Kolo Toure interview: ‘Could Bukayo Saka have played for Arsenal’s Invincibles? Absolutely’

Welcome to the Arsenal Advent Calendar: The Invincibles edition. Every day in the build-up to Christmas, The Athletic will bring subscribers content to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Arsenal’s unbeaten season in 2003-04. It could be a short news story, a feature, a long interview, or a segment of audio. It might be published early or late in the day.

Whatever it is, there will be a little something, a reminder, or a new take on an event during that campaign. If you miss a day or want to gorge on it all at once, like the small chocolates in your advent calendars, we won’t judge.

Simply step this way to find all the pieces in one place. Enjoy!

Kolo Toure is a big admirer of the work Mikel Arteta has done at Arsenal.

“He’s doing an amazing job,” the former Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool defender tells The Athletic. “For me, he’s right up there with Pep (Guardiola, who Arteta coached under at City). If he carries on doing what he’s doing — tactically, motivationally, his football IQ, his leadership, and if he maintains his own motivation, too — he can achieve a lot.”

Like Arteta, Toure is a former Arsenal favourite who in retirement has turned his focus to coaching. After spells on Brendan Rodgers’ staff at Celtic in Scotland and Leicester City, the 42-year-old took the job at Wigan Athletic in November last year, becoming the first African manager to lead a senior men’s team in English football.

Barely two months later, however, he was dismissed by the then Championship club after failing to win any of his first nine games. “It was my responsibility to make it work and it didn’t work,” Toure acknowledges. “I accept that. But if I were to do it again, I would be more cautious.

“Instead of trying to implement a new style of play immediately, the first strategy would be to use the players’ strengths to make sure that we win games. When you win games, fans are more confident, players are more confident, and then you can slowly start implementing your main ideas. I tried to change everything quickly — the system, the style. It was too much.”

Despite that swift setback in English football’s second tier, Toure is determined to make a swift return to management. “I want to have my own team,” he says. “I’ve spent time learning from Brendan, doing my badges, and now this is my time — to have a team of my own, as the head coach: to use my ideas, implement my strategy, design the training programmes — everything.”

Today, however, Toure’s focus is on former club Arsenal, as he analyses the team Arteta has built.

In the course of our conversation, Toure commandeers coffee cups, mobile phones and bunches of keys to help illustrate tactical points. At one stage, he even jumps up to demonstrate defensive body positioning. His infectious enthusiasm for the game is undiminished by that Wigan experience.

Our analysis starts with an archetypal Arsenal goal: a beautifully-crafted Gabriel Jesus header from the 4-3 victory over Luton Town almost two weeks ago.

“When you play against a back five, either in a 5-3-2 or 5-4-1, it’s really difficult to penetrate,” Toure says.

“In this situation, Bukayo Saka coming inside creates the opportunity to play the pass immediately to Ben White. White becomes the winger there and Saka becomes an additional midfielder to create an overload.

“Saka comes up against double-marking a lot of the time. This is one solution: moving inside into midfield and also taking a marker away with an overlapping run.”

The concept of an inverting winger is something Toure knows well from his Invincibles days. “Now we talk a lot about inverted wingers coming inside to make the fourth man,” he says. “But we used to do that back in the day! Robert Pires played on the left but was really a No 10. He used to come inside to be a fourth man in midfield and create an overload.

“Arsene (Wenger, the manager) wouldn’t say, ‘Robert, you need to invert’. He just picked the players based on their style. He was incredible at that: understanding the chemistry.”

Back to Luton…

“Alfie Doughty, the left-back, feels he has to jump out to Saka,” says Toure. “That creates a gap which allows White to run into the space. That rotation between White and Saka creates that opportunity.

“Because the ball is played onto White’s right foot, he can chip the ball to the far post. Then you can see the overload on the back post.”

“(Gabriel) Martinelli has come inside, it’s three versus three. The centre-back makes the mistake of following (Kai) Havertz and that creates space for Jesus. It’s intelligent from Jesus because he waits back. It’s a great goal: rotation on the side, Saka coming inside to create the overload and disturb the structure and White making the run in the space.”

Toure says these interchanges of position between the likes of White, Saka and Martin Odegaard are integral to how Arsenal play.

“Arsenal are brilliant at those rotations,” says the 118-cap Ivory Coast international. “When the full-back passes the ball down the line to Saka, the opposition full-back will jump and press him. So the winger runs inside and the full-backs play the ball into that space.”

“It’s amazing movement, and they do it on both wings.”

Saka is a recurring topic in our conversation.

“One-on-one, he is the best winger in the Premier League,” says Toure emphatically. “He can take on any player, even two players, no problem. There aren’t many players in the league who play like him. A lot of players look for passing or combination, but when you have a dribbler like Saka, you want him to go one-on-one. He can pass players and create an overload through his dribbling.

“Could he have played for The Invincibles? Absolutely.”

When you have a player who is so effective in such one-on-one duels, the key is to orchestrate those scenarios as frequently as possible. “Ideally, you have to play early,” Toure says. “When you get the ball wide, move it with speed — that’s where the winger has to earn their money.

“The winger is one of the most crucial positions in football. The team works so hard to get to that position. If you just keep recycling possession, it will be a long day. They are the ones who have to find ways to put the defence under pressure.”

In this example from the December 2 home match against Wolves, Declan Rice plays the ball with pace out to Saka on the flank.

“Look how he fixes the defender,” says Toure. “OK, it’s not a great cross from Saka, but look how many players are in the box: four, with one more arriving in (Oleksandr) Zinchenko. That’s something Arsenal do well.”

“Right now in football, people talk about expected goals. But for me, the best measure is: when you cross the ball, how many players do you have in the opposition box? If you cross the ball and there’s only one striker in there, you’re unlikely to score. Four players? Now we can talk about an expected goal! For a centre-back, it’s a big problem; very complicated to defend.”

A quick one-two between Zinchenko and Jesus allows the Ukrainian to pull the ball back to goalscorer Odegaard.

“It’s a brilliant spot from Zinchenko,” says Toure. “It looks simple, but that’s because Zinchenko has the vision. He has a look and Odegaard has his hand up and is calling for it.”

“But look: six players in the box, two on the edge. That’s the biggest tactical point to take away.”

When they are afforded the space, this Arsenal team also carry a threat on counter-attacks. Take this Odegaard goal against Lens in the Champions League a couple of weeks ago.

The move begins with a clearance from Gabriel Magalhaes that sets Saka away. Note Takehiro Tomiyasu’s position deep inside his own penalty area.

“This is fantastic,” says Toure. “Saka fixes the defender. The guy is dropping, he’s scared — he knows if he goes tight, Saka can go past him.

Full-back Tomiyasu then sprints the length of the pitch to provide Saka with a supporting run.

“The distance he covers is incredible,” Toure says. “The space is more narrow, so he goes there. It’s intelligent. But look how far he runs — 80 metres? He gives everything to make that run beyond Saka. It shows the team’s commitment, the physicality, the speed, and the willingness to score.”

“It’s a good cross — to be honest, I think maybe he was looking for Jesus. Jesus sees Odegaard coming and leaves the ball.”

“But what do Arsenal do again? Flood the box. Five players — and from a counter-attack!”

Club captain Odegaard is the beneficiary again here and Toure is pleased to see the Norwegian developing into a reliable goalscorer. “If you play No 8 or No 10, you have to score goals,” he says. “You arrive in the box late and that makes you the most difficult guy to mark. The centre-back is occupied with the striker and can’t always be looking over their shoulder.”

Tomiyasu also played a part in the late winner away against Brentford the following weekend.

“Look at Tomiyasu’s position there: inverted full-back. He brings the marker from Brentford inside, creating space on the wing for Odegaard and Saka. Then Declan Rice plays a great ball wide.”

“Saka doesn’t always have to go on the outside. He can also come back inside and look for half-space crosses. Arsenal like to do that and overload the back post.”

Once again, Arsenal are looking for numerical superiority in the attacking third. That comes with risks. “To do that, you need defenders who are quick, have power, and are very intelligent so they can defend one-on-one,” says Toure.

That defensive intensity can come from surprising sources. Toure cites Martinelli chasing back in the Wolves game to cover for Zinchenko as one such example.

“When people talk about Arsenal defending, they talk about William Saliba, Gabriel. But look at this from Martinelli — he defends like a proper full-back there, with aggression, speed and power. Thirty seconds later, he has a shot at the other end. When you look at the fitness levels, you can see the intensity in training must be there. It’s incredible.”

“Zinchenko lost the ball, but look at the commitment to support his team-mate. It shows togetherness. When your team-mate does something like that for you, it’s so valuable. If Martinelli loses the ball, Zinchenko will die to get the ball back for him. That comes from the mentality Arteta brings. His team fight for every ball. They know they all have to attack and defend together.”

That he has inspired such commitment says a lot about Arteta’s man-management skills. Perhaps he, like Toure, learned a lot watching Wenger while playing for his Arsenal teams. “He was a master of that,” says Toure. “He managed old players differently from the young players. When you were young, Arsene gave you reassurance. For the older players, he gave you ownership — he gave you the keys to the team.”

That hunger to regain possession has been a hallmark of Arteta’s team this season. “Arsenal want to win every single ball, they are so aggressive,” says Toure. “Second balls are massive in football, even if you are technically very good.”

The addition of West Ham captain Rice in the summer has helped in that regard. “He’s doing very well,” says Toure. “I think he’s best as a No 6, as a controller. Winning second balls, commitment, dedication, hard work for the team — they’re his strengths for me. Physically, he’s amazing. He’s bossing the middle with his strength and his power. He carries the ball brilliantly — I think that’s more natural to him than the passing game.

“He’s a bit like Gilberto (Silva, in Arsenal’s Invincibles side). As a centre-back, you dream of having a player like that in front of you. You know you have an honest guy who sacrifices himself for the team. That’s what this No 6 position is about — doing the dirty work the attacking players can’t do.

“You have to beat him before you get to the defenders. That triangle of the two centre-backs and Rice is incredible.”

That triangle is in action in our next passage of play, against Chelsea in October.

When Marc Cucurella has space on the ball, Saliba anticipates a pass towards Moises Caicedo in the channel. “He has the speed to get there, but also he knows Declan Rice will take his position,” points out Toure. “He knows Rice will do his job.”

Once he gets there, Saliba shows delicate close control to help Arsenal retain possession. “Instead of just clearing, he keeps the ball. He’s composed and tries to build the play again. He can play with both feet, too.”

His physical and technical qualities are well known, but fellow centre-back Toure believes Saliba deserves more credit for the mental side: “He’s got speed, he’s got power — but he can also read the game very well.”

Saliba needed to use all those attributes to win his duel with Erling Harland when City came to the Emirates Stadium earlier in October. Twice the 22-year-old Frenchman went shoulder to shoulder with the Norwegian striker and twice he came out on top.

“There’s no pressure on the ball. Haaland changes speed, so he changes his speed, too,” says Toure. “He comes tight to him rather than just running in parallel and crucially, he doesn’t let Haaland get in front of him.

“He uses his strength and power to stop the guy, but his anticipation of the play is really good.”

Saliba is helped by having such an impressive senior partner in Gabriel. Toure highlighted the Brazilian’s one-on-one defending in that Premier League fixture against Wolves and the Champions League game against Lens a few days earlier.

“As soon as they’re in the box, Gabriel doesn’t want to give any space to this guy to shift and shoot,” explains Toure.

“He stays close to him and he stays low. Look how low he is. That low body position gives him more balance and more power in his turning.”

“(Matheus) Cunha does well to go past him but he recovers well, using his agility and his strength. It’s maybe a bit lucky, but it comes from taking up a good position early on.”

Toure also admires the way Saliba and Gabriel are willing to “jump” out of position to win the ball high, as in this situation against Lens.

“Gabriel reads the situation well and he has the power to get there. Even before the ball is played he is on the move.”

Although this ball-winning ability is principally a defensive action, Toure points out there is also a potential attacking upside.

“Look at how many players Arsenal have in the final third,” he says. “If they win it and keep it, they may well score.

“You need two defenders who can jump to defend the space in front, who can run back towards their own goal when needed and cover the wide areas. Saliba and Gabriel can do it all.”

From a defender of Toure’s quality, an Invincible champion in his playing days, that is some endorsement.

(Photo: Michael Regan – The FA/The FA via Getty Images)