Given the way Arsenal have started the new Premier League season and the tactical adjustments Mikel Arteta has brought into the new campaign, it's perhaps safe to say that the Spaniard is suffering from a severe case of Pep Guardiola syndrome.
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We'd like to cast your mind back to the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League final in Porto. COVID-19 was very much still prevalent in society, but with fans gradually beginning to be allowed back into stadiums, the Estadio do Dragao hosted 14 000 spectators witness an all-Premier League decider as Manchester City played in their first European final against 2012 tournament winners Chelsea.
For that match, for some peculiar reason, Pep Guardiola decided to start the game without a holding midfielder as both Fernandinho and Rodri sat on the bench. This was strange because for most of the 2020/21 campaign, either one of the two aforementioned defensive midfielders had started for the Mancunians, but in the biggest game of his City career up until that point, the Catalan native decided against having any defensive solidity in midfield by going without either.
Guardiola's Citizens would go on to lose that match to the Blues, further exacerbating the notion that the Catalan native always overthought tactics when it mattered most.
Fast-forward two seasons, and the Spaniard is without Mikel Arteta as his assistant coach, having become the head coach of the Gunners. In the pre-season prior to the start of the 2022/23 campaign, the Basque native decided to raid his former team for Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko, making the City duo his marquee signings, and while many expected the north Londoners to struggle to even get into the league's top four, those two signings helped the 41-year-old exceed expectations by challenging the Mancunians for the league title.
The intangibles Jesus brought up front for Arsenal with his pressing and his unselfishness allowed the likes of Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka to be prolific, while the Ukrainian's addition provided an entirely new element to the way the side orchestrated their attacks with the way he inverted into midfield from left-back. But for a William Saliba injury in the UEFA Europa League against Sporting CP, the 13-time English champion could've added one more to their trophy cabinet as they fell just five points short of eventual treble winners City.
Regardless, with the 2023/24 season having just commenced, Arsenal are now the team many think will give the Citizens a run for their money once again in the league. However, while the results may suggest they will continue to compete, the way they have performed in their opening three league games suggest otherwise. New signings have arrived, and Arteta has tweaked the team's tactics from last season to a point where the team is sort of unrecognisable.
Granit Xhaka has left the club and new arrival, and architect of Guardiola's Champions League downfall in Portugal, Kai Havertz has joined the team in his place. Declan Rice became the club's record transfer and has replaced Thomas Partey at the base of the side's midfield, while the Ghanaian has been shifted to the right-back position, largely due to necessity following a number of defensive injuries.
The 30-year-old's change in position is not a new one as he was moved out there against Nottingham Forest towards the end of last season. Unfortunately, on that occasion, the Premier League giants lost 1-0 at the City Ground, effectively dashing their faint title aspirations. However, at the beginning of this season, Arteta persisted with the tactic, and it has not proved fruitful so far.
Partey is only a right-back when defending, which he seems adept enough to do, but it is compromising the way Arsenal build up their attacks as he moves into the middle of the park when the side has possession. Havertz, having played striker for much of his time at Stamford Bridge, is also still learning how to become the type of attacking midfielder Arteta wants, but for the time being, all these factors are coming together to create a lot of congestion in the middle of the park.
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It looks as though Arteta wants to compensate for not having Zinchenko at left-back by putting somebody who is capable enough to defend at right-back but can also offer what a world-class midfielder can in Partey. The Spanish tactician, however, needs to revert back to what was successful for him last season by playing the back four of Zinchenko, Gabriel, William Saliba and Ben White, while sacrificing Havertz and playing Rice further forward so that the Black Stars talisman can occupy the holding position he starred in last season.
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