Arsenal versus Wigan Preview
Wigan’s tremendous victory at Wembley in a contest that was marked out as the most gleaming case of a David-Goliath game has only made more critics point out the Latics as another one of those teams other than Arsenal, which have won a trophy in the past 8 years.
As Gary Neville’s article in the Guardian noted Moyes’s appointment at United as the silver lining for all second tier managers, the resource management and tactical adjustments made by Roberto Martinez on Saturday only amplify the Englishman’s point.
Though Wigan have beaten a team which has been built on over ten times the resources, and though Wigan have now qualified for the Europa League next year; the Latics are still desperately in need of two huge performances to hold on to this elite status, and more importantly to hold on to their new English gem they displayed at Wembley.
This matchup between Arsenal and Wigan would not have been so tense and talked about if it had been mixed with all the weekend clashes; but now both of these teams have suffered substantially due to their rivals’ results. Arsenal’s ship looked steadied after Spurs dropped point against Chelsea at the Bridge, but Adebayor’s late winner at Stoke means that Arsenal now play under the pressure of getting all 3 points from this game.
Wigan on the other hand were already under loads of pressure in this relegation race, and some very optimistic number crunching was the only hope for Martinez’s men. While Wigan were on 35, none of the other three teams on 38: Newcastle, Norwich and Sunderland dropped points in the weekend. In fac,t Norwich and Newcastle’s victories now see them both usher into safety at 41 points, which now shows Sunderland at 39 as Wigan’s only hope. For the Latics to scrap through they need all six points from the final two games, as even a draw in either would be insufficient, unless Wigan aim to score 10 goals in order to counter Sunderland’s goal deficit of 12 over their own goal deficit of 23.
The FA cup win for Wigan must be slightly overshadowing the fact that Wenger’s team has not lost a game in their last 12, and pleasantly at this point of the season are showing very few injury concerns. The entire team that started against QPR is fit but Giroud is still suspended. Kieran Gibbs might get a chance over Monreal, as Wenger has been rotating the duo well.
Enlisting Wigan’s injuries and explaining Martinez’s predicament has been proved utterly futile over the weekend, as the Spaniard has been able to manage his squad well even with almost half of it depleted. Caldwell was rested at Wembley and can come in for Alcaraz at the back. Franco Di Santo scored two goals at the Emirates last season as Wigan had recorded a rare win here. The Argentinean could come into the picture; and Shaun Maloney looks to be the only player available for sacrifice, after some highly encouraging performance by McManaman and Kone on Saturday.
Expected line-ups:
Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertersacker, Koscienly, Gibbs, Arteta, Ramsey, Rosisky, Walcott, Podolski, Cazorla
Wigan: Joel, Boyce, Scharner, Caldwell, Espinoza, McCarthur, McCarthy, Watson, Kone, Di Santo, McManaman
Roberto’s choice of shape at the back, the Theo Walcott factor
Wigan will be the only team in the league to have played a 3 man defence consistently, rather than shifting to it under pressure like Manchester City, Aston Villa or Liverpool. Saying this, injuries concerns in recent weeks have forced Martinez to shift to a 4 man defence due to absence of three fully fit centre backs.
Martinez’s tactic of shifting to a three-man defence on Saturday while Mancini expected a four-man shape, exemplifies the versatility of his midfielders. On this occasion it was James McCarthur who was shifted to Right wing back due to Stam’s injury. This meant that Wigan were compromised to a two-man central midfield shape with an attacking option of Gomez alongside McCarthy. Though City’s midfield trio could have dominated this situation, an off day for Yaya and some intelligent positioning by the Wigan forwards rescued the day.
Again against Arsenal Martinez has to make a similar call whether to sacrifice the advantage in the midfield battle by rather adding an edge on the wings and steel at the back. But a point that needs serious consideration is that unlike Man City Arsenal does not play a front two, rather in the absence of Giroud, Wenger has played with almost no strikers. This has led to four midfielders including a deep Podolski, to run at the opposition defence and hence leaving a wide option of Theo Walcott to pick out.
Theo Walcott will be an important factor in this game, just like James Milner was when he came on at Wembley. In both of Arsenal’s last two games, Walcott has scored within the first 2 minutes by getting in behind the left-back.
But, as Michael Cox expertly explains, the only way to beat a three man wall at the back is by stretching it with a wide forward; the exact definition of the role Theo Walcott plays these days. So in case Walcott is able to pull Scharner out wide, any one of the four onrushing Arsenal midfielders would find only 1 central defender to beat in front of goal.
Di Santo over Maloney would sacrifice midfield, but overload Koscienly
While Wigan’s defence could be analyzed and yet the efforts could be proven futile, Arsenal defence on the other hand has been quite stable over the past 2 months. With still no place for Captain Vermaelen in the team, Mertersacker will have the responsibility of tracking Kone’s impressive movement. The Ivorian striker showed another dimension of his game on Saturday, by attacking the right back rather than running in the channels through the centre. If this tactic is re-used at the Emirates, Wenger will have to specifically instruct Sagna to stick to his position rather than attacking seamlessly, as his negligence to do so could pull Mertersacker on to the right side of defence.
The other battle in this part of the field is going to be decided by how much trust Martinez has on Di Santo’s scoring record. Being a must win game for him, the odds of the Argentinean striker starting the game will be high. So Di Santo will go into Maloney’s place, either as the second striker upfront or exchanging this position with Kone out-wide. Di Santo is known for his strong running from the wings and could prove a major worry for Koscienly.
While Maloney was providing a balance in midfield by occupying the No.10 role against City, Martinez would rather sacrifice this possession tactic for Di Santo getting a chance to run at Arteta on the counter.
McManaman vs. Gibbs could justify Clichy’s sale
Finally coming to the part of the field that decided the game for Wigan at Wembley, where Callum McManaman on the right completely outclassed one of the best left backs in the League, Gael Clichy. That performance could not have created a more ironical situation, as the young winger now faces the man who replaced Clichy at the Emirates, Kieran Gibbs. Gibbs has directly inherited Clichy attacking tendencies and quick feet, but the English fullback has added a good defensive bite to his game this season.
With Cazorla being placed responsible for any overlaps being attempted by either McCathur or Boyce at RWB, Gibbs vs. McManaman is going to be the sole battle on this flank. In the 2nd half against City, McManaman’s positioning was especially of utmost importance, as he preferred to remain high-up and receive the ball at his feet rather than showing Clichy the trace of the through balls. A similar tactic can be expected against Gibbs, which is definitely going to bring Koscienly into play just as it had brought in Nastasic.
Arsenal’s shape of 4-2-3-1 might look similar to City’s form against Wigan, but there are 2 areas of decisive differences in the Gunners’ setup. Theo Walcott will be able to provide the necessary width that Nasri was not able to, and Ramsey looks to be in much better form than the languishing Yaya Toure.
Wigan’s resurgence last season saw them go unbeaten in the last 8-10 games and push up to 15th, and if the Latics are looking for a repeat the same this time around, they have indeed left in very late. Even a Wigan win at the Emirates does not guarantee them a secured spot for next season, as a Sunderland away win at Spurs could topple all the permutations; Arsenal would certainly not mind that.