The Gunners are more confident facing the 2022/2023 season.

rhizka (52)in World Of Football ⚽ • 2 years ago

The Gunners, Arsenal really roared at the start of the season. Arsenal proved the machine is not an ancient machine that is obsolete and worn out, Arsenal kicked off at the beginning of the season.

The first three weeks of the Premier League, Arsenal are unbeaten. Amazingly, it's not important not to lose. However, Arsenal swept all three games with nine points or unbeaten.

If you add any pre-season games, Arsenal are still unbeaten. Arsenal do face small teams, and it's definitely not them who set the schedule. However, what we need to see is Arsenal managed to take advantage of that opportunity.

It is different from other top teams, say like Manchester United and Chelsea. Both were crushed by teams like Bradford and Leeds United, while Arsenal managed to win over Crystal Palace which Liverpool couldn't do.

Arsenal stepped into the Premier League at a steady pace, unlike last season. The Gunners have benefited greatly from the Premier League schedule this season, they are facing teams that are at a level below that which they did not experience last season.

The Gunners really know how to take advantage of that, in the first week of the 2002-2003 Premier League season the opponents they faced tended to be easy. They crushed Crystal Palace 2-0, crushed 2016 Premier League champions Leicester City 4-2 and finally in the third week saw Bournemouth 3-0.

Starting the 2022/2023 season, Arsenal have pulled the springs. It was very different when the 2021-2022 season, at that time Arsenal were not ready. Last season many Arsenal newcomers were not ready. Some players were also unavailable in the early matches due to the COVID-19 virus.

That's why Arsenal messed up at the beginning of last season, some players were forced to play in their positions. It was different at the start of this season because since the transfer window opened, Arsenal began to nimbly look for players. The selection of players is fairly accurate, many of the newcomers can be available at any time.

Arteta just choose who will be used. Marquinhos, Matt Turner, Fabio Vieira, Oleksandr Zinchenko and of course Gabriel Jesus. Don't forget the players who returned from loan like William Saliba.

Arsenal marked a fine season with three wins at the start of the season, Mikel Arteta feels deserves special credit. Because before, Arsenal was slow to start the season. In fact, last season they had to be at the bottom after losing the first three games.

Now for a while, Arsenal are cold at the top of the standings. This of course shows that the process called Arteta is serious and ready to reap the rewards.

Arteta knows very well, now Arsenal are full of young players. There is no player who is a big star player, the bright Gabriel Jesus is actually not a star player, he was also eliminated from Manchester City.

Therefore, Arteta dared to revolutionize his tactics. He does not need to hesitate to boost his players so that the totality in attacking the opponent's defense. In principle, Arteta uses a 4-2-3-1 scheme, not much different from Ten Hag.

However, Arteta has an approach that has so far been recognized or not more effective. He's got players on the fullbacks who can move up, plus the flanks who also overlap or make little moves to attack from midfield.

Like in pre-season matches, Arteta has Odegaard and Granit Xhaka who can also attack from the middle through the left and right sides. Because of that, Arteta's formation shape can change to 2-3-5 when attacking. Oleksandr Zinchenko and fullback Ben White can also attack.

See for example when facing Bournemouth, Arsenal can attack sporadically. Arteta put a lot of players up front, making the scoring options more diverse. Arsenal got back William Saliba, a player who was bought from Saint-Etienne for 30 million euros (Rp448 billion) in 2019, adding to Arsenal's defensive solidity.

We know the previous season, Arsenal conceded so easily with 48 goals, this season they will not repeat it again. In pre-season matches, Saliba himself has shown his quality. Arsenal's defense was intact and almost no mistakes.

Although against Leicester City, Saliba scored an own goal. Apart from that, so far Arsenal's defense is fairly solid in the Premier League. Arsenal have only conceded one goal by the opponent, while if we count it with pre-season matches. So far, the London cannon has only conceded five pure goals, excluding own goals.

According to records, from three Premier League matches all Arsenal players have put 359 pressure. What is unique, the players who put the most pressure on are those who operate in the middle and front. For example Martin Odegaard, Martinelli and Bukayo Saka.

It means in Arsenal's defense does not only rely on the rear sector. However, they put pressure on even since the ball had not entered a third of the field. When engrossed in attacking, Arsenal also did not forget his defense while defending.

Players such as Bukayo Saka Odegaard, Gabriel Jesus and Martinelli press sideways to form a 4-2-4 scheme. While players like Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka are in midfield, both are tasked with closing the space between the lines.

When defending, the two Arsenal midfielders have good man marking qualities, plus they have the ability to intercept. Both also had good pressing success, Granit Xhaka with 40% and Thomas party with 43.1%.

When they lose the ball in the midfield third, Arsenal's players will get the ball back in five to seven seconds.

Gabriel Jesus was the answer, and until the third week the credo had not missed. The signing of the Manchester City striker for £45 million is a very bright idea. Gabriel Jesus really became the answer to Arsenal's stalemate last season, the Brazilian appeared crazy in pre-season, then he continued in the first three Premier League games.

So far, Gabriel Jesus has made ten shots, three of which were on goal. Gabriel Jesus has also scored two goals and provided three assists, not only actively attacking Gabriel Jesus but also helping defensively. In the sense that he does not go down to the defense line but presses from the front lines.

Gabriel Jesus has applied 44 presses in the Premier League, making him the fifth player to press the most. Because of his position as a striker, Gabriel Jesus often presses in the front third, a total of 26 times.

Arsenal did look good at the start of the season, once again they have not met a tough opponent. However, apart from that Arsenal are ready even to meet tough opponents. The first tough opponent faced was only Manchester United, just reminiscent of the 2003-2004 season, Arsenal won in the first three games and that started the story of their invincibles.

Likewise the season after, in the 2004-2005 season Arsenal also won the first three games and they could finish in the runner-up position plus win the FA Cup.