Danny Higginbotham analyses Gunners' passing style
Saturday 22 September 2018 12:50, UK
Danny Higginbotham explains how Lucas Torreira's half-time introduction against Newcastle put Arsenal on the front foot - and why he could cause Everton problems.
With the match all square at the break at St James' Park last weekend, Unai Emery swapped Matteo Guendouzi for Torreira in central midfield and the Gunners went on to grab a comfortable 2-1 win.
The Uruguay international had an instant impact - and Sky Sports News tactics expert Higginbotham explained how Torreira's forward passing and support runs added more to Arsenal's attacking play than Guendouzi's more conservative use of the ball.
"When you look at the average positions for Guendouzi and Torreira, they're near enough identical. But it was the movement of the passes that was different. When Torreira came on he made a real difference in terms of how he went about it.
"Guendouzi, a lot of his passes were sidewards, backwards or him dropping deeper. But Torreira was picking the ball up in the same areas but look at how he was getting forward. That's what you need.
Torreira was picking the ball up in the same areas but look at how he was getting forward. That's what you need.
"When teams play against Arsenal, more often than not, they're going to sit and be deep and be compact. So to unsettle defences that are going to try to play like that is to try to create spaces in between the midfield and defence.
"There was no real threat for Newcastle in the first half. Torreira's first pass took the ball beyond Newcastle's midfield. Then when he's driving with the ball gaps start to appear. They started getting the ball into the centre forward's feet.
"It caused Newcastle a lot more problems, they weren't able to stay in their shape and that was a big difference for them."
