What is Arsenal’s style of play?

Going one goal down to Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham is never a good idea but for Mikel Arteta and Arsenal this was a nightmare scenario. It set up the game. Spurs would give them the ball and the onus was on them to do something with it. Arsenal did very little.

Arsenal had so much possession – 76.2 per cent of it in the second half. But that only damned them. Against a deep defence, they had nothing. Eleven shots but only two of them on target. Forty-four crosses but is that really the tactic of choice for Arteta’s Arsenal?

Maybe it is.

“I am still trying to figure out what Arsenal’s style and way of playing is going forward,” Arsenal great Alex Scott told Sky Sports. “When you look at those match stats, yes, we dominated possession, but what actually were we doing with it?

“Were we opening up the Spurs team? No, we were putting crosses into the box. But then, when you look at the players that Arsenal have, that is not the style of player.

“Look at Aubameyang. How many goals has he scored with his head out of the 74 goals that he has scored for Arsenal? Three. He is not the sort of player who is going to leap over players and get on the end of things. It ends up being hopeless balls into the box and just hoping you get a knockdown. That is not opening up a team and trying to create chances.”

After the defeat to Wolves in Arsenal’s previous Premier League game, in which they put in 35 crosses, Arteta had claimed it was ‘pure maths’ that his team would score goals if they continued to put that number of deliveries into the box. Well, 44 more of them came in at Tottenham and Arsenal did not find the back of the net. It is not proving effective.

In fact, Opta’s expected-goals model shows that Arsenal’s 11 shots against Tottenham had a total xG value of 0.62. They were not high-quality chances but this is often the way with crosses into the box. It is an off-balance header here or contested aerial duel there.

The rest of Arsenal’s opportunities were long-range efforts. The average likelihood of one of Arsenal’s shots against Tottenham finding the back of the net on Sunday evening was just 5.6 per cent – the lowest number for any of their Premier League games this season.

This is not the Pep Guardiola football that supporters had hoped for.

“This is where I worry, going forward,” said Scott. “I was trying to see the bigger picture and not panicking yet, thinking that you need to give Arteta time to develop a style.

“Then I look at this today.

“Going forward, we are facing Burnley then Everton and Southampton. If you face a Burnley team, they are going to be happy to concede crosses because they are physical and they will think they won’t concede that way. How are Arsenal going to break teams down?”

This is Arteta’s Arsenal now. Threatening on the counter-attack – as they showed in those signature victories over Manchester City and Chelsea in the FA Cup last season. But too sluggish when faced with a deep defence. Waiting for openings but without the subtlety or the swagger to fashion the space for themselves. It is the recurring theme.

Mourinho knew that. Others know it too. Scott references the upcoming games but even beyond that there are dangers. Crystal Palace, Newcastle and Manchester United are the visitors to the Emirates Stadium in January. Expect all to sit deep and counter. The tactic against Arsenal is clear now and Arteta’s prospects rest on him finding an answer.

Those attacking patterns are difficult to perfect. It takes time and it needs buy-in from the squad. Is the ageing forward line of Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and the disappointing Willian prepared to do the work required? Are the youngsters at Arsenal of the required standard to get up to speed in the time that Arteta needs them to?

“There was only one player today – Bukayo Saka – receiving those balls on the half turn, looking to find those spaces,” said Scott. Arteta will need many more than that. Without them and without some dramatic improvement, the template for this team looks set.

More frustrating afternoons lie ahead.

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