3-0 up in the first 34 minutes, Arsenal were dominant and ruthless in punishing a lost Tottenham Hotspur on North London derby day.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal were quick in both their passing and pressing, and completely took advantage of Tottenham’s dysfunctional midfield.
Nuno Espírito Santo deployed a 4-3-3, with Dele and Tanguy Ndombele sitting either side of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
Harry Kane started up front with Heung-Min Son and Lucas Moura either side.
In theory, the midfield trio all offer something different to compliment each other.
Hojbjerg is a defensive midfielder first, but has the versatility to be used in a more creative role this year when operating alongside Oliver Skipp.
Dele works both ways and likes to join in the attack, while Ndombele’s creativity is vital to Spurs creating meaningful chances.
The problem here was all three players were completely out of sync.
Dele was working hard covering ground, but without providing an outlet.
Ndombele found space to get on the ball, but was drawn out of position in doing so.
Hojbjerg was left to frantically cover both players, and could not settle.
This was exposed in Arsenal’s first goal.
With Dier in possession at center-half, Ndombele moves wide to provide another option, and Dele advances as the ball is played aerially towards Kane.
Ben White beats Kane in the air to win the header, and when the ball comes back the other way, Tottenham’s broken midfield is exposed:
As Hojbjerg moves across in an attempt to cut out the pass, he is bypassed and Emile Smith Rowe is able to start his run from half way, completely unobstructed as he makes his way in to the box to finish with a goal:
When in possession of the ball, the midfield trio were again without structure and leadership, and were often found making their way back in to position rather than showing for the ball:
Spurs were better in the second half, but again had no cohesive structure in midfield.
Lucas was now deployed as a CM to replace Ndombele’s drive, however this clogged up the middle of the pitch and allowed Arsenal to easily defend in numbers:
Harry Kane still looks out of sorts, but his form and confidence will return.
The chances were there, narrowly missing a headed opportunity from a corner, and he was also on the end of a pin-point long ball from Dier finding Kane one-on-one with the keeper.
Spurs were also unlucky not to have a penalty in the second half.
The problem lies in the midfield.
If Nuno wishes to deploy Hojbjerg, Dele and Ndombele in a midfield three, Hojbjerg cannot afford to venture out of position as his midfield colleague do not offer enough support defensively.
Skipp provided Spurs with much more stability when he came on for Dele at half time.
Nuno quickly needs to find personnel he can trust to be disciplined in their positioning, and stick to a cohesive plan.