Arsenal have a problem. No, they don’t have a prolific centre-forward: but that in itself is not the issue with this team.
Last season, the Gunners hit a club-record number of points and goals – all with the much-maligned Kai Havertz leading the line. A cross between a false nine and a target man, the German was a revelation for Mikel Arteta in the run-in, as Arsenal won 16 of their final 18 fixtures in the Premier League.
And then the summer arrived. Arteta added four new faces – and completely turned his back on what on worked during that incredible run of form.
Why did Arsenal completely abandon the system that had worked so well for them?
Necessity is the mother of invention. With Oleksandr Zinchenko’s form wavering last season, Jurrien Timber picking up an anterior cruciate ligament injury and Takehiro Tomiyasu struggling with fitness, Arteta recalibrated his side – without an inverted full-back.
Zinchenko unlocked the Gunners in the summer of 2022, but last term, Jakub Kiwior’s more traditional take on the role enabled Arteta to keep things simple. Instead of a full-back stepping into midfield, Jorginho partnered Declan Rice in the centre of the pitch for big games. Kiwior, Gabriel and William Saliba formed the back three in possession, with Ben White overlapping Bukayo Saka.
The subtle tweak was accidentally perfect. Jorginho could dictate from deep, Rice could play box-to-box and Saka could move in-field to affect play. It made the summer window a simple one for the Gunners.
Arsenal didn’t need a new striker: they already had a man in the form of his life in Havertz, with Saka and Leandro Trossard chipping in either side. All they needed to sign, was a reliable overlapping presence for the left flank.
The reliance on the righthand side already obvious, with White, Saka and Odegaard an interweaving trio. So Arsenal signed a new left-back and a new left-sided midfielder, to provide a little support to Trossard, who had been left as an island on the left wing.
Yet neither Riccardo Calafiori, nor Mikel Merino, has effectively provided that overlap. Arsenal have another inverted left-back and a low-touch, box-to-box midfielder – and neither of them have played consistently. The Gunners didn’t address the major problem of the summer: and a new striker has nothing to do with it.
Arteta has returned to using inverted full-backs – and it’s doing nothing for the team
In fact, Arteta has doubled down on using inverted full-backs. Thomas Partey has been used as a makeshift inverted right-back to mixed results. Myles Lewis-Skelly is a midfielder who cuts inside in possession. Timber has been Arsenal’s best full-back all season… and he hasn’t been tasked with inverting on the right. Coincidence?
When Arsenal use inverted full-backs, it only creates space for Rice and Martin Odegaard, rather than the wide players… a little like this.
Raheem Sterling, meanwhile, was essentially used as a touchline winger against Manchester United in the FA Cup when he came on. The Gunners’ positional fluidity is masterful when it works – but when it doesn’t, it leaves them looking static around the penalty area.
If Arsenal could instead use their full-backs to provide the width, like Liverpool do, they’d be getting their more dangerous players closer to goal – with the left-footed Odegaard an option, even, to overlap on the left… a little like this.
Manchester City all but abandoned using inverted full-backs with John Stones developing his game to drift into midfield, while last season, they used Kyle Walker and Josko Gvardiol as traditional touchline-huggers to push Phil Foden into the centre from wide positions. Arsenal did this, too, last season – and picked up 48 points from 54, as a result.
Arteta bringing on Kieran Tierney ahead of Zinchenko against United might provide a clue that the system from the second half of the season is due a return. Fans may curse not having a clinical striker – but Arteta has found a solution to not having one in the past. He may well have to revert to those ideas again.
