One of Arsenal’s major problems, when Mikel Arteta was made the club’s manager, was their defence.
The Gunners had been leaking goals with reckless abandon and because of that no matter how many goals they scored, it was never enough.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored 22 goals in each of the last two league seasons and it still wasn’t enough to help Arsenal return to the top four.
This was because as enterprising as the club’s attack was, their defence was also consistently generous.
To his credit, the Spaniard managed to improve the team at the back when he came in.
Arsenal earned some impressive wins during Project Restart against teams like Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City largely because of their effective defending.
The Gunners entered this season as a similarly good team defensively but it is now apparent that the solidity at the back comes with a price, which is a lack of creativity that leads directly to almost no goals scored.
I think that Arteta is a good tactician, but the Spaniard’s tactics are stifling our creativity.
Playing with a structure is fine, but when it limits you because you want to stay in shape throughout a game, it becomes a problem.
Arsenal has played with less freedom for much of this season and Arteta needs to loosen things up a little so that the likes of Dani Ceballos and Joe Willock can better influence our games creatively.
An article from Ime