Arsenal: Will 3-4-3 Bring Success In The Future?

Arsene Wenger made the switch to three-at-the-back on Monday. Martin Keown has questioned whether it will be successful long term as Arsenal grow into the formation.

Arsene Wenger is a stubborn and obstinate man. He has a set of principles that, without fail, abides by. He will not change them. He will not challenge them. He will not compromise them. And Arsenal, as a result, have been run the regimented way akin to the ideals of one man.

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Or at least, that is what we all thought. With his side in desperate need of a win to keep their hopes alive of hauling their way back into the top four, Wenger made sweeping tactical changes that, I for one, can not remember him ever doing so to such an effect before.

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He started with three centre-halves, pushing Nacho Monreal and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain into wing back roles, replicating the system that has served Antonio Conte’s Chelsea so well this season and has taken the Premier League by storm. Now, after making the changes, the question turns to: Will this be an entrenched approach that is used for the foreseeable that brings vast success or is it just a one-off switch for the particular opponents?

That is a question, in his Daily Mail column, that Martin Keown took on. In the piece, he stated that there were some teething issues given the significant individual alterations that must be made as a result of the collective change and questioned whether it would work against the more established, more dangerous sides that the Premier League has to offer:

"“If you want to play with a back three, you have to know the system inside out. It is not something you can simply adapt to overnight. Arsenal may have won on Monday night but they had a few teething problems – particularly when it came to Alvaro Negredo’s equaliser. If Arsenal play this formation against stronger sides than Middlesbrough then their central midfielders must provide the defensive screen Nemanja Matic and N’Golo Kante give Chelsea.”"

In his post-match interview, Wenger suggested that it would be just a short-term change and not a tactic that he looks to employ for the long term future. And given the personnel in his squad, that is certainly a sensible decision to take. The lack of a dynamic, ground-gobbling-up, energetic central midfielder who is the centrepiece of the system means that Arsenal will struggle to find consistent success with the new formation.

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However, there is the opportunity to sign such a player in the summer transfer window, and if Wenger feels that it is a formation that eeks out the best of the other options in the squad, then it may well be an avenue that he explores. I do not expect Arsenal to continue with the three-at-the-back approach for much longer. But this is football and stranger things have happened.