There appear to be certain opinions among some Arsenal fans that Unai Emery should send the team out in full attack mode against Tottenham on Sunday afternoon, a viewpoint I totally disagree with.
First off, the idea that you can go through a Premier League season with an attitude of we will just score more than them is not a sustainable position, clubs will adapt and just pick Arsenal off on the counter-attack.
Secondly, to think you can do that against a top-six club is just being naive.
Man City and Liverpool have built their game on that form of football but look at their defence, they are able to contain counter-attacks because of the quality they have at the back, Arsenal simply does not have that same quality in defence.
Being attack-minded is just fine, even against a top-six side and especially at home but you have to show some degree of caution otherwise the best teams in the Premier League will rip you to pieces.
Look what Tottenham did against City, they withstood their onslaught and walked away with a draw, sure they were lucky but so were Newcastle against Tottenham when they did the exact same thing and if Pepe would have scored against Liverpool that game could have been so very different.
Going all gung ho does not assure a win but being careless in defence can end in a loss.
Ask yourselves this question, do you have confidence in Arsenal’s defence to withstand counter-attacks from the top teams? I do not, sorry to say.
A more balanced approach with control of the ball and dominant possession is what will beat Spurs not an all-out attack mentality, that is a recipe for disaster.