LONDON — It was far from perfect in the north London derby for Arsenal but they were rewarded for their bravery to go for it and beat Spurs 4-1.
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Mikel Arteta deserves to be applauded for tweaking the formation slightly to give a free role to Eberechi Eze, as he and Bukayo Saka dragged Spurs all over the place. Yes, this was a poor Spurs side they beat, but given it was a derby and the pressure building on them, this was a noticeable shift in tact and intensity.
This attack early and often approach was a blueprint for how Arsenal should play for the rest of the season, aside from perhaps tweaking things for the huge away trip to Manchester City in April.
Bravery pays off
Arteta could have played a more defensive central midfielder in Martin Odegaard’s place but Eze’s inclusion from the start was a sign of intent.
It signaled to the rest of the team to go for it and Arsenal should have led by a few goals early in the first half as they were guilty of wasting big chances.
In the end they were rewarded for being brave and now have a five-point lead atop the table, even though Manchester City have a game in-hand.
With Eze and Saka buzzing around Viktor Gyokeres and Leandro Trossard cutting in from the left to join in the fun, set the tone for this swarming, relentless Arsenal display as they simply ground down Spurs with their superior movement, speed and quality on the ball.
This all-out attacking approach may be the difference in the title race
After taking the lead in the first half Arsenal let Spurs back in the game with a poor mistake from Declan Rice, as there were concerns the pressure of a title race was getting to them, and there were other wobbles too.
But that mostly came because they took more risks in attack and were a little open on the counter.
That is what it’s going to take.
After watching them be too conservative in recent games against Brentford and Wolves when they took the lead and sat back and ended up drawing both games, this performance should now make it clear to Arsenal and Arteta that he has to risk more to get them over the line and win the Premier League title this season.
They’ve tried the alternative in previous years and it hasn’t worked. Taking the handbrake off, even if it opens a few games up, has to be the approach if they’re going to win this title, and other trophies.
