Arsenal beat Mansfield in the FA Cup on Saturday afternoon.
The Gunners are through to the quarter-finals, but it was far from a vintage performance as Arsenal put out a rather strange starting XI.
What on earth do you make of the team Mikel Arteta has picked vs Mansfield?
Indeed, Arsenal set up in a back three to begin with, and for the opening 35 minutes of the game, Mikel Arteta’s side weren’t doing much other than huffing and puffing.
In fact, for the first half hour or so, you’d argue that Mansfield had the better chances of the two sides.
Leandro Trossard came off injured, and Piero Hincapie was his replacement as Arsenal shifted to a more natural four-at-the-back formation, and, even then, Arsenal didn’t look great.
However, as we’ve seen all season, a back four suits Arsenal, and based on what we saw today, the back three needs to be put on the backburner for a while now.
Arsenal need to ditch back three until next season
It’s always worth experimenting with tactics in games like these, but, for now, Mikel Arteta’s back three experiment has to come to an end.
Now, we’re not saying this tactic can never be used again – after all, Arsenal do have the personnel to use this formation effectively.
However, we’re now into the business-end of the season, literally every single game matters and there’s no room for mucking about and trying things that don’t work.
Describe Mikel Arteta’s back three experiment in one sentence…
The Gunners used a new tactic against Mansfield.
Consistency is going to be key between now and the end of the season, and disrupting tactics is not the path to glory for Arteta and this Arsenal team.
It’s very easy to understand why Arteta experimented against Mansfield – you’d expect to beat League One opposition in any formation, but as we now head into the back end of the campaign, there’s no room for experimentation.
Win at all costs, and, if you must, use next season’s early cup games to experiment with these different ideas.
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