Paul Merson reckons that the ‘new Arsenal’ have stopped being entertaining | OneFootball

Arsenal has adopted a peculiar tactical approach in certain games this season, which experts have advised them to abandon due to its lack of inspiration. Pundits and PL fans have accused the Gunners of sitting back and playing as if they were in a low or mid block after games against Manchester City, Bournemouth, Atalanta, and Liverpool, rather than attempting to play excellent attacking football.

On Sportskeeda, ex-Gunner Paul Merson has criticized his former team for sitting back too much and not playing the free-flowing game they were capable of. He wants to believe that they are doing so due to the absence of key players like Martin Odegaard and their desire to remain cautious.

Even if their strategy of avoiding defeats proves effective, he believes they will eventually come under scrutiny. Therefore, he believes it is crucial they change their tactics, which is possible given Martin Odegaard’s potential return.

Merson claimed in his Sportskeeda column: “Arsenal are sitting back too much in games now.

“I know they have key players missing out due to injuries, but they should’ve attacked more against Liverpool last weekend. Even if a draw is still a fair result for them, Arsenal weren’t as free-flowing as they were before and that’s a problem.

“The old Arsenal were entertaining, now they’re just sitting back and counter-attacking. If you do that every week in this league, you will get found out soon. I hope this change in strategy is only due to the players they are missing at the moment.”

Arsenal may have had a strong start to the season, but now that they are 5 points behind league leaders Manchester City, they should consider that something isn’t working for them and they need to change their strategy. Perhaps they could experiment with playing a free-flowing style of football that intimidates their opponents.

Sitting back against clubs like Bournemouth undoubtedly gives those teams the impression that they can get something out of the game, making it more difficult than necessary for our boys. What do you think?

Darren N

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