Something I later observed about Arteta after the end of the game in his decision of going defensive (against his usual attacking tactics) was that he knew he doesn't have the quality in the midfield he had to change approach in the absence of Odegaard and he got brilliant result at the end bwith his approach. However, Arsenal would need to work on their creating of chances and finishing as improvement on that would definitely help them when they meet Manchester City next weekend.
I think Arteta wanted to be in a safer side in this London derby. He knew that Tottenham have good team and he will be playing without Declan Rice and Odegard; indirectly, he was not expecting good creativity from the midfield even though he was sure of the defensive side because of the Presence Patey and Jorginho, he ordered his defenders to be focused and not to accommodate any mistake, and they did well because the defense won Arsenal the match since they defended very well and the goal from them.Nevertheless, Tottenham were very good in the match, they dominated the match and played Arsenal very well, but unfortunately, they were not lucky as they lost to Arsenal because they deserve to get point in the match.
But Arteta had no other choice because of the injuries of his best midfielders. Jorginho is normally only a rotation player for Arsenal. He was even close to leaving the team in the summer transfer window.
They gave big spaces to their opponent but still they won by 1-0. Anyways, I'm glad to see this win after the draw against Brighton the last time.
I hope they get their midfielders back soon otherwise they will continue to have defensive problems clearly. But it is impressive that they can beat a team like Tottenham away even in this situation.
