Sticking to 343

Arsenal’s transfer policy should be built around the formation Mikel Arteta chooses to play.

Currently we play 343 but there has always been the though that Arteta will switch to 433.

Perhaps the thinking behind him switching has always been misguided and that Arteta will actually stick to 343 for the season?

Aouar is a fantastic player, but he has excelled for Lyon in a midfield 3 or on the wing, where he is able to drive forward.

343 with 2 in the middle does not suit Auoar.

What is suits is Dani Ceballos and Granit Xhaka. And Arsenal target Jorginho.

A midfield containing Xhaka and Jorginho would be a worry due to a lack of mobility. However in a 343 this is not exposed as much.

Playing a midfield 4 means that your central midfielders rarely get pulled out wide. They will cover less ground than in a midfield 3. You can play more static midfielders in a 2 man central midfield than a 3 man as the wing backs cover the wide areas alongside your wider central defenders.

In a 343, spending big on Aouar does not make sense.

Relying on who we have

If Arteta is planning to go 433, maybe the club have decided that there are internal options who could be as good as Aouar?

Aouar is a small-ish, technical midfield who has an eye for a pass and is good at driving the ball forward at his feet.

In Bukayo Saka and Willian Arsenal have two players with similar attributes, both at different ends of their career.

Our friends at Gunners Town make a fantastic case as to why Saka could play central midfield in a 3.

Utilising Saka or Willian as part of the 3 would see us line up something like:

Ceballos Xhaka Saka

Willian Xhaka Ceballos

Willian Xhaka Saka

Saka might not be the big money signing that Aouar is, but that does not automatically mean that he is a worse option than Aouar.

The reason Arsenal might not want to waste spending £60million on Aouar is they feel that he would not be a £60million improvement on Bukayo Saka.

Arteta and Edu will also know that fans would back the decision to play Saka more centrally, and would not get on the academy products back as he settles into position.

Thomas Partey

The final option would be a deadline day push for Thomas Partey.

Whilst he would not be the attacking dynamo we crave, he would provide further solidity in central midfield.

Partey on the right hand side of a 3 would allow Arsenal to play Nicolas Pepe on the right, free from defensive duties.

Hector Bellerin would also have the freedom to push forward with Partey dropping into a right hand defensive position in the same way Jordan Henderson and Fabinho do to cover Trent Alexander-Arnold when he attacks.

Arsenal would then have the options of Ceballos, Saka and Willian on the other side to provide the creativity.

At times we do get a bit obsessed by new signings, ignoring what we already have at the club.

If Bukayo Saka played for West Ham and had the season he did last year, and Arsenal signed him for £40million with the plan to move him inside, we would be excited.

Keenos

Arsenal (0) 2 Sheffield United (0) 1

Premier League

Emirates Stadium, Drayton Park, London N5 1BU

Sunday, 4th October 2020. Kick-off time: 2.00pm

(3-4-3) Bernd Leno; Gabriel Magalhães, David Luiz, Kieran Tierney; Hector Bellerin, Mohamed Elneny, Dani Ceballos, Bukayo Saka; Willian Borges da Silva, Eddie Nketiah, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Substitutes: Alexandre Lacazette, Alex Rúnarsson, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Rob Holding, Nicolas Pépé, Joe Willock, Granit Xhaka.

Scorers: Bukayo Saka (61 mins), Nicolas Pépé (64 mins)

Arsenal Possession Percentage: 65%

Referee: Lee Mason

Assistant Referees: Mark Scholes, Timothy Wood

Fourth Official: Robert Jones

VAR Team at Stockley Park: VAR Andre Marriner; AVAR Peter Kirkup

Attendance: A maximum of 300 attendees due to UK government coronavirus restructions

Great to get back home for today’s match, especially after the victory over Liverpool at Anfield in the Carabao Cup three days ago. The match here this afternoon will be the last game the chaps will play for a fortnight, due to the international break next weekend, so it will be important to pick up three points in order to go into the hiatus with our tails up. The omens are in our favour, as the last time the Blades defeated us at home in the league (pre-Premiership days) was back on 24th August 1971, when a Stewart Scullion goal gave them victory in front of 45,395 spectators (including the writer of this review) at The Old Place. Back to the present day; we welcome back to the first-team line-up a rejuvenated Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who will of course be more than keen to get on the scoresheet today, as will be our young guns Bukayo Saka and Eddie Nketiah. Let’s go!

Straight from the off, we pressed the visitors with intent firmly back into their own half, and within three minutes, Eddie Nketiah had the ball taken from his toes by the Blades’ goalie, who pushed the ball away for a corner. We played with confidence in the opening quarter of an hour, with superb passing that led to penetrating balls into the visitors’ penalty area, which gave our forwards many opportunities to score. Although the visitors started to bring the match us, which led to some interesting defensive challenges, we were not unduly worried by their attacks on our goal. Patiently, we slowly started to break down the Sheffield United defence, applying pressure on them; strangely, the Blades started to look oddly comfortable with the situation, whilst we were trying to find more and more new ways to score the opening goal. On the half hour, Kieran Tierney crossed the ball for Eddie Nketiah to head the ball down towards the United goal, but it was easily parried by the goalkeeper. Again, Eddie Nketiah turned and got a shot towards the goal, but it was blocked by a defender, and despite some really good efforts from our forwards, especially a right-footed shot from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from the left side of the penalty area which was saved arobatically by the visitors’ goalkeeper. And so we went into the break high on the possession percentage, but honours even, and frustratingly so, it has to be said.

And so, the second half started, with no changes from Mikel Arteta, which came as some surprise under the circumstances. Both sides started to play with far more urgency in the opening minutes of the second half than they did in the last quarter of an hour of the first; however, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang came extremely close to opening the scoring seven minutes after the restart, and we appeared to be trying to take the match by the scruff of the neck at last. Eddie Nketiah was replaced by Nicolas Pépé after fifty-eight minutes, and within a couple of minutes we took the lead with a superbly taken goal by Bukayo Saka. Some sharp, incisive link play in the visitors’ penalty area, which saw Hector Bellerin take the ball to the byline, cross the ball over the head of the Blades’ defenders, for young Bukayo Saka to finish the job with an accurate header into the net. Just over three minutes later, we scored again, when Nicolas Pépé collected a pass from Hector Bellerin and ran through the visitors’ defence to slot a beautiful left-footed shot into the bottom left-hand corner of the net, for our second goal of the day. Of course, two goals in such quick succession lifted our spirits, and our control of the game was there for all to see, wth more spring in our step and another level of confidence as well. Sheffield United were resorted to trying long-range shots, which Bernd Leno managed to save with ease, and with ten minutes remaining, Dani Ceballos was substituted by Granit Xhaka in order to add another man to the defensive plan. However, unbelievably, with seven minutes left on the clock, David McGoldrick got one back for the Blades with a left-footed shot from outside the penalty area that went past an outstretched Bernd Leno into the left-hand corner of the net. Almost immediately, Mikel Arteta replaced Bukayo Saka with Ainsley Maitland-Niles, just to get some fresh legs out there to try and ensure our victory. It certainly did that, and the win meant that we were fourth in the Premiership table.

Let’s be honest, it was not one of the great performances of the season, not was it thrilling either. We could have easily been down to ten men quite early on when David Luiz pulled back Oliver Burke, with Bernd Leno coming out of his box to clear the threat, but both the referee and the Stockley Park gang did not pursue the incident further, which was a blessing. Our inability to shut down David McGoldrick as he took the shot that became the visitors’ goal was a concern, but in the end we picked up three points, something that we can all be extremly thankful for.

Remember everyone, keep the faith, get behind the team and the manager, as this season is going to be crucial for our future success in all competitions. Stick with the winners. Our next match: Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday 17th October at 3.00pm (Premier League). Victoria Concordia Crescit.

Steve

Too Dearly Loved To Be Forgotten: Arsenal v Racing Club de Paris 1930-1962 by Steve Ingless (Rangemore Publications, ISBN 978-1-5272-0135-4) is now available on Amazon.