3 tactical alterations Emery must make against Chelsea

The tide turns real fast in football. Unai Emery was being hailed as a genius some months ago. Right now, fans and pundits don't know what exactly to make of him. Some fans on social media have already started asking for his head midway through his maiden season at the club.

Arsenal's 22 game unbeaten sequence has been followed by a string of inconsistent performances and results. Emery's cause has also not been helped by the Solksjaer's Manchester United revolution that has seen the Red Devils close down the 8-point gap to Arsenal.

Injuries, loss of form, financial constraints and concern over the future of Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey have been a stumbling block and contributed to Arsenal's demise in recent weeks.

With Manchester United breathing down Arsenal's neck and fans getting agitated, we consider three tactical alterations Emery must make to get a good result against Chelsea.

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#1 Start Lucas Torreira and Mesut Ozil

Mesut Ozil and Lucas Torreira would be vital to Arsenal's success against Chelsea

For some reasons one cannot comprehend, Emery has chosen to drop Lucas Torreira for the last two games. It gets more intriguing to note that Mesut Ozil has not featured in the Premier league since Boxing Day.

Against Chelsea, Emery must start two of them to ensure a positive result against the Blues. Torreira should be brought in to provide the grit and balance in midfield. Ozil on the other hand, should start in order to bring the creative edge the Gunners have lacked in previous games.

In the PL, Lucas Torreira has made 28 interceptions, 43 tackles and 142 recoveries. He is in the top three among Arsenal players in each of these categories. Matteo Guendouzi is another young and promising central midfielder but does not offer as much balance as Torreira offers to this Arsenal side.

Mesut Ozil may not be the most hard working player in the world but his genuine quality when he is up for it, is not in doubt. The German should be given an opportunity to prove this class to the boss.

# Pit Alex Iwobi against Marcos Alonso

The match up between Iwobi and Alonso may prove vital

One of the success stories of Unai Emery's Arsenal era has been the performance of Nigerian international, Alex Iwobi. Although he still has to add more end product to his game, he has been exceptional in matches that haven't really gone towards Arsenal's favor as well.

On the other hand, Marcos Alonso is one of the best attacking left backs in the league. However, he is the weak link in Sarri's favored back four of Antonio Rudiger, David Luiz, César Azpilicueta and himself.

In his bid to join up with the attack, Alonso leaves acres of space in behind. When the ball breaks the way of the opposition, it is often left to David Luiz to come across if Alonso's wing is being attacked.

Alex Iwobi has been terrific this season in one-on-one situations against opposing full backs. Alonso is usually poor in such situations due to his lack of pace. He is also not helped by the inability of Chelsea's wingers to drop back in shape on time.

Spurs and Manchester United exploited Alonso's lack of awareness to devastating effect. Emery must ask Alex Iwobi to exploit this weakness in the Chelsea back line.

#3 Targeted Pressing

Pressing David Luiz and Jorginho may prove a master stroke for Arsenal

Unai Emery has tried to adopt a high pressing approach at Arsenal to varying degrees of success. Against Chelsea, the pressing must be a targeted type with David Luiz and Jorginho as the major targets.

David Luiz is arguably the best defender on the ball in the Premier league. He has attempted 1690 passes and completed 1502 of them.

The Brazilian has also played 31 through balls which is by far the highest in the league. Chelsea have thrived on his long balls and diagonals to devastating effect this season as seen in Pedro's goal vs. Newcastle.

The Italian midfield maestro, Jorginho, has played 1997 passes and completed 1808 of them. He tops the PL in both categories. He has also played 14 through balls which is behind only David Luiz's 32 in the ranking.

Unai Emery's Arsenal must target both players and press them as a team. They are both great on the ball but suffer significantly when pressed. The Spurs victory against Chelsea showed the importance of pressing both players and that tactic can also be utilized by Emery's Arsenal.