Mikel Arteta must make tactical change for Man Utd clash

“I got it wrong man. I got it totally wrong. It’s a monumental f***-up. A total mess. The biggest f***-up of my life as a coach.”

Pep Guardiola isn’t one to analyse matches he oversees with such candid simplicity, but that was the only way he could describe Bayern Munich’s 4-0 humbling at the hands of Real Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final tie back in 2014.

Even the very best make mistakes, and Guardiola’s tendency for ‘overthinking’ major European ties has been well-documented. His decision to desert his principles in favour of chaos against Los Blancos resulted in a humiliating defeat; “a complete f***-up,” he says.

Mikel Arteta is right in thinking that Arsenal need to evolve

Guardiola has long been lauded for his genius rather than slammed for his idiocy, and the Spaniard is rightly regarded as one of the very best to ever do it on the sidelines. It’s a level of management Mikel Arteta aspires to reach; one the Arsenal manager witnessed daily for almost three years during his spell as Guardiola’s assistant in Manchester.

His close working relationship with the Man City boss has seen Arteta labelled a Guardiola acolyte; a disciple. Such tags are hardly far-fetched, with his tactical principles heavily influenced by his former boss.

Guardiola’s ability to tactically evolve while his playing personnel differs by the season has seen him develop into a league-winning machine. His City side pipped Arteta’s Arsenal to the Premier League crown last season, and the two sides are expected to battle it out at the top once again. However, in order to compete with Guardiola’s Cityzens again, Arteta said over the summer that evolution is critical in north London.

“The idea is to be more unpredictable every year, to become more difficult for the opponents to stop and nullify what we want to do,” Arteta said back in July. “That’s what we have now, especially at the back and in the midfield. The options we have, to open up the spaces… we have many more options than we had last year.”

The Gunners have evolved drastically from their formative iteration under the Spaniard. Once a pragmatic outfit who won the FA Cup while deploying a 3-4-3, Arsenal are now a control-oriented side capable of overwhelming almost any opponent with their technical proficiency and sound structure.

In 2022/23, we eventually knew what we were getting from Arteta’s side. While injuries meant the personnel wasn’t always the same, we almost exclusively saw a 3-2-5 possession configuration with Oleksandr Zinchenko drifting into midfield and Granit Xhaka moving higher up the pitch to create a front five. The system, given the personnel available, worked superbly and Arteta’s side were able to blow most teams away until their campaign dithered when the pressure ramped up down the stretch.

Given the success of last season’s dynamics, many have questioned why Arteta has drifted away from them at the start of the new season. Admittedly, the changes have been subtle, but they’ve undoubtedly hindered Arsenal’s fluidity in possession without adding further security in defence. Zinchenko’s slow return to fitness has seen Thomas Partey utilised as an inverted right-back, compromising Bukayo Saka’s previously stellar relationship with Ben White and Martin Odegaard down the right, while Kai Havertz has been tested as an auxiliary forward. The German’s role, I must say, hasn’t exactly been defined.

The tactical alteration has hardly been disastrous, but through three games, we’re yet to see the free-flowing machine that dazzled us throughout 2022/23. Arsenal have been able to exert plenty of control in every contest so far, but immaturity – a long-standing issue – and individual errors mean the Gunners have picked up seven points instead of nine. They could’ve been worse off had Crystal Palace made them pay on Matchday 2 after Takehiro Tomiyasu’s harsh sending-off.

Mikel Arteta must make tactical change for Man Utd clash

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The best football Arsenal have played this season arrived in the 15 minutes after Arteta’s double substitution on Saturday in the draw with Fulham. The boss introduced Zinchenko and replaced Havertz for Fabio Vieira, essentially reverting to last season’s dynamics. A sudden verve manifested with Vieira adding thrust, dynamism and a creative spark from the ‘Granit Xhaka role’, while Zinchenko brought about extra security and easy ball progression. The spacing in possession just looked right again; the players were in sync and they swiftly took a 2-1 lead.

They might’ve held on to all three points had Gabriel been on the field when Harrison Reed swung in the corner which led to Joao Palhinha’s equaliser. The Brazilian, who was Arsenal’s most reliable and consistent defender last season, simply has to come back into the side for Man Utd’s visit on Sunday. I expect Zinchenko will, too.

However, we shouldn’t slander Arteta for experimenting. It’s necessary to evolve, and injuries as well as the profiles of new additions meant he felt he had to change something around. But, it did feel like the boss was tinkering for the sake of tinkering.

Perhaps it’s the Guardiola in him talking – that need to win the game with a stroke of genius from the sidelines – but now, at this stage of the season, there’s no need for Arteta to overcomplicate things. Let’s go back to basics: Gabriel and Zinchenko back in with White at right-back, while Havertz could do with dropping out of the limelight after catching some flak from supporters on Saturday.