Mikel Arteta - the man Arsenal fans chant about knowing exactly what the team needs, and he's been exactly that so far this season. Whether it's finding a solution to falling behind against Fulham or working out how to bounce back in the North London Derby, the Spaniard appears to have had - almost - all the answers.
This was very much the case again on Sunday as the Gunners recorded another statement win with victory over Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium. Perhaps it's too early to claim it as a changing of the guard at the top end of the table, but a young and resilient side battled on after being pegged back twice by the experienced team that had been there and won it themselves.
One of the key battles may well have been won before a ball had even been kicked, with a key decision from Arteta. That was the choice to start Takehiro Tomiyasu at left-back, despite outcry from supporters to play Kieran Tierney there instead.
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The Japan international is viewed by many as a right-back, given his main role has been there for the Gunners since signing last summer. However, he is much more valuable to Arteta than that as he is both two-footed and versatile, showing his capability to play anywhere across the back four.
The main reason for his deployment was to deal with the threat of Mohamed Salah down Arsenal's left flank, with the Egyptian talisman showing his quality over the past few years. Tomiyasu's natural defensive ability completely nullified Salah, who managed only 25 touches in the whole game.
Not only did the defender manage that, but he also allowed Ben White to push further up the field on the right, which was risky in itself but allowed the Gunners to enforce their way of playing on the game. It's something they haven't always managed to do against the totally dominant sides in the league as they've always been some way off in terms of quality, but now they are in a position to be able to do that.
"Very good," Was the assessment from Arteta on the performance of Tomiyasu. "That's what we hoped he would do, and he did that. To think about doing that against Salah and actually doing it is a different story. Especially after playing on Thursday and what he's been through in the past few weeks."
It's shown yet again the tactical flexibility of the manager, married with having quality and depth at his disposal for a potentially huge season ahead.
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