Arsenal vs Villa: 4 tactical improvements from Arteta’s side

4. Going 4-4-2 (ish) With Smith Rowe & Saka in Their Right Positions

With Smith Rowe and Saka, what is so enjoyable about them is that they don’t need to have excellent games to be influential in matches. Smith Rowe most certainly was in what may go down as his best outing for the club to date, whereas Saka played his role well enough to do precisely the job he needed to.

Not the star by any means, and guilty of one big chance missed that he should have put away, the use of a 4-4-2 system (which fluttered around with 4-2-3-1 a lot) primarily acted as a means to get everyone into their best positions. Back to basics, as it were.

Sambi and Partey could be a pivot, Lacazette acted more as a second striker in something resembling a 4-4-1-1 at times, Smith Rowe was out on his favoured left where he had grass to run into and combinations to build, while Saka provided technical security on the right to ensure sequences could keep ticking over.

It catered to everyone’s skillsets. No player was told to overextend themselves in a role they weren’t comfortable with: two sitting midfielders who could take it in turns to venture, two creative wide players who could drift in, a striker who dropped off to connect play and another who pressed from the front and stretched the opposition.

Arteta turned the clocks back to the early 2000’s Premier League, gave simplified instructions and the players carried them out superbly.