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Arsenal Vs Bournemouth: The key change that Arsene Wenger must make
Arsenal return to Premier League duties on Saturday, hosting a Bournemouth side who are yet to earn a point. After a shambolic start to the year, there is a clear tactical change that Arsene Wenger must make.
After three Premier League games, Arsenal sit 16th in the Premier League table. By 5:00 PM on Saturday, if they lose and results elsewhere go against them — Brighton overcome West Brom at home — they will end the weekend in the relegation zone. No matter what way you spin it, that is a disastrous start for a club who are self-professed title contenders.
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Saturday afternoon’s home game against Bournemouth, who are yet to earn a Premier League point, scoring just once, a rifled Charlie Daniels strike against Manchester City last weekend, and conceding four goals thus far, after an international break that featured a deadline day debacle and only intensified the growing feeling of dread and despair around the Emirates, then, is suddenly of the utmost importance.
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With a difficult trip to Stamford Bridge and the commencement of the Europa League on the horizon, it is important that Arsenal are able to inject a little life and positivity into the squad and the atmosphere around the club. The Gunners must win, and for that to happen, Arsene Wenger must make one key and integral change.
During the desperate times last season, to offer a distraction to his players, Wenger introduced a 3-4-3 system, only the second time he implemented such a formation in his 21-year tenure in North London, the first being 20 years previous. For the most part, it had the desired effect. Performances improved, an FA Cup was won and a defensive structure returned to a previously spineless team.
However, as Wenger has persisted with the new shape this season, it has proceeded to restrict the success of the side. Rather than play on the front foot, with great pace and intensity, pressing the opposition high up the pitch, suffocating them of time and space, fizzing passes in and out of the midfield, dominating their opponent and winning games, Arsenal have been painfully passive, unable to assert any control in midfield thanks to their lesser numbers, lacking incision and creativity against Stoke City, before being utterly undone by a blistering Liverpool side.
In moving back to a back-four system, Wenger could offer a greater freedom to Mesut Ozil as the primary creator, while also offering more protection in the midfield by dropping Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey a little deeper in the two holding roles.
With Alexandre Lacazette still, presumably, stationed through the middle, Wenger can then experiment in wide areas, with Alexis Sanchez taking up one of the positions, and a rotation of Alex Iwobi, Theo Walcott, Danny Welbeck and even Ramsey, with Francis Coquelin, Mohamed Elneny or Jack Wilshere coming in to play in central midfield, on the opposite flank.
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What cannot be doubted is that change is needed. The start to the season has been far from ideal for Arsenal, and if they harbour any hopes of challenging the Manchester clubs, Chelsea and even Spurs at the top of the table, then they need a quick turnaround in form and fortune.