
Arsenal travel to Manchester United on Sunday and wants to get their stuttering title challenge back on the right track.
The Gunners went from Blanking in Back -TO -Back League matches against West Ham and Nottingham Forest to the breaking of seven past PSV in the Champions League.
The sudden opposite in attacking fortuinen raises the question, Mikel Arteta has finally excavated a strong attacking recipe with his improvised arsenal attack.
Leandro Trossard, Mikel Merino and Ethan Nwaneri have set up in the last three games in the attack for the Gunners after an injury to Kai Havertz.
It left them without Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus as forward options.
But the versions of Merino at the front have a surprising impact behind that we will investigate on our latest episode of Tactics Exposed Team Talk, offered to you by Betfair.
How does Arsenal Kai Havertz replace?
Despite all the criticism that Havertz takes as frontman of Arsenal, his absence is clear to see when he misses.
He did fantastic work for Arsenal during his time, although it is fair to say that he is not the power they need to win the title.
But Arteta likes a tool that can play in many positions, and although Havertz is perhaps not a top class, he is a top class player.
Against Man Utd, Merino de Ster will be asked to adjust his game to let Arsenal tap in the last third part.
With Arteta who chooses to reverse his full-backs and make overloads to give them a 3-2-5 shape, Arsenal comes against a back five with United who is expected to play defensive wingbacks.
This means that individual duels are the key to winning the game.
In the case of Merino, who admitted that he has viewed Overtz videos, he has a bit of a Spits's Instinct, as he saw when he scored his brace against Leicester.
But Merino has taken lessons from Havertz to fall into a deeper part of the field, so that the United Defender leaves the problem whether he should follow him or may leave him open.
Against PSV Arsenal always had at least three runners outside the ball, including Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard.
These runs forced defenders back and caused a problem for the goalkeeper, in which Merino's presence facilitated runners to continue.
If Riccardo Calafiori has been selected left-back, he will certainly run ahead in a position of striker type, so that another option is added.
Anyway, Merino fulfills the Havertz roll and he will be crucial in the result at Old Trafford.
Can Nwaneri Saka replace?
It is a big compliment to be compared to Saka, no matter how old you are from a player.
But for me compared to one of the world's best wing players at the age of 17, the quality of Nwaneri judge.
Against United, Nwaneri will almost certainly start from the right wing, the side Arsenal plays mainly because their best players tend to favor that side.
But what Arsenal has done in the absence of their top stars is to balance the attack much more.
And against PSV, the share of attacks was even more preferred by the left flank.
This gives the opposition defense a much bigger problem than when all attacks all came one way.
Saka usually hugs the right touchline to open the space for teammates to walk in bundles.
But what Nwaneri has received the license to enter earlier.
This means that he is another central option to play in and around Merino, which, as we have already mentioned, will probably fall deeper to leave the space where the striker would be normal.
Nwaneri's movement would then have to put on the right wing-back centrally, giving Jurrien Timber than the chance to have more room to overlap with the right flank.
Another difference between the teenager and Saka is his willingness to shoot with both feet and want to insulate his defender in one V one situation.
Against the defense of United, this new balance act will give Nwaneri more chance of getting one more.
How does Man Utd play against the high press of Arsenal?
Last week we talked a bit about the new position of Bruno Fernandes as one of the two Pivot midfielders.
But unlike some rivals, Arsenal is a top that is very comfortable without the ball.
Arsenal mainly defends his back in 4-4-2 Form-the 1990s, while United takes place in their 3-4-3 form.
He rather touched on how the Arsenal Liverpool press really hurt, and this time they will set out against United.
Arsenal Captain Odegaard will be the star to orchestrate and activate the press.
What he will do is get up his hand before he tells his team where he should play.
When the ball moves wide and United, the piece seems to change with a long Cross-Field Pass, as they have done a lot against ISPWich, they will be left in a 3V1 situation in favor of Arsenal.
The opportunities that favor the visiting side for winning the ball here would then give Arsenal the chance to bomb the flank with superior songs.
So what United will have to do is find out how to play this, where Fernandes, Ugarte and Joshua Zirkzee are the most important men to solve this problem.
It can be as simple as Fernandes pushes higher to keep Merino and Odegaard sharp and possibly push back to give the defenders more time on the ball to choose a pass.
The Arteta Defensive Blueprint is successful for a reason, but in the end the game of United will be determined by the success of the Central Center -Back – probably Harry Maguire.
The central defender could fall back along Andre Onana against the front two of Odegaard and Merino, who, once combined with the other two defenders who are shown for options, will open the passing lanes.
We will probably see a W -passing form from United to bypass Arsenal, whereby someone as Eriksen shows further forward to create extra triangles between the defense and attack.
If United can make these triangles against the midfield of Arsenal, at least they have a chance to play.
Comments