In about a week, a new Premier League season kicks off. We have high expectations for the new season, and given notable transfer signings made by clubs like Chelsea, West Ham, and Aston Villa, as well as the narrow victory in the title race last term, we can expect a competitive 2024–25 Premier League campaign.
That said, one may ask: What could be Arsenal’s biggest obstacle going into the title race next season? Well, injury-free, the Gunners have a pretty decent squad that can easily fight for the league; the new signings can only make them better.
However, the one thing that I think could hold Arsenal back is being predictable tactically. Teams may have gradually cracked Arsenal’s tactics and found ways to stop them. Even so, while some teams believe they can now predict and nullify Arsenal’s style, they’re in for a rude shock.
During the Arsenal versus Bayer Leverkusen game, it was evident that Arteta was hinting at interesting tactical switches for the upcoming season. Against the invincible Bundesliga side, Arteta orchestrated a spectacular display within the Arsenal setup.
Those who were keen could see:
Odegaard is dropping deep to help build up play.
Jorginho used to drop to central defence at times, pairing with Gabriel, while Saliba drifted out wide as a makeshift right-back (this was probably a hint that the No. 6 would drop to the backline at times).
Oleksandr Zinchenko from leftback and Kai Havertz from striking also ended up overloading in midfield to form a double pivot, something that we may see more of.
We also observed Myles Lewis Skelly, a left back, tucking in while in possession, a move that we may see any left back executing.
Surely those are some hints of the new tactics Arteta could employ in the new season and it will interesting to see if he uses the same tactics in the Emirates Cup today against Lyon. I am sure many of Arsenal’s forthcoming opponents will be taking a keen interest to see if they can work out Arteta’s new tactics, but the Boss will surely mix it up a bit so that Arsenal’s opponents will undoubtedly be caught off guard and they won’t know what hit them when the serious football begins next week.
>What do you think?
Peter Rix
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where Arteta deploys Rice will be interesting
at #6 he is not as big an influence on the game as at #8, both for England and Arsenal in first half of last season (while lack of fluidity in first half of season blamed on Havertz, Rice also lacked progressive play – both players and Arsenal miles better when both moved forward to #8 and #9)
Havertz played that left #8 in the first half vs BL, then moved to #9 in second half, where Rice plays has a big influence where and how Havertz plays
i hope to see Calafiori start, it will be interesting to see where, while most expect left back not impossible could appear at centre back
i while defensive duties Calafiori’s main job, i do think additional set-piece power was also part of the recruitment strategy, a clear advantage over Zinc
Zinc is not a midfielder of high enough quality for me
when Merino comes in it will be interesting again to see where he plays, and again i think part of the thinking is a power injection both running in to the box and set-pieces
with Merino and Calafiori added to Saliba, Gabriel and Havertz, Arsenal will have header power from set-pieces almost impossible to cover
certainly Arteta has built himself a team with many many options enabling multiple tactical switches and solutions keeping opponents guessing and goal threats from everywhere (vs traditional striker single focal point)
If Merino comes in, no sign of that happening soon.
I expect our corners are going to be a nightmare for opposing defenses.