Mikel Arteta's new move to make Arsenal more unpredictable | OneFootball

Arteta trials tactical switch that could have huge benefit in title race

Dowman had a lively cameo and, on more than one occasion, was hacked down by a Slavia Prague defender.

Saka was relatively quiet out on the left, but he has caught the eye there this season.

Bukayo Saka switched to the left wing as Arsenal beat Slavia Prague 3-0 in the Champions League

Arsenal FC via Getty Images

Last month, towards the end of a Champions League game against Olympiacos, Saka moved to the left and scored a late goal after combining with Martin Odegaard.

Mikel Arteta has made no secret of his desire for Arsenal to be more unpredictable in attack, and shifting Saka’s position is one of the best ways to achieve that.

The 24-year-old is Arteta’s main man and no player has featured more under the Spaniard.

Saka has made 256 appearances during Arteta’s reign, which is 31 more than anyone else.

The vast majority of those have come on the right wing, and you have to go all the way back to the 2021-22 season to find the last time he started elsewhere.

Saka first broke into the team as a left-back, but he has since made the right flank his own and turned it into Arsenal’s primary attacking outlet.

That is why moving him from that position during matches can be such a weapon. Opponents are so accustomed to facing an Arsenal side with Saka stationed on the right.

“I think having that unpredictability and that flexibility can add a lot of value,” said Arteta.

“It’s true that you need certain consistencies as well in certain positions and not all the players are that naturally confident or comfortable to adapt to a different position. It’s just finding when is the right moment, the right time in the game to make those changes and then it has to work.”

Switching Saka from right to left during a match is something Arteta explored during pre-season.

The ability to switch Bukayo Saka to the left wing could have huge benefits for Arsenal

Arsenal FC via Getty Images

At an open session at Emirates Stadium in August, Noni Madueke and Saka lined up together on the same side in a training game. Madueke began on the left, with Saka on the right, but towards the end they swapped.

One of the reasons Arsenal signed Madueke this summer was his versatility - a quality Arteta greatly values - and his ability to play on either flank.

Arteta has, historically, not often swapped his wingers in-game but Madueke’s arrival seems to have encouraged him to try it more regularly this season.

“You have to feel that now they are ready to do it because different positions have different requirements physically, emotionally, in relation to the game-plan,” said Arteta.

The benefit of using Madueke or Saka on the left wing is that it gives Arsenal’s attack a new dimension.

Traditionally, they have set up with a right-footer cutting in from the left, which can narrow their play down that flank.

Having Madueke or Saka, both left-footed, hold the width stretches opposing defences and creates new angles.

That could prove especially useful late in games, when opponents tire, and that is exactly when Saka has been occasionally drifting left.

Starting him there feels unlikely, in the same way Liverpool would never move Mohamed Salah to the opposite wing. When you have a player delivering every week, why change?

But allowing Saka to switch mid-match is different.

It creates moments of uncertainty across the 90 minutes, particularly when defences have spent much of the game trying to contain Arsenal’s right-sided threat.

It is not hard to imagine an opposing full-back suddenly being thrown by the sight of Saka trotting over to his side, having already been run ragged by Madueke, Gabriel Martinelli or Leandro Trossard.

Arteta has spoken this season about giving players such as captain Odegaard, “freedom” on the pitch, and that has been seen in Declan Rice’s evolution into a true all-action midfielder.

Saka swapping wings feels like another example of that, and clear evidence of Arteta’s desire to make his team unpredictable.