Arsenal: Central midfield is where everything starts

Arsenal have many problems on the pitch. Subsequently, there are many changes that need to be made, but it all starts with the central midfield.

It would be a grave understatement to say that Arsenal have one or two issues at present. The Gunners have not won a league match in two months, are just four points above the relegation zone, and have a myriad of tactical, technical and personnel-based flaws that they need to fix.

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Making one or two changes will not fix the team. There must be sweeping progress across the board, from top to bottom and front to back. But if they were to focus on one particular area to have the greatest impact on the team, and thus their progress and outlook for the season ahead and beyond, it should be central midfield.

In football, everything starts and ends with the central midfield. It is why teams abandoned 4-4-2. It is why Kevin de Bruyne is the best player in the Premier League. It is why the team with the best control of the match in midfield is often the one that wins. And it is why the best central midfield often leads to the title-winning team. Even in an increasingly rounded and complete modern game, no other position impacts the entirety of the match more than central midfield.

For Arsenal, this has been a problem. It starts with their personnel. Former captain Granit Xhaka is the incumbent leader of the group but lacks the athleticism to cover the ground and is over-reliant on his left foot to a detrimental extent. Matteo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira are young, hugely talented, and extremely busy, but are also raw and positionally vulnerable. Dani Ceballos is new to the league and injured, while Joe Willock and Mesut Ozil are, in their own way, unreliable options.

But it extends beyond the players available. The tactics have been poor too. Whether it be using the hapless midfield-diamond that gets stretched apart with ease or a midfield trio that sees each of its individual members playing in roles that they are not best-suited too, the already limited midfield options have been put into disadvantageous situations, only furthering this problematic feeling.

As this excellent piece by Nick Wright of Sky Sports details, the Arsenal midfield has been a major issue throughout the season. This, I felt, was the key point of his statistical analysis:

“According to their [Opta’s] data, only West Ham allow their opponents to progress up the pitch at a faster pace than Arsenal. Only, West Ham, Aston Villa, Newcastle and Crystal Palace, meanwhile, allow their opponents to progress further up the pitch per passing sequence.”

Essentially, when the opposition is looking to build attacks from deep, the north London outfit fail to stop them and fail to slow them down. They allow long and quick attacks.

This does not reflect well on the central midfield, which is largely tasked with both building attacks, connecting the defence and front line together, and also stemming attacks, putting pressure on opponents, clogging up passing lanes, and staying compact as a connected defensive unit.

This problem is not the cause of one individual. There are many who must take a share of the blame, from Unai Emery’s set-up to Xhaka’s ill-discipline and lack of athleticism. But the overarching point still remains: it is the central midfield, more than a lacklustre defence, that is the biggest shortcoming at the Emirates.

As Arsenal look to reboot their post-Arsene Wenger era and begin building towards a new project, on the pitch, there is one place where they must start. Central midfield.