The downside of Arsenal's tactical evolution

It all started with a Tesco bag - a British multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer based in Welwyn Garden City. In June 2020, Arsenal marched to Bramall Lane to meet Sheffield United in the FA Cup quarterfinals. The away team had a difficult match, thanks to Dani Ceballos' goal in injury time to enter the semi-finals.

Kieran Tierney was voted player of the match, but he caught the eye with his non-professional problems before the ball rolling. The Scotland defender entered the field with nothing but a Tesco bag. In an era when Premier League stars often wear branded goods, Tierney's use of a Tesco bag is an astonishing sight and immediately receives admiration from fans.

The quarter-final match against Sheffield - his 15th appearance for Arsenal - helped Tierney become the player most beloved by Arsenal fans. A sublime performance on the way to winning the FA Cup that year, including an assist for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to seal the victory over Man City in the semi-finals, further strengthened Tierney's position.

Over the next two seasons, Tierney became a highlight of Arteta's project at Arsenal. The Scotland defender showed the commitment that the Spanish coach sought from his players as he began to reform the culture in the dressing room. The ability to follow instructions makes Tierney the perfect leader on the field.

Tierney is a key member of Arsenal's leadership team and a strong candidate to take over the captaincy after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left the team in January 2022. Two months later, the 26-year-old defender took the captain's armband for the first time in the Premier League after Alexandre Lacazette - who was appointed interim captain until the end of the season - was substituted early in the second half. That afternoon was considered the pinnacle of Tierney's career at Emirates Stadium.

But then, the former Celtic player had to have surgery for a knee injury and missed the rest of the 2021-2022 season. When Tierney returned, Arsenal recruited Oleksandr Zinchenko from Man City for 36 million USD with 2.5 million USD in add-ons. From his position as a mainstay, Tierney gradually had to get used to the bench. Even though Zinchenko often took time off to recover from injury last season, Tierney could not regain his starting position.

Tierney played 27 matches in the Premier League in the 2020-2021 season, 22 matches in the 2021-2022 season, but this number dropped to only six last season. With such a decreasing position, it is not surprising that the Scottish defender had to go to Spain to play for Sociedad on loan this season.

The Spanish coach continued to change last season by using a left-back who can distribute the ball well and often move into the middle. The type of defender who overlaps to make crosses into the penalty area like Tierney becomes redundant in Arteta's desired system.

Tierney's ability to pass the ball and his rigid movement make him unsuitable for this new arrangement. The Scottish defender's pass success rate did not exceed 77.3% in four Premier League seasons. Meanwhile, Zinchenko has had a pass success rate that hasn't dropped below 86.4% for six full seasons in the league.

Despite the rapid loss of the starting position, Tierney has never expressed displeasure, and his departure was purely for tactical reasons, as Arsenal switched their approach from counter-attacking defense to possession. . Before Tierney, stars like Mesut Ozil, Emiliano Martinez, Bernd Leno or Aubameyang all suffered the same fate.

Since 2019, Arsenal has only earned $155 million from player sales - the lowest level in the "Big 6" group. The sale of Bernd Leno in the summer of 2022 is a typical example of the Gunners' loss of business. The German goalkeeper was bought from Bayer Leverkusen for 28 million USD, played 125 matches for Arsenal, then was pushed to Fulham for 10 million USD.

Meanwhile, Liverpool sold Danny Ward - a Welsh goalkeeper with only three appearances for the first team - to Leicester for $16 million in the summer of 2018.

Another example came in the summer of 2021, when Marseille borrowed Matteo Guendouzi and then bought the French midfielder outright for $12 million a year later. He is a key factor in helping Marseille finish second in Ligue 1 in the 2021-2022 season, just behind champion PSG. Also in 2021, Guendouzi made his debut for France and even attended the 2022 World Cup - where he started the final match of the group stage against Tunisia.

A similar problem occurred this summer, when Arsenal had 31 players in the first team and had difficulty liquidating Albert Sambi Lokonga, Cedric Soares and Nicolas Pepe. Nuno Tavares - a defender who played for Marseille on loan last season - is close to joining Nottingham Forest, while Rob Holding received an offer from rookie Luton Town.

22-year-old striker Folarin Balogun is the exception to Arsenal's poor player sales, when he joined AS Monaco for 45 million USD.

"As Arteta continues to chart Arsenal's path to the top, there will certainly be many players who are loved by fans but cannot keep up, like Balogun and Tierney. Arsenal need to find a way to collect big fees when say goodbye to these players," Sky Sports commented.