#53 - Sacrifice some control; 3 changes to make

Arsenal were completely dominant against Fulham, but couldn't find the winner. I explore why and 3 things we could change.

Arsenal were in complete control of the game against Fulham and it’s hard to take not coming away with three points. The home side had two shots, Arsenal had all of the ball and all of the field control, as shown in the graphic below.

But was the manager too slow to change, to sacrifice some of the control for more attacking output. Did he keep the handbrake on?

I’m more than aware we need another forward, I’ve written about that several times in this newsletter, but today’s piece focuses on things we can change using our current players.

1 - Move Declan Rice to #6

There are games where Rice in the ‘left 8’ alongside Partey or Jorginho as the number 6 makes sense. But in this game, where there was so much control, Arsenal needed to adapt. Jorginho did not need to be on the pitch for 75 minutes.

Rice is the perfect big space cover number 6 for a game like this where we can pin the opposition back and he can anchor everything - but he struggled to make an impact in and around the box in that more advanced role.

Screenshot of Rice openings. Nwaneri, even Merino in this position.

Arteta eventually moved to this system, but he took too long. Jorginho only off in the 75th minute, and Nwaneri on as a substitute for Odegaard, with 10 to go.

2 - Trust Myles Lewis-Skelly at LB, to allow Timber to stay on the right

Another aspect we lost was the no-overlapping option for Bukayo. I wrote about this a couple of weeks ago, but it’s key that we always recreate that dynamic somehow. Otherwise, we isolate Saka, and you don’t want to isolate your best player and biggest goal threat.

If Partey has to play at right-back due to fitness, then we can recreate it by playing Nwaneri and Odegaard in tandem, with Ethan on the right side combining with Saka. Odegaard shifting left would also help to connect that side, and he’s shown good box efficiency when he gets there.

But I would focus on keeping Timber on the right as he is developing a really nice partnership with Saka on that side. If we trust Lewis-Skelly, seemingly the only left-back option able to stay fit, then it allows for Timber to play in his best position and for Saka to excel.

Lewis-Skelly offers high technical qualities to combine centrally, whilst also having the athleticism to get forward and overlap the left winger, enabling Trossard or Martinelli to get closer to goal.

3 - Play Nwaneri & Odegaard together

Odegaard shifting to the left side could also be a longer-term development Arteta looks at. Maybe not all the time, we don’t want to kill something that works so well with Bukayo and Odegaard, but we do need to be able to pose different challenges to the opposition and Odegaard could unlock the potential of the left side.

I felt like in the Fulham game, Nwaneri for Jorginho at halftime made sense. Jorginho was redundant in the middle and Rice could hold that midfield by himself with Fulham so reluctant to attack.

Instead, we didn’t see Nwaneri until Odegaard could not continue. In games like this, it shouldn’t be like for like, but instead, we should be willing to trust playing them both together.

…moving forward

We have no choice but to move forward here. Two home games that are must-wins for the respective competitions. I think the title is probably out of reach, but we can ensure we maximise how good we are to keep up some pressure on Liverpool.

Declan Rice is now suspended for the Everton game, so I would start him as the 6 against Monaco - let’s see the Merino, Odegaard, Rice midfield.

I’m going to presume Calafiori and Gabriel will both still be out too. In that case, for me we need to trust Lewis-Skelly as the next up left back and allow Timber to go back to the right. It’s an opportune moment to try it and get that senior experience into Lewis-Skelly’s legs.

Then, against Everton, Calafiori and Gabriel should be back and allow for us to make more changes.

I think a home game against Everton will see us dominate in similar fashion. We will need more attacking threats, and that is why I would like to see Nwaneri and Odegaard start together for the first time, in one of four changes from Wednesday.