Defensive improvement has been key to Arsenal’s mini-revival

18/10/21 2069

For years there have been some key weaknesses at Arsenal that have seen the Gunners drop out of the top four and even the top six. The biggest weakness towards the end of the Arsene Wenger era was in defence.

Quite simply the team from north London had a soft centre. They were easily bullied in defence and that has played a major role in their decline in recent years.

Since Mikel Arteta’s appointment in December 2019, the Spaniard has seemingly pinpointed the defensive issues. In his early months, the Gunners showed a big improvement at the back, but often at the expense of their attacking efforts.

Those defensive issues have not completely disappeared during Arteta’s tenure with the north London club. However, they have had runs of good defensive displays throughout the close to two years that the Spaniard has been in charge.

The Gunners are currently on such a run, having conceded just once in their last five outings in all competitions, four of which have been in the Premier League.

The improvement in defence has led to Arsenal mounting a five-game unbeaten run and recording four wins.

The run is a big improvement on what happened at the beginning of the campaign, as Arteta’s team looked more like relegation candidates than top-six hopefuls.

One major aspect of the Gunners defensive displays has been the form of England under-21 international goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.

There were big question marks about Arsenal laying out a reported fee of £30m on the 23-year-old, who had just suffered relegation to the Championship with Sheffield United.

However, he has shown in recent months that he is a very capable goalkeeper, who will win his teams points.

It is clear from their recent matches that Ramsdale and the defence he marshals are proving vital to Arsenal’s upturn in form.

If the Gunners current defensive form can continue then it will be a good foundation on which to build a brighter future.