Mikel Arteta produced one of his great wins as Arsenal manager after his team beat Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
For the second season running, Tottenham suffered misery in this fixture.
In the previous campaign, it was Antonio Conte at the end of an Arsenal defeat, and this time around, Ange Postecoglou suffered north London derby heartache.
Both managers play an entirely different style and it would have forced Arteta to adapt, in a drastic way, to both games.
Against Conte, the Arsenal boss would have had most of the ball and they would have controlled most of the match. They ended up securing a 2-0 win.
But this time around, the Gunners, as Tim Sherwood pointed out, ’surrendered possession’ because of the risks Tottenham take going forward.
Their fullbacks, in this case, Ben Davies and Pedro Porro, are asked to play as number tens, jump into midfield and stay further forward.
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Sherwood thinks that ‘exploited’ the above duo and it also contributed to Bukayo Saka’s goal, as he told Premier League Productions (28/04/24 at 4:05 pm).
That tactic, and Spurs’ inability to deal with corners, all contributed to the home team being 3-0 down in such a huge game at half-time.
That’s why Sherwood was keen to tell Postecoglou that he needs to ‘learn’ from Arteta because he adapted.
Ben Davies and Pedro Porro in the north London derby
“I thought it was an iffy performance from Tottenham, I don’t think it was great and in the second half they showed spirit,” said Sherwood.
“I don’t think they were spectacular either, Arsenal. They adapted their style and I admire Arteta for it. He’s not hell-bent on ‘this is the way and that’s it’. They surrendered possession. All they did was dig in and counter-attacked. They have different ways to play. He’s turned the page over now. He knows how to coach. He’s an astute coach. Sometimes he knows that you need to suck it up and suck up the pressure and catch them on the counter-attack. Something, I think Ange Postecoglou needs to learn. You need to learn that.
“Tottenham were wide open. The fullbacks, we said at the beginning of the show, you release them gaps and they get exploited. They did with the Saka goal. We knew that was coming. I think Ange needs to know that was coming as well. He needs to adapt, at times.”
Tottenham and Arsenal next season
Arsenal have proven that keeping faith in your manager, no matter how difficult it gets, will take you a long way.
There was a point when those at the Emirates weren’t playing European football and they finished eighth in the Premier League table back-to-back.
In recent years, Spurs have had top-tier managers in their dugout, but as soon as it has gone wrong, they have booted them out.
You feel if Tottenham struggle next season, then it’s going to be a massive test of patience with these fans and Daniel Levy.
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