Thierry Henry believes that Arsenal have stagnated rather than evolved and that their 4-3 win over Leicester was due to playing three at the back.
Henry believes that his former team, rather than reinvented themselves or evolved, have simply stagnated.
“You are talking about revolution or evolution but I call it stagnation. I watched the game and I could tell you what was going to happen,” he told Sky Sports.
“Every time Leicester had the ball, I thought they were going to score and every time we had the ball, I felt we were going to score.
“People complain about the defence but when you play in the back three, it is what is in front of you that counts. If you play in a back three, that means you are sending an extra man to put pressure higher normally. It is not only the three men at the back that are struggling.
“They came back in the game and I was happy but I have seen that too many times. Are you always going to score four and concede three? I have seen this too many times.
“Based on how they played, I did not see any change. Some guys were new in that team so you expect them to control the game a bit more. But Tottenham did not concede and Manchester United did not concede and normally you do not win the title if you concede goals.
“It is not only the back three – you cannot have your two holding midfielders bombing forward, overlapping the wingers and being in the box. Some of the time they will score, but most of the time they will not be doing their job.”
The pundit’s harsh words once again reiterate why Arsenal wouldn’t allow Henry to continue coaching at London Colney if he was still presenting on Sky Sports. While the ex-forward does know what he’s talking about, it’s a conflict of interests to be accusing the club that employs you of stagnating, while working for them during the week.
Saying this, the Frenchman has a point. While playing three at the back worked for the rest of the 2016/17 season after Arsene Wenger debuted it against Middlesbrough, it was never actually that convincing.
Perhaps just having a shake up in formation gave the players more focus or perhaps it was a sign that things could change, so it gave them a mental boost. Perhaps it was just sheer luck.
For some players, such as Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey, playing 3-4-3(/3-4-2-1) has been great, but for the likes of Hector Bellerin, for example, it’s actually been seriously hard for them to get used to.
Arsenal reverted to playing four at the back against Leicester and ended up winning 4-3, although I’m not sure how much the formation change had to do with that.
Maybe it’ll be a good idea to go back to 4-2-3-1 again and see how that pans out. Now’s the time in the season when we can afford the time to iron out these kinds.