Arsenal: Mikel Arteta has found his midfield

Mikel Arteta is still working out what his best Arsenal team is. But on Sunday afternoon, he might have discovered the central midfield he wants.

For Mikel Arteta, his first half-season as Arsenal head coach is about determining what he has with his squad, working out which players he can trust and in what roles, and then laying down the foundations for the team that can be built upon in the summer transfer window and beyond.

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For instance, he is now learning that Shkodran Mustafi is a capable centre-back in the right system, that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang does not fit as a centre-forward, and that Ainsley Maitland-Niles is unwilling to adapt to his right-back role, for whatever reason that may be. And this weekend, Arteta learned another invaluable lesson: his best central midfield pairing.

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Upon the Gunners’ return from the two-week winter break in mid-February, Arteta dropped Lucas Torreira for Dani Ceballos. Arsenal hosted Newcastle United, who had averaged a smaller share of possession than any other team in the Premier League before then. He anticipated a low block that would require his team to show patience and control with the ball. Torreira has the defensive instincts to anchor the central midfield, but his passing is limited. Ceballos offers much more creativity.

That Ceballos started and excelled against Newcastle was not all that surprising. Arteta explained the tactical developments that motivated the personnel change. What was more unexpected was Ceballos’ continued presence in the central midfield against Everton on Sunday, an opponent with a far greater offensive threat than Newcastle.

Rather than re-insert Torreira into the midfield to add greater balance and structure to the team, Arteta paired the everpresent and substantially improved Granit Xhaka with Ceballos. Both were excellent, with Xhaka’s range of passing coming to the fore and driving the team forward and Ceballos’ oft-missed grittiness and determination crucial to stemming several Everton counter-attacks.

It seems as though Arteta has settled on his starting central midfield pair. Torreira might feel aggrieved to have missed out, and he would perhaps deserve a starting role against a superior opponent when Arsenal would have less of the ball, but with Matteo Guendouzi punished for disciplinary issues and still learning the tight positional demands of Arteta’s central midfield ropes, there is a clear hierarchy developing, with Xhaka and Ceballos sitting at the top.

The duo offers terrific control. They are superb passers, can conduct play from deep, and help play progressive balls into teammates’ feet in between the opposing ranks. Athleticism is a worry, as is a natural defensive instinct, but with Ceballos’ press-resistant dribbling ability and Xhaka instructed to move to the left, Arsenal are much more able to play out from the back, build waves of attacks, mount pressure, and control games.

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For Arteta, then, a coach intent on building a team that can dominate games through its superiority in possession, having a double-pivot of Ceballos and Xhaka is absolutely vital. And as the team’s seven goals in two games illustrates, they are having an impact. Arteta might well have just found his midfield, and Arsenal look all the better for it.

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