With the Premier League season now over, the transfer season begins. Arsenal needs reinforcements to make them a much better side for 2021/22 with a midfield signing near the top of the list. From what reports suggest, Brighton’s Yves Bissouma is on top of that list. So I take a look at whether he excels where he should excel and if he’s a fit for Arsenal or not.
Positioning:
Bissouma sits as a sole 6/DM when his team are building from the first phase or if the opposition are settled in their half. His positioning isn’t ideal (too close to the Chelsea CM) but as he covers ground relatively quickly, it isn’t as big of an issue as it would be with a less mobile 6.
As Bissouma doesn’t stick himself to the left or right-hand side when on the ball, Arsenal can build with him as a lone 6 or as a central defender in a 3-2-5 (which allows Saliba & Gabriel to stick to their preferred left/right-hand side.)
One of my main criticisms with Bissouma is how much he expects from his teammates. When Chelsea hit Brighton on the break, instead of Bissouma covering for one of the defenders or running between Pulisic (10) & Alonso (3,) he gets himself ready for an attack from Brighton.
Bissouma needs to anticipate what could happen in an opposition attack, as there will be times when he misjudges the severity of the situation and he ends up putting his team in a bad position where they’ll concede because he fails to track someones run or cover for a teammate.
Brighton defended in a 5-1-3-1, with Bissouma venturing in & out of the CB/DM position, creating a back 6 at times. The result? Chelsea were unable to play through Brighton, with their 4 attackers between the lines not being able to get the ball without going around the Brighton defensive shape.
Bissouma’s role in this is to stop the opposition from bypassing the midfield 3 & getting the ball to the central players as that’s where the Brighton CB’s make their mistakes. As Bissouma isn’t erratic out of possession, he can hold his line well, which is something Arsenal are missing when Xhaka doesn’t play.
Passing:
From Bissouma’s pass map, It’s clear to see that he is involved in the buildup in all parts of the pitch apart from Zone 14. Brighton benefited from Bissouma not being confined to a certain side of the pitch as Bissouma had the most carries into the final third for his team & the 2nd most passes into the final third.
For Arsenal, this means that they could end up with a player that can play on any side of midfield, and he can be settled in the opposition half against a top 6 team as he has proven himself to do so previously.
Bissouma tends to overhit passes when he passes sideways to the right-hand side. A ball that’s meant to trouble the opposition left-back/left wing-back may go astray as he misjudges where the ball is meant to go. This is a niche situation, but when he does run with the ball away from the opposing player, then his pass selection/weighting has to lead to a break for his side.
Arsenal can eliminate this by tasking him to make runs on the left-hand side & passing the ball into open space on the right. This cuts out the chance of an opposition turnover & Pépé/Saka will be isolated with the opposition defenders.
Bissouma picks up the ball from deep & takes out 5 Chelsea players with a short run & then links up with the Brighton RCM. He draws a foul as Brighton would’ve had a 4v4 situation with the Chelsea backline. Bissouma being a foul magnet will help Arsenal out in a way that can only be shown with him at the club, Arsenal will end up conceding fewer goals/chances from a turnover as they’ll have fouls called in their favor.
His pass timing helps with the foul magnet tag, he likes to wait until the very end to make a pass as he knows where he wants the ball to go, which is something Arsenal can take advantage of against better opposition.
Bissouma plays a ball to the Brighton RB after picking it up, avoiding the Chelsea traffic that’s there after their attack fizzled out. Continuing from his earlier problem of overhitting his pass to the right-hand side, he also passes directly to the RB instead of hitting the ball into space that the RB can run into (especially with an LB as defensively weak as Alonso competing for the ball) which delays the Brighton attack by seconds instead of speeding it up.
I’m still unsure as to whether It’s a stylistic move for Bissouma or if he can’t generate enough power to aim and hit the ball into the right space, if it’s the former then It’s not an issue but if it’s the latter, then training would be needed to alter his game to accommodate it.
Bissouma’s right-hand side passes may need some help, but he’s great at getting the ball over to his Right Winger, taking 6-8 players out of the game. As he can play the ball to him under pressure, another passing strength of Bissouma is on display. Arsenal are missing a player to play balls over to the right to isolate Saka/Pepe, instead, they use their RB to drill balls through the RHS to isolate them. Offering another route to isolating the RW will lead to Arsenal getting more chances as teams will have to prepare for a new level of threat instead of just cutting the RB-RW passes that are commonplace for Arsenal now.
Defensive awareness:
Bissouma can track runs from deep effectively & cut them out before the opposition can do anything that can endanger his team. He still needs to improve his anticipation somewhat as he’s caught out often by opposing attackers, which gives the opposition a clear run on goal.
There are 2 ways in which he can improve this:
1. He can change his positioning so that he’s constantly running on the side of the opposing player (he’s prone to conceding fouls if he’s in front of the player.)
2. If he doesn’t see himself getting the ball, he should do all he can to change the course of the player, he allows the opposition to get past him too easily as it is.
As highlighted in the picture, Yves Bissouma stops a dangerous opportunity from being forced through a well-timed tackle. For pure defensive work, he’s great, and he doesn’t have an issue with defending from any side of the pitch, that’s what Bissouma has going for him which is why he’s good enough at playing as a lone 6 for any club.
When he’s the only man available to track & tackle someone, he will always do it, even if there’s someone else close to him eventually which is both a positive and a negative. It’s a positive as there will be a minimal attacking threat from the opposition because of it but as Bissouma gets dragged out of position, he’ll have to rush back to retain his position or his team will be worse off.
Off the ball work:
Bissouma’s a ball winner. He’ll fight for every second ball, every interception & every tackle he could make because it’s what he seeks to do. That’s why he was able to chase for the stray ball/second ball & get his team on the front foot when Chelsea were about to assert attacking dominance in the game. Arsenal will then end up with a player that’s going to get them on the right side of fine margin opportunities, like 50-50 duels, edge of the pitch tackles etc. where Arsenal have seen themselves drop 5-10 points a season because of it.
Bissouma also tracks the runs of players when they’re in defence. When Chelsea were building from the back, Mason Mount dropped deep to receive the ball & progress further, this was picked up by Bissouma who applied adequate pressure to Mason Mount and Chelsea ended up building out wide which gave Brighton the time to get into their 5-1-3-1 defensive shape. Arsenal don’t lack intensity in this situation but they lack coordination in their pressing, Bissouma being a strong presser will lift the rest of the team and subsequently lead to a better press from the side.
Where does he fit into this Arsenal side:
Bissouma will slot into the LCM/LDM role currently occupied by Granit Xhaka in the 4-2-3-1 or as a CM in the 4-3-3, where he’ll just do the role that Granit Xhaka played (assuming Xhaka leaves/is on the bench.) If Arsenal signs an inverted RB to provide Arsenal with more defensive stability then Bissouma can operate as an 8 for Arsenal, with a license to roam up the pitch to win duels & get Arsenal on the attacking front foot.
General notes on Yves Bissouma:
As a 6, Bissouma has everything you want in one on paper. His passing is excellent, he covers a lot of ground quickly, contends for every ball & he holds his shape very well. He’s too attack-minded to be completely trusted as a lone DM & Arsenal should look to play a facilitating player ( an inverted right back) to let him learn the role as quickly as possible before allowing him to hold his own down.
Last Thoughts:
Yves Bissouma is a good player who does everything needed for a central midfield player. For >£35m, Arsenal should look to sign him if they’re looking for a third midfielder to rotate/compete with Granit Xhaka. If Xhaka leaves, there will be some problems with Bissouma’s adaptation as he’ll have to go from having a limited role where defending, ball-winning & distribution being his main focus to him having to look out for everyone else in the team, and keep Arsenal defensively strong. Either Granit Xhaka stays for another season with a 1-year contract extension, or Arsenal sign another midfielder on top of Bissouma to help with the Granit Xhaka problem (Locatelli, Sensi or any of the Italian Regista’s).
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.