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In the EPL round 22, Arsenal met West Ham United for a London derby away and lost 0-1. Their next opponent was yet another London rival, this time an even more fearsome side in the form of Chelsea FC. The only consolation was that this time around the derby was a home match.
For the fans and pundits alike, playing at home did not matter much as Arsenal were not looking likely to come out with anything from that match as they were back to their usual default setting where they had lost their shooting boots, and were incapable of keeping away opponents from breaching their defense lines, leading to a haemorrhage of points.
However, Unai Emery shifted the starting formation and ended up with 4-4-2 diamond arrangement. In this set-up, he had both Lacazette and Aubameyang playing in their natural positions as forwards together. He re-introduced the attacking midfielder role by playing Ramsey as number 10. Against West Ham United he did not even have an attacking midfielder. The other three midfield positions were taken up by Guendouzi and Xhaka joined by Torreira who was also dropped against West Ham and came on as a substitute. With Guendouzi on the left, Xhaka at the base of the diamond and Torreira on the right and the wings available to both Lacazette and Aubameyang to offer support in defense as well as the foundation to launch attacks and helped by the marauding fullbacks in Bellerin and Kolasinac who would bring attacking support and augmented by a hard-working centre paring that would sniff out every single intention of the opponents to get something going and they themselves capable of that odd raid on the opposition tuff, Arsenal were looking the well-oiled machine they can become. It was, in fact, a pass from Sokratis to Koscienly from a set piece situation that brought the second goal.
More tellingly, this was the set-up that left Tottenham devastated earlier in EPL when Arsenal convincingly beat them 4-2 in a scintillating North London derby.
With Emery shifting from back three to back four and changing patterns ever so frequently, let's hope that he can stick with a set-up that seems to bring out the best out of Arsenal the following reasons.
#1 Partnerships in the pitch
Arsenals fans are not the only ones who have called for Aubameyang and Lacazette to be played as an attacking duo. When Arsenal met Liverpool back on the 3rd of November 2018, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp reportedly joked that he was expecting Robin Van Persie and Dennis Bergkamp, in the post-match conference, clearly, celebrating that Arsenal's potential in terms of attack did not really live up to the expectation. It is something that both Aubameyang and Lacazette themselves have called for. The LacAuba partnership is dreaded and Emery should let it loose upon opponents more often.
And the two are also letting their football speak it. Aubameyang once gave up an opportunity to have a hat-trick under his name when he passed on the chance to take a penalty when had scored two goals against Stroke City back in April 2018. This season the two have scored 22 goals between them with Aubameyang very much in the golden boot race with 14 goals while Lacazette is catching up quickly and is now on 8 goals. Their bromance is unprecedented and something Emery would get the best of through this formation.
Imagine if the golden boot race in the last 15 matches of the EPL eventually includes Lacazette? It will mean he will have scored so many more to catch up and he seems he is already doing so, with help from none other than Aubameyang. Those will mean much more games won for Arsenal.
But there were other partnerships created that spurred on Arsenal. There was the midfield partnership of Guendouzi-Xhaka-Torreira which ensured Chelsea's threat from the area was nullified and the center-defense partnership between Koscielny and Sokratis ensured the Chelsea attack was shut out. These are partnership Emery should enhance and add upon. the line-up help in the enhancement of these partnerships.
#2 Clean Sheets
Arsenal have suddenly broken a duck of sorts. In their last match against Chelsea, they managed to score all their goals in the first half! Arsenal have been coming back in the second half but in this match, they scored their two goals before the breather and came for the second half to defend the lead. But what is interesting is that they actually succeeded in keeping Chelsea at bay and ended with a clean sheet - only the fourth they have managed this season.
What a different pep-talk Emery had to give, finally. Normally, he would be urging the players that it is not over and they needed to deliver the goals to equalize or get a win. This time he must have been telling them how to defend their two goals and kill off the game.
In the Arsenal's perspective, this line-up seems to offer the template for a clean sheet as they have very little to rely upon in terms of how to get clean sheets more frequently. It would be a surprise if Emery does not at least look to the merits of this formation in terms of getting the attack-defense balance, having deployed it with great success against Tottenham and now Chelsea. It was great to see Aubameyang and Lacazette put in defensive shifts too. Aubameyang made three defensive tackles and Lacazette had two defensive interceptions!
The formation apparently encourages the team to defend as a unit - the template for keeping clean sheets.
#3 Another set of games unbeaten?
With this set-up as the primary formation, Arsenal might just be on another run of unbeaten matches like the did in the first half of the season. This is because of the balance this system seems to create for Arsenal in terms of defense and attack, something Emery has been known to be in the lookout for since he was appointed the manager. The line-up also offers something useful in terms of the transition from defending to attacking and from an attacking position to defending which ensure Arsenal will rarely lose shape.
On the basis of the above, should Arsenal go anything close to another round of unbeaten games, they would probably get a huge number of points from the remaining 15 matches of the EPL and top four could be in the cards. They would probably end up doing well in both the FA Cup and the Europa Cup and this raises the possibilities of silverware for Emery in his first season in charge.
#4 Better purchases
There is the small matter of the winter transfer window that for Arsenal should be a lifesaver. So far Arsenal looks to be unable to finalize any deals, which a matter of concern. Arsenal entered the winter transfer window with its defense in shambles as it seemed every player was injured then suddenly there were recoveries.
However, that should serve as a lesson that the team is not very far from a crisis and should bring in reinforcements. already Bellerin is back to the treatment table, and this time he will last the entire remainder of the season out, after suffering an injury in the Chelsea game.
Settling on a primary formation means Emery can now have planned purchases to support areas within the line-up in need of support. It means he can buy better knowing where the players he is bringing will be playing and also the negotiating team will have clear position to offer prospective recruits. For instance, should he end up losing both Ramsey and Ozil, it would mean an attacking midfielder and a central midfielder will be high in priority. It seems the pursuit of Denis Suarez was in planning for this scenario. Arsenal needs to get another player in this department before the window closes shut.
