The manager who doesn’t change things is no longer a dope

 

 

 

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By Tony Attwood

It used to be that when a manager changed his team around he would be criticised by those on radio, TV and by those writing for the media on the grounds that “he doesn’t know what his best team is”.  That accusation goes back to when he joined Arsenal as manager with F365 coming out with its variation “I still really, really don’t like Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, and now I know why.”   

The “why” was because he didn’t know what his best team was. at the time there was often seen to be a virtue in playing the same players week after week.

Indeed myths grew up around such numbers.   The unbeaten team of 2003/4 was virtually always the same some have said.  In fact 22 players were used that season, and only one was ever present (Jens Lehman).   This season the number used so far is 23.

For there is a point in rotating, beyond enforced rotation involving covering for players who are injured.  Because where a team does rotates either by bringing new players in or changing the positions players play in (as Arteta has been doing) this gives the opposition a lot of difficulty in working out their plans in advance as to how to counter the style and approach of the other side.

As we know, the teams exchange team sheets one hour before kick off, which in theory allows the manager to arrange his strategies in response to the opposition.

But where the opposition has players who can play in various position, and indeed employs different tactical formations game after game, then the opposition are left wondering who is going to be where, right up to kick off.

Which is why on occasion you can see managers frantically shouting and pointing at where he wants players to be, now that he has seen that the other team are not doing what he expected.

Chelsea would have noted that Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey and Declan Rice were all in the team, and that probably didn’t change any of their planning.   But when it then turned out that they were lining up as the midfield that might have been a surprise.  Not because these players don’t look like a very effective midfield but because Arteta had not used them as the midfield trio since the very start of the season.

Now this takes us back to my piece (or “rant” as the media men would call it if they read it, which I am sure they haven’t) about whether Arteta rotates or not.

If you are a regular reader you might recall our piece in which we proclaimed that it was wrong to say that Arteta does not rotate.  But the point there was that even a quick glance at the statistics showed that Arsenal were not far out of line with all the other clubs in terms of the number of players used.   In fact the benefit to Arsenal for a lot of this season has been that players have not been injured and therefore Arsenal has a very limited amount of rotation forced upon them by events.

So we have a double criticism going on.  As I quoted recently, it was Just Arsenal who just a few months ago said, “this is a problem Mikel Arteta has created for himself. It was his choice to waste £65 million on Havertz rather than using that money to get a quality striker.”  I am not sure we need to comment on that. Football.London came up with much the same.

Arsenal have seven players who have played between one and six league games this season, five who have played between 10 and 19, four who have played between 20 and 29, and six who have played between 30 and 34.  

But the point is that apart from rotating the players used, Arteta has been rotating the players’ positions.     This is why once again Arsenal already have three players who have scored ten or more in the league this season (Saka, Havertz and Trossard), and will quite possibly have at least one more such player by the season end (Odegaard for example is currently on eight).

It also shows why Arsenal remain the top scorers in the league this season (82 goals compared with 80 for Manchester City, although they have a game in hand so could overtake us), as well as being the best defenders (26 goals conceded six fewer than Manchester City.

Indeed the top seven in the goal difference table is something to behold from an Arsenal point of view…

 

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Arsenal	34	24	5	5	82	26	56	77
2	Manchester City	33	23	7	3	80	32	48	76
3	Liverpool	34	22	8	4	75	34	41	74
4	Aston Villa	34	20	6	8	71	50	21	66
5	Tottenham Hotspur	32	18	6	8	65	49	16	60
7	Newcastle United	33	15	5	13	69	54	15	50

 

Below these seven we have Manchester United and Chelsea just about clinging on to a positive goal difference – but only just.

Of course, I know that Manchester City are just one point behind and if they win their game in hand they will go to the top.  But I suppose we might remember that they are facing 110 or so charges for improper doings, while last time I looked Arsenal were facing none.

That could make a difference too, when it is finally settled.

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