It had been a long time coming — eight months and 16 days to be more precise — since Mikel Arteta had fielded midfield trio of Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey and Declan Rice together. The 5-0 win over Chelsea was the first time he had done so since Arsenal’s Community Shield win over Manchester City in August.
Those three players had started games together this season, but not in this three-man midfield. Arteta moved Partey to right-back for the first three league games and Rice became the holding midfielder, while Kai Havertz played as a left No 8. Before Havertz’s surprising arrival from Chelsea, the consensus was that Arsenal’s midfield for 2023-24 would be Odegaard, Partey and Rice. It took until April 23 for that to happen but it was worth the wait as Arteta’s team gathered vital momentum before Sunday’s north London derby.
Chelsea did not come to the Emirates to contain Arsenal, or carry any real threat. It was a game that promised space to work in, while allowing this trio to dominate.
Leandro Trossard’s left-footed finish to open the scoring was superb but what took place before was equally important. Partey’s biggest strength during his time at Arsenal has been how he progresses the ball from his deep midfield position, while one Rice’s main qualities is his ball-carrying. Therefore, a first-time Partey pass putting Rice on his way to drive into the Chelsea box before setting-up Trossard should not have been too surprising.
Arsenal’s midfield had created a platform for their success in the game, but not just with that moment. Partey had a particularly impressive first half. Alongside his positive passing, he worked well defensively to recover loose balls deep in midfield as well as start attacks by intercepting passes further forward. The 30-year-old had been used sparingly in the past six weeks (one start and five substitute appearances since early March) after his return from groin and thigh injuries, but this was his best performance by far.
“We thought it was a really good game for Thomas to come back,” Arteta said. “He looks like he’s in rhythm, he trained really well in the past few days. With the players they have we thought it was the right call to make. He had a great performance. He was really important for the team.”
Since his return, he has shown glimpses of that passing ability, notably linking with Odegaard in three-pass moves which made Arsenal much more vertical in their play — a hallmark of their attack last season.
The first example came against Manchester City, with Trossard found on the break, below.
An almost identical move was fashioned at home to Luton Town, with Havertz the target.
In these games, however, he still looked off the pace physically. That changed against against Chelsea. Even more promising was how this impacted others in the team. The return of of Takehiro Tomiyasu at left-back provided a similar 3-2 set up (Benjamin White, William Saliba, Gabriel — Partey, Tomiyasu) in Arsenal’s build-up to last season’s. The only difference is that Tomiyasu took Oleksandr Zinchenko’s place but he was just as effective.
It allowed Odegaard to stay higher rather than coming deep, which made for one of his most productive performances of the season. The Arsenal and Norway captain has been playmaking at an unbelievably consistent level since December, but the eight chances he created against Chelsea was his highest tally for a single Premier League match. For context, Mesut Ozil is the only Arsenal player to create more chances in a Premier League game in the past eight seasons (12 against Sunderland in 2017).
Able to receive in the right half-space early on, the triangle of passes between himself, White and Bukayo Saka started to blossom. Already creating openings via these avenues in the first half, it was to his and the team’s benefit that they were then capitalised on in the second half.
The move for White’s second and Arsenal’s fifth illustrated the plan perfectly. Odegaard was Arsenal’s deepest midfielder, while Rice was their most advanced at the start. By the end, Odegaard had made up the ground and was playing the ball over the top for White to finish fortuitously.
Aside from Rice claiming his seventh league assist of the season, the England international had other bright moments in the final third while defensively he was as alert as ever. As a midfield trio, Odegaard, Partey and Rice complemented each other extremely well. The natural thought would be that should be the first-choice midfield for the last four games of the season.
Despite that, Arteta highlighted his embarrassment of midfield riches.
“Look at the run we are in and the points we have,” he said. “We have missed Thomas since August, and he’s a big player for us, but that has given chances to other players. For Declan to play as a No 6 and then rediscover him as an 8. Playing Kai as a No 9, too, and the contribution of Jorgi (Jorginho) has been phenomenal. The team has resources and has to find different ways of winning, acting and interchanging their qualities.
“When you play Declan, Kai and Martin, and when you play Emile (Smith Rowe) in there (it is different) and when you play Jorgi as well because we’ve won big games with him in there. It depends on the game, on the state, on the opponent. It’s great because everyone feels really important. That’s really important.”
This was a well-timed addition to Arteta’s arsenal. They have prepared yet another way to set-up in the closing stages of the season. Their margin for error is minimal with Manchester City’s games in hand, but this could help build and maintain positive momentum, especially with away trips to Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United to come.
(Top photo: James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images)
