Where Arsenal’s improvement is best demonstrated

The Arsenal that supporters were tortured with to begin the season no longer exists. The Arsenal that supporters are now subject to is not even remotely alike. It’s a vast improvement.

Then again, almost anything after the opening three Premier League matches would have constituted an improvement. A 0-0 draw at home to Norwich on matchweek four would have, based on what had transpired, been a step in the right direction.

Fast forward to now and Arsenal have merged to the closest version of a 4-3-3 during Mikel Arteta’s reign, and shift has resulted in significant improvement in one department: domination.

In fact, Arsenal have been casually dominating matches for longer than just a few weeks. Cup matches against Liverpool aside, as well as the embarrassing amount of times the 5-3-1 get pulled out on account of being reduced to ten men, and they’ve been in command of matches for a number of months.

Arsenal are improving in multiple areas under Mikel Arteta with their increased dominance in matches a fine example of their progression

Certainly more so than earlier in the season and, importantly, not just for the sake of it.

Last season during Arsenal’s darkest moments Arteta would insist that his side were dominating and not securing the results they deserved. Possession-wise they were, but the truth is the Gunners were always held at arm’s length. They had the ball for the sake of having the ball because the opposition knew the best way to prevent Arsenal from scoring was…to let them have the ball.

Now Arsenal take control of large spells of matches with genuine purpose. They have the ball in the right areas, and they retain the ball in the right areas. Since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was removed from the equation only Liverpool and Manchester City have scored more goals than Arsenal in the Premier League.

Using Granit Xhaka has a more advanced No. 8 means he can do a cleaning up job high up the pitch, keeping the play ticking over and trusting Thomas Partey to manage the transitions centrally – which he’s doing excellently.

Martin Odegaard has played a pivotal role across this recent boost in possession numbers, with his fine form coinciding with this upward trajectory. Players always seek him with the ball at feet due to the trust in him to keep Arsenal squeezing sides back.

Domination for domination’s sake is worthless. Where Arsenal are playing their football, with high triangles in advanced areas, offers threat. It’s not tepid. There is numerical equilibrium instead of Bukayo Saka tasked with beating four men, and duel No. 8’s allow the play to tick over with the insurance policy of an engaged Partey behind them.

Keeping 11 players on the pitch would’ve helped Arsenal sustain their pressure for even longer, which was one of the outstanding criticisms aimed at them previously. Heavy 20-minute spells of intense pressure were followed by 70 minutes of soaking up attacks and striking on the break.

Known that Arsenal would improve as the season progressed, the way they managed to wrestle the initiative for increasingly extended periods of time stands out as one of the primary one. Of course, having the lion’s share of possession is irrelevant if there is nothing to show for it, but that too is has been worked on with far greater chance creation and efforts at goal.

Fans need to see signs of progression. Without tangible evidence there is no reason the manager should be in the job, and the way Arsenal conduct and impose themselves on the opposition is one of the finer examples of just that.