Arsenal making key tactical improvement under Arteta

Storming to a third straight victory in the Premier League with a 4-1 win over Leeds at Elland Road, Arsenal are doing all within their power to consolidate their place in the top four.

Aided by fixture postponements across the division, creating breathing space between themselves and their rivals will put welcome additional pressure on the rest to win their matches in hand. It’s all they can do at this point after the poor results against Manchester United and Everton.

Notable in those wins over West Ham and Leeds is a change in mindset. How Arsenal are approaching games tactically differs from earlier in the season, and it’s a gradual improvement that shone brightest over the last week.

Previously, this team has gone into matches focussing too heavily on their own weaknesses. The way they set up has been with more emphasis on covering their own flaws. That’s changed. Arsenal instead head into matches with the nucleus of their setup being how they can exploit the opposition’s weaknesses.

Arsenal making key tactical improvement under Mikel Arteta with an emphasis on exploiting the opposition’s weaknesses

That proactive attention to detail was on show in west Yorkshire as Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka sat high and wide to isolate Leeds’ full-backs. The hosts’ high octane touch tight marking system results in their formation becoming fractured and easier to exploit as long as attacks are fast with movement aplenty.

This was exactly how Arsenal started the game. Saka and Martinelli forced the full-backs into positions of discomfort and Martin Odegaard picked up the pockets centrally where the Gunners’ full-backs could join in at the half-spaces and carve through Leeds in the middle of the pitch.

Against West Ham it was no different, with their weaknesses on the left at full-back and centre-back the areas Arsenal targeted all through the game as their high press and counter-pressing approach was triggered whenever the Hammers moved possession out to that flank.

Forcing them into those zones was where they knew they could do most damage. Earlier in the season this team have been more fearful of the opponents’ strengths as well as their weaknesses, and now they’re flipping that outlook on its head in more aggressive and positive fashion.

Confidence plays a large part, as does having the personnel to carry out such demands. But across his tenure Arteta has been guilty of preparing his Premier League teams in a more negative sense, something that he and the side appear to be gravitating away from.

When you have a squad with such exceptional pace, technical quality and energy you can afford to be more front-footed in how you attack the opponent. That’s a constructive development noticeable across recent performances, one that has been steadily improved upon.