Athletic - on the bus. Two steps forward, one step back
The Champions League campaign starts with an important away win and yet another clean sheet.
Defense is still the priority
After making several progressive and mature decisions against Forest last weekend (link), Arteta seems to have reverted to the familiar, defensive set-up.
The starting line-up clearly had one objective in mind: to make Athletic's life as difficult as possible, to stop them from even dreaming of scoring. The first eleven was practically a carbon copy of the side deployed at Anfield, with the midfield trio of Zubimendi, Rice, and Merino anchoring our play.
Starting Rice means we sacrifice a degree of creativity for the sake of physical presence and defensive solidity. With Merino in the line-up, we further compromise on creativity and dynamic runs in favour of sheer physicality and winning duels. Martin Zubimendi was lauded as the player capable of reading the game and acting as a single pivot in the build-up. He may not possess the explosive pace or raw power of a Partey or a Rodri, but his game intelligence is undeniable. So why, then, are we pairing him with two physically dominant, duel-winning midfielders at the complete expense of creativity? He was supposed to enable a more creative, attack-minded squad, yet we've ended up with an even more defensive one.
Despite having attacking options like Eze, Nwaneri, Trossard, and Dowman, Arteta opted for Mikel Merino in an 'attacking' midfield role. It's truly baffling how Arteta fails to see that this midfield simply doesn't function from an attacking perspective, leaving our front three completely disconnected. Madueke finds himself marooned on the wing, taking the ball, carrying it into the box—sometimes with Timber's assistance—and then crossing. A player-function, and to his credit, he executes those functions rather well. Eze, meanwhile, is only connected to Calafiori. And as for Gyokeres, he's completely isolated from the rest of the team, chasing the ball without any apparent understanding of how the attacking patterns should link up.
Just take a look at our heat map from yesterday, and compare it to the Forest game. The emptiness in the middle is glaring.
Whatever criticism Odegaard might have faced, his creative abilities are leagues ahead. If there was a tactical rationale for not prioritising goalscoring against one of the Premier League's most dangerous attacking sides in their own den, it certainly made far less sense against a team like Athletic. Our attack is utterly disjointed, and I simply cannot understand how Arteta doesn't recognise it. Most likely, he does, but he's seemingly willing to accept this attacking deficit for the sake of maintaining a rigid, organised defence.
Because as soon as Trossard stepped onto the pitch and moved into the middle, our attack burst into life. Trossard engineered a brilliant chance for Martinelli and then, despite holding on a tad too long for his Ronaldinho-esque finish, sealed the game himself. These individual moments rescued our first game of the season from a truly dismal 0-0 draw.
But what if Martinelli had missed his chance? Should the impression of the game be decided by a single moment?
Being too negative, right?
Right, I know what’s coming. The 'staying positive squad' will undoubtedly tear this post to shreds. They’ll trot out the usual lines about how I shouldn't be complaining about an away win, a clean sheet, and a depleted squad.
But let’s be honest, I'm looking at our performance through the lens of winning the biggest trophies. Can you honestly picture a Champions League-winning Barcelona, Bayern, or Manchester City turning up in Bilbao with a game plan focused solely on a 'solid defence and nicking a winner late on'? I certainly can’t.
Arteta constantly talks about being influenced by Wenger and Guardiola. Yet, neither of those would ever prioritise defence against weaker teams. This feels far more in the vein of a David Moyes or Jose Mourinho approach. Sure, Arteta can bring on Martinelli and Trossard late in the game to inject some freshness, but let’s not forget they’d be starting players for a team like Athletic. In fact, I can easily imagine an in-form Martinelli bagging the very same goal against us.
Now, the injury factor is significant, and the absence of Odegaard, Saka, and Havertz is certainly felt. However, the club splashed £160 million to bring in quality and cover for those three positions, and these are all proven players. The same 'positive' brigade were quick to blame injuries for last season's shortcomings. Well, Arteta has pretty much settled that debate now. Despite having one of the Premier League's most experienced number 10s and a young, exciting, prodigious talent at his disposal, Arteta opted for the player renowned for his off-the-ball work and duel-winning.
Just let that sink in for a moment: the player for the most creative position on the pitch is chosen based on his off-the-ball work and ability to win duels, not his capacity to create chances! Is that what you envisioned when Eze was signed? Is this the Arsenal you’ve always dreamed about? Is this the Arsenal that truly strikes fear into the hearts of opponents? Shouldn’t we be sufficiently equipped to focus on how to dismantle teams like Athletic, rather than primarily stopping them from scoring?
Yes, I know we secured an away win, and yes, we kept another clean sheet. We’ve only conceded one goal all season, and that was an absolute screamer. That is nothing short of impressive. We are, without doubt, one of the most uncomfortable teams to play against in the world. It’s also a significant credit to Arteta that he's assembled a squad where substitutes, despite clearly falling out of favour, still come onto the pitch and deliver results.
Arteta has built an incredibly solid defensive foundation, and it’s the main reason we are where we are. But we all aspire to go higher than this. Every favourite won their opening Champions League game, including Barcelona, who secured all three points at St James’ Park – something we haven’t managed in the last two seasons.
You can watch Liverpool snatching those late winners repeatedly and think that kind of football is unsustainable. Well, Arteta’s approach isn’t exactly sustainable either. He’s employing a “war of attrition” strategy on the pitch. Essentially, we and our opponents will wear each other down, and we’ll finish strong simply because we have a deeper squad – after this summer, one of the deepest and most quality-filled squads in the Premier League.
But this simply cannot last. Sooner or later, one of Fulham, Newcastle, Aston Villa, or Bournemouth will manage to hold Arsenal at bay with an organised block and walk away with a 0-0 or 1-1 draw, just as they did multiple times last season, if Arteta's defensive mindset isn't changed.
Huge test on Sunday
The next game is a major clash against Manchester City on Sunday.
And I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the exact same starting eleven again, especially if Odegaard isn't quite fit. This current Man City side isn't the formidable force the current Arsenal should be hiding from at home. If we've got the ambition and guts to become the continent's best team, we should be strategising how to dismantle such an opponent on our own turf. How to slice open their defence and unleash an attacking power they simply can't cope with.
This iteration of Manchester City doesn't have a selection of game-changers. If our team can get a hold of Haaland, something our centre backs have a habit of doing, their team suddenly loses its aura of invincibility. Yes, Guardiola and his tactical coaches will dissect our new-look squad down to the most minute detail. Gvardiol will undoubtedly make Madueke's life as hard as a nutshell, the toughest he's faced in an Arsenal shirt so far. Rodri will shadow Eze as if he were on a first date. But they certainly won't be terrorising our backline like they could with peak De Bruyne pulling the strings.
But I'll put money on it: if Arteta starts Merino, Rice, and Zubimendi in midfield once more, Manchester City will open the score. Then it'll just be a question of whether we can claw back a win when Arteta finally makes his "creativity substitutions". If Odegaard isn't fit, I'd throw Eze into the middle and Trossard out on the left. The Belgian was rather impressive in Bilbao; he can definitely be nasty to defenders and he's got a "red card stain" from the last City clash that absolutely demands repayment.
Last year, during that utterly brutal 5-1 thrashing at home, the power dynamic in the Arsenal-City rivalry shifted in our favour. It is of utmost importance that we maintain that status!