Taking a leaf out of Arsenal’s playbook – Tuchel’s organizational plan

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Taking a leaf out of Arsenal’s playbook – Tuchel’s organizational plan

Arsenal are the champions, and no team has provided more players to England’s World Cup squad than the Gunners. So it is understandable that Thomas Tuchel will look at the performance and fitness of the Premier League champions.

Here in the United States, Mikel Arteta’s dedication to Arsenal’s routines is one that England coach Tuchel is looking to replicate.

In a competitive environment, where the boundaries can be very narrow, Tuchel is keen to take a leaf out of his beloved Arsenal playbook, and stress to his players the importance of exploiting dead ball situations.

Arsenal secured their first Premier League title in 22 years in May and were within penalty kicks of their first Champions League win.

With that level of success in mind, it’s understandable that set-pieces have emerged as a major focus of training sessions since England arrived in the USA.

There are experts in the field among Tuchel’s likely starters.

Declan Rice is one of the most talented strikers in European football – his corners have been a major threat for Arsenal over the past two seasons.

You can expect Rice, who is guaranteed to start at the World Cup, to be one of England’s designated specialists.

Chelsea’s Reece James, who is expected to start the tournament as a right-back for England, is one of those who may be at the top of Tuchel’s list.

The England manager knows all about James’ abilities, having coached the defender during his time in charge of Chelsea.

Bukayo Saka’s ability from the dead ball is also seen as a huge asset for Tuchel, even if there are concerns within the England camp about the Arsenal striker’s handling at the start of the tournament with his ongoing tendonitis complaint.

The formation of the England team adds a set-piece threat.

Of the 10 outfield players who started against Costa Rica on Wednesday, just two – James and Elliot Anderson – are under 6ft tall.

England prioritize set-pieces – analysis

In a press conference following the announcement of the England squad, Tuchel said: “We have experts in all different situations. We have always said we want to be a strong team so we have experts for that.”

It is clear that the coach of England, in his appointment and seeing the games before the World Cup, is looking to borrow the success of the Premier League when it comes to prioritizing set games.

In the Premier League, certain tactics in organized matches have led to a significant increase in goals scored. Crossing from corners, pressing the goalkeeper and using blocking to prevent defenders from getting to areas that teams will target for corners are all seen again and again.

In recent matches against Costa Rica and New Zealand, England looked to use defenders to prevent opponents from getting to players.

But thanks to a change in the rules, the video assistant referee (VAR) can now be used to disallow goals due to blocking errors before the ball is played. In order for teams to use preventive action, they will need to be strategic.

Another way England have looked to do this is to have players go towards the goal, face their marks in a natural way – before playing a corner into space in front of a group of players.

This led to John Stones and Dan Burn finding headers on two separate occasions against New Zealand.

A corner kick led to a great chance for Dan Burn against New Zealand [BBC]

Another way in which the blockers are used is for England to position themselves behind the markers before playing a cross back. As the ball goes over the heads of the opponents, they cannot run back to tackle the free England player behind the goal.

Teams, including England will have to improve a lot. Tuchel’s men are also looking to borrow the method used by Manchester United successfully against Spurs this season. By passing it down towards the near post before placing it on the edge of the area, England managed to get a free-kick into space.