Arsenal took on Lazio in their pre-season friendly game as goals from Reiss Nelson and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang sealed off a victory for the Gunners. Lazio have developed a very efficient high pressing scheme under coach Simone Inzaghi, while Unai Emery has been an advocate of playing out from the back with his Arsenal side. It made for an interesting encounter, with Arsenal exhibiting numerous ways of beating the press.

Formations:

Made using TacticalPad

Tactical Breakdown:

Arsenal made use of Guendouzi’s dribbling, in tight spaces, to beat his man and find an Arsenal player in between the lines to progress the ball -Torreira was positioned higher up the pitch and dragged his marker with his movement -Iwobi’s willingness to receive in btwn the lines

Arsenal made use of Leno’s composure with the ball to full effect, utilising him as the ‘free man’ in buildup to give numerical superiority against Lazio’s man oriented high press. -finding the spare man, combined with movement off the ball to progress the ball

Arsenal were able to use quick, vertical and even long passes to Lacazette, who was in turn able to flick the ball to Aubameyang in space, to the side of the CBs -dragging markers towards oneself to create space further up the pitch -break multiple lines with single pass

Conclusion:

Unai Emery has instilled a strict yet much needed philosophy at the club in his early days at Arsenal. Matteo Guendouzi’s performance in this pre-season and this game as well will have satisfied Emery and Arsenal fans alike. His willingness to ask for the ball and make progressive runs and passes has boded well with the system they are playing in. Whether he remains as a starter come the start of the season is another question. But he definitely looks like a player who has a role to play in the coming season.

Arsenal still need to hone their application of their strategies, but they have made a solid start in pre-season. The players understand what is expected of them and are making progress under their new manager. These snippets provide the needed insight into what their schemes were in playing out from the back and beating the opposition high press.