Mikel Arteta has revealed Arsenal knew they would struggle to break down Nottingham Forest’s ‘Christmas tree’ formation, after Noni Madueke’s late goal secured a 1-0 win.
Mikel Arteta has explained how Arsenal overcame Nottingham Forest’s ‘Christmas tree’ formation, after Noni Madueke’s late winner secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory at the City Ground on Sunday.
Madueke came off the bench at half-time and struck ten minutes from the end to earn the Gunners all three points and lift them back into second place in the Premier League table, above Brighton.
Speaking after the match, Arteta admitted his side had expected a difficult afternoon against Oliver Glasner’s well-organised team, and that they had prepared for a lack of early breakthroughs.
He said, ‘We knew we wouldn’t score in the first 20, 30 minutes. We weren’t going to face a different Forest because they are extremely well coached. They put a Christmas tree there. There is no space to play. You have to be so neat and tidy.’
The Christmas tree, a 4-3-2-1 shape, is designed to crowd the centre of the pitch, with two attacking midfielders tucked in behind a lone striker and a narrow midfield three protecting the back four. It left Arsenal with very little room in the areas where they usually create chances.
Arteta explained that, in those circumstances, his side had to find other ways to cause problems, either through patient possession or by creating chaos in the box from open play and set pieces. He felt they did that on a couple of occasions in the first half, creating two big chances, but were frustrated that neither effort hit the target.
The Arsenal boss admitted the frustration began to build as the game went on, and that his players had to adapt their approach accordingly, before Madueke finally made the breakthrough.
‘And the longer the game goes, we say, “Okay, now we have to play a different game because at the moment we start to ramp up our level of frustration.” But we got the goal,’ he said.
The winger’s strike was his first Premier League goal of the season, and capped an impressive cameo after he replaced Eberechi Eze at the break.
At the other end, Arsenal’s defence held firm once again. Gabriel Magalhães made a crucial intervention to deny Dan Ndoye early in the second half, while Ezri Konsa produced a superb sliding block to stop Liam Delap late on and protect a fourth league clean sheet of the season.
The result also ended Arsenal’s run of two consecutive goalless visits to the City Ground, whilst Forest’s wait for a first home league win under Glasner goes on.
Arteta highlighted his side’s remarkable start to the campaign, pointing out they have now won ten of their eleven competitive matches. He said the experience of winning in such a variety of ways would prove valuable as the season goes on.
That will be put to the test on Wednesday, when Arsenal travel to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, before returning to domestic action by hosting Everton at The Emirates on Saturday.