Arsenal just had a 1-1 draw with Man United when they were behind away. Just a few days before, the North London team had scored 7 goals against PSV, also away in the first leg of the round of 16.
7 goals in the Netherlands are considered a rare phenomenon for Arsenal this season because in fact, when looking back at their performance in the Premier League, fans see the contrast. Declan Rice's fire-fighting shot into Man United was the Gunners' first goal after 270 minutes of lack of a shot.
Finally, Mikel Arteta needs a midfielder to clear the team's danger, not 3 players to attack in patchwork. When the team was in danger, the midfielders spoke up. So do Arsenal really need many midfielders who can score or need a high-class striker, which is inherently difficult to find in Europe at the moment?
In the match against Man United, Arsenal surrounded the opponent's penalty area many times as they did with the weak average teams in the tournament. However, the common point of such situations is the stalemate of the "Gunners" attack. They continuously encountered problems when facing defences arranged in low blocks.
After the match, Man United's Ruben Amorim himself admitted that he did not often use this defensive style but it was a "perfect plan" against Arsenal. Up to now, the low defensive blocks are considered a formula to make things difficult, even defeat Mikel Arteta's army.
Mikel Merino looked very miserable when having to struggle in the opponent's penalty area. His "false 9" position was uncertain and the Spanish midfielder did his best. If there was a pure striker, the impact would be much better than Merino, but sometimes Arteta wondered, if the "number 9" had not been provided with enough ball, what would have happened?
Mikel Arteta's Arsenal have the biggest difference from Arsene Wenger's time in terms of player muscle. Previously, the "Professional" preferred to use artist models, but Arteta now tends to be strong. Arteta's recent results have been much better than in Wenger's final tenure. However, the imbalance is sometimes still clearly visible.
In the Gunners' midfield at the moment, if to choose a soft player who can assist, it is only Martin Odegaard. Therefore, if the Norwegian midfielder is blocked and Arsenal are forced to rush forward when facing a deep defensive back, The Gunners will almost be at a deadlock. Therefore, in recent times, Arteta has continuously changed Declan Rice's duties on the field, from "number 6" to "number 8" very flexibly. The English midfielder can play an attacking or playmaker role, even scoring himself to relieve pressure on the attack.
Gabriel Martinelli returned in the match against M.U while Bukayo Saka is expected to recover at the end of April. From now until then, Arsenal must quickly solve the problem when facing opponents playing deep defense. At this time, the chance to win the championship is considered gone, but if they are not careful, they can even slip out of the Top 4 when the season ends.
