Arsenal have been a pale shadow of their former, free-flowing self under Mikel Arteta until last season. One major reason for this is that opposition teams have identified the Gunners’ Achilles Heel – breaking down low-blocks and are sitting compact and affording no space to Mikel Arteta’s men.
This extremely visible drop-off in attacking flair, not just with Arsenal but also a team like Manchester City begs the question – should Mikel Arteta shake up things at the club? It must be mentioned though that both clubs have struggled with injuries since the beginning of the season and deserve some slack.
However, Arsenal need to start thinking outside the box when opposition don’t press and sit in a deep block and stop looking clueless like they did against Everton last weekend. One part of it could be a tactical revamp but the other facet could be recruitment in the transfer market.
Belgian talent on the cards?
One name that not just Arsenal but Manchester City are interested in and are ‘doing work’ ahead of a potential January deal is Club Brugge’s Belgian defensive talent Maxim de Cuyper, as per TBR Football.
Predominantly a left-back, who has also been deployed as a left midfielder or even further forward as a left winger on occasion, Cuyper has been a bright young talent who has gone under the radar. He has already won six caps for Belgium at the senior level.
This season, in 24 games across all competitions, he has scored a goal and provided four assists. The left-back has been an area of concern for quite some time now and none of the options that Mikel Arteta has in the squad with the exception of Kieran Tierney (who never plays) are not conventional bombarding full-backs.
Anyone who has seen Cuyper play will know that he loves marshalling the flank and provide an overlapping option to the winger in front of him. This could also help Gabriel Martinelli play with a bit more freedom, with an overlapping presence alongside him.
MUST READ: Arsenal intensify pursuit of €100m attacking midfielder as the chase for other targets dwindles
On paper, this seems to be a very smart acquisition for Arsenal. However, one cannot really evaluate how well Cuyper can make the step up to the Premier League, which is a whole new ball game. It’s good to see though that Mikel Arteta wants to shake up things and let’s see how it plays out.
