Mikel Arteta switches Arsenal to a Back 3 v Chelsea — Was this the right approach?

Arsenal’s most likely route back into the Champions League was thwarted by ex-boss Unai Emery in the Europa League semi-finals. That, paired with inconsistent league form left them five points off the Europa places too. With three matches to try and gain ground for any sort of European competition (well there’s the Conference League too right? RIGHT?!), Mikel Arteta opted to switch to the back 3/5 formation we saw towards the end of last season against Chelsea.

But was this the right approach?

Personnel

First of all, there has to be mention of personnel; Kieran Tierney had been injured in the weeks leading up to this, meaning that Arsenal had no recognised left-back. Arteta persisted with a back 4 and Granit Xhaka was the designated LB in these formations. This dented the Gunners’ midfield as a double pivot of Thomas Partey/Dani Ceballos didn’t really work. In the Europa League semi-final second leg, Arteta opted to go with a 4–1–4–1 with only Partey as the pivot player and Xhaka as LB, however Xhaka got injured in the warm up meaning Tierney (who was on the bench) had to play.

Rather weirdly, despite Tierney now being fit, he opted to play a 3–4–2–1 against Chelsea, with Partey and Elneny as the double pivot. Rob Holding, Pablo Mari and Gabriel were the back 3 with Bukayo Saka and Tierney as wing-backs and Martin Ødegaard and Emile Smith Rowe supporting Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.