Does anyone want to think about the Premier League again after Tuesday’s League Cup defeat? Good! We have just the thing for you.
Not much has been said about Arsenal’s football over the past few weeks, but Saturday’s win over Everton was a clear step forward in terms of playing against the defensive set-up and consistently getting into dangerous areas.
In the absence of Bukayo Saka, the team’s biggest goal threat this season, Mikel Merino dropped into midfield to play behind Viktor Gyokeres, allowing Martin Odegaard to drop deeper. It was Odegaard’s constant roaming in midfield, Rice’s forays in front of the ball and his link-up play with Myles Lewis-Skelley, who moved from left-back into midfield, that helped stretch Everton and create many chances.
These combinations didn’t directly lead to a goal, but they helped Arsenal dominate and threaten throughout their 2-0 win. PSG-like fluidity in midfield and plenty of vertical passing looks like a real step forward for this Arsenal side and should make the team more interesting to watch.
We look at how these midfield rotations work in the final installment Between the Linesour new tactics-oriented YouTube series. You can watch the video below and don’t forget to subscribe to the Arseblog YouTube channel for more!