Every season we hear pundits tell a dejected Arsenal fanbase that their team is just four or five changes away from perfection. However, every season the boss refuses to make those changes and watches his team fall further behind Europe's elites.
This season Arsenal face a real possibility of being knocked out the top four places. This will hopefully be a wake-up call for Arsene Wenger who must address the team’s glaring flaws this summer if he's to survive another year.
In an ever-evolving football world, managers have to be more tactically flexible than ever. They must be able to adjust to certain climates as well as being able to go against their first instinct. Arsenal represent a big club rapidly regressing due to their inability to acclimatise off the field.
This rigidity is also affecting their on-field success. Things have to change, now. Therefore, here are 5 tactical tweaks that will ensure Arsenal progress next season.
#5 Sign a new Goalkeeper
In my humble opinion, Arsenal haven't had a world class goalkeeper since Jens Lehman. They've struggled with sub-par keepers that have cost them on many an occasion. Now they tussle between error-prone players like Petr Cech and David Ospina.
At the age of 34, Cech is showing symptoms of a player way past his prime in terms of both ability and physical fitness. Ospina, on the other hand, has age & time on his hands, but not the ability & composure to match.
Arsenal are severely lacking a commanding presence at the back, a presence that makes an already shaky defence feel at ease. Having a world class keeper breathes assurance throughout the side because they know when they fail defensively, they still have an 11th man to bail them out.
Keepers like Bernd Leno, Yann Sommer and Kiko Casilla would all improve Arsenal significantly next season.
#4 More direct play
One of Arsenal's most vocal criticisms is that they don't have a plan B. Once the free-flowing passing hits a brick wall, the players don't know how to adopt a new approach to win the game.
If Arsenal are to ensure they become a tactically complete side, they must add another style of play to their arsenal (excuse the pun). A more direct approach in games more suited would allow Wenger's men to overcome all obstacles.
Direct long balls allow a team to bypass the midfield battle completely, allowing attackers to get in behind defensive midfielders and face defenders 1v1 quickly. Direct balls quicken transitions and force defending teams to engage in aerial duels more often.
With Olivier Giroud playing up front alongside Danny Welbeck, Arsenal could have two 6-footers occupying centre-backs thus allowing the wingers to pick up the second balls.
#3 Play more Transition-based football
Arsenal often perform at a higher level when forced to play on the counter-attack. As one of the worst teams at defending, the Gunners show more solidity when they play without the ball than with it. Arsenal's players are more suited to a counter-attack style of play than a possession-based one.
They have the players suited to quickly transition up the pitch in mere seconds with a few passes.
Mesut Ozil, situated behind a pacey front three is a recipe for destruction and future silverware. Arsene Wenger must abandon his outdated tiki-taka philosophy as teams have worked out how to nullify it. The fast pace of the Premier League requires teams to break at speed instead of hanging onto the ball unnecessarily.
Counter-attacking is the future of football and the faster Arsenal come to terms with that, the closer they'll get to Europe's elites.
#2 Sign a wide forward like Lorenzo Insigne
If you look at great title-winning sides of the past, they all had firing attacking options on all fronts. Great teams don't just rely on a striker, they have two supporting wide players chipping in goals too.
Arsenal don't have that at the moment as they're missing a competent goal-scoring left winger. Alex Iwobi has played the majority of the season and he's scored a woeful 3 goals in 24 Premier League games.
With Alexis Sánchez through the middle, Theo Walcott on the right and Lorenzo Insigne on the left, there's not one defence in the league that could handle such an attack. The 24-year old Italian has been in scintillating form this season, scoring 12 goals and assisting 7 in the league.
He's a player that links up well with others, shoots on sight and is exceptional at holding up the ball. Insigne would perfectly compliment & improve the current personnel of Arsenal.
#1 Switch to a 4-3-3
As we've noted before, football is an ever-changing sport. New approaches often come out of the dust to surpass current concepts. Tactics can never stay stagnant, neither should they. The emergence of the 4-3-3 has left 4-2-3-1 enthusiasts scratching their heads. The 4-3-3 offers managers things the standard 4-2-3-1 can't.
A midfield three allows a team to sure up the middle of the park across all four zones. Two energised box-to-box midfielders with a Medio Centro between them dictating play, ensures a team controls the match whilst overloading opposing defenders.
A wide front three also allows a team to stretch the pitch as far as possible thus drawing out opposing full-backs. A 4-3-3 would revolutionise Arsenal's passing options/angles on the ball and defensive shape off it. It's a no-brainer.
Also Read: 5 players who could leave Arsenal this summer
