Arsenal: The majority of the midfield doesn’t belong where they are

Arsenal’s midfield was yet again a wreck against Manchester United, and it comes down to the reality that most of these midfielders are out of position.

I mentioned before the match that Arsenal would need to win the war in the midfield if they were to have any joy in this match. Unai Emery seemed to take this seriously, putting Granit Xhaka, Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi all out there, but the problem is that he put most of them out there in the wrong positions.

Granit Xhaka was too far back and Lucas Torreira was too far forward. It’s the familiar problem that Emery just can’t seem to figure out.

I get why Emery wants to play Torreira forward. He wants his own N’Golo Kante story. That’s well and good, but the difference is that he doesn’t have the midfield foundation to support such an endeavor. Because Granit Xhaka is not good playing deep to compensate and Guendouzi is an everywhere man… which is good and bad.

Unfortunately, United toppled our midfield with just Paul Pogba and Scott McTominay. Their two beat our three, and it really wasn’t even that close. They had more presence, more strength, more possession, more everything.

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

Why is that?

Because we played most of our guys out of position. Again. And they will continue to be so long as Unai Emery insists on rolling out these experimental starting XI’s. And again, he has every right to figure things out, but at this point, why doesn’t he see what’s best for his own midfield? He knows more than me, right? More than the average Twitter fan?

As much as I love Granit Xhaka, asking him to do what Pogba does is never going to work. He doesn’t have the athleticism to play both as a defensive midfielder and an attacking orchestrator. It doesn’t work. And you really shouldn’t want him as your last midfielder back. Yet Emery continues to put him there.

And as much as I love Lucas Torreira, his runs into the box aren’t panning out like they did that one time last year against Tottenham. And when the counter starts, and Torreira is in the opposing goal box while Guendouzi and Xhaka are getting strung out, I wonder why our little wrecker isn’t at home.

And then I remember. Because we play most of our midfielders out of position. It must be fixed.