Back three or back four? For now, Arteta is making the former work better

I’ll just reiterate what more intelligent people have already observed and stated, Arteta’s ability to successfully “make do” with what he has is a clear indication of his talent and brilliance as a Manager.

We all know the squad is unbalanced, the midfield has players who are lacking in many ways, the technical quality of the squad is a shadow of what it was when Arteta was a player here, still, we are winning games and becoming harder to beat.

Just one example is how we are now storming the box with 6 or 7 players anytime there is a counter attack or a cross from the wide areas or a buildup that starts from the goalkeeper and leads to a shot.

The midfielder don’t score? We’ll fill the box with our players anyway so there is a higher chance of getting a shot off.

And we are not doing it like headless chicken either, 4 players are always at the back and those at the edge of the box are positioned in a way to stop any counter.

He is also getting our best players like Auba and Pepe isolated against defenders and covering the weaknesses of players like Xhaka, Mustafi, Luiz and Saka (when he was playing LB) consistently.

I just hope we get Partey and Aouar so we will see how Mikel does with the right players at his disposal.