The Cruyff Diamond Is Back...

[@ArsenalNews7]

for me, Rice must be the #6 in this setup. He can cover more ground than Partey and is better defensively

[@nogovi2686]

Won’t be as good going forward the

[@treacheroustiger5571]

Party has been playing amazing this season. His fighting for a new contract, and it shows.

[@amanlikeaerys]

Rice negates everything hes does off the ball with how bad he can be on the ball

[@ringringring1718]

Partey > Rice any day @ lone 6...

[@thierryhenry674]

How much ground did Busquets cover?

[@fortpyjamas]

The problem for us is that Rice doesn't have the same line-breaking pass range that Partey does, which is really crucial for the way we play. When we had him at 6 and Havertz at 8, all our passes in the middle third were sideways and finally it was Odegaard who had to drop near the defense to get the ball to our attackers. If Rice can add that passing precision to his game, imo he'd not only be our best candidate for the 6 role but likely one of the best 6's in the game.

[@ianstandley297]

Completely agree Can’t stand people saying rice is a 6 when all his best work at West Ham was in a double pivot and at Arsenal as a lcm getting forward Partey and Jorginho are the only players capable of being single pivots due to their passing Rice is a great player but not comfortable on the ball in deep areas under pressure looking to play line breaking passes

[@coolsergio72]

Well said. If a number 6 is unable to perform those breaking lines passes, he is not good enough. Even Miley Lewis-Skelly is better than Rice in this aspect. Rice should work on this, else he should be Saliba's back up.

[@PeterMiller-h7l]

yeah but you are not going to solve the problem by not playing Rice. it's better to always play Rice and play someone else who can complement his short comings (if you can even say that since no player is perfect) than playing Partey who can't defend any counter and who's also slow to move the ball and open up a can of worms.

[@ianstandley297]

@@PeterMiller-h7l no one is saying drop rice, I am saying play him as a left 8 and buy a high quality 6 like zuba or play mls there with an inverted lb to sit in a pair and allow rice and ode to bomb forward

[@sibikrishnan8543]

​@@PeterMiller-h7lpay 105 million, can't play forward, can't turn, can't play 1 2, but yeah.. it's always better to keep playing. Ipswich game he started, football was shit. This game again. Did you watch his movement, involvement in game, any trace of creative passing, the amount of mistakes in pass, one shit shot. He is absolutely uselss

[@SamirZayniac]

he played this formation against Leverkusen in the emirates cup

[@krodsgarage]

This is excellent analysis mate GG

[@TheGoonerverse]

Thank you so much, really glad you enjoyed it!

[@optikqualla1550]

Great video James. After the last few poor performances I really blamed Mikel for that, as you could see the players were doing their best. Especially 2 years ago, that box-midfield caused headaches for many opponents, but over time they found solutions, like an aggressive mid-bloc. I think you said it perfectly at 9:37. I think more variability will be the key to unlock our game again.

[@TheGoonerverse]

Thank you for the kind words! I do think we’re gonna need these range of tactics too…

[@oliver-bw8mj]

Love tactic videos especially videos that help me understand what certain players do for the team 🔥🔥🔥

[@maxpowers111]

What do Havertz, Kiwior and Sterling do for the team?

[@DuaneWest-o1y]

@@maxpowers111 Nick 500k pw between them for doing nothing

[@SphethoKhwezi-gp3cn]

For the second half of the season, if Mikel can come up with some new tactics just like this I think we can have a very brilliant season, look at liverpool new tactics we've never seen and very unusual for the opposition right now they top the Pl & Ucl... the full back inverting (box midfielder) has been studied by almost every team

[@deanosaurusrex3615]

I knew that Cruyff formation will come back to life

[@ezrasiyabongamkhwanazi5027]

Thanks for your insightful content and have a wonderful festive season, James. Shout out from South Africa.

[@TheGoonerverse]

@@ezrasiyabongamkhwanazi5027 thank you so much, and to you!

[@epic2325]

This here is the reason I follow James.... the tactical analysis, next level!

[@TheGoonerverse]

@@epic2325 thank you so much!

[@djbowen76]

6:40 the alternative would be John Stones stepping up from CB to the 6 instead of Party's inversion from RB to the 6

[@Aaron-ItsaPackThing]

Met you and Turkish in Philly over the summer! I was chasing my step sons backwards through the exiting crowd so it was a surprise drive by handshake lol anyway best vid you’ve personally done so far… keep it up man!

[@greenfiregaming6534]

That predicated line up looks great but I would love to see martinelli on Rw Jesus Lw cause he looked really good against crystal palace there.

[@RM_BURNER]

A future Arsenal all English diamond midfield is a real possibility now with Rice at the base, MLS and Nwaneri either side of him, and Dowman at the tip.

[@Thats_quite_cool]

Why would we want that though?

[@thephysicsfrontier3167]

Ik you said future but it's wayyyy to early to see how Dorman ranks up against the others

[@diehardgunner4844]

This is the kind of nonsense that has led to the demise of Arsenal. I couldn't care less if we have an English midfield. In fact I would prefer if we don't have any English players as long as they are the best players. To hell with England , they aren't winning anything anytime soon.

[@philmusson1265]

​@diehardgunner4844 the demise of Arsenal? From the lofty heights of 8th? Or the trash Wenger was producing? Or are you still living 25 years in the past?

[@diehardgunner4844]

@@philmusson1265 I see you are young. Wenger had us playing invincible football with a predominantly foreign French midfield, winning doubles and titles but then decided to go for his English/british core because nitwits who wanted more British players. He tried with Wilshere, Ramsey, Walcott, Jenkinson and a left back kid. That was the demise. We have been struggling to get back to that dominance ever since.

[@ehiremeiyore4452]

If we're going to unlock Kai Havertz, which is what were trending towards, we need a striker that is willing to make regular runs in behind, to fully unlock him, we need a player up willing and intelligent to know when to drop in the hole and when to go in behind. Kai is a ghost, a hidden blade striker of sorts. He works in the shadows of distraction, so we need people willing to step away from the ball and draw away the back four. I think GJ on the right (with Saka out) and sterling or martinelli up top.

[@saifahmed3927]

Your thumbnails are so nice

[@TheGoonerverse]

@@saifahmed3927 thank you! Max is a genius

[@chaystewart17]

I think this left 8 suits merino also so he can press higher and be more influential in final third and leave middle third to odegard rice and mls/riccardo califuri

[@creata_1488]

Setup looking good. Love the vids

[@TheGoonerverse]

Thank you!! Really happy with the set up 💪 appreciate the kind words

[@ashercrozierbehan4420]

Whaddyatalkinabout

[@matheus.bueno47]

City was doing this early on the season with Rico Lewis. MLS was being put on the same role there.

[@DOMSHOMIT]

I think this style might fit Zinchenko better as well since he is capable of playing in the midfield. MLS can start, and Zinny can come on off the bench if needed

[@TheGoonerverse]

@DOMSHOMIT I think Zinny would do well in this system!

[@Cafez27]

@James the system isn’t an open system played the way Cruyff intended it to be played but you need the player personnel, and the right coaching, spaces need to be compact and you need an athlete at the base i.e. Declan. Merino and Partey will sit on the bench

[@DuaneWest-o1y]

Wtf do you know plastic other than excuses for failure??? Answer? - Nothing

[@abiodun-b9]

I listen to what you have to say. Devoid of an emotional dump, nuanced and informative. Nobody is threatening the coaching staff with a firing squad here!

[@DuaneWest-o1y]

I listen to what you have to say septic Utter nonsense

[@KarlSkorger]

Guys just hold on for Arteta... He's gonna build a dynasty for us ❤

[@vanishPL]

as they said its called Total Football

[@JJJ-7]

Watching this as I stuff left over pigs blankets, lovely content James

[@TheGoonerverse]

@@JJJ-7 thank you so much! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

[@HJ80307]

I think we would play better with three at the back cuz saka and martinellie play really wide and are not used as inside wingers

[@voiceoftruthmissionsminist5575]

The team did win, Yes but they were so open in the middle and gave away a lot. If palace was clinical enough, say like Liverpool, it would have been a totally different game. We just got a dead dog that didn't know how to change in-between games. That needs a better six, faster with a bigger engine like Ngolo kante who can cover ground in the whole. Otherwise, teams who run alot and compete for every ball would kill us playing that system.

[@greyfoss9304]

I think the only solution to get the most out of our players is to play several systems because a rice merino odegaard is on paper perfectly balanced

[@NakaF20]

What is the tool you are using?

[@adityasingh-ul5tb]

Arsenal may have won but we all know this Havertz midfield stuff is bound to be catastrophic at some point.

[@JonPedro0]

Interesting video and insightful but man my guys gotta get a new set of glasses. Keeps touching them every 15 seconds

[@TheGoonerverse]

@@JonPedro0 😂😂🙏 I’ll work on it but thank you for the kind words on the vid!

[@DasshiusClay]

Excellent work James. You should try football analysis full time. I hear Tuchel is looking for one. 😅👊🏽

[@TheGoonerverse]

@@DasshiusClay 😂 I’ll drop him an email!

[@Juicer988]

we conceded 0.1 xg once rice came on and before that almost 2 xg with partey 6. We should not be building our system around a 31 yo (soon 32) Thomas Partey and this diamond system gives the perfect opportunity to do going forward what should have been done ages ago. Drop partey and play Rice at 6.

[@diehardgunner4844]

@@Juicer988 we have played Rice at CDM 4 times this season. We are yet to win a single game. I know it is difficult for some to understand but here is the truth. Rice cannot play CDM for a club like Arsenal. We are a top four club. He simply doesn't have the quality on the ball. Rice is our 3rd best CDM , he is well behind partey and jorginho. He really only works in a double pivot, which we don't play. I only hope the coach has given up on that nonsense because we can't afford to throw more points away trying to accomodate Rice's lack of ability.

[@anthrax6835]

Because we didn't control the game well enough, the absence of rice can be negated with zinchenko/calafiori at lb inverting and timber inverting at rb. But still havertz is not a good midfielder, we need someone more tekky in that position

[@Juicer988]

@@diehardgunner4844 terrible rage bait. try to put in a bit more effort

[@Qlicky]

@@diehardgunner4844 You sound like a very experienced manager. What clubs have you managed?

[@DuaneWest-o1y]

@@Qlicky Says baker boy who's failed to make it outside his mothers basement since 2014 and for last 5 years has been breast fed by a sparrow...

[@NathalieMoonen]

Trossard - Jesus - Martinelli

[@EnzoPepsiCola]

Havertz is being dropped?

[@DuaneWest-o1y]

@@EnzoPepsiCola He should be dropped off at Heathrow

[@NathalieMoonen]

@EnzoPepsiCola both good Jesus and Havertz 😉

[@YorkshireTracklists]

We only got away with it because we took our chances and palace didn’t. They controlled the midfield. Havertz in midfield is a disaster and we’ll be punished by a more efficient team.

[@abdullaloko5807]

why not rice move from CB to CM, and GM from LB to LCB in attack ? ( think how John Stone did it )

[@baba_reyes]

I hope Mikel is watching...

[@0svvan0]

damn, caught it 45 seconds. good vid.

[@arjanndoj4444]

Looks more like Guardiola tactics 😅

[@TheGoonerverse]

Thank you!!

[@AlvinMulongo]

Give me Cunha and isak in January

[@philmusson1265]

Why couldnt rice be an inverted fullback/left 8 in this system? He has all the attributes

[@anthrax6835]

He has none of the attributes, what attributes do you see in this guy in that position?

[@philmusson1265]

@anthrax6835 pace and power. The ability to drive forward with the ball, get in the box and score, play 1-2s and progress the ball through the midfield, defensive positioning and the athletic ability to get back and cover Gabriel. What does he not have that MLS or Calafiori have? He's miles better than both. And he's intelligent. And has an engine. Honestly, what is he lacking? He already plays in that 8 role and links attacks on the left and covers the lb. Have you watched Arsenal in the last 18 months?

[@anthrax6835]

@@philmusson1265 this is funny what u just said because a lot of it is lying right up ur ass and 90% of fans who watch arsenal can say that aswell. progress the ball? play 1-2s? thats honestly laughable, and the audacity after that to say have u watched arsenal in the last 18 months 😂when his skillset doesnt encompass most of what an inverted LB or left 8 actually requires (for most games)

[@anthrax6835]

@@philmusson1265 another thing is getting into the box and scoring, how often is he actually scoring? does that really outweigh his deficiencies on the ball? the answer to that is an obvious no, and if he was inverted lb i could care less bout him getting in the box.

[@philmusson1265]

@@anthrax6835 ok, so you're just talking to yourself since you've ignored everything I said, except for the thing you don't care about, which he literally did last game 🤦

[@domagojhrgovic7419]

Good analysis, but this is not a long term solution. Performance against Palace wasn't that good either, but we were clinical.

[@Aadi-du9ut]

This is not even a short term solution! At the start of 2nd half, we were 1 palace chance getting converted away from panic city. Better teams will put those chances away. Clinical finishing helped us win, not Havertz in midfield

[@DuaneWest-o1y]

@@Aadi-du9ut Were u at the Palace game?

[@naseibonsu8120]

Great breakdown from James. Always gives good insight and intelligent views. Ive been saying this for a while now. Rice does not fit especailly not in the 6 in this new system. Partey or Jorginho are better in that 6 because of their football IQ!

[@TheGoonerverse]

@@naseibonsu8120 thank you for the kind words!

[@abutalairsolutions5546]

Arsenal fans have the most football IQ compared to other teams' supporters. I have been looking at other tems' channles, its all propaganda and no content.

[@DuaneWest-o1y]

Are you going to the game tonight?

[@joec354]

Rice in the 6 , odegaard in 10 would be better imo

[@anakinskywalker212]

Doesn't matter what formation or tactics we use. If we aren't signing anyone in January, we will win FA

[@luismao5153]

Girona's Miguel Gutierrez played exactly like this last season, with their back three much more dynamic, center backs pushing into midfield and overlapping (Daley Blind, Arnau Martinez). The ignorance from English KZbinrs is just incredible. You must know that Arteta and co are just copycats of Pep, who played Rico Lewis the exact same way earlier this season before everything fell apart, except as a rb inverting to a rcm, right?

[@enchantededition6879]

Why not Jesus on the left Martinelli on the right? Jesus was more left sided at City.

[@adityaudayanagolfvlogs1317]

Ben White is crucial for us, we lacked width in his absence, I also think Havertz will benefit from having a duo partnership the same way Palmer/Jackson has played out. Currently you see that with Odegaard/Saka where they just click and likes to play between themselves, reminds me of Ozil/Sanchez partnership.

[@MustafaBurnusuzov]

Jesus on the left and martineli on the right side will be better

[@Qlicky]

Where are all the negative comments?

[@DuaneWest-o1y]

Where are all the delicious Stoke ginger bread men you promised us Jekyll?

[@Qlicky]

@@DuaneWest-o1y Again with the stalking. Are you in love or something?

[@DuaneWest-o1y]

And all the trophies that for the last 5 years you said Arteta will win us?

[@DarrenTaylor-be5hf]

Where is your new 14 yo step father ?

[@Qlicky]

@@DarrenTaylor-be5hf What's this? A bot convention Im not aware of? 🤣🤣

[@lenneth1188]

Rice is the next Vieira

[@jshshsshshsj]

never will be near viera

[@lenneth1188]

@@jshshsshshsj He'll be better than Vieira, especially at corners.

[@jshshsshshsj]

@@lenneth1188 no

[@charles9489]

​@@lenneth1188😂😂😂😂😂😂, always funny to hear ppl talk about playerd they've never seen play. Keep ur Topics current bud, dont talk about things u clearly know nothing about.

[@diehardgunner4844]

@@lenneth1188 let's hope some day Rice is better than Jorginho. Respectfully, I suggest never mention Rice and Patrick Viera in the same sentence ever again.

[@sibikrishnan8543]

Every game Rice starts, this creativity issues come and we end up playing shit football. Because Rice is so useless and simply not on the level of other players around him.

[@thierryhenry674]

Sterling---------Trossard --Nwaneri(Jesus F9)Odegaard- ---(Calafiori--- Timber)--- -------(Partey)------ -----Gabriel-Saliba---- --------Raya------- The players in the brackets form the diamond and play a tiki taka system (this is our best lineup when Sterling is back from injury).

[@preek9]

sterlings our for long, play nelli on the right

[@thierryhenry674]

@@preek9 Maybe find someone who can do skill moves from the academy.

[@anthrax6835]

Sterling is shit now, face it

[@DuaneWest-o1y]

Clueless

[@MusaRamadhan-t4x]

What have you smoked?

[@onetonsoupp]

I think your videos are great and you are a good youtuber. However supporting aftv is not good. They are a cancer to arsenal

[@jeromekeith9775]

U spent the time talking bout the cruff diamond + the box in midfield. Then ur predicted 11 contradicts it all. I’m sure Havertz will play in midfield again v Ipswich. Rice will be no6. Jesus will remain up top.

[@nosaintesq]

Calafiori could speak to Frederico Chiesa to join Arsenal, coz he is not used at Liverpool, plus Arsenal can double the amount they signed him for at Liverpool, he will be great addition to the Gunners, he will win the Ballon D'Or coz he is that good

[@damiankelly-i8i]

What nonsense!we already have two loanee and cannot take anyone else on loan...

[@EnzoPepsiCola]

​@@damiankelly-i8ihe didn't say anything about loaning him

[@Rmt4htx]

The long awaited cruyff system is back 😂🤣🤡🤡

[@DuaneWest-o1y]

"Havertz has his confidence back" incoming

[@user-gp6cc8jj6d]

Overreacting again James, you bored of Arteta schooling you?

[@Iamevlhmr]

Boy's been watching football for 5 minutes and thinks he's a tactician haha

[@autumn9483]

Arsenal will end up in 5th place at the end of the season. If we don't get a striker and a left winger, the efforts of the boys will be in vain.

[@chanceobondo3843]

we'll see

[@tom11mansfield]

Alright mystic meg

[@felixmutwiri]

we will win the league and you will be there to witness

[@BenjaminSam100]

⁠lol exactly. What a silly statement

[@ikaida12]

and you will end up cheering for Spurs