Arsenal: Midfield balance the key to unlocking potential

Arsenal looked the better team against Spurs, but need to find more balance in the centre of the pitch to move to the next level.

Arsenal made it out of the North London Derby with a 2-2 draw on Sunday in a game that could have gone either way. While the Gunners were relatively dominant in terms of possession and shots, they still presented Spurs with far too many opportunities and failed to consistently create chances for their star-studded forward line. The key to rectify both these issues is the midfield.

Compared to the previous few seasons, the Gunners have a much greater range of midfield options this season. With Joe Willock emerging and Dani Ceballos arriving on loan, there are six players to fill three spots and Unai Emery has picked a different midfield combination for each game this season so far.

While having a range of talented options is not a problem for the Spaniard, finding a cohesive setup and balance has so far proved difficult. Against Spurs, Emery got this totally wrong and it nearly cost his club a very winnable game.

To start with, Emery used a flat midfield three of Matteo Guendouzi, Granit Xhaka and Lucas Torreira, before replacing Torreira with Ceballos in the second half.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

While Xhaka has received a lot of criticism for his fouls and stupid penalty giveaway, it was Torreira who looked most out of sorts in the first half. This wasn’t his fault however, but instead the way he was utilised. So far, Torreira has played his best football for the Gunners in a double pivot, acting a roaming destroyer and adding snap alongside distributors from deep such as Xhaka or Guendouzi.

Against Spurs, he was asked to operate on the right of a wide midfield three and looked lost. Guendouzi was issued on the left side of the three, and while he executed this slightly better, neither was able to stop Heung-Min Son, Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen and Harry Kane drifting wide to receive long balls and start counters.

Furthermore, their positioning and the fact they weren’t naturals in the roles they were being asked to fulfill meant our midfielders were unable to connect to both one another and the forwards.

When Ceballos was sent on in the second half, Arsenal switched to a 4-2-3-1 and an increased sense of balance and cohesion was immediately obvious. This isn’t to say Arsenal can not play a flat three, but the personnel and implementation has to be different.