As Emile Smith Rowe wheeled away to celebrate his fourth goal of the season in Arsenal’s 2-0 win at Leicester on Saturday, one could be forgiven for forgetting that just two months ago this club were supposedly in crisis.
Having lost their opening three games of the season – which featured the humiliating defeats to Brentford and Manchester City, and the submissive performance against Chelsea – it appeared as though Mikel Arteta’s head was on the block.
The tinkerer who makes Pep Guardiola’s management style appear positively standoffish just can’t resist messing with his team. Bursts of form have come to an end thanks to switched-out systems, individual errors derived from confusion.
The freakish inconsistency has won Arsenal an FA Cup and seen them fail to qualify for Europe under Arteta. It’s taken the Gunners two years to develop some real tangible solidity. And it’s now starting to show.
Arsenal lined up against Leicester with the same XI that beat Aston Villa 3-1 the previous weekend – and importantly the same midfield. It was a decision that won them the game.
Having Smith Rowe, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Thomas Partey and Bukayo Saka across a middle four has got this team motoring again. Note the absence of Nicolas Pepe and injured Granit Xhaka from that quartet.
On Saturday Smith Rowe in particular was an offensive asset all afternoon at the King Power, floating into pockets vacated by Alexandre Lacazette and evading Boubakary Soumare’s watchful eye.
The 21-year-old was on hand to bury a loose ball in the box after tireless work from his team-mates and put the Gunners two up within 19 minutes. It is now three league goals for the season for Smith Rowe – all of which have come when he’s been deployed on the left.
His versatility and drive on one flank is shared by Saka on the other. The England man has had a quiet start to the new season but when given the freedom to bomb forward, and the confidence of Takehiro Tomiyasu’s support, Saka lets his feet do the talking.
Why the wide men can provide persistent support for Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is because there is confidence in the those marshalling the middle of the pitch. Partey, last summer’s £45m acquisition built to go straight into the first XI, cannot protect Arsenal’s defence on his own. And that’s where Lokonga has come in, stepped up and walked all over Xhaka’s place.
At 22 Lokonga is by no means at the peak of his powers but already appears a more reliable midfield partner to Partey than Xhaka – a player who Arsenal couldn’t find a buyer for this summer and so gifted him a new three-year contract. Lokonga is compliant in his defensive duties and there to bounce off Smith Rowe when going forward.
The likes of Mohamed Elneny and Ainsley Maitland-Niles are rightly being overlooked, while in defence Benjamin White and Gabriel are forming a strong partnership. Arsenal have a unity that is working.
Of course, this unity will be tested not only by opposition teams but Arteta himself. The Spaniard doesn’t have Europe to worry about yet nevertheless loves a switch-up. Week-long waits between fixtures only gives the boss more time to tinker.
In times of crisis one expects managers to seek solutions. Arteta made four changes after losing to Brentford and five following the loss to Chelsea, switching the formation on both occasions. Following the 5-0 hammering at Manchester City – in which Arteta insisted his side dominated until the first goal seven minutes in – more changes came.
That’s what was needed, but even after the Gunners began stringing wins together Arteta continued to play around with formations and personnel.
Arsenal fans no-doubt buoyed by the team’s recent form, which has now stretched to seven wins in nine unbeaten games, will likely be expecting changes for no apparent reason. The one thing Arteta won’t change is his spots.
But the boss has found a system that works: a midfield that runs as a unit, a defensive partnership that can bat away most dangers and two strikers who individually pick locks. It won’t win them the Premier League title but Arsenal should be challenging for Europe.
The question over this team, then, is not its ability to win games, but the discipline of the manager to stick to those winning ways.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3GLtWcW
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