Starting the new season with a surprise, Mikel Arteta selected a line-up that was enigmatic enough for pre-match analysts to come up with umpteen predicted ways of setting up. Was this three at the back? Thomas Partey as right-back? Declan Rice as an auxiliary centre-back? What is going on?
Well, we had all better get used to it.
Variation is the name of Arteta’s new game, and it is central to the next phase of his team’s development. Part of the search for solutions to some of the problems his team encountered last season is the ability to be much more flexible. That involves a big cast of versatile, technically accomplished players who are able to think creatively and move around the pitch and do multiple jobs.
Different formations, different emphasis or numbers within the defensive, midfield or offensive sectors, different starters, different finishers. This is the plan as Arsenal evolve and look to push on. Asked if he expects a lot of variants in his team selection this season, Arteta nodded his head with a noticeably purposeful look.
“That’s my job,” he explained. “To create bigger problems for the opponent than the ones they are creating for us and to play the best possible way to earn the right to win the game. In order to do that we have to pick the right players to win the game every week.”
Hence Arsenal opened the season adopting a back three in possession — and there was plenty of it — which meant Gabriel was an unexpected substitute. Partey played an Oleksandr Zinchenko-esque fusion rule: midfield when Arsenal had the ball, right back on the rare occasions they didn’t. It allowed Arsenal to be more front-footed, more difficult to track and keep at bay.
73 – This is the first time Gabriel Magalhães has not been named in a Premier League starting XI for Arsenal since August 2021 in a 5-0 defeat to Manchester City. It ends the Brazilian’s run of 73 consecutive league starts for the Gunners. Tactical? pic.twitter.com/z0WMVTHeFW
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 12, 2023
Not many teams would fancy monitoring a moveable feast around their box which includes Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz, and Gabriel Martinelli, playing off a frontman that was in this case Eddie Nketiah. In the groove, it is dizzying as they switch and spin and flick passes between them.
In fairness, Arsenal didn’t do that all the time as they are still working on sharpness and automatisms. They were a bit tentative at points, maybe to be expected as they tried out a new system with three new players. But if you can work on a few new ideas while winning, nobody is complaining.
When they upped the tempo towards the end of the first half, there was Arteta’s vision in action. Low blocks are a pain to break down, so an extra offensive player or two in the mix can pull an organised defence out of shape. “We needed somebody else in midfield to do what we did best, to have more fluidity and occupy certain spaces in relation to how they’re defending,” Arteta observed.
Arsenal’s trigger was Martinelli. His dynamism revved the game up. Bursting forward, he twirled between two players with a pirouette as pretty as you will see to produce a backheeled flick for Eddie Nketiah. The crowd gasped in appreciation when it was replayed on the big screen. Nketiah, so hungry to make an impact, fizzed his shot into the near post.
Arsenal were unshackled. William Saliba and Partey popped possession around close to the right corner flag, and when Saka got hold of it he caught the ball with an intoxicating mix of ferocity and flair, brutality and beauty. It whipped and curled its way past Matt Turner and was at that moment a reminder of how fortunate Arsenal are to have this diamond in their colours. Let’s not forget that contract extensions for Saka, Martinelli and Saliba were at least as important as anything else Arsenal did this summer.
We’re back 🔴 pic.twitter.com/t5Cztah15x
— Bukayo Saka (@BukayoSaka87) August 12, 2023
The way Arteta spoke afterwards about the three young players whose attacking gave Arsenal their win — despite the scare of a goal conceded and a tense finale — was insightful. So much of what he appreciates is about attitude and application as well as ability.
Nketiah’s dervish-like training to send the message that his manager must be “blind” if he didn’t pick him made an impression. So, too, Martinelli’s tenacity in racing back to recover the ball as well as flying forward with waspish determination. As for Saka, Arteta’s view symbolises what he thinks not just about this star turn, but also by extension anyone who wants to excel in his team.
“What I ask from all the players is to be the best version of themselves,” he said. “That’s all they can do. They are so eager to do that every single day. When that happens, they will for sure be better, they will compete better and they will understand the game better to make better decisions.”
Next game, next week, next month will see different variations in Arsenal’s makeup. Arsenal needed to revert to a back four when Forest launched themselves in the latter stages of the game and caused considerable discomfort. The pressure pile-on of hoiking direct balls to big, fast chasers is another matter for Arsenal to work on. That’s why they conceded often at home last term, with the exposure of individual errors costing a goal quite frequently.
Arteta is keyed up to making sure his team is well-balanced to finish games — and might have to look very different by then. Havertz spent some time up front. Leandro Trossard excelled as a sub leading the breakaways. Takehiro Tomiyasu was preferred to replace Jurrien Timber, and Arsenal will hope the injury that forced him off is not too serious. Soon Gabriel Jesus and Zinchenko are coming back. Options will abound, as long as fitness permits.
This time last year, Arsenal opened their season with a starting XI that fast became the undeniable first choice. The names rattled off the tongue. Any change over the first couple of months was a consequence of injury.
Now, every game has the promise of unpredictability, with a squad that has to live with heightened competition inside the club and out.
(Photo: Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
