One criticism labelled against Mikel Arteta is his tactical stubbornness.

His critics paint a picture that Arteta’s lack of experience (it is easy to forget that this is his first job) and his ego result in his belief that he is always right and will not change his ways. This leads to a tactical stubbornness where he is neither willing nor able to make in-game tactical changes during a game, or for different games.

I do not believe Arteta is tactically stubborn.

Like all managers, he has his preferred way of setting up. And any top professional will tell you that high level performences come from a continuity of playing style and not through chopping and changing tactics game by game.

Sir Alex Ferguson never felt a need to change tactics too far from his core set up. His belief was that if his team performed to their best, following his plan, then they would win the game. It was up to their opponents to try and develop tactics that would beat his side.

Saying that, it is undeniable that Arteta does not change this as often as Pep Guardiola does at Manchester City or Arne Slott at Liverpool.

In Fantasy Football terms, Manchester City forwards (barring Erling Haaland) are considered a “no-go” due to their “rotational risk”. Meanwhile, the only consistent man in Liverpool’s front line last season was Mohamed Salah, with Darwin Nunez, Diego Jota (RIP), Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz chopping and changing for the other position.

Meanwhile, at Arsenal, if the front 3 of Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka were fit, they would play. And it made us predictable.

For me, the issue is not that Arteta was tactically stubborn, but he did not have the personnel to call upon.

Some will say “that is because Arteta never signs forward players” and I do get that. But he was also hampered by injuries.

Gabriel Jesus provided us with huge tactical fluidity in the front line. He could rotate with Havertz to create a different style of attack, and could also come in for Saka and Martinelli on the wings to offer something different. But he spent most of last season injured, denying Arteta of an option to change things.

Leandro Trossard was our other forward option. But I do not think he was trusted by Arteta to start games.

Mikel spoke recently about only having 5 or 6 players that he could trust to play a full 90 minutes week in week out, saying “Last year the line up was done, ‘Give me five players who can finish 90 minutes.’ Those five? Ok, those I have to play.”

Those guys started nearly every game. and played nearly every minute (when fit). It is certainly true that Arteta did not overly trust players beyond his starting XI. and with Trossard, the statistics back this up. The Belgium is much more effective coming off the bench.

This summer, we have recruited well, bringing in Noni Madueke and Viktor Gyorekes to bolster the forward line. Ethan Nwaneri also continues his development and is now a genuine option. These guys give Arteta more options in attack, and the ability to change up or tactics in-game to give teams a different problem.

But tactical fluidity is not just about the forward line. It starts at the back.

Inverting and overlapping full-backs

Arteta’s first full season saw us start with Olexsander Zinchenko coming into midfield on the left, and Ben White overlapping on the right. It is a tactic that nearly one us the league.

The recruitment of Jurrien Timber gave us a right back who could then invert on the right, and many games last season we played with both Myles Lewis Skelly and Timber both coming central. That led to a lack of width (especially as we also had inverted wingers).

Ricardo Calafiori and Ben White offer the “overlapping” option, whilst also both being good enough to invert to cover their teammate without tactic changes. But both picked up injuries, denying the option to change things.

If all 4 men stay fit this season, Arteta then has the options to play either MLS and Timber inverted, giving us more control in the middle of the park, or White and Calafiori overlapping, giving us more offensive dynamism.

Arteta will also have the option to split the tactics, going with MLS inverted on the left and White overlapping on the right, or Calafiori overlapping on the left with White inverted on the right.

He can make the decision on how the back four lines up based both on the opponent and in-game. The small tactical tweak will be quick and easy for teammates to adapt to and change how we look to attack.

Zubimendi / Rice pivot

What was noticeable in the final preseason game against Bilbao was the interchangeability of Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi.

Whilst Zubimendi started as the deeper, with Rice more advanced, they switched throughout the game depending on the team needs.

Zubimendi provides a passing range and calmness on the ball that Rice does not have. This could be key when teams are playing with a low block. Likewise, Rice is a powerhouse runner and if the key of Zubimendi will not pick the lock, Rice’s battering ram style changes it up.

I expect throughout games this season, we will continue to see Rice and Zubimendi swap positions. But they will also play alongside each other.

There will be times when we want to completely free up the forward line, and absolve them of tracking back. Liverpool have done this with great success through the years, freeing up Salah, Sadio Mane, Gakpo and Diaz to do what the do best – explot space going forward and attack the box.

Liverpool were able to do this by playing quite a deep, efficient midfield (Jordan Henderson and Fabinho, moving to Alex Mac Alister and Ryan Gravenberch).

With the recruitment of Zubimendi, Martin Odegaard will no longer feel the need to drop back to start attacks. That pushes our captain further up the field, and we end up with Gyorekes (Or Havertz) , Martinelli, Saka and Odegaard attacking from a higher position, closer to each other, and able to interact quicker.

The flexibility of Zubimendi and Rice, alongside how we play our full backs, will make us a lot les predictable when transitioning the ball from the defence into the final third.

Wingers

For so long now, we have played inverted wingers.

Saka and Martinelli are fantastic, but they can also become predictable. Always looking to come inside. And without the overlapping full back, opposing full backs and centre-backs know that they can ignore the space outside them. Noni Madueke and the overlapping full backs changes this.

As above, Calafiori and White both offer overlapping options which will take advantage of the space left when Martinelli and Saka drop inside. They both give Arteta a tactical option off the bench if Martinelli and Saka are getting crowded out.

My belief is Madueke was primarily bought as Saka cover. A like for like replacement on the right hand side who can come on for Saka with 20 minutes to go, or start in 30% of Premier League games reducing our Starboy’s workload. But he is also an option on the left.

If Arteta decides to go with MLS on the left hand side, then Madueke can then play on that flank and hug the touchline, giving the team width. He will look to beat his fullback on the outside everytime and put crosses in.

In turn, his positioning will drag the fullback wider, giving MLS and Declan Rice more space on the left hand side of the pitch and creating an overload. And if teams then shift themselves left to cover this overload, Odegaard and Saka will be in more space on the right for a quick switch of play.

We are still in the market for a new left winger (likely to replace Trossard). This will be a right footed left winger who will allow us to maintain the current tactics. But Madueke gives Arteta the option to change it up on that flank. As does Calafiori.

Same size, different strikers

It would be easy to look at Havertz and Gyorekes and think they are similar players based on their physical attributes. This can not be futher from the truth.

Gyorekes is an out and out striker. Someone who will occupy both full backs, look to run in behind and only has goals on his mind. Meanwhile, Havertz is more of a “false 9” and will look to drop deeper, get involved in the build up, and leave space for others to occupy ahead of him.

This gives Arteta great options on who to start, and who to bring on depending on how a game is going. Something a little bit different to make slight tactical changes without changing the structure.

And Eze?

The final piece of the fluidity jigsaw could be Eberechi Eze.

Arteta has tended to overload the right with attacking talent (Saka, Odegaard, White), whilst keeping the left fairly solid defensively (Martinelli, Rice/Xhaka, MLS/Zinchenko). That can make us lobsided from an attacking point of view.

Recruiting Eze would give us both an inverted option on the left hand side to compete with Martinelli, but also an attacking option to play inside.

When chasing a game, we could go to a front 5 of Martinelli, Eze, Odegaard and Saka in behind Gyorekes (or Havertz), creating a huge attacking overload in the final 3rd as we look to score. This is a move we have gone for in the past playing Trossard inside.

But what Eze adds above Trossard is a 90 minute player.

We could line up with Eze in the left sides central position alongside Odegaard on the opposite side of the pitch in games we expect to dominate (say, Sunderland at home). And if Arteta believes a side is weaker defensively on the left against the right, we could opt for Eze centrally, with Odegaard dropping to the bench and Rice switching across to the right to provide the defensive cover.

Put simply, Eze would give Arteta a different central attacking option.

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The tactical fluidity we could see next year is exciting. And whilst it will not be tinkerman level changes, the slight switches can be enough to make a positive impact in the game.

What will also be interesting is to see how Slott deals with his lack of options.

With Nunez and Diaz gone, and the sad passing of Jota, Slott has lost three attacking options. Whilst Hugo Etikite has come in, the Frenchman does not offer much forward fluidity. They will mainly be lining up with Salah, Etikiite and Gakpo, with Isak potentially coming in for Etikite.

Liverpool’s line up will be much more predictable this season compared to last, and Slott will not have as many attacking options at his disposal to make tacticial changes.

Enjoy the sunshine.

Keenos

A leopard never changes its spots.

After a year of chasing Benjamin Sesko, Arsenal pivoted and opted to sign Viktor Gyorekes. That decision is looking better and better as each day goes on.

The issue for Sesko has never been his talent. He certainly has the attributes to become one of the best strikers in the world. But Arsenal became increasingly frustrated with both RB Leipzig and Sesko’s representatives throughout negotiations. And it is the later that likely killed the deal.

Whilst Gyorekes and his people were working hard to get a deal done, the feeling was Sesko’s representatives were becoming tough to deal with.

According to those with inside knowledge of the deal, ‘during negotiations, Sesko’s agent Elvis Basanovic had left club [Arsenal] insiders jaw dropped with his shenanigans. One Insider said he presented Sesko as “Messi”.’

I always laugh when fans of a club celebrate signing a player who either let us contract run down, or who’s agent caused disruption during negotiations. These sort of players and agents are likely to repeat the behaviour in the future. And at that point, those same fans who celebrated will be calling them a disgrace (Exhibit one is Alexander Isak behaving the same way at Newcastle as he did at Real Sociedad).

What Andrea Berta and Arsenal execs would have been thinking during negotiations is the long game. A problematic representative now will also be problematic down the future. Like the leopard, they do not change their spots.

At 22-years-old, Sesko probably would have signed a 5-year-deal at Arsenal. That would have seen us having to negotiate with his representatives again in 3-years-time. And considering how they have behaved the last 12-months, that is clearly something Berta had no interest in doing.

You want players to sign for the club who are interested in winning the biggest trophies at Arsenal. Not players who see us as a stepping stone to Real Madrid or Barcelona. It is not hard to foresee after a good 3 years in the Premier League, the representatives of Sesko hawking him around Europe looking to see if they could get their man a better deal elsewhere.

Sasko, after all, is Pro Transfers only decent player. He is their cash cow. And they will use him to try and create themselves generational wealth.

With just Sesko on their books, they likely would have wanted a decent commission off this deal. And then in 3-years time, they would look to make further commission by either moving him clubs, or demanding a huge agent fee for Sesko to agree a new contract. They are clearly the sort of representatives a club would not want to deal with.

Now I will concede that Gyorekes did some unsavoury things to push through his Arsenal move, including failing to turn up to training. But this is a different scenario to Sesko’s representatives continually moving the goalposts.

Gyorekes has an agreement with the former Sporting Director of Football Hugo Viana that he could leave in the summer of 2025 if a buying club offered an agreed amount. And Arsenal did that.

The issue was Viana had left Sporting in early June, and that left Sporting President Frederico Varandas overseeing the deal. He refused to acknowledge the agreement, going back on the clubs words.

It has been reported that had Viana been at Sporting, the Gyorekes would have happened quickly. But with his departure, Varandas moved the goalposts and forced Gyorekes hand. He had to play up a little to get his move and to ensure Sporting honoured the agreement.

Sesko’s issues are not in the way he has behaved to depart Leipzig, but the way his agents have behaved during negotiations. And in 3-years down the line history will repeat itself.

Apparently, Sesko is now weighing up whether to join Newcastle United or Manchester United. It should be an easy choice. Newcastle is a stop off, Manchester is a destination.

Whilst Newcastle but be in a better position short term, it is easy to forget with the way their fans go on that they have won just one League Cup in 70-years. They are not a big club.

Kids around the globe dream of playing for Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool et al. Only kids on Tyneside and in County Durham dream of playing for Newcastle.

What Sesko’s people are doing is seeing who offers their player the most money. And how offers them the most money to get the deal done. And it is grubby.

I for one am happy we made the early decision to move for Gyorekes. Were we chasing Sesko we would still be in negotiations, getting increasingly frustrated.

We have our man, Newcastle and Man U can now fight it out for an overpriced talented football (just 13 league goals last season), who will only cause further issues down the line.

Enjoy your Sunday.

Keenos

There is a loud minority of Arsenal fans who are making the claim that if Mikel Arteta fails to win the league this season, he should be sacked. Absolutely ludicrous.

Some media pundits have also jumped on the bandwagon, claiming that after 6 years at Arsenal (although it has only actually been 5 full season), Arteta is a man under pressure.

Firstly, it will be interesting to see if the same fans and pundits also think Arne Slott should be sacked if Liverpool do not win the league this season. After all, he took Jurgen Klopp’s team to the title, and has since spent close over £250m on his players. That could end up closer to £400m if Liverpool sign Alexander Isak.

Surely if Liverpool spend £400m in a single summer after winning the league and fail to do back-to-back, then Slott has failed with his rebuild and should be sacked?

Likewise, Pep Guardiola should be a man under pressure if Manchester City fail to win the league for the 2nd season in a row.

After winning the treble, and then making it four league titles in a row, no league title in two years should be considered a catastrophic failure. Especially after spending nearly £400m in a little more than 12 months.

Rightly so, neither of these men will be under pressure if they fail to win the league. So why is it only for Mikel Arteta where “anything under champions is a failure and he should be sacked”. If that is the case and we finish 2nd, then every manager who finishes below us should also lose their job.

To repeat above, the viewpoint that a manager should be sacked because all he is doing is competing for major honours is ludicrous.

There is a stark warning for Arsenal and Arsenal fans just up the Seven Sisters Road.

When Mauricio Pochettino came into Tottenham in 2014, their highest league position in 24 years was 4th – a position they had achieved just twice during that period.

On the 5-years in charge of Tottenham, he took them from the “Big 6” side that rarely qualified for the Champions League to title contenders and Champions League finalists. But after 5-years at the club, he was sacked.

Following the Champions League defeat and having not won anything during his time at Tottenham, fan pressure was increasing on Pochettino. Eventually, Daniel Levy bowed down to this fan pressure and the man that made Spurs contenders was sacked.

Four full seasons in charge saw Tottenham finish 5th, 3rd, 2nd and 3rd and make the Champions League final. That was deemed not good enough for Spurs fans and Levy. And you have to wonder if they now regret getting rid of the man with the clubs highest win percentage of any manager managing over 80 games.

Since sacking Pochettino, Tottenham have failed to challenge for major honours. A League Cup runners up and winning the Europa League are not top tier achievements. They have also only finished top 4 just once.

The 6 seasons since Pochettino left has seen them finish outside of the top 6 3 times, with an average finish of 8th. Last season the Europa League victory massively papered over the cracks of finishing 17th.

Thomas Frank becomes the 5th man to manage Tottenham since Pochettino left (excluding caretaker managers):

Mauricio Pochettino – 54.27% win ratio
Antonio Conte – 53.95%
Jose Mourinho – 51.16%
Nuno Espírito Santo – 47.06%
Ange Postecoglou – 46.53%

There is no debate that Tottenham have been a worse team since Pochettino left. And what he was doing at Tottenham was overachieving.

The best comparator to establish what a teams “par finish” should be in the league is the wage bill. It is a fairly simple equation that the more you spend on salaries, the higher up in the league you tend to finish. Wage bill is a much bigger factor than transfer spend (net or otherwise).

Pochettino took Tottenham, who consistently had the 6th highest wage bill in the league to finishing top 3 and challenging for the biggest honours domestically and in Europe. When he left, Tottenham “returned to par” after nearly half a decade of overachieving in the league based on wage bill.

And Mikel Arteta is doing the same at Arsenal. Throughout his time so far, the Spanaird has overachieved with Arsenal.

Whilst some look back on 3 top 2 finishes as a failure, we did this whilst having the 4th or 5th highest wage bill in the league.

What Arteta has done is spend wisely, recruit well, and coach lesser players to be better and compete with teams who are spending £100m+ a year on wages more than us. To bring that into perspective, a £100m difference is basically £2m a week. That is an extra 10 players earning £200k.

Now give Arteta 10 new signings who are in that category of player to justify earning £200k+ and we win the league.

So Arteta is being painted as a man under pressure, when quite frankly, us finishing consistently above Manchester United and Chelsea, above Liverpool twice and Man City once is an achievement.

And if you are wanting Arteta out, just look at Tottenham for what could happen.

Arteta, like Pochettino, is overachieving at Arsenal. There is no guarantee that a replacement manager will also overachieve and the evidence is there that a new manager will actually take the club back to its par position, which right now is 4th.

Yes, Slott has come in for Liverpool. But he has essentially taken the team with the 2nd highest wage bill to 1st. A 1 place overachievement. Arteta is overachieving by 3 or 4 positions.

So before you start calling for Arteta’s head, look at Tottenham since Pochettino left. At Manchester United since Sir Alex Ferguson left. Both clubs have gone massively backwards and look no where near ending their negative spiral.

I remember during the Wenger days “be careful what you wish for” was often seen online. And I feel the same with Arteta.

Want him out? Be careful what you wish for. Arsenal will likely go backwards and he will likely join Manchester City where, with the biggest budget in world football, he will clean up.

Keenos