2. Midfield Play
To say that Arsenal's current run of form is due to their midfield play still would not capture the essence and balance of what this group has demonstrated so far this season. They have excelled in their role as the first line of defense in front of the back four. It has been a long time since Arsenal has been this compact and organized in dealing with the attacks of their opponents from open play. Arteta in particular has been outstanding in the way he reads and breaks up the opponents attacking plays. Diaby has been instrumental in the arial defending, fronting forwards and giving first challenge in the air so that the center halfs can concentrate on winning second balls rather than first, a statistically easier task for them. Cazorla is tireless in his desire to give early first pressure on the ball, giving the other midfielders a chance to pick off errant passes. When you put this core together with the tireless and constant backtracking from Podolski and the much improved efforts of both Oxlade-Chambelain and Gervinho, you get a unit that, if they can stay heathy and continue to improve, will maintain Arsenal's position among the league's elite at the end of the season. Now, on the attacking side of play, the rotation of Cazorla, Diaby, Gervinho/Oxlade-Chamberlain, and Podolski has been visible from the first game. This movement has gotten progressively better and was singled out as one to the things that
Podolski likes relative to his playing wide left for Germany. Whenever Arsenal have been able to break down teams that "park the bus" in front of their goal, it has been with this kind of movement at the heart of their attack. This Sunday's clash with Manchester City is also the kind of game that the occasional run by Diaby has to come to the forefront. He has to look to put the City players back on their heel and give the advantage to Arsenal when he can. This is not something that they can plan for and is therefore a viable weapon for Arsenal. The midfielders, most notable Cazorla and Podolski, have also been better this season at bringing the fullbacks, especially Gibbs, into the attack with well weighted and well timed passes. Goals have come from crosses out of both fullback positions. It will be interesting to see if City makes tactical adjustments to prevent the fullbacks from coming into the game. Tactically, this will be a hot area of contention and how it unfolds during the game may well determine the final outcome. The final area where the 2012-2013 Arsenal midfielders have been better than the last four seasons is bringing the ball out of the back. Arteta and Santi Cazorla rarely give the ball away and are always available. It has been Arteta, dropping really deep to receive the ball, that has had the most effect. His ability to link up with Cazorla from these deep positions have led to stability whenever teams try to press them high up the field. In this area, Diaby has made some blatant errors. His percentage of quality passes under pressure in deep positions have not been as good as the others, and, in this way, he is the link to the previous problems with the last three Arsenal teams. When teams press Arsenal high up the field, as surely Manchester City will at some point during the game on Sunday and as Barcelona and other teams have in the past, Arsenal must be able to maintain possession against the pressure. It is vital; otherwise, they cannot play their game. There were periods of play during the Montpellier game when this was obvious. Simply put--Arsenal will lose if they give the ball away too much in midfield.