Arsenal: The key improvement that no one is talking about

After the four-goal dismantling at Liverpool, Arsenal have won three of their four Premier League games. The key improvement that has been made is their defensive solidarity, keeping clean sheets in all four games.

Arsene Wenger is an attacking coach. His philosophy is such that he encourages and demands his team to play attractive, creative football, keeping the ball on the floor, pushing forward to score goals, playing in a fluid and free-flowing style that, when clicking, can cut open even the most disciplined and suffocating of defences.

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Arsenal have always been a team, traditionally, that has been built on attacking principles. But in being so, that means that they lack pragmatism and intelligence, failing to adapt to the pattern of the game, the style and the quality of the opponent, and the necessary battles that must be won. They are, in a word, naive.

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And that naivety came to the fore when they travelled to Anfield earlier in the season. With Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool playing with blistering pace and energy, Wenger’s side were not set up to stifle, they were set up to scintillate. And that was exactly their problem. Liverpool dismantled their visitors to the tune of four goals — the scoreline actually flattered Arsenal — and again exposed the innocence of Wenger’s approach.

However, since that match, they have changed maybe not the style of their play, but the success in the application of that style, perhaps adapting it a little to address the faults, the flaws, and the humiliations of the past.

Of the four Premier League games that Arsenal have played since the trip to Anfield, they have won three and drawn one. The results are as follows: 3-0 win against Bournemouth; 0-0 draw against Chelsea; 2-0 win against West Bromwich Albion; 2-0 win against Brighton and Hove Albion.

The latest win on Sunday was another in a series of proficient, efficient, and professional performances. Petr Cech was forced into just one save all game — Solly March did hit the post with a wicked strike from a well-worked set-piece and Cech was forced into dealing with several crosses from set pieces and wide areas — and Brighton had just nine shots throughout, four of which were from outside of the box, and only two of which were on target.

That is a stifling and successful defensive performance. The Gunners were far more resolute in their defending, disciplined in their distances, and aware of their positioning, ensuring that the shape was preserved.

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That is the key to their recent success. Although the seven goals in four games are nice, it is the four clean sheets that have been most important. If such defensive success can be maintained throughout the year, then it could revolutionise a formerly vulnerable and exposed team.