So much, then, for Arsenal’s uncontested stroll to a second Premier League title under Mikel Arteta. So much for the idea that this impenetrable fortress would remain unconquered all season, for who could possibly possess the weapons with which to breach it.
Brighton have quickly put paid to that.
‘There was only one team who tried to play football today,’ was Fabian Hurzeler’s pointed remark after the Gunners clung on to a 1-0 lead at the Amex Stadium back in March.
Six months later, it was the Brighton boss who provided Arteta with his own brutal lesson of how to do so and one, perhaps, that Arsenal’s rivals could look to follow on their quest to dethrone them.
PRESS, PRESS, PRESS
The biggest of Brighton’s weapons was their relentless press. From the first minute until the last, the Seagulls swarmed around Arsenal, man-to-man, as high and as wide up the pitch as possible.
It was in complete contrast to the trick used by Manchester City last season under Pep Guardiola where their front four would sit off the Arsenal backline, refuse to press them, and instead cut off the passing lanes into midfield.
Brighton wanted to harass Arsenal so much that they either won possession high up the pitch – the Seagulls won the ball back 10 times in the final third, the most of any team this season, and the last side to do so more often against Arsenal was Liverpool in April 2023 – or panic them into dangerous passes into midfield where they would be waiting.
Brighton allowed Arsenal no time to settle on the ball at the Amex Stadium on Saturday as they ran out 3-0 winners
Brighton won possession from Arsenal 10 times in the final third of the pitch
These two examples (below) came from inside the first five minutes. On one occasion in between, Arsenal keeper David Raya was so flummoxed he passed the ball straight out for a throw in.
Brighton crowd the Arsenal players high up the pitch and win the ball back
Again, Brighton’s press has Arsenal in all sorts of trouble in their box with nowhere to go
The key was Brighton just didn’t stop. It’s all well and good harrying and hustling and chasing down all over the pitch from the first minute but, eventually, you tire and you fade and don’t jump up as quickly or aggressively as you did at the start.
Only Brighton didn’t. They kept going. Even at 3-0 up, with nearly an hour gone, they swarm around Arsenal’s players to create another chance.
The Seagulls push up and force Ezri Konsa to play a pass into midfield towards Bukayo Saka only for Brighton to nick it back, burst into the area and Charalampos Kostoulas goes down in the box looking for a penalty.
Ezri Konsa plays the ball into midfield to try to find Bukayo Saka…
…but Saka is immediately under pressure and Brighton win the ball back
Just a minute later, Arsenal get the ball back on the other side of the pitch. By the time Bruno Guimaraes receives the pass, he is surrounded by four blue shirts with nowhere to go. Brighton keep the Gunners where they want them.
Bruno Guimaraes is swamped by Brighton players and can find no way out
That came, as it happens, from Brighton lumping the ball upfield from just outside their own box and out for a throw-in. This, too, was a key aspect of their play.
GO LONG, CAUSE CHAOS
We’ve seen it with other high-pressing teams like Bournemouth when they lump the ball, rugby-style, into touch from the kick-off because they would rather try to win the ball back as close to the opposition goal as possible.
Brighton did it frequently, in open play, and often via goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen.
For Brighton’s first goal, the Seagulls had a throw-in deep in the final third, almost level with the edge of Arsenal’s box, but still they eventually worked the ball all the way back to Verbruggen, who stood with his studs on the ball while the centre backs split and, eventually, went long to the right. After some neat passing, the ball found Pascal Gross, who fired in from range.
The Brighton keeper frequently targeted that side, as you can see from his pass map (below). The feeling was that even if the usually physically dominant Arsenal side won the first ball, the Seagulls would be there to flock around the second.
The map shows Bart Verbruggen using the long ball a lot and frequently favouring Arsenal’s left-back position
Right back Ferdi Kadioglu pushed up high down that side to frequently box Arsenal in. A look at their average position maps, too, shows just how Brighton locked down that side of the pitch.
The average position of Brighton players in their victory over Arsenal and how they doubled up on their right wing
EXPLOITING ARTETA’S EVOLUTION
It was not all about the press for Brighton, though. Whenever Arsenal did get on the ball inside the Seagulls’ half, the hosts dropped into a deep, deep block. They either wanted to win the ball close to Arsenal’s box, or near their own – and spring a counter.
Look here (below), how Brighton have all 11 players behind the ball as Arsenal look to find a way through just before the hour.
Brighton are back in shape with all their players behind the ball as Arsenal try in vain to find a way through
Brighton eventually win possession back just outside their box and break. Not even a minute later, after pressing to win the ball back high up the pitch, they win the corner from which they score their third goal.
Brighton’s four ‘fast breaks’, Opta’s phrase for a counter attack, and their three shots that came from them, were their most in a Premier League game since 2019. The last time Arsenal faced more in a match was 2018.
Hurzeler was exploiting Arteta’s changing style. For so long, the complaint about Arsenal is how they were so obsessed with control that they never took enough risks to create enough in open play. That appears, maybe, to be changing.
After just four matches this season, Arsenal have attempted the third most fast breaks themselves with 10. This is a change. Last season they were ranked ninth. The season before that 12th and, two seasons before that, 16th with just 18 all campaign.
It adds an extra dimension to their play but they are yet to find the balance and, as Brighton showed, you can hurt them in transition.
Their second goal comes straight from an Arsenal counter attack, where Saka fluffs a shot straight into Verbruggen’s hands, and Brighton spring one of their own.
TEST RAYA FROM RANGE
Brighton’s first two goals came from shots from outside the box. So was the one Arsenal conceded against Chelsea, the only other league match in which they have been breached. Seven of the last 18 Premier League goals Arsenal have conceded have come from distance.
Is this becoming a weakness? A stat from Opta did the rounds after the match stating that among goalkeepers that have conceded at least 100 Premier League goals only Hans Segers (22 per cent) has conceded a higher percentage from outside the penalty area than David Raya (20.6 per cent).
Arsenal’s David Raya was beaten from distance again during the defeat at Brighton
It is slightly unfair to pick him out as Arsenal’s defence is so good that teams are often reduced to having to shoot from miles away but of the 22 goalkeepers to start at least 40 league matches since the start of the 2023-24 season, when Raya joined the Gunners, only two have a worse save percentage from outside the box (Raya’s is 78 per cent).
You can bet that teams, even if they aren’t already, will start to pepper Raya’s goal from range now.
HAVE THEY BEEN FOUND OUT?
Is this the key, then, to beating this unbeatable Arsenal? Well, for a start, Brighton’s approach was exceptionally high risk with so many bodies committed to press so high. Arsenal had plenty of chances, including Kai Havertz missing a one-on-one.
Few teams, too, have the energy, physicality and tactical discipline to pull it off for 90 minutes like Brighton did. Not every long-range shot, too, will nestle in the bottom corner, let alone two.
However, the manner of the defeat, the lack of balance and control, has certainly given Arteta three weeks to think about what went wrong. The Gunners still boast one of the best defences in world football but Brighton have proved they are not quite so untouchable after all.
