Arteta’s Lopsided Attack? 2021/22 Season Preview

Last season, Mikel Arteta tried to maintain the “Beautiful Attacking Football” legacy of last two decades. But EPL managers were wise to it, knew how to stop his swift counter-attacks by deploying “Rotational Foul” man-markers, and players to deliberately body-check or pull back our pacy forwards in our half to stop them in their track.

One major reason that in 2020/21 Mikel Arteta failed to recognize this is the basic football coach’s creed: 

“To never choose an organizational form that conflict with the qualities of your team, made to satisfy one’s ego when one’s does not have the players to play it.” We’ve had quite a bit of that in the last five years. Ed)

Tactically, 2020/21 Mikel Arteta was extremely rigid in his obsession to retain possession with “Tiki Taka Football”, waiting for the right or opportune moment to slip in the pass to create a goal-scoring chance. But teams are packing the box to counter his passing game, knowing that his team final ball is invariably misdirected or just out of sheer desperation, losing the patience to breakdown a packed defence and simply passed the ball. 

When playing 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3, Mikel Arteta is always planning on playing in the opponents’ half of the field and defending far away from your own goal. This is the reason that the opponents have a lot of space to play dangerous counter-attacks. And why Arsenal lost so many games last season. 

Of course, the advantage of possession play is that you play close to the opponents’ goal, and you can keep them constantly under pressure. In addition, a lot of open space is created in the centre of the field. The players in the centre need to be tactically competent. That is, if you often lose possession of the ball unnecessarily as seen last season, you will be vulnerable against a team who can execute swift counter attack with skill and guile. After all, you give opponents a lot of space behind your defence and create overload like three attackers against one or two lone defenders. 

Mikel Arteta cannot play a pure 3-4-3 system. He does not have the tactical players to carry the play in the system where the central players have to move up and down the field as a tactical unit, especially if you keep giving away a lot of space on your own half. And you must be able to count on an excellent defensive line, who are great in the one-to-one duels and are also able to defend space. They must be strong, both mentally and tactically. It is extremely important that the central defender is fast, because the second central defender will move up during the build-up. There will be no one to cover his back. 

Furthermore, the average qualities of the players in the midfield did not help the cause. Thomas Partey is still lacking the tactical awareness to move up and down the middle to create plays, abysmal shooting skill and yet to develop the communication links with forwards and fellow midfielders. Xhaka, being Xhaka, is just too inconsistent to be a dependable central midfielder as the “glue” to link up Defence with Forward-line. Hence, Mikel Arteta had an average Midfield that cannot play 4-3-3 or even 4-2-3-1 with their lack of communication with all the lines. 

The basic task of central midfield players is to control the midfield and therefore their direct opponents. Their attacking task was to go deep when possible and to support the attackers. Unfortunately, in Arsenal case, when Partey started to drive forward, our central midfield players lost their tactical discipline to their basic task – controlling the midfield. Compounding this problem, Partey and Xhaka did not stay close enough to their direct opponent when the other team is in possession of the ball. 

The fatal flaw of last season’ initial few months of 2020 was that Mikel Arteta should not have choosen to play 4-3-3 if he does not have fast defenders who excel in the 1-to-1 duels, and who are exceptional in the positional play to dominate large spaces. Our central defenders lacked the individual qualities to play 4-3-3 during the build-up with the attacking qualities to overload the opponents’ defence with lopsided attacks. 

Whither Mikel Arteta 2021/22 season? 

Can Arteta get the right balance in the coming season? In Kieran Tierney, we have a superb LB cum LWB, a proven left-side triangle in Tierney-Saka-Aubameyang or Tierney-Saka-Pepe to overload defence. Not forgetting Martinelli who is superb in cutting into centre and turning the corner against opponent’s RB. 

The reason why Arteta is so keen on Ben White is his perception that Ben can offers “leadership”, a ball-playing CB that can drive forward with tactical awareness and superb passing ability. Arteta can play 3-5-2 with Gabriel-White-Chambers as the ball-playing CBs who can drive forward with passing ability. 

Bellerin and AMN? 

It is a pity that AMN cannot gets his head screwed on straight like Lauren. He will make a superb, if not a world-class, RWB that plays ahead of Back-3 and hugs the bye-line. Both Bellerin and AMN have ability to cut in-field as an extra attacking CM to overload the centre, leaving behind a stranded RB for our RW to go out and run behind the stranded opponent’s RB who is facing two “attackers” now, AMN and RW. 

Chambers should be our RCB as he had proven that he can support the right-side attack, hug the bye-line, cut inward; and I rated him as our best crosser down the right flank. 

If Chambers is driving forward, Tierney will shift to LCB with Tierney-Gabriel-White playing a high-line and has the pace to protect the wide-open space behind them against swift counter-attacks. 

Bellerin is still a vital member of 2021/22 Arsenal team as long as AMN still listen to his ego to play as CM and refuses to be coached by Mikel Arteta into a superb England International wingback. Mikel Arteta needs to sign an attacking RB if both of these players decided to leave. Soares is the back-up attacking RB. 

Centre Midfield? 

Hopefully, Partey had recovered from all his niggling injuries, a full pre-season training, and finally developed communication with his team-mates and an understanding of what Mikel Arteta expected form him. Partey left Athletico Madrid simply he became frustrated at playing in the base of the Midfield Diamond and Simeone stopped him from going past the centre-line and made him rigidly stick to his role as the defensive anchor. 

He jumped at the opportunity offered by Mikel Arteta to go box-to-box and be part of the creative force. Jury is still out but perhaps with Albert Sambi Lokonga, he will have a pacy and defensive midfielder that can cover the space vacated by Partey when he drives forward.  

Let’ hope that 2021/22 is the breakout season for Miguel Azeez, that Mikel Arteta can coach him as well as Arsene Wenger coached a young Patrick Vieira. If he fulfils his potential, we will have a fine central midfielder to complete the 2021/22 squad. 

ESR? 

He is neither fish nor fowl. What is his best role – winger or attacking midfielder? 

I see him as a “De Bruyne” with similar running style but lack creative playmaking. Can Mikel Arteta coach him into a “Roberto Pires” that can hug the line, create plays and scores? Or a 10+ league goals per season “Freddy Ljungberg”? 

Last season, we saw a dynamic ESR that turned the corner against defenders, a shimmy that left defenders dead, and link-up plays with forwards driving into the box. But he lacks Odegaard’s nous or even Xhaka’s in controlling the tempo of the game, an eye for a penetrating through balls and creative playmaking. ESR is just a runner that can spot a pass through the lines, but never the tactical awareness like Odegaard with a measured pass that caught defenders off-guard. 

ESR simply lacks that peripheral vision that just glimpsed at the state of plays on the pitch, and the knack to select the right pass, then pass and move in anticipation of the return pass. ESR lacks that Fabregas’ vision of seeing an opening a split-second before the defender, and that intrinsic ability to see one or two plays ahead of his opponents. ESR will be world-class if Mikel Arteta can coach him to develop that peripheral vision with improving tactical awareness on the pitch. 

If Mikel Arteta does not have the funds to buy a No. 10 that can fit into his team, then, his tactics should be lopsided attacks with wingbacks at pace in a 3-5-2 with attacking triangles all over the pitch. 

Aubameyang? Pepe? 

The key in 3-5-2 with Aubameyang-Pepe pairing is how to get Aubameyang involved like during latter part of 2019/20 with FA Cup as proof that left-side attacking 3-4-3 is working when the team is playing as one compact unit. 

During pre-season training, it is vital that Aubameyang must be re-integrated into the team at left-side triangle with Aubameyang given that same 2019/20 freedom to drift from left to centre and vice-versa with the likes of Tierney, Saka, Pepe, ESR, Partey, et al giving Aubameyang more of the balls instead of playing intricate triangles amongst themselves leaving a frustrated Aubameyang out in the cold. 

ESR should play ahead of both Partey-Lokonga with a free role to overload both flanks and allow wingbacks attacking down the flanks to turn the corner or cut in-field. 

ESR is a wonderful player, keeping his plays simple and to pass the ball quickly. Mikel Arteta must harness these positive attributes of ESR to play swift counter-attacking footballs with more verticality in opponents’ half instead of sterile Tiki Taka Football, executing 100+ passes without any attempt at penetration at all, just waiting and waiting for the “perfect moment” which rarely comes in a packed box with 11 players. 

The best I can hope for ESR is that he can hug the bye-line, score and defend like Freddy Ljungberg. 

In summary, will Mikel Arteta learn to rectify lopsided attacks or will he still persists with outmoded and possession-based “Barca Tiki Taka Football” without verticality?