LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 03: (BILD ZEITUNG OUT) Pablo Mari of Arsenal (Photo by Vincent Mignott/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
Arsenal brought smiles to the faces of all their fans on Thursday night.
The 2,000 in attendance were treated to the most free-flowing display of the season, one littered with one touch play and offensive fluidity. Arsenal were, based on this season, not very Arsenal-like.
Even in the Europa League where chances have been easier to come by, this was the best example yet of Arsenal playing with freedom, one which brought with it a joy that was etched across all the players’ faces.
Nicolas Pepe, a different shade to his normally gloomy self, was bright and picked up positions all over the pitc, while the much-maligned Alexandre Lacazette was superb operating as one of the midfielders. Mikel Arteta has tried a variety of midfield partnerships in a bid to bring energy and progression in the middle third, but Lacazette and Ainsley Maitland-Niles? Hats off if you saw that one coming.
Coming up against weak opposition – deciding against playing a full strength side to instead leave themselves with a final day showdown against Molde to secure qualification – made matters easier. That decision played into Arsenal’s hands, even if they would have been nailed on favourites in any case.
The return of Pablo Mari and Calum Chambers added gloss to the occasion, the former netting his first goal for the club and the latter able to greet the fans who’d been missing from the stadium for almost as long as he had.
A fun day. One that is worth savouring until Sunday at least, when the ‘other’ Arsenal take the field and bring with them the chalk to our midweek cheese.
Regarding Thursday, the change in tactic paid off in fine style as Arsenal hit statistical heights never before seen under Mikel Arteta’s tenure. The formation tweak paid dividends.
December 3, 2020</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>Coming up against weak opposition – deciding against playing a full strength side to instead leave themselves with a final day showdown against Molde to secure qualification – made matters easier. That decision played into Arsenal’s hands, even if they would have been nailed on favourites in any case.</p>
<p>The return of Pablo Mari and Calum Chambers added gloss to the occasion, the former netting his first goal for the club and the latter able to greet the fans who’d been missing from the stadium for almost as long as he had.</p>
<p>A <em>fun </em>day. One that is worth savouring until Sunday at least, when the ‘other’ Arsenal take the field and bring with them the chalk to our midweek cheese.</p>
<p>Regarding Thursday, the change in tactic paid off in fine style as Arsenal hit statistical heights never before seen under Mikel Arteta’s tenure. The formation tweak paid dividends.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2020/12/04/arsenal-smiles-formation-tweak-rapid/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Unconventional Midfield Trio </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-108829" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2020/12/04/arsenal-smiles-formation-tweak-rapid/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_389,w_590/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1289262514-850x560.jpeg" alt="Alexandre Lacazette, Arsenal" width="590" height="389"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:590px;">LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 03: Alexandre Lacazette of Arsenal (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>Unconventional Midfield Trio</h2>
<p>Mohamed Elneny returned to the side, and while frankly having a poor game, his role as the solitary midfield pivot allowed Arsenal’s other midfielders to express themselves.</p>
<p>His passing was off and he was guilty of a few clumsy errors, particularly in the first half, none of which fortunately led to Rapid scoring. It’s not uncommon for him to slot into central defence to forge a back three either, although recently he’s been doing so on the right hand side as opposed to down the middle.</p>
<p>Forming a triangle with Mari and Shkodran Mustafi behind him, this allowed Lacazette and Maitland-Niles to push up either side of him, making him the tip of two opposing triangles.</p>
<p>Not being the most mobile, Lacazette would occupy those spaces and allow the play down the left flank to come through him, whether he was found by Mari or used like a backboard to help Sead Kolasinac make inroads down that wing. His aggression was also beneficial, the kind we’ve become accustomed to since he joined, suffocating the Rapid midfield and breaking down their turnovers in possession.</p>
<p>It does <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2020/12/04/arsenal-smiles-formation-tweak-rapid/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2020/11/28/arsenal-tactical-switch-alex-lacazette/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">feel odd to use such a description</a> for him.</p>
<p>To his right, Maitland-Niles was given license to drift from his space and attack the inside right channel. In a similar role to his midfield partner (still feels odd), Mikel Arteta granted him more scope to roam in and out of areas due to his athleticism and speed. His passing was crisp and his movement slick. Both had solid outings.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2020/12/04/arsenal-smiles-formation-tweak-rapid/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Wingers Drifting Infield </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-large wp-image-108851" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2020/12/04/arsenal-smiles-formation-tweak-rapid/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_389,w_590/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1229932844-850x560.jpeg" alt="Nicolas Pepe, Arsenal" width="590" height="389"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:590px;">Arsenal’s French-born Ivorian midfielder Nicolas Pepe (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP) (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>Wingers Drifting Infield</h2>
<p>Whatever side of the argument you sit on, the case for Pepe being less effective when he’s tasked with hugging the touchline is a valid one. After the season he had before he joined he was expected to be dangerous all over the pitch, it just hasn’t been the case.</p>
<p>The FA Cup final win over Chelsea remains his best game in an Arsenal shirt, one that didn’t see him confined to having white under his boots all afternoon with movements infield encouraged. Both he and Nelson did so throughout on Thursday.</p>
<p>Tucking inside to open the spaces for Cedric and Kolasinac to overlap into, this worked in tandem with making dummy runs to draw defenders out of position to make room for <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2020/12/04/arsenal-smiles-formation-tweak-rapid/"https://fbref.com/en/players/a53649b7/Eddie-Nketiah?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-%22 target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Eddie Nketiah</a> to run at. The striker picked up great positions, aided by the space made for him from Nelson and Pepe’s intelligent running.</p>
<p>When on the ball – which was most of the evening – it left Arsenal lining up in a system that more closely resembled a 3-2-4-1, with the wingers sitting in behind Nketiah and the full-backs adding to width either side.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Crazy how fluid this team can be when we play with two *natural* wingers.</p>
<p>Pepe and Nelson give such great balance to attacking phases, drawing players out of position and stretching the back four. <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2020/12/04/arsenal-smiles-formation-tweak-rapid/"https://twitter.com/hashtag/ARSRAP?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>#ARSRAP</a> <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2020/12/04/arsenal-smiles-formation-tweak-rapid/"https://twitter.com/hashtag/UEL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>#UEL</a></p>
<p>— Pain In The Arsenal (@PainInThArsenal) <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2020/12/04/arsenal-smiles-formation-tweak-rapid/"https://twitter.com/PainInThArsenal/status/1334593678652870662?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>December 3, 2020</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>Arsenal have come painfully unstuck in Premier League fixture with their flat forward line, one which sits more rigidly as an attacking 3-2-5. <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2020/12/04/arsenal-smiles-formation-tweak-rapid/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2020/11/10/wrong-arsenal-predictability-attack/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Static and blunt</a>, passing lanes are cut off and whoever sits in the double pivot has no option but to go wide.</p>
<p>Against Rapid Vienna, <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2020/12/04/arsenal-smiles-formation-tweak-rapid/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2020/11/28/arsenal-center-forward-paradox-resolving/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adding the focal point</a> up front moving beyond the four-man attacking line stretches teams, in turn creating space either for wingers to attack diagonally, or for deep midfield runners to penetrate the box.</p>
<p>As per <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2020/12/04/arsenal-smiles-formation-tweak-rapid/"https://twitter.com/Orbinho/status/1334735433566203905" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Orbinho</a>, Our 11 shots on target were the most in single game under Arteta and the most since September 2018, while Pepe and Nelson’s five chances created each where the most in a single match since November 2019.</p>
<div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="dark" data-text="Nicolas Pepe Hands Himself Another Lifeline" data-url="https://paininthearsenal.com/2020/12/04/nicolas-pepe-arsenal-lifeline-rapid/" data-call-to-action="Next"> <div class="story-link-next"> <a class="story-link-next-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="story-link-next-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2020/12/04/arsenal-smiles-formation-tweak-rapid/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2020/12/04/nicolas-pepe-arsenal-lifeline-rapid/"> <span class="call_to_action">Next:</span> Nicolas Pepe Hands Himself Another Lifeline </a> </div>
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<p>It may seem simple, <em>and again the opposition were awful</em>, but it worked a treat against Rapid Vienna. Even though Nketiah put in a solid shift, the thought of <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2020/12/04/arsenal-smiles-formation-tweak-rapid/"https://fbref.com/en/players/d5dd5f1f/Pierre-Emerick-Aubameyang?utm_campaign=Linker&utm_source=direct&utm_medium=linker-%22 target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang</a> having that room to manoeuvre is reason for optimism.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">
