Tactically Speaking: Arsenal (A)

A new feature for the 2012/13 season, Vital Sunderland look back at the previous game from a tactical point of view with the help of FourFourTwo Stats Zone...



This graphic shows us the influence of every player in the pitch for both sides, i.e. where they did their work & therefore their relative impact, displayed in the size of each player's name.

Crucially, this graphic shows us that whilst Arsenal's protagonists were there full-backs Carl Jenkinson & Kieran Gibbs, both bombing on out wide, Sunderland's players did most of their work in the middle third of the pitch. This indicates that the Black Cats spent most of their time trying to force the Gunners wide rather than allowing them down the middle or for that matter, setting in motion many attacks of their own.



This graphic is a breakdown of both sides shots within the game. Whilst the hosts clearly had a number more shots (23), compared to Sunderland's four, they still enjoyed most their success from shooting outside of the penalty area with not one shot hitting the target from inside 18 yards and a number of blocks being made in Simon Mignolet's box.



This graphic shows the passing success of both sides. Somewhat unsurprisingly the Gooners graphic show that they not only attempted more passes, but succeeded with a higher percentage too.

The scatter of the passes, i.e. predominently out wide in the Black Cats' half, re-enforces the fact that the visitor's defensive shape largely nullified the Gunners' central threat.

Sunderland on the other hand enjoyed very little success in the final third at all, and often failed to complete long passes through the middle of the pitch.



This is the individual dashboard for Arsenal's best midfield tackler, debutant Santi Cazorla, who completed 100 per cent of his three tackles. The relative position of these tackles compared to those of Lee Cattermole (below), shows exactly how far pushed back the Black Cats were.



These graphics were made possible by FourFourTwo Stats Zone, a FREE smartphone app available for download from your phone's relevant application store.