Unai Emery has not improved Arsenal's defending but 'parking the bus' is impractical at a big club

Unai Emery Arsenal
Unai Emery's work on the training pitch has not paid off with Arsenal's defending

Arsenal have never conceded more goals at this stage of a Premier League season, shipping 37 after 26 games of Unai Emery's debut campaign. Wolverhampton Wanderers, Leicester City, Crystal Palace and Watford have conceded fewer, while only Bournemouth and Fulham have conceded more away from home. Arsenal are the only team in the division without a single clean sheet on their travels. 

It is impossible to face these cold facts with any semblance of reason or objectivity and escape the conclusion that Unai Emery and his coaching has not improved Arsenal's defending.

There have been flickers of promise - the off-the-ball rigour displayed in strong home performances against Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea for example. Or the progress of Rob Holding and Hector Bellerin before they were struck down by season-ending knee injuries.

Taken as a whole however, the numbers make for gruesome reading. Given that Arsenal's defending under Arsene Wenger seemed a low bar to clear and Emery's reputation for giving teams structure and tactical support, the bloated goals against column is a surprising and disappointing aspect of his first season at the Emirates. 

Arsenal's endemic brittleness and lack of defensive security has been the low-hanging fruit picked by pundits and commentators for a decade or more, despite islands of respite when Arsenal seem to have things sussed for a few months.

The analysis divided into two parts that ran parallel with each other. 

The first was rather superficial but not altogether without merit: that Arsenal had sub-standard defenders and needed to purchase better. That they did not replace the commanding presences of Sol Campbell or Tony Adams, and lacked physical dominance and leadership to keep the back door shut. That Wenger was reluctant to buy an off-the-peg solution while rival teams strengthened (Shkodran Mustafi was his most expensive defensive signing by a mile at £35 million). That Arsenal were singularly cursed by a rogues' gallery of flaky and error-prone individuals.

The second school of thought disputed this, arguing that that defenders such as Bacary Sagna, Gael Clichy, William Gallas, Thomas Vermaelen, Laurent Koscielny, Per Mertesacker, Nacho Monreal or Bellerin were perfectly adequate cogs in a Champions League defence. Instead, it was Wenger's high-wire tactical approach that left them exposed and stressed, meaning the defence amounted to less than the sum of its parts. With the right prescriptive coaching and training-ground work, they could form a stronger unit that masked weaknesses rather than aggravated them. It was hoped Emery would provide this (more on that shortly). 

Both theories are imperfect although the second is more persuasive. While talent is decisive at the top end of the pitch, collective discipline, co-ordination and organisation separate the really exceptional defensive teams from the average. The best defensive sides do not necessarily possess the best defenders, while defenders also have a habit of looking better than their true level in defensive teams. Think Chris Samba. Think Michael Keane. Think Ashley Williams.

Tony Pulis' West Brom is an instructive case study. In the calendar year 2015, West Brom kept the most clean sheets in the Premier League with 17. Would anyone seriously argue they had the best collection of defenders? Were clubs bashing down the door to sign Craig Dawson and Gareth McAuley? Of course not. Fine defenders that they were, West Brom's defensive record was the result of the protection Pulis offered his centre-halves. Tall full-backs who stay in their slot, two or even three strong holding midfielders and a deep and narrow defensive line designed to minimise space in behind and encourage crosses that were duly gobbled up. Sam Allardyce and Sean Dyche have employed similar methods. 

They deserve full respect, but is not really possible or practical to transplant this approach into a 'Big Six' club, where upwards of 80 points is the aim rather than than 40. Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid are the counter-example, but might be the exception that proves the rule. 

That is not an aesthetic or moralistic statement about 'playing the right way', but the reality of the job at hand. Opponents sit back and taking the initiative in games is not a high-minded ideal but essential. Defenders must cope in isolation and difficult situations, whether passing out from the back and creating angles to receive the ball, or pushing up the pitch leaving lots of grass behind them. One sometimes used to hear that 'anyone could play at centre-back for Barcelona', a truly fatuous and asinine observation. 

To return to Arsenal and Emery, Gary Neville articulated this problem on Monday Night Football in August, two days after Arsenal's 3-2 defeat at Stamford Bridge. Arsenal's high line was caught out that day, but Neville was sympathetic saying: 

I saw Sam Allardyce's comments last week on the radio after the first game where he talked about 'you can't do this, you can't do this!'

Unai Emery's not trying to get eight points from five games to avoid relegation. He's trying to build a side to win a title. He's trying to build a team with a style to win a title, not lump it long and get in behind it.

Emery has grappled with this conundrum all season in his search for 'balance' - one of his favourite English words - and it is why there are no easy solutions with current personnel.

In Emery's first press conference at Arsenal he expressed his desire to be a 'protagonist' in games with football based on 'possession and pressing'. That style is incompatible with wrapping defenders in cotton wool,  giving them hands to hold with two banks of four behind the ball.

Emery has appeared to back away from his stated aims, as the game-to-game pressure for results grows. Arsenal have switched to a back three in order to find safety in numbers, and when Emery has played with a four he favoured a cautious midfield trio of Lucas Torreira, Granit Xhaka and Matteo Guendouzi in front of them. Such conservatism has seen Arsenal return middling attacking numbers, even against bottom half teams, with a low volume of shots and chances created. 

In order for Arsenal to progress, they need to escape this safety-first cycle. Do that however, and their defence will be further exposed. Compensate for the defence though, and there is a risk of sliding into mediocrity across the board. It's a poser worthy of Joseph Heller. 

So while Arsenal's defensive numbers are alarming, the tried-and-tested methods of fire-fighter managers are not really a viable option for Emery. He will be desperately drilling them on the training pitch, but there is only so much sit, wait and fetch Emery can teach Arsenal's defenders before he has to trust them off the lead. Or else buy new ones.

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