Arsenal have been urged to turn back the clock to their 2022/23 campaign and Viktor Gyokeres is being tipped as the man to fire them to the title if they do.
That season, the Gunners played arguably their most free-flowing football under Mikel Arteta. They moved the ball with pace, hit teams on the counter, and looked every inch a title-winning side. But their momentum faltered. The injury to William Saliba in the final stretch exposed defensive frailties, and Manchester City capitalised, snatching the title.
Possession-Based Shift Changed Everything
The disappointment of 2022/23 prompted a tactical rethink. Arsenal signed Declan Rice and began fielding four centre-backs alongside two defensive midfielders. Arteta pivoted to a possession-heavy style, favouring defensive stability and set-piece efficiency.
That has been the blueprint for the past two seasons. It showed promise in 2023/24, but injuries derailed progress last season. Now, heading into 2025/26 with key reinforcements in place, Arteta may believe this system can finally deliver silverware. Emmanuel Petit is not convinced.
Gyokeres Built for Free-Flowing Football
The Gunner Legend insists Arsenal must rediscover their fast-paced, counterattacking identity, the style that suits Gyokeres down to the ground.
“Gyokeres, for example, prefers to run into space behind defenders, while Arsenal tend to rely on possession. Perhaps they need to get back to the fast-paced counterattacking style they practiced two years ago to get the most out of it. Both he and the team need to meet halfway. Too often, wingers drop deep, leaving the pitch empty, making it difficult for Gyokeres to find space. So he, alone, isn’t the solution,” said Petit, as per AS.
“If Arsenal quickly find the balance between his qualities and their style of play, they will be in contention.”
Arsenal have not had a natural goal poacher like Gyokeres for some time. Whether Arteta adapts his system to suit the Swedish striker remains to be seen. But he may have no choice. Two seasons of elegant football have delivered nothing.
Now, Arsenal need results even if it means winning ugly. Three points are three points. Possession football may please the purists, but many fans would love to see the Gunners return to their quick, free-flowing roots. With a stronger defence now in place, they could be far more dangerous.
What are your thoughts on the matter Gooners?
Daniel O
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The boy is of less effect with possession based football, so change of style is in serious need for Gyokeres to score more goals for Arsenal.
Arteta’s inverted-LB tactic surprised most EPL managers in 2022/23, hence the high goal tally
But it’s not a surprise anymore to the other managers this season
The overlapping-LB tactic has been working well in the last three games, so let’s how long before it gets cracked by the other EPL managers
Both Martineli and Gyokers will benefit tremendously from Eze explosive runs and his Hollywood passes.
Martinelli and Eze on the pitch at the same time means either Rice or Odegaard sits on bench.
No please
Timothy Adegbola
You have to be 100% at Anfield, Odegaard is not fit just now.
But Anfield is theater more suited for Eze, his unpredictability is what put defenders on their bicycle.
Further more at 27 yrs old, the former Crystal Palace is at his prime 100% fit and we’ll rested, he’s got to be the first name on the team sheet at Anfield
👍Gunsmoke
Gyokores needs a left footed player on the left and a right footed player on the right. Obviously we are not changing Saka soon but Madueke may be the best option for the left. Trossard may also be a good option at times because he play intelligent balls and pick players out better in the box. But if our delivery doesn’t get quicker and BETTER Gyokores will be wasted.
Petit is right.
Yes up up the guners,yes exactly what our legend emmanuel petit is correct,and arteta has to forcust well with his tactis.
I’m excited to see EZE, Martinelli, Saka (when he returns) Odergaard/Nwaneri, Gyokeres on the pitch.
EZE will help with creativity, tight passing and great dribbling
This is the most important point to note, that Emmanuel Petit brings to the fore.
The rapid, quick nifty passes killed teams every time. It produced Martinelli and Saka as the most dangerous, unstoppable wingers, prompting former Liverpool manager Klopp to see them as stars in the making. Now Goykeres is here to complete the attack, where Havertz came short. It’s inexplicable why Arteta decided to slow things down with lateral ball movements that in some cases lead to counter attacks that destroy the team as in the case of the match lost to Newcastle last season.
The football we played in the first of our second place finishes was both good to watch and hard for our opponents to cope with. Although losing Saliba at a vital time didn’t help, I don’t see that as the sole reason for our missing out on the title.
Sadly, our manager then decided to play pragmatic football. Choosing a more defensive way of trying to secure the league, and having finished second in those seasons to, I’m hoping that he now see’s the need to revert back to the largely free flowing game they played thee seasons ago.
For me, if they fail to produce the league playing that way then so be it. But I’d rather miss out on the league playing in a positive way, than a pragmatic way.
Anyone else agree?.
Watching us at times, is like watching paint dry. But in slow motion.
Reggie,
I’ve never watched paint dry, I think I’ll give it a go. Can you recommend the best colours to watch. 😂👍
Grey is so boring but yellow is pretty good.
I agree. Also, with respect to that first season, a big factor in losing our losing grip on the title was Jesus being physically recovered from his WC injury but very much a different player. Similar to what I believe we have seen and perhaps are still seeing with Odegaard and to a lesser extent Saka when he returned late last season.
Some of us have been clamoring for the adoption of free flowing football for a along time now.
💯 Petit is right.
And to add to what he pointed out; it’s obvious that the slow paced, possession-heavy football cost us maximum points too many times last season.
We made it too easy for teams to sit back and defend against us.
I doubt Arteta is ready to make a U-turn in any case.
we didnt make it easy for teams to sit back and defend they simply put everyone behind the ball and we had a whole host of injuries.. to still finish second was good. but pragmatism got us there
now with a much deeper squad with the new players and Dowman I am sure we will see a difference in the games and still be able to pick up 3 points away from home (eg Man U) when not playing well or the situation demands it
The epitome of free flowing football was Ange’s Tottenham, who I found strangely exciting to watch, but he has to change this approach to deliver a trophy. We’re more close to the league with this pragmatic approach in the 23/24 than we’re in 22/23 with free flowing football. So why changing?
And no, I never got bored watching my team play…
Chronicle,
We played free flowing football in the 2022/2023 season, and our defense was still strong. Nothing pragmatic about it, so it can be done without weakening us as that season proved for most of it.
Arteta’s being over cautious and not letting the player’s express themselves doesn’t help. I’ll be interested to see how much freedom he affords Eze, a free spirited footballer if ever I saw one.
One important factor that is often overlooked in these discussions is OPPONENTS. They also get to do study you and do tactics to nullify you. A big part of why we were able to attack freely in 22/23 is that teams didn’t expect us to be that good. Because of this , they weren’t ultra defensive,leaving gaps we could exploit.
Once PL teams realized we were good, they started setting up in compact mid/ low blocks. It’s almost impossible to play free flowing attacking football when opponents set up like that because there’s just not much room to attack. Teams like Newcastle even make sure there are constant stoppages to disrupt the flow of the game.