Has Mikel Arteta edged Arsenal closer to the ideal left-wing balance ?

Arsenal are closer to finding an ideal LHS balance and it seems that, all along, the best solutions have been hiding in plain sight.  

Its status as our ‘problem child’ dates back to Granit Xhaka’s exit in 2023. The absence of a like-for-like replacement for the Swiss (first Kai Havertz, then Declan Rice) is often credited as a major cause of our lacking left-sided threat and the resultant RHS (over)reliance on attacks.

But Mikel Arteta has edged nearer to the ‘answer’ and found a strong contender in midweek. Beset with defensive woes, the boss gave Myles Lewis-Skelly just his second start in 2024/25 (first outside of the Carabao Cup) and made Mikel Merino his midfield partner; their first substantial minutes in the team together.

There is no big secret: using players on their natural side (e.g., left-footers on the left) helps to enable fluid movement. Arsenal proved as much versus AS Monaco. Their balanced setup allowed them to cut through the visitors at will in the first half, ultimately earning them a priceless 3-0 home win.     

Did Mikel Arteta (finally) find the ideal LHS balance for Arsenal versus AS Monaco?

Arteta knows this too (obviously) and, in his defence, injuries have restricted his hand somewhat this term – Oleksandr Zinchenko and Riccardo Calafiori are still out; Merino picked up a shoulder issue in his first training session; an unspecified knock ruled Lewis-Skelly out of the last three Premier League matches.

Those problems led to right-footers like Jurrien Timber and Rice being put on the left, which, in turn, hurt our attacking threat down that side. Its impact has been spelled out at dark junctures over the course of this campaign, with every 11v11 loss/draw endured—against Newcastle, Chelsea, Fulham, Inter Milan, Atalanta, and Liverpool—all being occasions where a right-foot triple-up featured on the LHS.  

Being on the ‘wrong side’ is not inherently bad, for example the RHS functions well with Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard together.

Yet a balance must be struck to ensure that those who are put ‘out of position’ can still excel on their less-favoured side (e.g. Saka is strong both ways) and, too often, the Gunners have not managed to do it, with the aforementioned games being a reminder of the heavy price that they subsequently paid.

Merino and Lewis-Skelly have been left out even when injuries befell others but on Wednesday, they seized upon their chance and might have given Arteta a LHS blueprint moving forward: put Merino at LCM when possible and/or keep faith in Lewis-Skelly at LB until our more established left-footers are back in the fold.

Regardless of personnel, it is vital that the same dynamics are maintained on the pitch and those two players might just help the boss achieve it - he simply needs to trust them.

Or could Saka do a job at LB…                

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