After Eight

Since Mikel Arteta moved to the current midfield structure (a six and two eights, essentially) in 2021-22, the ‘left eight’ role has been one of the most pored over in the Arsenal fan base. At the beginning of the 2021-22 season, Arteta moved away from a full-time double pivot and moved Thomas Partey at the base of a midfield ‘V’ shape and asked Granit Xhaka to slide up the ladder a little into the ‘left eight.’

Xhaka adapted to the role very well indeed. In 2019-20, Xhaka averaged 76.4 touches per 90 minutes. In 2020-21 he averaged 87.1 touches per 90. After the switch to ‘left eight’ he averaged 69.0 per 90 in 2021-22 and then 56.8 per 90 in 2022-23. He became far less ball dominant and was not asked to collect from the centre-halves and distribute to the same extent, this was largely left to the likes of Thomas Partey and Jorginho.

By now, it is quite clear the kind of qualities that Arteta prizes for this left eight position. Once Xhaka left in the summer of 2023, the club spent a good chunk of change on Kai Havertz so that he could play in that position. Left footed? Check. Tall and strong? Check. Good at pressing and competing for the ball? Check. While the ‘right eight’ is almost always a left footer that inverts, the ‘left eight’ is much more of a straight line position.

But as it turned out, Havertz’s qualities ended up being much more useful to Arsenal ten yards further up the pitch as Gabriel Jesus’ knees continued to creak. This summer, three pieces of transfer business show you the attributes (or build) Arteta wants for the position. Emile Smith Rowe and Fabio Vieira left the club and Mikel Merino arrived. Two svelte playmakers made way for a player that won so many duels during his time at Real Sociedad that he might as well have taken to the pitch on horseback with a lance.

Merino wins lots of tackles and wins lots of headers. Havertz does these things too. Xhaka was an incredibly sturdy athlete who was good at shuttle running in straight lines, winning his duels (Mikel Arteta gets very upset etc, etc) but he wasn’t really asked to be a creator. Within this framework, it is easier to understand why Smith Rowe and Vieira just didn’t butter Arteta’s parsnips in that role.

However, what we have also seen is that it has taken time for players to come to grips with it. Xhaka’s competence in the role increased over time. My personal view is that this is the role that probably always suited him and Arsenal previously miscast him as a deep lying playmaker. You may recall Arsene Wenger’s initial confusion as to whether he considered Xhaka as a six or as a box-to-box midfielder, describing him as both in his early weeks at the club.

In the opening weeks of last season, Kai Havertz struggled to get to grips with the role. He eventually got his hands around it but injury to Gabriel Jesus saw him move to centre-forward and the ‘left eight’ was fulfilled by Declan Rice who, again, fits much more into the Xhaka, Merino mould of player than he does the Smith Rowe, Vieira one.

Currently, it is fair to say that Mikel Merino has yet to truly shine in the position. He was hooked at half-time against Inter Milan, although I think that was a substitution informed more by game state and the fact that he felt the Yann Sommer’s knuckles in the side of his face during the first half. He was largely ineffective in the Newcastle game too. The Spaniard did score from a setpiece against Liverpool and his ability to do that is clearly a big part of the reason he was brought in too.

However, while I think it is fair for Arsenal fans to wonder whether the resource could have been spent elsewhere or on a player more likely to power up the forward line, I think there are still caveats to consider. Firstly, the very first thing that Arsenal tried to do this summer was to buy Benjamin Sesko, a striker very capable of doing ‘Havertz things.’

Had Arsenal’s Plan A transpired, that shows me that Havertz would still have been considered for the ‘left eight’ role on occasion and it also shows me that height and physicality is important for Arteta in the area. In the Plan A scenario, he has Havertz and Sesko attacking Odegaard and Saka’s deliveries from the right.

In the Plan B scenario, it’s Merino and Havertz attacking them and, as much as Merino cannot complain about being hooked at St. James’ Park on Saturday, I suspect the late Declan Rice chance on the back post might have panned out differently had Merino been on the end of it.

We are also yet to see Merino in a midfield that features the much-missed flair of Martin Odegaard, Arsenal are carrying a significant creative deficit and Merino is not going to be the man to pick it up. As I said in the preceding paragraph, Havertz and Merino attacking Saka and Odegaard’s back post deliveries is surely a big part of Arteta’s attacking vision. Two on ball creators complemented by two penalty area threats.

Arsenal’s left-sided issues, which were present last season, have yet to be solved with Martinelli’s form still inconsistent. Again, Calafiori’s injuries have a part to play here, we simply haven’t seen the intended left sided construction of Calafiori, Merino + Martinelli / Trossard often enough yet for those partnerships to take root. Opponents still find it too easy to nullify Arsenal by roadblocking the right side.

There is a question in all of this as to whether the ‘left eight’ role is a little too complicated or maybe there is total mitigation in the unsettled picture at left-back. But whereas Saka usually has an eight inside (usually Odegaard but Havertz has popped up there in recent weeks) to combine with, Martinelli rarely has the same level of support immediately to his right to play a wall pass to or to help take a defender away from him.

All in all, the ‘left eight’ role continues to be a bit of a puzzle which really seems to need all its constituent parts to properly fire. I would be more inclined to judge Merino when he enjoys a run of games with Calafiori and Odegaard in the team. Maybe once those networks are embedded, he will be better able to endure missing pieces around him.

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