Arsenal: Conservatism doesn’t work without Granit Xhaka

Arsenal had a clear objective against CSKA Moscow – don’t screw up. But with the personnel they had on the pitch, that was never going to work.

Arsenal’s nerve-wrecking 2-2 draw with CSKA Moscow boasts a deceptive scoreline. No, the Gunners did not win this one handily. What happened was exactly what many of us feared would happen, if Arsene Wenger used the tactics we feared he would use.

It was the same thing we saw against Ostersunds. When Wenger sends out a cast of characters and asks them to defend, set the tempo and kill off a tie, it’s a big ask. It’s nothing like the way the Gunners normally play.

And when you look at the personnel on the pitch, it’s easy to see why. Nobody on that pitch against CSKA Moscow was a conservative player, save maybe Nacho Monreal, who was skinned alive throughout the match.

Related Story: 5 Things Learned Against CSKA Moscow

But where this game was truly thrown into jeopardy (and later won, ironically enough) was in the midfield. When you line up with Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere and Mohamed Elneny, you have three engines. Three guys who don’t want to sit.

Ramsey is an off-the-ball runner, always moving, always active.

Wilshere is a driver and a pusher, even if it isn’t working out.

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And Elneny, try as he might, is proving to be less of the calming presence we often expect him to be. It’s the Egyptian that I think typified how this approach early on was so awful.

He tried his best to control the ball and control the tempo, but he was robbed of the ball far too often and his passing was clunky at best. This negative trajectory didn’t change until the game got more end to end. As the pressure kicked up and the conservative approach wore off, Elneny got better. He was able to utilize his main strength – his energy.

It’s pretty clear why this approach didn’t work that well – there was no Granit Xhaka. Xhaka missed out due to illness and his presence was, unsurprisingly, missed.

Xhaka is exactly what Elneny failed to be early in this game. Xhaka is a tempo setter. He’s a control tower. Elneny isn’t. Elneny is a torpedo, a workhorse. There was no one that just sits and marshals in this midfield, like we needed, and the more Elneny tried, the more he was exposed.

Next: Arsenal vs CSKA Moscow Player Ratings

Thankfully, it didn’t bite the Gunners too hard. It was an anxious affair, but it all worked out. Now let’s get Xhaka back before we ever try that approach again. Please.