Arsenal has enjoyed some success this year since they made Mikel Arteta their latest manager.
The Spaniard has brought back confidence and, even more importantly, a trophy to the Emirates.
He has changed the club’s approach to games since the days of Unai Emery, and the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are now thriving under his management.
Danny Higginbotham recently wrote on Sun Sports about the changes that Arteta has brought to Arsenal tactically and how it has made the Gunners a strong team to defend against and to score against.
He wrote at length about the changes that Arteta has brought about, including finally finding a system that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette can work together successfully.
He hailed his Frenchman for his selfless work that helped Arsenal to beat Chelsea in the FA Cup final.
He then wrote about the tactical flexibility at the club now which allows the team to set up differently when they attack and when they defend.
He wrote on Sun Sports: “…It is also worth mentioning that whereas previous managers struggled, Arteta has found a system to get both Aubameyang and Lacazette into the same side.
“And don’t forget, it was Lacazette’s unselfish run that created the space for Aubameyang to score his second.
“I have also been very impressed by the tactical flexibility shown by Arteta.
“They played a 3-4-3 when attacking, but seamlessly switched to a back four without the ball. So when defending you had Kieran Tierney (No 3) tucking in alongside David Luiz (No 23) and Rob Holding (No 16), with Hector Bellerin (No 2) dropping in at right-back.
“Tierney had the licence then to go and join the attack, allowing Ainsley Maitland-Niles to become a winger — causing Cesar Azpilicueta all sorts of problems.
“Key to all of this are the two sitting midfielders, Granit Xhaka (No 34) and Dani Ceballos (No 8) — two more examples of players showing restraint for the good of the team.
“Under Arteta they are finally changing their ways, content to ask questions by sitting deeper.
“To create this identity in a short space of time will have taken hours of work on the training ground — something that Arteta deserves huge credit for.”
