Arsenal: Mikel Arteta has fixed what no one expected

Mikel Arteta arrived as Pep Guardiola’s protege, expected to bring free-flowing, offensive football. And yet, in his first month-and-a-bit as Arsenal head coach, he has done the opposite: he has fixed the defence first.

Over the past decade and a half, Pep Guardiola has routinely built the most beautiful team in world football. First it was Barcelona, with their era-defining and game-changing tika-taka. Then Bayern Munich, their domination of German football only reflected by their domination of possession. And now Manchester City, the first centurions, a team that has blistered the Premier League, which was previously thought to not harbour Guardiola’s technical style of play.

Listen to the latest episode of the Pain In The Arsenal Podcast here!—The Rebuild 2.0

Guardiola has, of course, benefitted greatly from inheriting wonderful players, investing eye-watering amounts, and implementing his style as a result of the superiority of the weapons at his disposal. But he has also revolutionised the way football is played, and it is all based on an offensive approach.

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

Guardiola teams control games through winning the battle of possession. They look to attack opponents with the ball, not hold them off at arm’s length. There is a internal focus on their own processes and attacking play, not an adaptation to the strengths and weaknesses of their opposition. In essence, Guardiola wants his team to attack and to win as a result of their brilliant attacking play.

So when his assistant manager and protege Mikel Arteta returned to Arsenal as the new head coach, it was largely anticipated that he would implement a very similar overarching approach and philosophy. And stylistically, he has. Arsenal now play with a high press very similar to City’s. They look to dominate games through their control of the ball, enjoying extended periods of possession. In possession, the individual spacing of the players is much improved and is all aimed with keeping the ball and shuttling it into advanced areas of the pitch. But the results these changes have produced have been very different.

While Arteta is an offensive-minded coach who wants to install an attacking identity into his team, thus far, his greatest impact has been in defence. Arteta has been in charge of the team for nine games. They have conceded only eight goals, four of which came against Chelsea. They also have three clean sheets in those nine matches and have lost just once.

In and themselves, those numbers are impressive and are a clear indication of the defensive work that Arteta has put in during his first few weeks in charge. But when compared to the previous nine games, they take on a different level of significance. In the nine games prior to Arteta’s arrival, Arsenal conceded 16 goals and lost four times. They kept just one clean sheet in those nine games, a 0-0 draw against Everton which Freddie Ljungberg was in charge of and Arteta sat in the stands having only been hired the day before.

It is quite clear, then, what the Arteta effect has been, and it is not what anyone would have expected when he first arrived. Moreover, given the talent of the players he has to work with, you would have thought that the attacking play would be the first element of the team to click. Shkodran Mustafi is one of the key centre-backs under Arteta, and yet the Spaniard is finding success with this group of highly unconvincing defenders.

Arsenal are now good defensively. That does not mean they no longer have personnel problems in those positions. They do. And significant investment is required this summer. But Arteta has solved the defence, not the attack, which is precisely what no one expected.