Henry Gives Arsenal Tactical Advice To Beat Barcelona!
Ahead of Arsenal’s hugely significant clash against Barcelona in midweek, Gunners legend Thierry Henry has provided some much-needed tactical advice to the North London side. The Frenchman, who also represented the Catalan club after his spell at Arsenal, has recommended an altered defence-oriented approach for the Gunners to get the better of their Spanish visitors.
In his column for The Sun, Henry wrote: “They have to accept they will probably only have 30 per cent possession and must be so efficient when they do get the ball. The whole team must defend more as a unit and the wingers must tuck in and play more in their own half. You must be prepared to sacrifice parts of your attacking game, home and away.
“Arsenal must be brave on the ball. They need to stay compact, play on the counter and score every time they get in their penalty area. They can’t be exposed in the middle and must force Barcelona to run back 60 yards before they get the ball. If you allow them to stay in your half for wave after wave, it becomes almost impossible to defend.”
Personally, I couldn’t agree more with Thierry. Arsenal’s usual attack-minded approach will leave massive gaps that Barcelona’s world-class forwards can easily exploit. Considering that Arsene Wenger is blessed with a lot of pace in his frontline, the emphasis must be to use that pace and play on the break. Set pieces will also represent a good opportunity for the Gunners to get on the score sheet.
In addition, Arsenal can also try and step up the physicality against a team who are not very used to that kind of play. Koscielny, Coquelin, Sanchez, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Giroud are all well suited to that kind of game plan. One thing is for sure, Arsenal simply cannot beat Barcelona playing their own game. Like King Henry said, sacrifices have to be made but it remains to be seen whether Wenger will agree and go for a more conservative style of play.
Anurag