THE Bodo/Glimt manager has suggested he has Arsenal all worked out – after initially thinking “what the hell are they doing?” when he watched them.
Kjetil Knutsen takes the Norweigian side to the Emirates tonight for their Europa League clash as they look to stun the London side.
Bodo/Glimt currently top Group A after emerging unbeaten from their first two games.
They’ve also played a game more than others in the group after Arsenal’s match against PSV was postponed following the death of the Queen last month.
Bodo/Glimt will be hoping to extend their advantage – and their boss Knutsen reckons he has the key after analysing the Gunners’ “not very complicated” tactics.
He said: “I started watching Arsenal against Zurich to analyse Zurich, but my concentration and my gaze went towards Arsenal because I was thinking, ‘What the hell are they actually doing?’
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“There are a lot of rotations, so you have to pick them apart and see where are the players who are fairly stable in their role and where are the players who rotate a lot.
“It’s just extremely high-level, high-intensity football with extremely high-level individual qualities.
“But when you get to see it over time, it’s not very complicated. They have a number of rotations with the left-back and central midfielder, who has a lot of freedom, but it’s a lot less on their right side.
“They attack with a lot of people, they’re patient and then suddenly they have that burst in the final third.”
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The 54-year-old gaffer also says he will avoid falling into the same trap as Arsenal’s previous opponents like Tottenham.
He added: “If we played a man-to-man system we would have a huge challenge to face, but we are at the other end of the scale so that’s probably the least of my worries.
“But they will also leave space in behind them which we will have to exploit. We need to be aggressive in the low block, high intensity in the high press, and we will have to control the ball.
“Tottenham only defended, Zurich only defended – if you do that you won’t stand a chance against them.”
Bodo Glimt earned a credible draw away to PSV on the opening matchday of the Europa League.
They then beat FC Zurich 2-1 to propel themselves to the top of the group.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
