Europa League Final | Why Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s absence would hardly be a bother for Arsenal against Chelsea

Arsenal’s fortunes have surely changed in the last one year or so, although for better or for worse is something yet to be decided. The team has looked livelier in training sessions, stronger against the top five, and most importantly, more dangerous in the attacking third. Of course, there are a lot of things to be sorted out in terms of administration but Unai Emery did bring about a desirable change in the side in his very first season at the club.

Arsenal have shared the spoils with Chelsea in the two times they have faced each other in the league and if a match needs to be taken into reference, it should definitely be the January 19 clash where Chelsea travelled to Emirates. While Arsenal were approaching the game losing three of their last six matches, Chelsea had lost just once in the same number of fixtures. And the lack of momentum didn’t lead the Gunners to a humiliating defeat, which has previously been the case under Arsene Wenger’s reign many a time.

Chelsea lost 0-2 that match and not most of it to Emery’s tactical master-class as much as it was to Sarri’s stubbornness towards one philosophy. The perfect Sarriball is an amalgamation of a couple of machinery working together in absolute synchronization – open, attacking, fluid football, pressing opponents higher up the pitch, maintain possession for the most part of the game, and consequently passing the ball right from the back.

Clearly, all the above prerequisites haven’t worked simultaneously this season, hence this overwhelming season. And Emery has been able to break it quite successfully. The Spaniard had led a three-man attack of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette, and Aaron Ramsey, the trio that destroyed Tottenham Hotspur, with Matteo Guendouzi, Lucas Torreira, and Granit Xhaka cushioning the midfield. It was a 4-3-2-1 narrow setup with the hosts pressing the Blues extremely high up the field which fetched them a goal as early as the 14th minute. Another goal by Laurent Koscielny at the 39th minute meant that the match was over before an entire half to go.

Arsenal had three things right. Throughout the match, Aubameyang and Lacazette stood at the two flanks pressing their opponents continuously and waiting for Chelsea’s attack to break down. They stretched Chelsea’s defence to great lengths for Ramsey to get in the middle and do his stuff. Opta had stated that Arsenal had won possession in the attacking third five times in the first half hour alone.

Of course, the defensive pair of Laurent Koscielny and Sokratis Papastathopoulos was extremely efficient on that evening, but the lion’s share of credit should go to Lucas Torreira. The Uruguayan had to play out his skin as he was deployed on the right midfield instead of the holding role, and he was at the heels of Chelsea players relentlessly. He had made nine tackles that match, the most by any Arsenal player.

Mkhitaryan was sitting out injured for Arsenal that game but even if he was available, he would have hardly been a starter for the Gunners. The wide forward does have qualities in pace, dribbling, and finishing that most other players cannot match, but in beating Chelsea, Emery might not even need them.

Apart from his individual attributes, the flanks also play a huge part in Sarriball. While many might assume that Sarri is attacking more from the left flank only because of the exceptional talents of Alonso and Hazard, the truth is that the Italian has always had a special inclination for that wing. While a particular reason is difficult to point out, but Sarri had prioritized the left flank to attack 46% of the time in his last with Napoli and 40% back in the 2016/17 campaign.

As far as covering Jorginho is concerned, Emery could easily put up either Guendouzi or Torreira for the task because unlike Sarri, the Spanish doesn’t rely on particular players to get the job done but focuses more on explaining his plan to his players and then banking on them to get the job done.