Why Vinicius Jr To Arsenal Would Break The Premier League
Arsenal are chasing one of world football's biggest superstars. We explore the tactical advantages Vinicius Jr. would bring to the Premier League, from solving attacking problems to providing a new dimension that could make Arsenal unstoppable.
Video Transcript
Arsenal are on the brink of building a side that can dominate English football for years to come.
Bruno G looks set to arrive before the end of the window, Tuzolis gives them some serious firepower off the bench, and now they're chasing one of football's biggest superstars.
Vinicius Junior would make Mikel Arteta's side almost unstoppable.
But how would he do it?
Well, I'm Jacob Horsfield for FourFourTwo's resident tactician, and this is why Vini Junior to Arsenal would break the Premier League To truly understand just how massive Vini Junior could be for Arsenal, we've first got to look at the problems Arsenal have had that have led Arteta into wanting the Brazilian.
Vinicius Junior is known for his ability to turn him being doubled up on into two micro 1v1s by committing each defender at different points, allowing him to beat one, then turn and beat the other with space to attack rather than him being crowded out.
To be blunt, Arsenal don't have another left-sided player who's as good 1v1 or as good at general dribbling like Vini is.
At the moment, both Arsenal left-wingers are more touchline players, who are constantly on the underloaded side and rely on attacking unmarked space in and around the box to score goals, which is useful, and Martinelli scored some pretty decent Champions League goals through that exact thing.
However, Arsenal do need a little bit more transitional threat, someone who can get the ball and be direct, but do so by getting on the ball, beating three or four players, and aggressively driving the ball forwards.
Now, imagine Arsenal defending deep against a Man City, for example.
Throw Vini in and put him at the halfway line.
The threat that Arsenal can have on the counter-attack on the break is just a different level to anything they have at the moment.
I mean, there's a reason we've seen Arsenal operating the way they have over the last few years.
The Premier League is moving into an era of physical dominance.
In fact, it's already there.
It's all about transitions at the current moment, and we saw Arsenal try to lean into that with the signing of Viktor Gyokeres.
When Arsenal were camped in like they are here, they had an out through the Swedish striker.
They could hit the channel, and his quick burst of speed and physical power would allow him to latch onto balls in behind.
But he wasn't technically good enough to retain the ball.
So in those bigger games, yes, they could get out from pressure by sending it into the channel for Gyokeres, but they weren't able to stay out of pressure for long because Gyokeres couldn't make it stick regularly.
He would end up losing the ball, and then they'd be back under pressure.
But Vini Junior, well, he can make it stick.
He ranked ninth for top speed in the Champions League last season, so he obviously has the physical traits that you'll want to be that runner in behind.
However, he's also incredible on the ball.
I mean, he's arguably one of the best dribblers on the planet.
Only Lamine Yamal attempted more take-ons than Vinicius Junior in La Liga last season, and that's because not only did Vini thrive in these advanced 1v1s where he could drop his shoulder to commit both defenders and then have his own space to play in and then just shoot and score, but he also has something that at this current moment in time only Bukayo Saka can offer to this Arsenal team.
Vinicius, Olympic speed.
Arsenal's star man has the ability to receive in tight positions with the opposition's defense settled in front of him, but he can then push them back with progressive ball carrying.
His signature accelerate down the wing, then stop, then accelerate again, has claimed the lives of more than a few fullbacks, and it's one of Arsenal and Mikel Arteta's key plans for trying to break a low block.
The problem is, Saka can often end up isolated and alone within that plan, so now it's a regular occurrence for teams to double and triple up on Bukayo Saka and force Arteta's side to retreat and then just circulate the ball.
The good thing is that if Vini Junior comes in and plays off the left, he has that same ball-progressing quality that Bukayo Saka has but with a little bit of a twist to it.
Vini will happily receive in tight situations deeper in the pitch and will drag his side forward just like Saka, but the Brazilian is more aggressive.
He can shift gears at ridiculous speed and change direction in a split second, allowing him to draw players in.
Similarly to Saka's sort of stop-start motions, Vini Junior has the ability to switch direction at a rapid speed when he's moving at top speed, so he's able to pull players in just like Saka but beat them a lot quicker than Saka does.
When he gets on the ball centrally and hops past one, maybe two players, one of the defenders of the opposition will see him moving at top speed and want to step out to try and prevent his dribbling.
But Vinicius Junior's pace and power means that as that defender steps out, Vini's already gone past him, and he's attacking that new space before that defender even gets anywhere near him, which would allow Arsenal to now have more of a dual wing threat rather than most of their ball playing coming down the right-hand side, but also would allow them to attack space more aggressively when they create it, which they do create pretty often.
But ladies and gentlemen, Vini Junior on this left wing isn't just some roadrunner who's a good fast athlete.
He can be a lock pick.
The 26-year-old sat fifth in the league for chances created last season because amongst the flair, amongst the running in behind, amongst the goals, he is a very, very good passer.
Against those low block sides, you can expect Vini Junior to regularly drop out of the attacking line to get the ball in the half space and receive it and have space to be his creative self, his quick feet allowing him to not only receive on the back foot under pressure but also eye movement from his teammates and thread perfectly weighted balls straight into their path, which if you watched a lot of the Premier League champions last season, you'll notice that those defense-splitting passes that really broke the opposition's last line of defense weren't a too regular of an occurrence, or at least as, not as much as what Mikel Arteta would've liked.
With them pinning sides in, they often lack the killer ball from a winger or from a central player like Martin Odegaard, which has led to a lot of people criticizing the Norwegian.
But for me, it's just as much Odegaard as it is the familiarity from the opposition starting to build.
Arsenal's lack of wide threat, especially with Bukayo Saka's absence, meant that the opposition could really just sit extremely narrow, block out any central space, and force Arsenal wide to then put relentless crosses into the box.
I mean, 42% of their attacks came down the right-hand side last season, which makes sense because of everything we've discussed already in today's video.
But it also gives another reason why Vini Junior is so important for Arsenal if they get it done.
Arsenal had just one player in the top 30 Premier League players for expected goals last season.
The drop-off in goals from Victor Gyokeres was gigantic, which is another reason that Arsenal found themselves being frustrated on multiple occasions last season.
They signed Victor Gyokeres to solve their striker issue, but having just a half decent striker doesn't mean that you're a constant threat for the opposition's back line.
Vinicius Jr wasn't at his best last season, yet he still scored more league goals than any Arsenal player, which is another way that he can transform this Arsenal super team.
Real Madrid often used a right-hand side overload to pull the opposition over, similar to Arsenal.
So when they crossed the ball, Vini could arrive onto it and use the opposition's momentum against them before smashing home, which is something that seamlessly fits into Arsenal's football.
They created similar scenarios to get Gabriel Martinelli into shooting positions, but the difference is Vinicius Jr is on another stratosphere to Gabriel Martinelli.
So opposition teams would likely actually adapt their shape and change the way they are defending Arsenal at the current moment to try and prevent Vini's damage.
Instead of always doubling up or tripling up on Bukayo Saka, the opposition would have to drop even deeper and spread their back line wider to allow for Vini to be tracked, allowing for bigger pockets to form in the center and other players finding space to operate in, which is the biggest takeaway.
It's not just Vini's goals or his speed or, or his chance creation that is gonna help Arsenal, it's also the fear that he brings, and that fear will open games up for Arsenal.
And luckily, when those games open up and Vini Jr has the intelligence to find space in the pocket, then be able to read the situation to latch onto a drop ball and smash home into the bottom corner.
In short, the Brazilian is a level of signing that I've not seen Arsenal sign in God knows how long.
If Vini Jr is over the line, this will be one of the biggest signings in Premier League's recent history, and I think he really, really could come in and be the man who helps Mikel Arteta build a real dynasty, an era of dominance like we've seen from Man City under Pep Guardiola.
It is still early doors for the development of this transfer.
Real Madrid still looking to try and retain him.
But if Arsenal do get it over the line, this will be monumental, and I will be so excited to see Vini Jr playing under Mikel Arteta in the Premier League.
If you have enjoyed today's video and you think Vini Jr will do well, or even will just sign for Arsenal, let us know in the comments down below, and drop us a subscribe for more brilliant analysis.
Back again next week.
