With the signing of Jamie Vardy imminent, Arsenal have taken an incredible gamble for next season, but many believe this signing could be a great one for the club, owning to the fact that Vardy does bring a lot to the table for the Gunners.
Vardy was one of the best strikers as he led Leicester to an unlikely league title and he would like to replicate that with the London club. There is one caveat though, Vardy played mostly in a 4-4-2 for Leicester while Arsenal play in a 4-2-3-1 formation with just one striker leading the front line.
Changing the formation is something that many Arsenal fans have spoken about in recent years, but Arsene Wenger is stubborn and has stuck with the lone striker getting support from the likes of Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez but there have been problems with the number of goals scored by Olivier Giroud.
Shifting to a 4-4-2 does make sense, especially with the pace and tenacity of Vardy being used to great effect by the Gunners. Giroud could be the player who knocks down the ball for Vardy to run onto and score some important goals, more than that, it would give Arsenal another dimension in their play and also add a lot of pace in the striking department.
Another reason why Arsenal could adopt the 4-4-2 or at least they should experiment with it, is because of the balance that the side will get. There would be at least 4 midfielders at the back, even the wingers would have to do a lot of work in this formation, but this would ensure that the Gunners aren’t constantly caught out by counter-attacks from other teams.
There would be a couple of issues though, only two wingers can fit into the side and that would mean that Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil, Granit Xhaka and the likes would have to fit into the new system. The 4-4-2 formation would also allow Arsenal to play their two central midfielders which would in all probability be Xhaka and Santi Cazorla or even Aaron Ramsey, we will stay away from Jack Wilshere thanks to his incredible record due to injuries.
The threat that Ozil and Sanchez would have down the middle would be greatly reduced once they go out wide, but it would also open other avenues for the Gunners thanks to the incredible running of Vardy. The Leicester man would also give them a lot of energy up front.
Arsenal need to adapt this due to their own shortcomings with goal scoring being such a big problem from the forwards last season, having two strikers could really give the Premier League side a real shot at going for the title. The big question is if Arsene is willing to take this risk or not?