Former Arsenal defender Martin Keown has encouraged manager Arsene Wenger to stick with a back-three next season given the players at his disposal.
After two decades of setting up with a back-four, Arsenal’s switch to the formation late last season saw an upturn in their form. It was also used to defeat Chelsea, the team who under Antonio Conte had pioneered the switch in the Premier League, 2-1 in the FA Cup Final.
Players such as Aaron Ramsey, Granit Xhaka and Nacho Monreal all performed well in the system, whilst young defender Rob Holding really came to the fore with a string of good performances on the right hand side of the three.
“Well I think with the group, football is essentially a numbers game,” Keown told Arsenal Player.
“By playing three at the back and having one midfielder just sitting in front, which Xhaka was very good at, it allowed Ramsey to get forward and we weren’t in any danger with the counter-attack any more.
“That’s really been a problem over the past six or seven years. I can think of many occasions when the counter-attack has really undone Arsenal and that balance wasn’t there.
“The system is now in vogue. We’ve seen a Premier League team win with a back three, an FA Cup team, of course Arsenal, winning with a three, and I can see no reason why you’d change that next season.
“It’s been a real success story. We’ve won nine of the last 10 matches."
