Mikel Arteta doesn’t want to hear your opinions about the dark arts, and he also doesn’t want to hear from Manchester City players criticizing his team’s tactics. (He says he prefers “facts to words.”) Erling Haaland told Arteta to “stay humble” after their 2-2 draw on Sunday, and Arteta’s team has clearly caught the attention of the Premier League powerhouse. That’s a sign of respect for the challenge the Gunners have presented to the Mancunians over multiple seasons. And now that Manchester City has lost star midfielder and potential Ballon d’Or winner Rodri for the rest of the season due to an ACL injury, the door is open for Arsenal to finally claim the Premier League title.
Arteta’s uniquely able to understand the headspace Man City might be in right now. “I have been there before,” Arteta said. “I was there [at City] for four years. I have all the information. So I know. Believe me.”
Arteta spent years learning under City’s Pep Guardiola, who is widely considered the best manager of this era. Guardiola is notorious for his borderline obsession with amassing as much control as possible over a sport that is considered beautiful for its lack of control. His teams win matches with possession, and Arteta has tried to mimic those principles of strict positional football in the past. Arteta took the managerial job at Arsenal in 2019, and his early days were filled with plenty of possession and nice passing, even if Arsenal often lacked the incisiveness required to contend for a title or even a top four spot.
When Arteta says he knows about City, he means it. In many ways, he’s tried to build his own version of City in London, 163 miles south of Manchester. This season, however, Arteta is going about controlling matches in a very different way. The Gunners are winning by defending without the ball. They’re more direct in possession than they’ve been in the past. And yes, they’re winning by partially taking a page out of the Diego Simeone playbook at Atlético Madrid. But despite the early-season success on the scoreboard, there are major questions about whether Arsenal’s style is optimal and sustainable in amassing the most points over 38 matches.
The dark arts have become a buzzword used by fans, pundits, and even players to describe the gamesmanship that occurs during a soccer match. Time wasting, exaggeration of injuries, and delaying restarts help teams stall and protect the scoreline. On Sunday, the Gunners manifested the dark arts as they voraciously sat deep and defended their goal for the entire second half. You can’t blame Arsenal for this approach or for any of their time wasting, given that they played the entire second half with one fewer player on the pitch following a second yellow given out by referee Michael Oliver just before halftime.
Put aside your opinions on the controversial second yellow cards given to Declan Rice (against Brighton on August 31) and Leandro Trossard (against Man City on Sunday), both for kicking the ball away and delaying restarts. Besides those yellow cards, Arsenal has been praised for grinding out results this season, even when they are not performing at their best or are stuck playing down a man. Throughout the challenging 38-match Premier League season, which runs alongside three other competitions (League Cup, FA Cup, and Champions League), Arsenal won’t always be able to bring their A game. The Gunners’ ability to secure wins even when not at their peak is crucial for them to keep up with the four-time defending champions.
Arsenal has faced one of the toughest schedules in the Premier League so far, playing away games against City, Aston Villa, and Tottenham Hotspur. They have earned 11 points out of a possible 15, which is a major success by any standard.
However, despite their results, the Gunners have not looked convincing this season. There was an expectation or hope that this core group would build on its impressive performances in the second half of the 2023-24 campaign, but that has not yet happened. Being able to win in a scrappy manner is important, but Arsenal’s current performance falls short of their statistical numbers from all of last season. That’s a worrying sign, as Liverpool’s strong start suggests that this could be a three-way title race once again.
Arsenal’s effectiveness in set pieces and attention to detail helped them secure a win in the North London derby on September 15, on a day when their attack struggled to score from open play. Their precise execution from a corner kick resulted in a crucial second goal at the Etihad on Sunday, allowing them to stay close to City at the top of the table after just five matches. Set piece coach Nicolas Jover may soon have a chant dedicated to him at the Emirates, if he doesn’t already.
But without a set piece goal or two, you end up with Arsenal’s Champions League away day at Atalanta on September 19. The match ended in a goalless draw as Arsenal attempted just six total shots, worth 0.8 expected goals. The Gunners had 46 percent of the possession in the match, marking the fourth time in seven matches (across all competitions) that Arsenal has failed to secure a majority of the ball. Only one of those instances was directly due to a red card.
Arsenal needs true, definitive statement performances, not just fortuitous wins or draws, to prove their standing in the title race. The Gunners have yet to produce a Premier League or Champions League match this season in which they won the expected goals battle by at least one full xG.
Early last season, a blip in form from attacking midfielder Martin Odegaard led to a mediocre start for Arsenal’s attack. This season, Odegaard sustained an ankle injury while on international duty for Norway on September 9 and is expected to be out until at least the end of the October international break. Arteta hopes for a return by October 19. The Gunners’ issues in attack became evident before Odegaard’s injury, as early as the 2-0 win against Aston Villa on August 24. They’ve only become more glaring since.
Arsenal had 60 percent possession in the match against Villa and won 2-0 on the road against a team that finished fourth last season. This was a great result for Arteta. However, they had real difficulties breaking through Aston Villa’s defensive strategy. The data on Arsenal’s on-ball actions shows they struggled to get the ball into dangerous areas, resulting in only four total shots in the first 65 minutes. Odegaard was the Arsenal player with the most touches in the penalty area, highlighting his importance.
Villa manager Unai Emery employed his mid-block defensive approach to disrupt Arsenal’s buildup through the center of the pitch. In previous games, Arsenal had relied on Oleksandr Zinchenko’s passing ability to help move the ball forward. Without Jorginho or Zinchenko on the pitch, Arsenal had trouble getting the ball to Odegaard to create chances. Despite the win, there were still questions that needed to be addressed.
Simply put, Arsenal’s been less clean and efficient about passing the ball to the primary chance creators. Without Odegaard, the attacking numbers have plummeted, and Arsenal’s best chance of scoring in three straight matches was to rely on a corner or a 25-yard strike from a defender.
Some of this is influenced by the red cards, but Arsenal is just 15th in buildup completion rate through the first five matches of the league season. They finished fifth in the same metric last season.
The defense is the defining unit of the club, boasting the best center back pairing in the league, Gabriel Magalhães and William Saliba. Arsenal has plenty of margin for error in terms of attacking output because of the defense, which conceded only 27.9 xG last season, nearly eight fewer expected goals than the second-best defense, Manchester City. Only Liverpool has conceded fewer goals than Arsenal’s three thus far in the new season.
Arteta has relied on his defense for the past two seasons and counting. Arsenal faced similar issues at the start of last season, struggling to create chances and score goals. However, the elite defense prevented them from dropping too low in the table. Set piece goals have helped them maintain their stability for now, but the attack heavily relies on right winger Bukayo Saka for creation from open play.
Arteta made two key summer additions: defender Riccardo Calafiori from Bologna and midfielder Mikel Merino from Real Sociedad. Calafiori scored an incredible wonder goal in his full debut against Manchester City, but the main summer moves seemed to double down on Arsenal’s defensive strengths rather than covering potential attacking weaknesses in the squad. Raheem Sterling was a late loan addition from Chelsea to provide cover for the attack, but Arsenal lacks the same level of depth that Manchester City has to back up Kevin De Bruyne or that Liverpool has to support Diogo Jota or Mo Salah in case of injury.
After they endured challenges last week with three grueling away matches against three of the top 15 teams in the world, Arsenal’s schedule is finally easing up. The next opportunities are Leicester City and Southampton, both relegation candidates, but there is still valuable information we can glean from these matches. It’ll be intriguing to observe how Arteta continues to play Thomas Partey alongside Rice, and whether Jorginho will see more playing time to enhance Arsenal’s buildup play in Merino’s absence. Additionally, they will be facing a young and dynamic Paris Saint-Germain squad in the Champions League. PSG manager Luis Enrique emphasizes possession, so it will be interesting to see whether Arsenal repeats the out of possession tactical approach without Odegaard, even at home.
Arsenal has the potential to address their buildup issues and embark on another impressive run in the second half of the season, like they did last year. However, until they deliver more consistent performances, they won’t be able to establish themselves as one of the top two teams in the Premier League in 2024.
