Arsenal: Get the midfield right, everything else follows

Unai Emery has some fixing to do when it comes to his Arsenal team. And he should start in central midfield. If he can get that right, the rest will follow.

It would be fair to say that Unai Emery has not got his Arsenal team right thus far. While there were some positive signs in his first season at the helm and he has led them to third in the league this time around with just one defeat all year, there are plenty of underlying concerns that must be addressed and improved if he is to make progress in the post-Arsene Wenger era.

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There are plenty of areas that require change. The defence is the most obvious, given the number of goals, shots and expected goals the team is conceding at present, but there are other problems like the high press, playing out from the back and the overall energy and intensity of the collective performance that also need fixing.

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It would too obvious to say that Emery need just make one or two changes and everything would fall into place. Football is not that simple. There are many moving parts. But if there is one area that Emery should look to solve first, one that would have the greatest impact on the rest of the team, it is unquestionably the central midfield. This is where he is going wrong, and it is affecting the play of every other position.

The primary issue is a lack of balance. This does not just pertain to offensive and defensive positioning. Arsenal are imbalanced in central midfield in many different ways. They have too many defensive-minded players. They have too many players who are passers and distributors, not dribblers and instigators. They have too many immobile players. They lack creativity and have instead chosen control.

Thus far, Emery has implemented central midfields that do not complement one another. Joe Willock, the only driver with pace and mobility, has been left on the bench too often. Mesut Ozil and his ingenuity is not being used enough, especially from off the bench. Granit Xhaka and Lucas Torreira are both being played out of position.

This is not to say that Emery is always playing the wrong midfield. It is also not to say that he needs to drop Xhaka and everything will be solved. Rather, there is a precise balance that must be found in each and every match and sometimes that will require playing different players — and different combinations of players — that fit together for that given match.

Using Torreira away from home, for instance, is a smart move. Dropping Ozil against the top-six and more physical opponents. Having Xhaka as a controlling influence from off the bench or at home against lower Premier League sides. These are the types of decisions that Emery should be making, and at present, he isn’t.

There are many issues that Emery needs to at least show he is capable of solving. But the most pressing one is central midfield and the balance of its composition. The only issue is I am not sure Emery knows how to fix it.