MIKEL ARTETA can hide behind a thinly-veiled layer of positivity all he wants – but he must know Arsenal are seriously struggling. After all, the table doesn’t lie… and the Gunners sit 15th after the 2-0 North London derby loss against Tottenham. It’s the club’s worst start to a season since 1974-75 when they finished 16th, […]
MIKEL ARTETA can hide behind a thinly-veiled layer of positivity all he wants – but he must know Arsenal are seriously struggling.
After all, the table doesn’t lie… and the Gunners sit 15th after the 2-0 North London derby loss against Tottenham.
It’s the club’s worst start to a season since 1974-75 when they finished 16th, only avoiding relegation by the skin of their teeth in the final month.
For now, Arteta will simply be relieved there are at least three teams worse than Arsenal.
But a club of our calibre shouldn’t be adopting that sort of negative mindset.
Arsenal finished the 2019-20 season strongly and even won the FA Cup, beating some top-level teams in the process.
Arteta needs to take a long, hard look at his tactics and find something that works before this weekend’s clash with Burnley.
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While Dundalk may not provide the sternest test in Thursday night’s Europa League draw, the boss could – and should – use the trip to experiment.
Here are five things Arteta MUST do to save Arsenal’s season…
Arteta seems far too cautious in his approach – which is adversely affecting moral and the team’s performances.
He must give his talented players the licence to express themselves by taking risks… attempt some ambitious passes, take your man on one-on-one…
Simply passing the ball sideways over and over again is less about possession and more about passing the buck to a team-mate.
Now is the time to be brave and pick players on merit, not by their past achievements, loyalty, or reputation.
We all know Willian is a superb footballer at his best, but he is either past his peak or short on confidence.
Playing the Brazilian over and over again in the hope he finds his form is a luxury Arteta can no longer afford – and it will have an adverse effect on Reiss Nelson and Nicolas Pepe.
The same applies to the midfield partnership of Granit Xhaka and Dani Ceballos; it worked well during last season’s run-in, but plainly isn’t now.
With Thomas Partey potentially sidelined through injury, the best like-for-like replacement could just be Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
The young man must be desperate to play in his preferred central role after years of filling in at full-back.
His Man of the Match display, admittedly against a weak Rapid Vienna side, suggests he can add some much-needed athleticism to Arsenal’s play.
The England international makes runs with the ball, attempts give-and-go passes and crucially get into the opposition penalty area.
Unlike Xhaka and Ceballos, Maitland-Niles has the pace and energy to track back quickly when needed.
Arteta’s move to a 4-2-3-1 is a positive sign, but that on its own is not enough without resolving the desperate need for a natural No10.
I don’t want a Mesut Ozil style player just behind the striker – the team needs a link-up player, someone comfortable between the lines, who can beat a man and has an eye for a pass.
Playing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang centrally without the link player is pointless.
Arteta has tried both Joe Willock and Alexandre Lacazette in the hole – and neither worked.
The standout candidate is Emile Smith Rowe.
I would love Arteta to use him there on Thursday, build his confidence and – if it works – take him off after 60 minutes with a view to starting him against Burnley.
But there is one final, crucial change to implement: the use of the fullbacks.
Both Kieran Tierney and Hector Bellerin like to attack and should be encouraged to do so… but with some ground rules.
First and foremost, if one fullback is pushing forward in attack, the other should stay, leaving three at the back at all times, helping to protect against the counter-attack.
And while Arteta applauded the number of crosses his team tossed into the box against Spurs, the majority were lofted or overhit.
Our crosses from overlapping fullbacks needs to either be simple cut-backs or low and hard across the six-yard box.
With the likes of Aubameyang, Lacazette, Nketiah and Smith-Rowe in the team – and no Olivier Giroud-style target man – this is how Arsenal will be most effective.
*Follow Dave Seager on Twitter…
