The Arsenal midfield

The base of the Arsenal midfield was always set to undergo a face lift this summer. Thomas Partey is 32 and Jorginho 33, Jorginho played 311 Premier League minutes after Christmas and his move to Flamengo was widely reported some months before his departure. Likewise, Arsenal’s capture of Martin Zubimendi was reported some months before the season ended.

The plan was clearly for Partey to ‘drop’ into the reduced Jorginho role with Zubimendi as the new de facto number six. Clearly personal terms have been a sticking point with Partey and the club have moved reasonably quickly for Christian Norgaard from Brentford. I will say I don’t watch Brentford rigorously enough to properly assess Norgaard’s level (or my impression of his level).

In terms of profile, I think the deep lying playmaker role is generally not one for a younger player. Xabi Alonso did not truly ascend to his highest level in the position until his mid to late 20s, Pirlo started out as a more attacking player before Carlo Ancelotti moved him back when he was already reasonably established.

Indeed, Mikel Arteta spent much of his career as more of a box-to-box presence before dropping into a deeper role after signing for Arsenal in his late 20s. Generally, the ‘regista’ position does rely on a high football IQ which most players need to develop. In 2021, Arsenal signed Albert Sambi Lokonga to be their understudy to Granit Xhaka.

However, it is difficult to develop a player in this position when experience and regular playing time are such key pillars to understanding the role. Lokonga had neither and did not develop. Eventually, Arteta stopped playing him in the deeper role altogether and trialled him more in the ‘left eight’ position before moving him onto his seemingly never-ending series of half-forgotten loan spells.

Much like centre-half, your deep lying playmaker is not a player that is typically rotated very often. When your role is to set rhythm, it is important the player retains their own rhythm. I imagine that, for Arteta, the equation is that Jorginho made for a much better understudy in the position than Sambi Lokonga which is factored into the Norgaard signing.

Equally, it is probably a market opportunity and allows Arsenal to save up their dry powder for more expensive and difficult signings required in attack. The interesting wrinkle with Norgaard is that he profiles more as a destroyer than a deep lying playmaker. It could be that Arsenal have faith in his ability to adapt his ball playing qualities in a team like Arsenal compared to Brentford.

It could also signal a bit of a sea change in the Arsenal midfield with regards to where the technical output is positioned. I think there is a rush to regard Arteta as a defensive minded manager, or one who prizes physical qualities over technical qualities which I just do not agree with at all.

I think he prizes these qualities in the ‘left eight’ role, which is why Rice, Merino and Havertz appear to be the main options there while Smith Rowe and Vieira have been moved on. But the deepest midfielder has typically been where Arteta wants a high technical level. Neither Partey nor Jorginho are traditional defenders or destroyers, they are ball players.

Likewise, Arsenal’s left-backs under Arteta have been mavericks who effectively play as technical midfielders (I wrote about this in March). A manager whose preferred left-backs have been Bukayo Saka, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Riccardo Calafiori and Myles Lewis-Skelly while largely shunning the short back and sides style of Kieran Tierney is not a manager who is being overly conservative in his choices at left full-back.

That is, ultimately, why some more ‘meat and potatoes’ qualities have been preferred in the ‘left-eight’ role, it is a balancing act so that the left side of the team doesn’t entirely lose its structure. The pursuit of Norgaard does look to be a slight change in direction- that could be good, of course. Variety is the spice of life, after all. Equally, it could throw the team out of kilter a little if Norgaard is required to play anything beyond ‘Jorginho minutes.’ All that remains to be seen.

One thing we can presume is that Declan Rice is firmly preferred in the ‘left eight’ role. Personally, I endorse this- especially given the rise of Myles Lewis-Skelly. (I have receipts too, I wrote this last summer). Rice had 16 goal contributions in the Premier League and Champions League in 2023-24.

Last season, he managed 17 goal contributions in those competitions last season. Those are very respectable numbers for a ‘left eight’, especially when you consider that he spent some time playing in the deeper midfield role across both campaigns. I think these numbers would be more prominent within the psyche of the fan base if we accepted him as an 8 rather than getting distracted with whether he can be a 6. (Albeit, I think that is an understandable preoccupation).

Mikel Merino and Kai Havertz being able to play the position gives Arteta flexibility, of course, both to drop Rice further back if needed but also to (gasp!) rest him entirely on occasion. Rice’s superpower is his ability to run into space and I just think that is better served with the larger physical remit of the left eight role.

However, this structure comes with challenges. Rice is very good at propelling the ball up field and chasing after it to win it back. From left-back, Lewis Skelly is very good at striding forwards with the ball. I do think there is a question of whether Arsenal have enough guile ‘between the lines’ beyond Martin Odegaard. Rice, Havertz and Merino are competent at taking up these positions and receiving the ball there but aren’t much beyond competent.

In the 2023-24 season, Emile Smith Rowe started games away at Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United and Fabio Vieira started away at Everton. Clearly this was because Arteta wanted more guile in those areas against low blocks. Sheffield United and Forest both played with back fives, Vieira was preferred to Havertz at Goodison Park because it was not seen as a worthwhile pursuit to engage with Sean Dyche’s defence of Space Jam style seven-foot super mutants on a physical level.

Arsenal, the team of Nicolas Jover, won that game with a goal from a short corner routine where the ball did not leave the ground until the final shot from Trossard. I do wonder whether Arsenal have enough of that devil between the lines but I also wonder whether Riccardo Calafiori potentially provides that from left-back.

The Italian has scored goals and generated chances from much more of a ‘between the lines’ vantage point. We also saw Bukayo Saka drifting into more central positions towards the end of last season and it will be interesting to see if that persists when Arsenal are playing with a more recognised striker. It feels like there are a few different directions that Arteta and Arsenal can go in the engine room.

The post The Arsenal midfield appeared first on Arseblog ... an Arsenal blog.