In the 1925 close season, Chapman had already set about improving his squad for a third successive title (something which had never been achieved before). At the same time, Arsenal were looking for a replacement for the sacked Leslie Knighton, with Arsenal chairman Sir Henry Norris placing an advertisement in the Athletic News.
“Arsenal Football Club is open to receive applications for the position of TEAM MANAGER. He must be experienced and possess the highest qualifications for the post, both as to ability and personal character. Gentlemen whose sole ability to build up a good side depends on the payment of heavy and exorbitant transfer fees need not apply.”
Despite the fact Arsenal had been fighting relegation the previous two seasons, and the chairman's restriction on spending, Chapman moved to Arsenal soon after, attracted both by the London club's larger crowds and a salary of £2,000, double what he earned at Huddersfield Town. At Arsenal, Chapman immediately made an impact by signing 34-year-old Charlie Buchan, an England international and Sunderland's all-time record goalscorer, whom he made Arsenal captain.
Chapman and Buchan's arrival at the club coincided with a change in the laws of the game in June 1925, that modified the offside law. The change had reduced the number of opposition players that an attacker needed between himself and the goal-line from three to two (including the goalkeeper). Buchan's idea, implemented by Chapman, was to move the centre half from a roaming position in midfield to a "stopper" position in defence. With the inside forwards brought back to help the midfield, this changed the usual formation from 2–3–5 to 3–4–3, or a "WM", so called after the shape it formed spelled out the letters. This meant the offside trap was now the responsibility of the single centre half, while the full backs were pushed wider to cover the wings.
Arsenal were by no means the only team to have come up with the idea of dropping the centre half into defence – Newcastle United beat Arsenal 7–0 that season employing such a system with Charlie Spencer at centre-half; Queen's Park and Tottenham Hotspur had also adopted similar systems. However, Chapman was able to refine and improve on the idea better than his rivals, melding the tactical change with his own ideas on counter-attacking football, pacy wingers and a strong defence. Chapman himself summed it up by saying: "the most opportune time for scoring is immediately after repelling an attack, because opponents are then strung out in the wrong half of the field."
Arsenal went on to finish second in 1925–26, five points behind Chapman's old side Huddersfield Town, as they became the first club in England to manage three titles in a row. However this proved to be an early dawn and Arsenal spent most of the rest of the twenties in mid-table, as Chapman took his time finding the right players to fit his new system, outlining a five year plan for success. He retained relatively few players of his predecessor Knighton's era – Bob John, Alf Baker and Jimmy Brain being the exceptions – and instead looked to bringing in talent elsewhere.
In February 1926, he signed the pacy winger Joe Hulme, followed that summer by forward Jack Lambert and full-back Tom Parker, who would later succeed Buchan as captain.[61] Although Arsenal's league form was indifferent, in 1927 they reached the FA Cup Final, their first, but lost 1–0 to Cardiff City after an error by goalkeeper Dan Lewis.
The same year, Arsenal became embroiled in a scandal; footballers' pay at the time was limited by a maximum wage, but an FA enquiry found that Charlie Buchan had secretly received illegal payments from Arsenal as an incentive to sign for the club. Sir Henry Norris was indicted for his part and banned from football, but Chapman escaped punishment, and with the autocratic Norris replaced by the more benign Samuel Hill-Wood, Chapman's power and influence within the club increased, allowing him control over all aspects of the club's business. He persevered in building the club, strengthening his attacking lineup with the signings of David Jack in 1928, and Alex James and Cliff Bastin in 1929. As with his previous teams, Chapman also worked on improving his defence, with the signings of Herbie Roberts and Eddie Hapgood at centre half and left back respectively.
It was the signing of David Jack in particular, that highlighted Chapman's cunning when it came to transfer negotiations. Bolton had originally asked for a fee of £13,000, almost double the existing record at the time. Bob Wall, Chapman's personal assistant at the time, later recounted the negotiations he made with Bolton's directors as follows:
“ We arrived at the hotel half-an-hour early. Chapman immediately went into the lounge bar. He called the waiter, placed two pound notes in his hand and said: "George, this is Mr Wall, my assistant. He will drink whisky and dry ginger. I will drink gin and tonic. We shall be joined by guests. They will drink whatever they like. See that our guests are given double of everything, but Mr Wall's whisky and dry ginger will contain no whisky, and my gin and tonic will contain no gin."
Chapman's subterfuge succeeded, as he managed to bargain the inebriated Bolton directors down to £10,890.
Chapman had laid out a five-year plan for success in 1925, and it came to fruition exactly on schedule, as his Arsenal won their first major trophy in the 1930 FA Cup Final, beating his old side, Huddersfield Town, 2–0. Despite having only finished 14th in the League the same season, the win spurred Arsenal on and laid the foundations for a decade in which Arsenal would become the dominant team in England and eventually win five league titles.
Chapman had by now perfected the ruthless, counter-attacking football he had been honing. Up front, he employed a robust front line of Lambert supported by David Jack and Alex James as deep-lying inside forwards, filling the gap vacated by the movement of the centre half into defence; Alex James in particular, with his passing supplying the front men, became celebrated as the engine of the team during the coming decade. Chapman employed Bastin and Hulme as pacy wingers who could cut inside instead of hugging the touchline; they could either shoot for goal themselves or pick each other out if the centre forward was marked out of the game. With the exception of James, keeping and dwelling on the ball and individuality were discouraged in favour of a quick passing game, although Chapman still conceded: "all the men are expected to play to plan, but not so as to stifle individuality."
Chapman's tactics of fast-moving play meant the wing half line of John and Jones were now pushed in to cover central midfield, pivoting around the halfway line so that they could drop back to defend when necessary.[68] Chapman was also equally committed to a strong defence, saying maintaining a back line was "the rock bottom of football". Arsenal's defence were told to play deep and with the support of the wing halves, fall back into their own penalty area when the opposition had the ball; this allowed the opposition plenty of possession in Arsenal's half, until they reached the 18-yard line and faced a massed defence. Once Arsenal regained the ball – usually through the centre half Herbie Roberts – the ball would be quickly passed forward and the wing halves would push up to support the attackers, meaning Arsenal could quickly commit as many as seven men forward as a unit to rapidly attack and score.
Chapman's system demanded a high level of fitness from his players, something which he emphasised strongly upon. He also balanced the need for players suited to each task – something which his skill in spotting the right players and his extensive scouting network proved vital – with adapting his system to account for their abilities. Though highly effective, Chapman's fast, counter-attacking passing approach to football contrasted with how the game was traditionally played in England at the time, with its emphasis on dribbling, possession and dwelling on the ball, and thus brought
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