Mikel Arteta’s Gunners Are The Anti-Arsenal

Last updated: Mar 4, 2021, 2:51AM | Published: Sep 25, 2020, 2:46AM

Towards the end of Arsenal's tense win over West Ham a strange feeling started sneaking over the game, the feeling that they weren't going to absolutely bottle it.

This is new, almost uncomfortable territory for the Gunners. The final dying years of the Arsene Wenger era - a decay that somehow spanned from 2007 to 2018 - were defined by a shining, hollow aesthetic. Arsenal played beautifully and in the biggest moments played without substance, always undone by a soft middle.

There was the infamous 8-2 loss at Old Trafford in 2011 that ventured beyond simple collapse into farce. The 6-0 humiliation to Jose Mourinho's Chelsea in 2014 was somehow worse, with Nemanja Maticbossing the game in midfield, a savage reminder of the presence Arsenal had been lacking in central midfield since Patrick Viera left in 2005.

Worst of all though were the losses in small games. The 0-2 at home to Swansea in 2012, where Michu scored two late goals at the Emirates, comes to mind - one of those games where Arsenal descended into desperate Gervinho forays forward, making so many moves that he confused and tripped himself as well as the defender.

The West Ham game loomed as a throwback to those disasters, where the raging favourite Gunners suddenly have no idea, overrun by a more disciplined, determined and lesser talented side. But the disaster never came, and somehow the Gunners snatched victory despite being outplayed.

By xG (expected goals) Arsenal deserved to lose - West Ham controlled the game and created better chances. But in an alien turn of events, Arsenal has become the defensively sound, structurally robust, mentally tough side that patiently waits to turn the knife, hanging around and outperforming its talent.

This Arsenal squad is not remarkably gifted. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the only world-class player in the team. Great sums have been spent on Mesut Ozil, Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe, and though none have been calamities, to varying degrees none have lived up to the hype. Flawed and useful, Granit Xhaka is perhaps the player who best epitomises Arsenal's talent level.

Between Aubameyang, Lacazette, Pepe and savvy addition Willian, Arsenal do have enough talent up front, though. Pepe plays in flashes but the flashes - the mad, mesmerising dashes and the exquisitely curled shots - are brilliant. Willian's vision and pace give Arsenal a needed, experienced weapon to deploy in attacking midfield and on the wing, while Aubameyang is a rock, full of class, poise and danger.

The defence is lacking in stars but has been resolute in the biggest moments. Through all the noise, it's easy to forget that David Luiz is an excellent footballer in the right context, which Mikel Arteta has provided.

The midfield is the area of greatest concern, where Arteta's structure can't conjure up enough to compensate for the lack of dynamic talent.

Ozil should be the piece here but has faded and been banished into obscurity. Dani Ceballos, with his strange bouncy gait that matches his hair, does a brave enough impression of a top-line creative midfielder, but doesn't quite have the quality for the role, and nor does Xhaka.

Too often Arsenal are left overly dependent on playing on the break. The beautiful games of triangles and through balls from midfield to attack that defined the best of the Wenger era don’t exist in this team. Arteta’s team almost has to ignore the concept of midfield at times.

This leaves them looking sometimes bereft of ideas, like they were for most of the West Ham game. But they pulled the win out from a position of seeming weakness, just like they did last season post-restart in giant wins against Manchester City, Liverpooland Chelsea.

Arteta’s Gunners are the anti-Arsenal. They're resilient and defensively minded, often low on flash – though still capable on that front too, as the second goal against Fulham demonstrated on the opening weekend.

Previous iterations of Arsenal were defined by having too many creative midfielders (the 2014-15 team featured all of Ozil, Santi Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Tomas Rosicky, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Arteta) and now they have almost none.

Something began to glimmer in Arteta's first win - the 2-0 over Manchester United in January. That night Arsenal were ferocious, with manic pressure and pressing never seen under Unai Emery, and dangerous on the counter. The foundation was set there and built upon with the character-filled defensive triumphs over the league's elite teams.

Under Arteta in the Premier League, Arsenal have taken 39 points from 22 games, a pace which would have seen them finish third last season. They're not the third most talented team in the Premier League, but this is the strange, new Arsenal- a group of overachievers.

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Jay Croucher

Based in Denver, Colorado, Jay splits time between worshiping Nikola Jokic and waking up at 3am to hazily watch AFL games. He has been writing about AFL, NBA and other US sports since 2014, and has suckered himself into thinking Port Adelaide was the real deal each year since.