
Why Do Teams Press So High?
The simple answer: it makes the pitch smaller, more advantageous for the presser, and gives the opponent little time, forcing them into rushed (i.e. bad) decisions. Opponents generally think they can beat it by pinging rushed balls over the back-line, but this is welcomed by the pressing team because it often results in them regaining possession. (More history and info here from Tifo).
The truer answer: fundamentally, it's about team identity.
In the aforementioned Athletic piece, there are some good quotes about that very question from an anonymous coach who has worked across Europe:
“I don’t think anyone decides, ‘I’m going to play with a high line’, and then figures out how he’s going to play with the ball afterwards,” the coach adds. “It’s always about, ‘What sort of team do we want to be with the ball? And what does that mean for how we defend?’
“Name a team that wants to dominate possession but defends on the edge of its own box? They don’t go hand in hand. So if you want the ball, you need to starve the other team of the ball, so you starve the other team of space that allows them to get control of a game. You can’t get rid of the grass behind you; that’s always going to be there. So if that’s what you choose to give them, you do."
Now layer in the signings/additions of late: namely Ramsdale, Jesus, Zinchenko, Saliba, White, and others — all of them press-resistant possession monsters, pressing players themselves, or some combination thereof.
It's ultimately not about the high line itself: it's about forging an identity of control and comfortable possession.
What Went Wrong Against United?
The third goal is most obvious. But let's look at the second goal, when Arsenal lost possession pretty high up the pitch and United immediately made us pay.
First, Eriksen receives the ball and one-touch advances it to Bruno...
...Bruno then gets one touch and uses the outside of his foot to boot a weighted throughball to Rashford...
...and Rashford is in for the score, beating Ramsdale 1v1.
Now, using an example that The Athletic cited, look at how a prime VVD (i.e. not this year's VVD) might defend a similar play.
Havertz is open (more open than Rashford) to make a cut on the flank...
...VVD then cuts back when he anticipates a pass...
...and makes his body as small as possible. Havertz is ruled offside.
So, considering that and going back to the Rashford goal, what went wrong on the play that put Arsenal down for good?
As is usually the case, many things:
Arsenal lost possession: this was a run-of-the-mill possession loss that happens dozens of times throughout a game. Sambi (accurate passer — who, yes, is dispossessed less than Partey) passed to Jesus (good receiver) and their timing/angles were a little off. United got the ball and immediately turned it.
Counterpressing didn't work: Zinny and Odegaard tried to get the ball back immediately but couldn't get the job done.
Two world-class passes were required (and made): Eriksen and Bruno are fucking good at this. This can not be discounted.
Benny and Saliba didn't play Rashford offside -- they ran with him: What VVD (and City) do is against all bodily impulses. To play this way, you have to learn to do it, and fully commit.
Benny can't keep up with Rashford to kill the chance: Benny is not slow, but speed matters in 1v1 chases.
Ramsdale doesn't stop the 1v1 chance: Nothing complicated there.
A similar set of issues plagued the third goal, even more clearly -- because it was played at an even higher line. Ridiculously high, in fact:
But the high line itself is not the problem: there's a reason why they're employed by the world's best teams, and believe it or not, higher lines don't actually allow more counterattacks, even though it can sure feel that way.
The difference is in a few details.
What Arsenal Needs to Do To Keep a Good High Press
To wrap things up, let's look at some of the factors that characterize a good high press — and what Arsenal can focus on in the matches to come.
I'll list off eight, because that's what I can think of for now.
As far as the current iteration of Arsenal is concerned, they are accompanied by a personal, subjective rating of good (🔺), work in progress (🚧), or problem (🔻):
🔺Keep Possession: If it sounds obvious, that's because it is: a team can't counter on you if you still have the ball. Arsenal are still doing well here: they're fourth in the league with 57% possession. They're also top-5 in the league in total passes and pass accuracy.
🚧 Immediate, Effective Counter-pressing: As Klopp says when their line is exposed, “It’s not about the last line, it’s about what you do in front of that.” Counterattacks originate elsewhere on the pitch, and usually involve a loss of possession, followed by ineffective (or non-existent) counterpressing. Right now, led by a tireless frontline, Arsenal has a lot of pressing talent and work rate, but the team also settles down a lot, and is just 9th in the league when it comes to challenge intensity. It can get turned up.
🚧 Bold, Smart CB's Willing to Risk It and Hold the Line: There's a reason why there are so few prime Diases and van Dijks out there. Not only does it require speed, judgment, and technical skill -- it must be combined with an almost inhuman ability to override basic impulses, make snap decisions, and play people offside. To date, Arsenal is mid-table at drawing offsides. A little more training and commitment may be required, as well as coordination: in the third goal, you can see Benny trying to feel out what Saliba is going to do (run or offside trap) instead of knowing for certain. First step is to improve there. Then, in the times when they aren't successful, the back four need...
🚧 Speed and Work Rate: A quote from Klopp's assistant: "If you play with a high line, if you play with a lot of space at your back, if you want to keep the opposition far away from your own goal, you need speed in your last line. And we have four players with real speed." The current iteration of Liverpool seems to have lost both speed (a certain CB) and work-rate (a certain RB) to catastrophic effect. Right now, Arsenal has two CB's with solid speed for their position (though I haven't truly tried to benchmark this). Our current starting fullbacks have good work rates, but raw speed-wise, they aren't exactly prime Walker and Cancelo. Against effective countering teams, Arteta may consider deploying Tierney and/or Tomi to help break things up, though subbing off Zinchenko comes at a big price (possession).
🚧 Tactical Fouls: Let's quote Rodri next: "We have lots of offensive players and many other teams try to counterattack you and a lot of the time you're alone but it's good for me ... I am learning new things, how to go, when to stay, when I have to do a tactical foul, when I have to jump. It's good for me to learn these things." When the backline is thin, one must keep every option in one's pocket. Saliba's been pretty good on this.
🔺Active Sweeper Keeper: For this humble redditor, this is the least of my concerns with Ramsdale. I've always been impressed by his judgment when he comes out of the box. Alison has been one of the best in the world at this, and in doing so, has led a team that defends some of the highest level of longballs with the lowest success rate (because he helps break them up). I think Ramsdale has that potential. The stats bare this out: he's 89th percentile when it comes to average distance from goal of his defensive actions, and 79th percentile at defensive actions outside of his box.
🔻1v1 Keeper: When all else fails, you want a keeper who stops these chances. Ramsdale is currently 18th out of 21 keepers in prevented goals per 90. We may have some work to do here.
🔺Stubborn Manager: Teams who employ this high of a line can occasionally give up some embarrassing goals. The most successful managers are willing to risk the bad press that may come with that. We good here.
OK, that's it for now.
Keep your lines high everybody.
And happy grilling.
🔥