Tactical Analysis: Arsenal 1-0 Wigan Athletic

A 60th minute Mikel Arteta penalty after Theo Walcott had been clipped by Jean Beausejour in the box gave Arsenal a 1-0 win over Wigan. On the balance of play Arsenal may have been fortunate to emerge with the three points and that was largely because Roberto Martinez got his tactics spot on while Arsene Wenger made a questionable substitution that nearly cost the Gunners. A defensive mistake from  Beausejour and poor delivery from wide areas proved costly for Wigan

Wigan started in their normal 3-4-3. Martinez didn't have any of his first choice center backs available so dropped James McCarthy back from midfield to play at the center of the back three. David Jones played alongside James McArthur in the center of midfield.

Wenger stuck with the same lineup he used in Monday evening's 5-2 win at Reading. Theo Walcott was employed at center forward while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain played wide on the right.

The most interesting tactical feature of the game was Wigan's use of their back three. Because Arsenal were in a 4-2-3-1, Wigan had a 3 v. 1 advantage in the center of defense and therefore had two spare center backs. The two man advantage at the back also meant they were short a man in the center of midfield. To even the numbers in the midfield, McCarthy stepped into the midfield in front of the "outside" center backs Boyce and Figueroa and man marked Santi Cazorla. Wigan still had a spare man at center defense- Boyce and Figueroa were 2 v. 1 with Walcott in deeper areas. Wigan's wing backs picked up Arsenal's wide forwards. In effect, defensively Wigan were playing with a back four of Stam, Boyce, Figueroa and Beausejour with McCarthy playing a holding midfield role tracking Cazorla between the seams. Then when Wigan won possession Beausejour and Stam would push high up the pitch from their wing back positions and McCarthy would drop between Figueroa and Boyce to form a back three. This is very similar to the way Barcelona play with McCarthy playing the Sergio Busquets role.

The strategy worked to stifle Cazorla's offensive contribution. He played the pass that led to Walcott being awarded the penalty but aside from that he had a relatively quiet afternoon with McCarthy constantly tracking his movement.

Offensively, Wigan tried to overload Arsenal in wide areas with their wing backs and wide forwards looking to get Arsenal's fullbacks in 1 v. 2 situations. With Arsenal's wide forwards often failing to track Beausejour and Stam defensively, the two Wigan wing backs were often able to get the ball in space on the flanks. However, their delivery from wide areas was poor all afternoon.

Wenger made the game's first substitution on 75 minutes, replacing Podolski with Coquelin. Cazorla moved to the left and Coquelin played in the middle of midfield. I assume Wenger made the substitution to give the Gunners some extra bite in the middle of the pitch but Wigan were mainly threatening from the wings- it was a poor decision from Wenger and one that nearly proved costly. Cazorla is not good at tracking runners defensively and helping his fullbacks. Within minutes of making the change Stam had blown past Cazorla and received the ball in space down the right wing. Again his final delivery was poor but Wenger's decision to move Cazorla to the left nearly cost Arsenal. Finally, in the 90th minute he brought on Koscielny for Cazorla to provide Gibbs with some protection on the left. It was a substitution he should have made immediately when he had taken off Podolski.

That Wigan lost was no fault of Martinez who got his tactics spot on and frustrated Arsenal defensively for large parts of the game while threatening down the wings. However, they lacked the final delivery needed and still could use a center forward that is lethal in front of goal.

Tactical Analysis: Newcastle 2-0 Wigan

Maynor Figueroa's 12th minute red card for a last ditch tackle on Papiss Cisse was the key factor in Wigan's 3-0 loss at Newcastle. Ba scored the resulting penalty to put the Magpies up 1-0 and from there they were relatively comfortable for the remainder of the game.

Prior to Figueroa's sending off the game looked like it would provide an interesting tactical battle. When these teams met at the end of April last season, Alan Pardew's side were at a loss for how to defend Roberto Martinez's unconventional 3-4-3 formation and were soundly beaten 4-0. Wigan's 3-4-3 employs two wing backs and two wide forwards. They look to push the wing backs up towards the wide forwards and overload the opposition full back in wide areas (see post below). In the 4-0 defeat Pardew played a 4-3-3 with three central midfielders. Wigan's wing backs (Emmerson Boyce and Jean Beausejour on that day) pushed beyond Newcastle's wide forwards when in possession, creating 2 v. 1 situations with the wide forwards on the flanks in the attacking third. Newcastle's three central midfielders were unable to shift to wider areas and pick up Boyce and Beausejour and Wigan therefore dominated play on the wings.

Given how thoroughly outplayed Pardew's team was in that fixture, it was surprising to see him once again line up in a 4-3-3 for today's game. He must have certainly thought the extra man in the center of the park would allow his side to boss possession down the middle but would have also been concerned the formation would once again give Wigan's wing backs Beausejour and Ronnie Stam space down the wings. To combat this threat Pardew played Jonas Gutierrez fairly deep on the left. The Argentine operated more as a left midfielder than forward and dropped deep to track the runs of Stam when Wigan were in possession. Cisse played narrower and more advanced on the right, looking to get close to Ba. Early on when the game was still 11 v. 11, Wigan looked like they might once again enjoy some success down the left with Cisse failing to track the runs forward of Beausejour.



The red card and resulting penalty changed the entire complexion of the game. In the first few minutes following Figueroa's sending off, Wigan didn't change anything and tried to play a back two of Gary Caldwell and Boyce with Beausejour and Stam continuing on as wing backs in what was effectively a 2-4-3. Martinez was trying to bring on holding midfielder James McArthur for Jordi Gomez but before he could make that sub Ba had added a second after a galloping run forward from Davide Santon whose well struck shot Ali Al-Habsi only parried into the path of Ba.

With the introduction of McArthur, Beausejour was dropped back alongside Caldwell and Boyce to form a back three. David Jones moved to left midfield while McArthur slotted in alongside James McCarthy in the center of midfield. Aroune Kone and Franco di Santo played as forwards in what was now a 3-4-2. Without two wide forwards, Wigan no longer had the ability to create the overloads in wide areas their game is based around. Newcastle had plenty of bodies to deal with any threat down the middle of the field and although Wigan showed some decent passing displays in the second half, the Magpies' goal never really look threatened.


Newcastle certainly enjoyed the extra man in midfield, comfortably controlling possession in that area and at times springing attacks from some excellent dribbling by Sylvain Marveaux. The second half was a rather quiet affair. Pardew's side sat a little deeper and had plenty of bodies in the middle of the field when Wigan tried to cross. Stam and Kone were at times able to work passing combinations and find space to cross down the right but with Di Santo the only target in the box they never really looked like scoring.

Wigan vs. Newcastle: tactics preview

Alan Pardew was given fits last season by Roberto Martinez's 3-4-3 formation in Newcastle's 4-0 defeat to Wigan in late April.

Pardew opted to start the game in a 4-3-3 which meant they defended very narrow in midfield. When in possession, Wigan's wing backs Beausejour and Boyce advanced past Newcastle's wide forwards Ba and Ben Arfa. With Newcastle playing a center midfield three, Beausejour and Boyce were able to drive forward down the wings unmarked from their wing back positions. This left Newcastle's outside backs to defend 1 v 2 on the wings against Wigan's wing backs and outside forwards (Moses and Maloney). Wigan were able to exploit the spare man in wide areas to great effect.
April 28 2012: Wigan 4-0 Newcastle

Pardew has certainly learned from his mistake last season and today will set his team up a 4-4-2 that won't allow Wigan to have a numerical advantage on the wings. The 4-4-2 versus 3-4-3 match up is an interesting one. Both teams will have one extra center back to provide cover (2 Newcastle center backs versus 1 Wigan forward, 3 Wigan center backs versus 2 Newcastle forwards) and be even in the other areas of the pitch.

Today's formations will look something like this, Wigan 3-4-3 (blue) versus Newcastle 4-4-2 (red).