Word on the grapevine today is that Arsenal are attempting to deploy a 3-5-2 formation for this weekend’s North London derby against Tottenham at the Emirates.
This comes as both a shock and a welcome surprise, especially to the Arsenal faithful, who have recently seen their team let in a total of 11 goals this season after a flying and solid defensive start to the Premier League.
Arsenal had only let in 1 goal in its first 4 games, but experienced a sudden dip in form after the home defeat against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 back in September.
The club has conceded 9 goals since the Chelsea game, with the most recent horror showing coming against Fulham, where http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Arsenal-c38429 let in 3 goals, despite having taken the lead and being the dominant side in the first half.
This has probably become a cause for concern for Arsene Wenger, whose side continue to struggle defensively. Last month’s classic 5-7 victory over Reading in the Capital One Cup also posed a lot of questions for the French tactician, who was clearly unimpressed
by his side’s remarkable comeback. Wenger was perhaps more worried and concerned with the fact that his team conceded 5 goals against Reading, a team that is yet to win a single game in the Premier League.
Media and press in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/England-c749 suggest that the boss has been seriously considering switching to a 3-5-2 formation with this weekend’s derby looming large. This will see Arsenal dish out its traditional, and often predictable and easy to plan against 4-2-3-1
formation, which has lately been not so effective at the back.
The question is, will this formation work?
Manchester City manager http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Mancini-c23323 had employed the same formation against Tottenham last week, and it worked rather well as City came back from behind to beat Spurs 2-1. With Arsenal’s attacking potency and speed on the counter attack, it may reap
rewards for them.
Most of the season has seen the Arsenal team without a decent contingency plan, with Wenger being his usual uncompromising self and refusing to change formation or making early substitutions.
It makes you wonder why the manager has been so in-effective lately, especially with the level of competition in the league. With the likes of Fulham, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Everton-c39043, West Brom and Newcastle also fighting for a fourth placed finish Arsenal need to pick up their
performances and get results.
A 3-5-2 formation will see centre backs http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Kieran-Gibbs-c20945 pushing up and down the right and left wings respectively. This gives Arsenal much needed
width and decent cover up at the back.
It also allows the midfield area to be packed, with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Lukas-Podolski-c22896 and Olivier Giroud up front.
The French striker has been in good form lately, and will benefit with more service from the midfield and wings if the formation works. It also allows Podolski a more central role and will see him link up with Giroud. Both players have already shown just
how well they work together, and can be a deadly force if deployed down the middle.
From the bench, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Alex-c4752 Oxlade-Chamberlain can serve as midfield options.
Walcott has also been yearning for a central role, and with his pace combined with either of Giroud's or Podolski's physical strength, Arsenal can really cause problems for the Spurs back-four.
Arsenal were in dire need of a plan B, and it looks like Wenger has finally identified one. This formation gives Arsenal much needed flexibility, and if it doesn’t work, they can always move back to the favoured 4-2-3-1. It will be interesting to see how
the team shapes up come Saturday.
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