Three things that Arsenal should do to win the premier league by Kennedy
Arsenal remains at the top of the pile as the English premier league enters the final stretch with the Gunners left with just 9 games to play before the current season ends.
However there is still work to be done for Arsenal, bearing in mind that the team has tricky games against Liverpool, Manchester City, and Chelsea to navigate through.
What Arsenal needs to do to lift the premiership trophy
During the 2003 ~ 2004 Premier league season, the Arsenal invicibles won the title by 11 points after winnung 26 matches and securing 12 draws.
A lot of water has passed under the bridge since then and the English premier league has changed profoundly.
However, the current Arsenal outfit can learn from the Invincibles by implementing the following tactical measures.
Force a draw when playing against the top teams
When facing difficult opponents such as Liverpool or Man City, Arsenal should adopt a cautious and conservative approach instead of going all out to secure a win.
In other words, Arsenal should play for a draw against the top teams instead of attacking throughout and losing the matches.
Earlier this season when Arsenal faced Man City, the game was tied at 1:1 in the later stages of the second half. A strong defensive performance would have earned the gunners a draw.
However, Arsenal did not do this and it ended up losing 3 ~1.
Another example of complacent defending is evident in the drubbing of Manchester United at Anfield.
Liverpool served the Red Devils an embarassing 7 ~ 1 whipping due to Man united’s profligate defending.
Just see how Manchester City dealt with Liverpool in their latest encounter. Pep Guardiola’s men were clinical and ruthless.
To secure a draw against the tough opponents, Arsenal needs to implement several tactical changes during these difficult matches.
First, the Gunners should abandon their ultra successful 4 -3 -3 attacking formation and adopt the pragmatic and defensive 4-2-3-1 system with two defensive midfielders such as Thomas Partey and Jorginho. This double pivot would provide a double shield for the Gunner’s backline.
When playing using the 4-3-3 approach, Thomas Partey is utilised as the sole defensive midfielder, which may not be an adequate cover against high pressing teams such as Liverpool or Man City.
Moreover, if a game against a tough opponent is a draw after the 70th minute, Arsenal should crowd the midfield, defend emphatically and play for a draw rather than continuing to press high and end up losing.
If Arsenal can secure at least three draws against Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea, then the three points would come in handy for the Gunners as they battle for the Premiership bragging rights at the end of the season.
Maximise on homeground advantage.
Teams that win the major leagues in Europe are virtually unbeatable when playing at home. Similarly, Arsenal should continue with their relentless winning streak when playing at the Emirates.
This simply means that the Gunners should strive to win the remaining home matches against Southampton, Brighton and Wolves. A draw against Chelsea at the Emirates though not preferable, would be commendable.
Keep a keen eye on the goal difference.
If two or more teams are tied on points at the top of the table when thw season ends, then the goal difference is used to separate the tied teams and decide the Epl winner.
In other words, Arsenal ahould score as many goals as possible and concede the lowest number of goals in order to improve their goal difference, just in case the Premiership title race goes to the wire.
If the Gunners can execute these three tactical decisions, then the 19 year wait for the Premiership trophy can come to an end this season.
What else do you think Arsenal ahould do in order to be crowned as the premier league champions this season ?
Kennedy Mwanzia
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There’s a lot of sense in your post but I think it would be a bit difficult to change the way we play, how will the players adapt to these changes? Don’t also forget we play Newcastle away, They are 4th now and have the right motivation to get that ucl spot.
In all we do and however we play, We MUST get a point at least at the etihad, this is the must do for us as far as I’m concerned to clinch the title.
We are competing against City and City won against Liverpool so we must win against Liverpool its simple math,we cant play for a draw at anfield
“Force a draw when playing against a top team away from our home”
It makes sense to park the bus at Anfield, Etihad and St James Park. But I don’t think our players can switch to that ultra-defensive tactic, after playing with the high-possession system for almost one season
I’d prefer to stick with our current inverted-LB tactic, since our players have been so familiar with it and have become so confident in the field
“Adopt 4-2-3-1 system”
Been there done that with that tactic for more than fifteen years. We couldn’t win EPL or any European trophy with it and we were highly vulnerable to the opposition’s counter-attack, so I’d still prefer to have a CDM and two midfielders to flank him
Yes we’ve been utilizing the 4-2-3-1 formation for very long time under Wenger, and I believe Arteta tried it in some games in his first 2 seasons but sensibly decided to ditch it as teams that play 3 in attack and counter press would just steam roll us. As the saying goes “If it ain’t broken, then don’t fix it” .
I believe we can beat Man city and Liverpool and Chelsea and Newcastle. If all the players are motivated enough and put in thier shift, We can.
You’re right. Arteta used that formation when he just came, with defensive counter-attacking setup which was perfect for Aubameyang
That Wenger’s system was revolutionary in his first few years, before it was cracked by other managers in EPL
Our current tactics will also be deciphered by the oppositions in the future. But we shouldn’t change it before that happens, as you said
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There is sense in what you said. We should park the bus in matches like manc, lpool and Newcastle. The match against Chelsea, we have to press high and get the maximum points. If we can win our remaining home matches and managed to get draws in those three matches, we can be sure of winning the title.
Yup. But I don’t think Arteta will park the bus in those tough away games, because our players are so accustomed to being tempo dictators
This would mean dropping 6 points, which leaves no room for error.
I don’t see mancity losing any points from here, they mostly play bottom half team now. So all pressure is upon us. One draw and city game will be most win game. So mancity are on advantage after they beat Newcastle and Liverpool. Now game against Liverpool, Newcastle, Brighton, Chelsea are most win game for us. Let’s hope we can achieve that
If we don’t lose the games at Anfield and Etihad stadiums, I think we can win the rest. As Dan said, we have bad history at those places
I think when we need to be more defensive, then Tierney is the better left back than Zinchenko who however would be great to play in midfield in such circumstances
Different tactics are needed away to Liverpool who are highly dependant on their attacking full backs whereas City are using Stones and Ake in more defensive, inverted roles.In either case to shore us up defensively, the logical solution would be to leave out one of our front three ,and bring in Tierney with Zinchenko and Zhaka flooding the midfield area.That’s certainly how I would set up against Liverpool and City but I would revert to a 4-3-3 set up against Newcastle as, with one of two exceptions, we have more quality than they have.
Imo I think tinkering with the system at this stage might upend somethings.
Hence, I will advice we stick with the same system, only that against Liverpool next weekend and City I think we should ditch the inverted left back tactics.
I wish Tomiyasu is fit, would’ve love him being used in the same role as the first leg against Liverpool. He brings more dynamism in defending that left back position and obviously more defensive than Zinchenko plus he add height to our defense.
The most important thing for me is that, our players must be defensively disciplined against the remaining big teams we have to play against. We cannot afford avoidable individual errors.
I suggest Tierney as left back in the absence of Tomi in both games.
4 – 1- 2- 3 should do the trick. Zinchenko as the CDM, Partey and Jorginho/Xhaka in the 3rd Quarter and finally Martinelli/Trossard, Odegaard and Saka/Jesus in the attacking.
Why park the bus?
We should be more cautious away to Liverpool and City instead of going ultra defensive.
No need to employ alien tactics that the players are not familiar with this late in the season.
Imagine we went defensive and we still lose. Arteta would be crucified for being a coward and a bottler for doing that.
And going defensive would give the likes of City, Liverpool, Newcastle a lot of confidence and encouragement to go for the the kill. I say we continue playing the way we have been playing all season. It has served is well.
As the saying goes “Don’t fix it if it’s not broken”.
Lets keep going.
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Exactly ,not sure why fans want to see change of personal as well ,this set of players have got us an 8point lead ,why would anyone think of tinkering with it ,unless OFC there are injuries.
Against Liverpool and Man City, I fear our LB may be at risk with Salah and Mahrez, if Tierney is fit, it would be great to have him with Zinchenko and Trossard for Xhaka in the 2nd half, this way we could balance our Left arm and link passes from both sides of the midfield.
Newcastle is a different game entirely, they play physical soccer, so it would be wise to calm the game down totally, else the likes of Partey, Jesus may be sent to the treatment table.
There is little point in trying to grind out draws with the current team. Indeed without saliba it would be suicidal. There is nothing wrong with being tighter at the back, looking to counter when possible, against liverpool, city and Newcastle, but they need to play at the high tempo that’s produced their best results. Tactically they aren’t used to trying to defend in depth, and, quite honestly we don’t have the players to do it. This side is ‘not’ the invincibles, they had both the players and the tactics to do it. Other clubs have tried major tactical switches at this stage in the past – and it didn’t end well. The deciding factor at liverpool and city will be the mentality of the players. Can they put behind them years of misery at Anfield at the Etihad? If they can’t, and in their defence arsenal sides stretching back in time have had trouble overcoming ‘jinx’ sides, then our title bid is in trouble.
If we can navigate through April fixtures and still see ourselves at the top of the table, I’m positive that we can end the season at the top.
When I wake up 1st of May and see the table still 5 point lead, I will begin my celebration. I don’t care if people say don’t get ahead of yourself.
Tell ourselves its Liverpool standing in our way on us laying our hands on that big Jug
My three things to do in order of lifting that big jug.
1) Arsenal must go back to basic.
Only Liverpool matters to us right now.
Focus on one game at a time
Do not over think it.
Play normal game without over extending ourselves in attack.
Be patient
2) Start Tierney and Tossard.
A double pivot with Jorginho slightly ahead
Make maximum use of set plays.
3)Set up not to concede as opposed to score.
Nil nil at half time is a great position.
We must anticipate contact and prepare to go down in the box like a sack of yam.
Prepare to make quick restarts and catch opponents napping.
The dark arts must be utilized else it will be used against us.
If scores still level in the eighty minutes settle on sharing the spoils
We should be looking at Liverpool with blinkers on.
One thing, NOT three!!!!! GET MORE POINTS THAN CITY. The rest is bluster.
There is no need to change formation or players like the author suggest which would be suicidal at this point. Newcastle will again park the bus and we have nothing to fear from Chelsea especially at home.
The only thing we need to do make Xhaka do less forward runs and stay back with partey more vs city and liverpool which are the only matches we should approach cautiously. Some people fail to realise that the city is a must win ONLY for city, a draw would be perfect.
This is why I think Trossard needs to start in Xhaka’s place against Mancity for the 1st half, we need more box-to-box players , this way we can counter attack and defend efficiently,
On tactical approach our fluid front 3 adds an extra headache to opposition defenders. We are just as dangerous on the break as many of our opponents are. I’m confident Arteta is improving his in-game management of situational problem solving. Experience will do that
One game at a time. On the trip to Anfield channel the spirit of 1989, with only a 1-0 win required rather than George Graham’s team tequiring 2-0 due to goal difference with Liverpool.
Who is this? Arteta’s replacement for next season?
The idea of being defensive works to some extent but not everytime. It is sometimes better to attack in the first half and take a lead and than shut shop. I feel the defensive approach should be used against City as both Liverpool and Chelsea are not in great form themselves and Arsenal can attack them atleast in the first half. Remember defence begins with the first attacker and pressing itself leads to defending from the front. The double pivot of Partey and Jorginho should work well against City. Also winning the home games will be crucial along with a win against Newcastle United away.
It will come down to if arsenal score first in those tough games.then we play on the counter and. More defensive