Arsenal vs Brentford: 4 tactical improvements needed

Arsenal travel to Brentford on Friday and while supporters haven’t had much reason to be especially confident supporting the club of late, that might have reached new depths heading into this one.

But it’s Brentford? They’ve just been promoted from the Championship and are playing in their first top-flight fixture since the 1940s? All of which is true, and all of which is entirely irrelevant if Arsenal don’t turn up. Thomas Frank has built a very strong side.

In terms of the lineup it’s pretty straightforward. We’re fairly certain of a Sambi Lokonga and Granit Xhaka midfield pivot, just as we are of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Emile Smith Rowe and Nicolas Pepe filling three of the four forwards positions.

Throw in a back five with Ben White that picks itself and the player flexibility at Mikel Arteta’s disposal isn’t especially reassuring. In forward departments it can be if Bukayo Saka is given a start, which is far from out of the realms of possibility. It’s urged.

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Arsenal vs Brentford: 4 tactical improvements needed from Mikel Arteta’s side for opening Premier League fixture on Friday

Thus looking at the side as we expect it, one almost identical to last season’s only with a younger David Luiz in the team and a 21-year-old yet to taste Premier League football, what improvements in terms of style and approach will need to be implemented?

As a coach – he’s classed as a manager but what the players do on the pitch is his key responsibility – it’s Arteta’s job to extract the best out of what he has. Edu can focus on not buying James Maddison or waiting too long to secure a backup goalkeeper.

There is more to come from this team. Numerous mistakes were made last season by the manager that didn’t paint the best version of the players he has, and now it’s time he showed the world why he’s so highly regarded.

For Friday there are some improvements that have to be on display in order to secure a positive result. They’re issues within the team’s style that require work and can be carried through across the whole season, but for Frank’s men these tactical alterations are urged.

1. Maintain Penalty Box Presence & Centrality

If it is going to be Alexandre Lacazette starting up front for Arsenal then this issue differs from having Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leading the line.

All are familiar with Lacazette’s desire to drop deep and facilitate play from in front of the opposition back four, but in doing so and feeding players out wide, it leaves a gaping hole in the penalty box. He can’t do both.

Just as Kieran Tierney’s deliveries are the best at the club they’re also the worst in terms of finding a target…because there is nobody to aim for. His hold up play is strong, and while he isn’t the type to thread a pass through the eye of a needle, he can feed those in wide areas.

It’s a remit he fulfills but systematically adds nothing to the team.

Should the captain start at centre-forward then Emile Smith Rowe needs to maintain centrality in that zone. Always available for a pass in every advanced area, the return of hoofing the ball into the box against Tottenham will bear no fruit here.

Brentford may opt for a back three, one containing physically imposing and aerially strong centre-backs. The width needs providing from the full-backs who are being fed by the midfielders, not the striker. Occupying two of the three central defenders allows the width to pull wing-backs and one of the three out of position, which then opens the space.

A Lacazette No. 10 with Smith Rowe supplementing full-backs out wide will do little to trouble the Bees.