Can new midfield win Arsenal the Premier League?

By Ninad Barbadikar

Football

Sat December 09, 2023 · 1y ago

Arsenal's dramatic 4-3 victory at Luton will be memorable for many reasons, not least for the manner in which the Gunners fought back to claim all three points.

From 3-2 down around the hour mark, Mikel Arteta's side showed the resolve of a side truly prepared to go all the way in the title race this season.

All of their front six players were involved in goal contributions, either making an assist or scoring, the last of which came from the head of Declan Rice.

After the exit of Granit Xhaka and the gradual phasing out of Thomas Partey, Arteta's new midfield trio are beginning to deliver on the vision he had for them.

Kai key to midfield three

Let's talk about Kai Havertz first.

A player who divides opinion, the German has now scored in back-to-back starts.

By the end of his time at The Emirates, former midfield destroyer Xhaka had become an attacking threat in the opposition box, something we are now seeing from his replacement.

Havertz and Jesus dovetail perfectly

And by adapting a forward into this role, rather than a more traditional central midfielder, there are unsurprisingly strengths from an attacking perspective.

Which is where the role of Gabriel Jesus becomes particularly important.

The image above from the first half against Luton, with Arsenal under pressure in their own half, shows Jesus having dropped deep alongside Martin Odegaard.

Havertz is not visible in the frame because he is high and central, occupying Luton defenders as if he were playing as the centre-forward.

Staying central means he has the freedom to attack the box and combine with knock-ons from Jesus to devastating effect.

Havertz more physical than most realise

The German may not look a physical bully in duels but is more than a handful in the air.

He has won the most aerial duels in the squad (30) ahead of first-choice defensive pairing Gabriel and William Saliba as well, with a 50% success rate underlining his effectiveness.

Havertz has been key in the physical transformation of Arsenal this season that is seeing the Gunners dominate teams in a way they have previously been unable to.

Ødegaard back to his best

After zero goal contributions in four games before and after the most recent international break, Arsenal's captain has now has either assisted or scored a goal in four of his last five appearances.

The best technicians and midfielders see more of the ball and usually their teams are all the better for it.

But this hasn't always been the case with Odegaard this season. Before the last four fixtures, Odegaard had 60 or more touches in only four of 12 matches in the Premier League and Champions League.

He's repeated that tally in their last four games.

Midfield maestro dropping deeper

Odegaard is seeing more touches in deeper areas on the pitch.

It's not only important he's seeing more of the ball, it's where he is seeing the ball that's important as well.

It was the case earlier in the season that Odegaard took more responsibility in taking shots rather than setting them up, often leading to wasteful shooting.

As you can see from the heat maps above, that activity around and near the box has drastically reduced in the last few games, with him instead dropping deeper, combining with Jesus and picking his moments in a more effective way.

Building around Rice

The late winner against Luton was already Rice's third of the season, with two of those game-winners. So despite becoming essentially a single pivot midfielder, Rice is just a goal short of last season's tally of four for West Ham.

But Arsenal didn't pay £105m for his goals.

Rice is one of the best carriers of the ball from deep in the world, with his rare combination of athleticism, intelligence and awareness whilst carrying, combined with a great arsenal of passes, making him a uniquely valuable midfielder.

One of his few shortcomings is when receiving the ball deep with his back to the opposition goal, potentially exposing him as a single-pivot midfielder.

In evolving his midfield in the way he has as the campaign approaches its halfway point, Arteta appears to have found the perfect antidotes to this.

Odegaard dropping deep has helped Rice significantly.

Having Jesus and Odegaard drop deep to link with Rice while Havertz drifts into the space further forward, combined with the use of inverted full-backs to give the former West Ham captain plenty of help and support in the middle of the pitch should he require it.

The end result of Arteta's tinkering and evolving of Arsenal so far this season is a team that is two points clear after 15 matches having lost only once.

And yet it feels like they're only just getting started.

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