It’s not a normal formula for progress, but Unai Emery has put square pegs in round holes. He's had to – otherwise, round holes would have gone unfilled.
The parts may not fit, but the results look proof of a team-builder’s prowess. Arsenal were eight minutes away from an eighth successive league victory when Crystal Palace’s Luka Milivojevic pegged them back from the penalty spot on Sunday. They have 11 wins in 12 games in all competitions.
Emery has been a specialist in making the most of a mixed inheritance. He was bequeathed a squad where no midfielder or forward ideally wanted to operate on either wing; even Henrikh Mkhitaryan, best equipped for the touchline shift, stated a preference last year for operating as a No.10. Yet the Armenian, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mesut Ozil, Alex Iwobi and Danny Welbeck have all taken their turns on the flanks in the 4-2-3-1 formation that the Spaniard imported from Sevilla and Valencia.
But a renaissance offers an illustration of his excellence. Yet as Arsenal face the side with the most idiosyncratic formation in English football on Saturday, the temptation is to wonder if they also encounter a side with a system that would suit their players.
In from the wing
Jurgen Klopp’s 4-3-3 is unlike any other. “There is not another team in the world attacking this way with so many players... inside,” said Pep Guardiola two years ago.
It was before Mohamed Salah signed, but the principles remain the same. Both the midfield and the attacking trios operate within the width of the penalty boxes. The full-backs can be one-man flanks in a way that would suit Hector Bellerin, already granted a more attacking remit by Emery; and perhaps more than the ever-willing Nacho Monreal, Sead Kolasinac.
But imagine Arsenal’s players in the roles their Liverpool counterparts occupy. No one would have to impersonate a winger. They could all be central, in more than one respect.
Aubameyang has been prolific coming off the left. Given Sadio Mané’s duties further infield, bursting through the inside-left channel with still greater pace, he might be in his ideal berth; or, at least, Arsenal is ideal in that it would allow them to incorporate both the African Footballer of the Year and Alexandre Lacazette without compromising either by forcing them to impersonate a winger.
In Kloppball, the Frenchman could take on Mohamed Salah’s duties; ostensibly on the right, but really the closest thing to a striker, the furthest man forward, looking to raid in the other channel between full-back and centre-back.
Mesut's new role?
For Roberto Firmino, read Mesut Ozil? Klopp has been a vocal defender of his compatriot, even if Arsenal’s best-paid player could never be described as a duplicate of the Brazilian. He would not lead the pressing game.
Yet Ozil has flourished as a false nine for Germany. This would afford him a central role as a quasi No.10 where he could release the runners ahead of him; the luckless Mkhitaryan, another who may covet that spot, might be the odd man out but also the ideal alternative.
Since Aaron Ramsey’s terrific 2013/14, there has been a struggle to accommodate him and Ozil within the same side – a predicament that may explain the removal of a contract offer to the midfielder. But a narrow 4-3-3 may offer an answer.
Klopp’s shape is often a little lopsided. One of his No.8s – at various points, it has been Adam Lallana, Philippe Coutinho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, while in the future it could be Naby Keita – goes further forward, becomes the fourth attacker and assumes a greater responsibility for scoring. It may seem perfect for Ramsey, who would be afforded the insurance provided by two more defensively-orientated midfielders and operate in a high-paced team that reflects his dynamism.
Up the tempo
Indeed, part of what Emery has done, mirroring Klopp’s initial impact at Anfield, is to speed his side up. Arsenal have topped the statistics for sprints and distance covered, in a way the German’s Liverpool used to. It shows a commonality of thought: both managers can operate with high defensive lines. Both like to press.
Whatever happens at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, Liverpool are undeniably and understandably ahead of Arsenal in the rebuilding process. At least Emery’s excellent start means there should be fewer rueful looks directed at the visitors’ dugout, and fewer fans wondering what might have been.
Klopp felt like the great lost Arsenal manager, a purveyor of attacking football who trusted younger players and operated within a budget. In the end, Arsene Wenger lingered on so long that his supposed successors were either snapped up by Arsenal’s peers or discredited. It allowed Emery to emerge from leftfield.
It’s more than three years since Liverpool pounced to cut short Klopp’s sabbatical. Since then they have been Kloppified, buying players to suit a system in a way Emery, with a solitary transfer window and an urgent need for defensive reinforcements, has not had the opportunity to fashion anything as quixotic.
Nor has he had the time. Klopp’s shape can require an adaptation period, as newcomers like Oxlade-Chamberlain and Fabinho can testify after spells on the bench while they familiarised themselves with tactics. Meanwhile, Emery has shown his success as a short-term strategist, conjuring results with remarkable regularity.
He has done it his way, and perhaps no one else could copy Klopp. But the profile of Arsenal’s imbalanced squad could lend itself to the Liverpool manager’s ideas.
