Following an onerous start to the season, Arsenal picked up their first win of the 2021/22 campaign last Saturday in a 1-0 win over Norwich City at the Emirates.
Captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang bundled home Arsenal's first goal of the season from a goalmouth scramble in the 66th minute after Nicolas Pépé struck both posts.
The full time whistle brought about a feeling of relief. Arsenal and Arteta had secured a much needed win, and a win which they hope will kickstart their season.
Whilst it is somewhat difficult to judge against a side hotly tipped for relegation, here are five things we learnt from Arsenal's win over Norwich.
Tomiyasu's Flexibility
Given Takehiro Tomiyasu landed in England the Thursday morning before the Saturday 3pm kickoff, his inclusion as starting right back on the team sheet was a surprise, even with Calum Chambers and Cédric Soares' recent lacklustre performances.
As a result, all eyes were on the Japanese international to see what role he would undertake in Mikel Arteta's system.
The answer? All of them.
During Arteta's time in charge of Arsenal he has predominantly utilised his right backs in three ways: dropping deep as a third centre back, inverting in the middle of the pitch to create a third midfield player, and occupying a high position wide on the right wing.
Each role requires completely different skills and a specific set of instructions, but against Norwich we saw Tomiyasu utilise his versatility to fulfil all three roles within one game.
The most common position that Tomiyasu took up was alongside Ben White and Gabriel Maghalães to form a back three during build up. Arsenal's shame resembled a 3-2-5 with Tierney pushed high on the left as a winger.
Tomiyasu also frequently occupied an inverted position alongside the midfield, something we have seen Pep Guardiola experiment with at Manchester City. This gave Arsenal a 2-3-5 shape, allowing more for sustained pressure with Tomiyasu able to close down balls around the midfield.
The Japanese international also took up the position of a modern day fullback at times, pushing high and wide on the right, mirroring Tierney on the opposite flank. Despite being labelled as a defensive fullback, Tomiyasu has good technical capability with both feet, allowing him to provide a threat with balls in and around the box.
Alongside his flexibility, the most noticeable attribute that Tomiyasu brought to the team was his ability in the air, winning 7 of his 8 aerial duels. With this being a key weakness of White, Tomiyasu compliments his fellow defender well, and we will see how impactful this will be against Burnley this weekend.
Arteta's 4-3-3
Since joining Arsenal, Mikel Arteta has been clear that he wanted to play a 4-3-3.
During his early days his midfielders were limited and he tried to accommodate Mesut Özil into the side which forced him into a 4-2-3-1. Then the defence began to struggle, causing a shift to a 3-4-3.
The arrival of Thomas Partey last summer gave hope that Arteta's 4-3-3 was possible. In Partey Arsenal had signed a midfield general capable of controlling the centre of the pitch on his own.
Our first look at Arteta's 4-3-3 came against Leicester City in October 2020, a game in which Arsenal were the better side but fell to a 1-0 defeat. During the game a key issue became clear. Granit Xhaka attempted 98 passes, whilst Partey attempted just 54. Partey was not involved in the game enough and Arsenal suffered for it.
Later that year, in December 2020, Arteta told DAZN: "We want to move to a 4-3-3 but for that, you need a lot of specificity in every position but now in five or six positions, we do not have it."
After bringing in 6 new faces this past summer, it seems Arsenal may now have that specificity.
In the 62nd minute against Norwich Arteta made a double substitution, bringing on Partey and Emile Smith Rowe. 4 minutes later, the ball was in the back of the net.
The impact of the 4-3-3 was seen in the build up to the goal as Martin Ødegaard dropped alongside his midfield partners, dragging Norwich midfielders with him. Partey shaped to pass square before zipping a ball into Bukayo Saka who had drifted into a central area. In one action Arsenal's midfield, commanded by Partey, took the entire Norwich midfield out of the game.
It was only a small sample size, but it looks that Arteta's Arsenal is taking shape.
Confidence of the new signings
A noticeable facet of Arenal's performance was the confidence of the new arrivals who each put their own mark on the game.
Aaron Ramsdale, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ben White, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Martin Ødegaard all started for the Gunners.
Ramsdale had a relatively quiet debut, being required to make just 1 save, but he looked assured on the ball throughout, as well as having one particularly flashy moment.
Despite minimal time with the squad, Tomiyasu immediately caught the eye, pinging passes with both feet and running himself into the ground through pressing opponents. He only lasted 62 minutes but Tomiyasu looks like the sort of player that will have an impact even if he is not playing well due to his sheer work rate and determination.
After a worrying debut against Brentford on opening day, White returned to show everyone why Arsenal paid £50 million for him. Defensively he and Gabriel doubled up on Teemu Pukki well, limiting the striker all game.
But White's biggest impact came on the ball. He completed 8 out of his 9 passes 30 yards and over, had 5 final third entires and made 3 key passes - the type of numbers David Luiz would be proud of. As Arteta's side evolves, White's ball progression will become a key weapon in the Arsenal attack.
Lokonga picked up where he left off after impressive displays against Brentford and Chelsea, demonstrating Partey-like skills on and off the ball. For a 21-year-old to control a midfield as he does is impressive, and he looks a great option as Arsenal transition away from Granit Xhaka.
Ødegaard did not have his most eye catching game, but he helped the attack tick, completing 93.1% of his 44 attempted passes. A key facet of Arsenal being able to sustain attacks is ball retention which is something Ødegaard will bring regardless of system.
Arsenal's line breakers
As part of Arteta's Arsenal, there is great emphasis on playing out from the back which has lead Arteta to focus on bringing in progressive passers who can play through the lines.
For the first time we saw the first choice defensive partnership of Ben White and Gabriel Maghalães, brought in to provide a left foot right foot balance to open up passing angles in order to play passes into the midfield and forwards. Gabriel has the second highest progressive distance of Arsenal's outfield players.
Albert Sambi Lokonga, and later Thomas Partey, provide the same skill from midfield as they are able to drop deep and turn from pressure before finding a teammate ahead.
Once again the goal highlighted the impact of line breaking with Partey opening up the Norwich midfield with a single pass.
At the start of last season, Arsenal's attack was often slow and predictable due to the rigid instructions Arteta provided the players. As a result, it was players like David Luiz who held the key to launching attacks from deep as he was willing to deviate from the approach, whilst having the technical quality to back up his ambitious passes.
Granit Xhaka has been another key figure in Arteta's Arsenal thus far, often completing the most progressive passes for the side. In the 2020/21 Premier League season, Xhaka completed 213 progressive passes for Arsenal, almost double the next player in the squad (108).
The reliance on Luiz and Xhaka is clearly something Arteta has been keen to minimise with Luiz being released in the summer and Xhaka being offered out to other clubs. Crucially, with Arsenal's new signings they can afford to move away from these two players.
Arsenal may struggle to score
For all of the positives in Arsenal's performance against Norwich, the lacklustre finishing was apparent. According to Statsbomb via FBref.com, Arsenal had 32 shots against Norwich, racking up an xG of 3.0, but only managed to score a single goal.
As Arsenal continue to lay their foundations, the most important takeaway from those stats is the number of shots, showing that the Gunners are capable of creating a plethora of chances. If they continue creating a high volume of opportunities, they will score goals, simple.
Credit has to be given to Tim Krul for a number of excellent saves, but Arsenal's finishing generally left a lot to be desired, and this is a potentially worrying pattern we could see more often this season.
Arguably Arsenal's best attacking quartet is Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard and Emile Smith Rowe in behind Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The issue with that group however, is that in the Premier League last season they combined for just 0.8 goals per 90 minutes despite taking 6.68 shots per 90 between them.
Aubameyang's numbers last season were down on previous years due to a number of potential factors, and as the captain he is expected to bounce back and score more goals.
Potentially the greater issue comes with the younger players behind him in Saka, Ødegaard and Smith Rowe. For each of them finishing is not their strong suit and as a result they are inconsistent in front of goal, as we saw against Norwich.
However, what these three do all have is that they are all still young and developing. Extra work on the training pitch could help boost both their's and Arsenal's goal threat.
Whilst these players remain inconsistent in front of goal, Arsenal may struggle to score - even with Nicolas Pépé in the attacking mix.
Up next for Arsenal is a completely different test. An away trip to Turf Moor to play Burnley at 3pm this Saturday.
The Gunners are fresh off their first win of the season, buoyed by new signings and returnees as they look to build some momentum ahead of the North London Derby coming up soon.
The Clarets are winless from their opening 4 games but were handed a boost this week by manager Sean Dyche signing an extension until 2025.
Burnley will undoubtedly look to be aggressive and bully Arsenal, with strikers Chris Wood and Ashley Barnes likely to target Ben White in the air. As a result, it will be key for Takehiro Tomiyasu to help out his fellow defender with his size and for the goalkeeper to be assertive and claim crosses into the box.
The last two meetings between the sides at Turf Moor have ended in a draw, although Arsenal won the previous 4 matches before that. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has an impressive record against Burnley, scoring 8 times in his last 7 games against the Clarets.
On Wednesday, Arsenal face AFC Wimbledon in the 3rd round of the EFL Cup at 7:45 at Emirates Stadium.
Having beaten a youthful West Brom side 6-0 in the last round, it is likely we will see a similarly rotated side from Arsenal with youngsters Folarin Balogun and Charlie Patino hoping to feature.
The visitors currently sit 4th in League One having won their last two league games.
Predictions:
Burnley 1 - 2 Arsenal
Arsenal 3 - 0 Wimbledon
Adam Perry - 17/09/2021