To be clear, the 0-2 scoreline suggests a rather comfortable win over Leicester, but the reality is that we laboured for most of the match with the worse-than-hapless Raheem Sterling doing his best to join the ranks of Chelsea castaways to nick a living at the Arsenal. In the end, though, it was Arteta, not really known for his tactical flexibility, indulging a bit of “total football” back in order to turn this match on its head. Given our injury crisis, Arteta may had no other option. In the end, he was at least willing to get creative.
Arteta had talked up the possibility of playing Riccardo Calafiori at striker, saying “”It’s been done before, it’s an option we have. They have that ability to be a threat, especially in the context of the game against low blocks.” This might have been a bit of misdirection to keep Leicester manager Ruud van Nistelrooy off balance. Then again, maybe not. Arteta’s XI consisted of a very conventional front three of Trossard, Sterling, and Nwaneri, otherwise known as a front two of Trossard and Nwaneri. Sterling was so poor that we might have done better playing with ten men.
It’s no accident then that, just 12 minutes after replacing Sterling with Merino and five minutes after replacing Lewis-Skelly (who had done quite well) with Calafiori that we scored. That first goal came from a tidy bit of play in front of the Leicester goal with Nwaneri lofting in a well-weighted cross for Merino to nod home. In addition to the quality of the cross, one really has to give Merino credit for how well he created space, first moving towards the near post to send Wout Faes in the direction and then moving back to to the far post to keep James Justin stuck behind. That’s the kind of positioning and spatial awareness in the box one rarely sees from players who rarely ventured into said box. Merino still had work to do, the cross lacking pace and finding him about eight yards from goal. Still, he found the back of the net. Striker crisis averted? Maybe.
No, not really.
Still, the second goal showed that this total football idea—or at least a poor man’s facsimile of it—might take the edge off of that crisis. Calafiori picked up the ball in our defensive third and burst forward across midfield as if he was more an attacking midfielder or even a #10 before finding Trossard (himself capable of playing five or six outfield positions) in space. As Trossard toyed with Justin, Merino found open space on the right, staying both out of sight of the oblivious, ball-watching Okoli and Kristiansen and also staying onside. Once Trossard sent in his cross, Merino both timed his run perfectly and finished as cool as can be, tapping home from six yards out. It’s the kind of finish a lot of more-experienced attacks will fluff by sending high or wide.
Okay, so again, this is not necessarily total football even if we add in the tongue-in-cheek suggestion that Magalhães be played as striker (he has scored 17 Prem goals in five seasons, after all). Still, seeing Calafiori get forward to spring Trossard who fed Merino does suggest that we might just have enough talent, versatility, and flexibility to find our way through this mess. Even if Merino’s double is just a flash in the pan, it might just be enough to give defenders pause. Yes, it’s just Leicester—only Southampton (57) have conceded more than their 55. Merino does have the advantage of being an unknown quantity. Opponents such as West Ham and Nottingham Forest will have limited intel or insight into how he plays as a striker, after all.
With Ben White on the cusp of his return, maybe Arteta will be tempted to consider giving Calafiori a chance up top without leaving us short-handed in defense. “Total football” is at its best a purist, idealist philosophy. Our current, pale imitation of it may be driven by necessity, but it could still be just crazy enough to work.