Arsenal: Four Key Matches That Defined Their Season
2. December 26, 2019, Mikel Arteta returns to Arsenal as their new manager
The day after the Gunners’ loss to Frankfurt, Unai Emery was let go. The heir to Wenger’s throne lasted just 78 matches.
He was replaced by an interim manager, Freddie Ljungberg, who led the club for the next six games leading to Boxing Day.
Mikel Arteta finished his long playing career at Arsenal in 2016. He immediately got a seat in the dugout at Manchester City, becoming an assistant manager to Pep Guardiola. Throughout the season, rumors had begun to swirl that the 38-year-old Spaniard would succeed Guardiola at City, but five days before Christmas, he resigned.
Two days later, Arteta was named the manager of Arsenal Football Club.
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Pundits and fans expected Arteta would soon be employing the same attack the ball, possess the ball, and attack with the ball tactics of his mentor.
On Boxing Day, the Gunners went to the smallest stadium in the Premier League, Vitality Stadium, home to Bournemouth.
The Cherries’ Dan Gosling scored the first goal of the match in the 34th minute. It was the Gunners that would make a comeback. In the 62nd minute, Arsenal worked the ball into the box and committed to a series of quick one-touch passes, which led to the ball seemingly deflecting off Aubameyang’s foot into the goal.
The match ended in a draw, but in the big picture, it was not the most important thing that came from the game.
The Gunners lead up to their goal showed the quick movement with and without the ball that was reminiscent of Arteta’s mentor.
They completed 112 more passes, and their expected goals (xG) was 0.8 higher than in their previous game.
The Cherries allowed Arsenal, on average, 23.80 passes in their zone before a defensive action (PPDA) compared to the 12.42 passes allowed by their previous opponents. The PPDA numbers suggested that the Gunners possessed and passed the ball more efficiently than in previous matches.
It was a glimpse of what was possible.