Arsenal’s Consistency Woes Are History – Here’s Why…

Back to back wins against Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool and Antonio Conte’s Spurs prove that Arsenal have turned a corner, answering their critics from the top of the league.

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal have been on a positive trajectory for the past twelve to fifteen months, and during this period there have been certain checkpoints the team has reached, and had to overcome. The last couple of weeks have seen a big inspection of Arsenal’s character, but the Gunners have passed these tests with flying colours, helping to show progression from the inconsistency that saw Arsenal miss out on Champions League last season.

Both Sunday’s victory against Liverpool and last Saturday’s victory against Spurs were hard fought, and certainly not handed to the Gunners on a plate, yet Arsenal are getting over the line in the face of adversity more than they have at any point over the past eight years or so, and this is certainly the biggest improvement we have seen in this aspect under the stewardship of Arteta.

The key to this? Character.

Character is the determining factor in the recent resilience the Gunners have shown. The Emirates has long been the home of many a wizard of creativity, technical genius, or a mercurial marksman, yet, whilst fans were left entertained with easy-on-the-eye football, the final hurdle was often far too high.

This is where Arteta deserves credit, serving as the link between the history, style, and excellence of Arsenal, whilst sprinkling the grit, work, and determination that the top teams cannot go without. Arteta has built a side filled with gifted talents, footballers who are mesmeric in the way they play the game, in honour of the likes of Santi Cazorla, Mesut Özil, Aaron Ramsey, and countless other beautiful footballers of yesteryear, in the form of Martin Ødegaard, Bukayo Saka, and Fábio Vieira.

The difference now? Not only do the three modern equivalents work tirelessly without the ball, pressing constantly, they are willing to do anything to help the team. Saka’s first goal from Sunday provides a great example of this, as he ran the length of the pitch following a Liverpool corner, to slide in at the back-post whilst Arsenal countered, all in the depths of first half stoppage time.

It is not just Arsenal’s maestros who are working harder though, take Gabriel Jesus as another example. Wow. The Brazilian has come to Arsenal for a big fee, from a big club, competing in the Champions League (and favourites to win it each year!) much like Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona in 2014, or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Dortmund in 2018. Sanchez and Aubameyang will forever be written into Arsenal history, for their goalscoring exploits which helped to deliver trophies to the club – almost single handedly at times. Jesus in my opinion, will be remembered in the same manner, with the difference being the full package he offers, on top of his spellbinding footballing ability.

Jesus is the complete player, and one of the most impressive I have seen at Arsenal since Özil or Sanchez embraced themselves with the Emirates crowd. The 5’9″ Brazilian holds the ball up in such a way that Alan Shearer would tip his hat, and is stronger than almost all defenders he faces due to the exceptionally intelligent way he uses his body. His Brazilian flair to pluck the ball from the sky, combined with his vision and game intelligence to pick the right pass and set an attack flying is Roberto Firmino esque, whilst his skills to beat a man and light up a ground, as well as his predatory goalscoring instincts and finishing ability are a nod to that of the aforementioned Sanchez and Aubameyang, respectively.

In a way, Jesus sums Arsenal in Arteta’s vision up. A perfect mix of skill, will, and effectiveness, oh and how could I forget? The key to it all, amazing character.

This is all before we speak about a defence that is arguably better on the ball than the average Premier League midfield five years ago. Take the four that started against Liverpool, Ben White (RB), William Saliba (RCB), Gabriel Magalhães (LCB), and Takehiro Tomiyasu (LB). Three out of these four players possess not only excellent ability on the ball, with their selection, weight of pass, control and more importantly composure at an elite level, but two of the three are actually playing out of position. The ambipedal Tomiyasu is a RB by trade, but fits seamlessly in at LB, in a masterstroke by Arteta to ensure that Arsenal’s build up remained bulletproof, and could not be hurried by the onrushing, pressing four starting attackers of Liverpool. On the opposite side is CB by trade White, who has played zero minutes in his regular position so far this season, but has hugely impressed at RB, if anything receiving more plaudits than he did at CB! He is the perfect modern defender, highly capable in aerial and ground duels, positionally excellent with a superb reading of the game, whilst maintaining the elegance of a midfielder on the ball. It is a joy to watch.

When it comes to actually defending, the purists need not worry, as this group does not shy away from its main purpose. Gabriel and Saliba have formed a strong partnership, and as individuals they both display physical attributes which are vital to keep up with the pace of the modern game, whilst maintaining a gritty approach to duels with opposition attackers. Both are intelligent too, intercepting high to sustain pressure and squeeze teams, leading the rest of the back four, who have all played a vital role in the way Arsenal control games and attack this season, as highlighted in the graphic below, which shows that Arsenal have the highest combined defensive line and press intensity in the Premier League this season, which sets the tone in our games, and provides the blueprint for the way we build up, and spring consistent waves of attack.

However though, this high octane and high energy approach can sometimes work to the detriment of Arsenal. This team cares a lot, and that is to its credit of course, but at times I notice that we can become over-emotional, and there are certain players who may rush actions, be too aggressive, and ultimately not manage the game properly. This was certainly more of an issue last year, and led to games such as Southampton (A), Spurs (A), and Manchester City (H), where the team let themselves down after performances that had begun with promise.

The single player who typifies this change more than any, is Granit Xhaka, often criticised for his ‘heart on sleeve’ approach before, where he would occasionally boil over – even if this came from the right place. This year though, Xhaka has improved once again, and despite the fact that I have been fighting his corner for years at Arsenal, he has even impressed me with the way in which he has galvanised his teammates, certainly with the help of the professional winners recruited in Jesus and Zinchenko.

Talking with some fans at a game this season, I discussed how we need to adopt the Manchester City approach to games, where their players are almost robotic in their mentality – completely unshakeable. The Liverpool game was an interesting experiment of this to me, Arsenal suffered in the game at times but played their game regardless and were never hurried. This was in part due to the technical security within the XI, but the mentality certainly cannot be understated either, and for the first time ever during Arteta’s reign, I feel that we may be able to bounce back swiftly after defeats, and that we have the character to clear our heads and not spiral into a ‘losing ‘run’, where our confidence is dented – which always felt possible before now.

This was first proved to me after the disappointment of the Manchester United loss at Old Trafford, and subsequent long wait to put said disappointment right in a tricky away trip to Brentford, after being further reenforced with the resilience shown in game situations on Saturday against Liverpool, where Arsenal were pegged back twice but still came through victorious.

These points are further evidenced when looking back to last weeks North London Derby triumph, where Arsenal blew Spurs away.

Arsenal showed a combination of all of the aspects that have provided such a huge upturn in results and performances so far this season, facing a dogged defensive unit in Conte’s Spurs, who deployed what was almost a seven-at-the-back at times, yet the Gunners held their nerve and kept their patience to break through. Arsenal are so calculated in the way they approach their attacks now, the urgency to score is rarely channelled in a desperate way, helping to suffocate the opponent, as Arsenal apply the squeeze on them, starting from the high line. This also means that once teams gain possession of the ball, they are more prone to panicking and rushing, or both, which limits the attacking threat they possess, and causes mistakes. Arsenal managed to frustrate Harry Kane, Heung-Min Son and Richarlison in Spurs’ front three, and despite them being one of the most dangerous counter-attacking sides in the world, they were unable to provide a big impact over a consistent period.

Although I hate comparisons, especially to the likes of teams as notoriously and ruthlessly brilliant as Manchester City, you can see that unless a team takes the game to Arsenal, they really struggle to play any football at all. Similarly to City as well, and a large improvement on the previous couple of years under Arteta, is the notable improvement in the way Arsenal react to set backs. A lot of times last season Arsenal would be pegged back or go behind, and at least from my perspective, there was a real worry at how the outcome would of the match would be shaped by this. After Harry Kane’s penalty though, a small period of Spurs confidence was quickly quelled again. This new positivity we are seeing from Arsenal is being massively aided by the fans too, who have grown much more forgiving and supportive.

The Spurs and Liverpool victories have also shown the vast array of weapons Arsenal now possess to hurt teams, with Xhaka and Thomas Partey striking against Spurs as the two typically deeper midfielders, before both goals came from the flanks a week later against Liverpool, there is no longer an over-reliance on one brilliant player, as we saw recently with Aubameyang for a few years.

Despite the argument that Spurs and Liverpool have not been playing great football all year so far, I believe these wins really do solidify Arsenal as a serious prospect to be reckoned with for the foreseeable future in the Premier League. Both wins were rooted in spirit from fans, players and manager alike, as well as containing many nuances to deal with certain strengths that each opponent possesses. Some questionable refereeing decisions in favour of all three teams at times across the two fixtures, should still leave fans in no doubt on whether these were just positive results, and not positive performances as well. For me, from what I see, all of the signs are positive that Arsenal are a great team, only getting better via the lessons they are learning and experiences they are having together – long may it continue!