How Arsenal’s signings have turned them into a “powerhouse team”
We are just two games into the season, but Arsenal are looking like title contenders again.
After missing out on top spot to Manchester City for the second season running in 2023/24, Mikel Arteta is determined to finally get his side over the line this time around and end Pep Guardiola’s run of four consecutive Premier League trophies.
The Gunners have already put down an early marker, starting the season perfectly with back-to-back 2-0 victories over Wolves and Aston Villa and beginning a top-flight league campaign with two clean sheets for the first time since 1971.
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David Raya deserves huge credit for the two fantastic saves he made in both games, especially his quick reactions to deny Ollie Watkins. But it’s also Arsenal defensive line that have continued where they left off last season, limiting the opposition to very few chances.
Mikel Arteta’s men have now won 18 of their 20 Premier League games in 2024 (D1, L1), equalling the record for the most victories a top flight side has managed in their opening 20 matches of a calendar year and they are showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon, especially with the Spaniard already correcting a lot of mistakes they made last season.
The arrival of Riccardo Calafiori as well as they return to fitness of Jurrien Timber has fixed their problem at left-back as pointed out by Gary Neville on Sky Sports.
“Arteta has got a strong team with Arsenal. They were put under pressure from set pieces in the last 25 minutes and they handled it really well. They are a powerhouse team now.” He said after the victory over Aston Villa, explaining how Timber and Calafiori sort a lot of Arsenal’s problems from last season.
“You talk about these fine margins of one goal or two goals that can tip the title race your way. That could be today. I like what Timber did, he kept a close eye on Leon Bailey. He’s a difficult person to play against but Timber was confident on the ball, he looked good when he went into midfield and still does the job of what Zinchenko does. And Calafiori when he came on looked really strong, up for the fight. He has that spirit about him.
“Zinchenko will still play his role against the bottom six or 10 teams, when you have a mountain of possession at home and you’re going to have to probe the ball through tight spaces. Zinchenko will be fantastic in those matches.But when you’re playing against a really top team and you need to keep a clean sheet, and you need someone at the back post who can defend and you need six big’uns, that’s when you’ll need Timber and Calafiori. He has got that now, Arteta – it’s a good way in which he has adapted.
“We saw what City did, in the last 10 games of the season, Josko Gvardiol’s impact from left-back was immense. Not just from a defensive point of view, but an attacking one – his power, strength, height. Arteta has reacted to that. He knows he has Timber coming back but he has Calafiori as well. He’s a big boy, powerful, strong, can play in a number of different positions. So that’s a definite response from what he needed last season.”
Calafiori has the technical and physical profile to thrive at both centre-back and left-back, allowing Arsenal to adopt the new meta of stacking the defence with titans when needed; a back four of Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel and Calafiori has an average height of 6 foot 2.
The Italian won more aerial duels, made more interceptions and won possession more times than any Bologna teammate last season, providing more assists than any other centre-back in Serie A, while Jurrien Timber gives them another option having played more passes into the final third (399) than any other centre-back in Europe’s top seven leagues in 2022/23 and will be key in build up.
Mikel Arteta was also famously quoted as saying “When I lose a duel, I’m upset.” and the Arsenal board also seemed to have fixed that problem with the incoming signing of Mikel Merino from Real Sociedad.
The Spaniard won more duels than any other player in Europe’s top seven leagues last season and with his heat map screaming box-to-box, we would likely see Rice return to the base of midfield with his former teamamte Martin Ødegaard completing the midfield three.
