During pre-season, I think most fans are looking for something new in the team, especially when you have a manager like Mikel Arteta who has shown a penchant for tactical tinkering. Of course, they are looking for new players, but so far the only summer signing, Riccardo Calafiori, has yet to play a game during pre-season.
In the second half of last season, we saw Arteta slightly transform Arsenal again and break through an exceptional number of goals during the game. During the mid-season break in Dubai, Arsenal made a few small changes to the team. Havertz became the de facto striker (this was largely forced upon them by Gabriel Jesus’ injury), which meant Declan Rice moved from midfield to a box-to-box role.
Ultimately, that meant Jorginho or Thomas Partey anchored the midfield, with Oleksandr Zinchenko’s dominance tempered by Arteta’s preference for greater solidity at left-back, with Jakub Kiwior or Takehiro Tomiyasu stepping in for the job. Many, myself included, probably felt there was a sense of permanence to some of these changes.
Just four weeks ago, I was adamant that Declan Rice was the replacement for Granit Xhaka and that Arsenal should prioritise a younger, deeper-lying playmaker to play alongside him. But as I sat down for the Bayer Leverkusen game on Wednesday night and looked at the next tactical evolution for 2024-25, I was struck by what I thought was ‘old news’.
Zinchenko inverting at left-back. Kai Havertz is in midfield, with Gabriel Jesus up front. Arsenal have been heavily linked with Mikel Merino, who is not a deep-lying playmaker, meaning Rice is not finished as a No. 6. Some of this will be down to timing. Zinchenko played at left-back, with Calafiori and the team not available on Wednesday. No other signings have been made at this stage.
Still, I wonder whether some of these approaches we have come to regard as relics – Zinchenko inverting, Havertz in midfield (which, to be fair, I didn’t expect to see the last of), Rice as a midfield anchor – have actually been abandoned or remain tools that Arteta would rather have in the shed. The manager talks a lot about unpredictability, and I suspect we’re likely to see more of it than many thought. We just don’t see it every week.
In general, Arsenal’s last three seasons have followed a pattern of finding rich form that is weakened by sticky spells for three games as they find something and their opponents start to know what to expect. Arsenal tend to bounce back from unwanted purple patches and start again with another evolution.
I think Arteta wants to avoid the headache Arsenal had during last year’s festive season, when they lost the league title and were knocked out of the FA Cup, a run of three defeats. My new working theory is that Arteta wants to mix and match approaches. Some of what we saw in the summer of 2022 and the winter of 2023 will still be seen a lot from time to time.
Ultimately, he continues to bring in versatile players, and that has to be done with the unpredictability and the variety of approaches in mind. I think he wants to move more towards having a rotational approach from game to game. Obviously, Arsenal still need individual coaching to replicate some of these elements.
The fact that Zinchenko changed his squad number this week suggests he is likely to remain at the club this season. The fact that the change wasn’t announced earlier (Cedric was always going to leave, so the availability of the number has been known for some time) suggests that Arsenal were (and probably still are) open to selling. Miles Lewis-Skelley came on as a left-back for Kiwi against Leverkusen, showing that Arteta is far from done with the left-back inversion model.
I was impressed with Zinchenko’s performance against Leverkusen. Obviously he will never be a defensive MacTackle. But the real problem with Zinchenko is that the risk/reward dial on his passes is starting to tilt too far towards risk. It was only one game and a friendly, but on Wednesday he looked much cleaner in his decision-making and he looks like a decisive player who understands why his star has fallen off recently.
I also think last season Zinchenko started to look less like a left-back who would drop into midfield and more like a midfielder who would occasionally play left-back. Again, against Leverkusen, that dial felt more stable and he maintained width when needed. It was particularly notable in the first half, with Trossard, Havertz and Jesus operating as an attacking carousel, how much more fluid Arsenal’s approach was overall. Zinchenko supported this by being a little more careful about when to move into central spaces and when to maintain width.
There are fewer concerns about Havertz starting in midfield. In fact, I think Havertz can play as an 8, 9 or 10 no matter where he plays. In midfield, he has more authority to get into the box late and can also break through the channels we saw when he scored Zinchenko’s goal on Wednesday. However, his heat map looks similar whether he’s in midfield or up front.
Watch the full replay of Arsenal 4-1 Bayer Leverkusen 🍿
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 8, 2024
Arsenal also used the option of moving Havertz into a more advanced role late on when Gabriel Jesus was out, and it looks like we’ll see more of that this season, and vice versa. His late winner against Brentford at the Emirates in March came when he returned to midfield after starting the game ahead. Arsenal didn’t have that option when they had Granit Xhaka in that position, though he was very reliable.
In the case of Declan Rice, he will need some coaching to really excel in all aspects of the game as a deep-lying midfielder. I have always felt that Rice’s ability to learn and add attributes to his game is one of his greatest strengths. Technically, he is a perfectly sound footballer, his touch is good, his passing is good.
I think he needs some pointers on how to receive and move the ball to become a Rodrigo-style all-rounder. A more open body position when receiving a pass would help him. Rice likes to pass the ball to his teammates with his slow stride. Maybe he could temper that impulse by passing the ball sometimes, at least to save his legs a little.
Partey and Jorginho are good at adopting open body positions, allowing them to turn and pass in one movement. Both also know when there is no space, and they throw the ball back to where it was and find a better angle. We are already talking about a very delicate line for a world-class player, but Rice is no longer playing for West Ham.
He doesn’t need to wear a Superman cape for every move, like Roy at Rovers, keeping the ball out of danger and trying to get it up the pitch every time he gets it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m looking forward to seeing something new too, and I think Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori will facilitate tactical hi-jinx like we’ve never seen before. There will certainly be one or two new players, but I think some of us may have been a little hasty in completely ignoring some of the old ways.
