Arsenal Have an Open Play Creativity Problem – The Solution is Right Under Arteta’s Nose

How Arsenal can fix their open-play creativity problem.

Arsenal are seven points clear at the top of the Premier League, cruising through the Champions League and edging towards their first domestic final since 2020.

By almost every metric that matters, this is a team operating at an elite level.

And yet, there is a nagging sense they are making life harder than it needs to be.

The issue isn’t form, mentality or squad depth. It’s creativity in open play – but the solution might be right under Mikel Arteta’s nose.

Arsenal open play creativity problem

Across 22 league games, Arsenal’s total expected goals (39.9) keeps them in step with Manchester City and Manchester United. The margins look fine until you isolate where those chances come from.

We know the threat Mikel Arteta’s side possess from set-pieces, but in open play, Arsenal’s xG drops to 20.8 – closer to Crystal Palace (20.4) than Manchester City (28.3).

Liverpool (27.8) and even Chelsea (24.8) are creating more high-quality chances.

That tells the story. Arsenal are still scoring because they dominate set-pieces and control territory. But when games open up, when transitions matter, when structure breaks down, they don’t consistently have the same level of attacking threat as City do.

That is not a squad issue anymore. The profiles are there. The quality is there. So what is missing?

Mikel Arteta hasn’t maximised Eze

There’s been a lot of talk about how Arsenal are using – or aren’t using – Eberechi Eze.

Arteta has primarily used him as a box-crashing No 10, a role he can undoubtedly perform given his hat-trick against Tottenham, but one that strips away his defining qualities.

Bought for £67.5 million in the summer, Eze has essentially dropped to third-choice in this position, behind Odegaard and even Merino, likely due to their pressing work more than anything.

But he is a world-class dribbler and passer. He is built to receive wide, attack space, destabilise blocks and dictate rhythm from the flank.

From the left wing, he can do everything. Carry in transition. Beat defenders on either side. Cut inside to control attacks. Play penetrative passes that break low blocks. Deliver crosses defenders can’t set themselves for.

Used centrally, those moments dry up. He drops deep, looks for angles, and often gets bypassed because he can’t naturally open his body and explode past players from traffic-heavy zones.

Arsenal already have players who can crash the box. Merino. Havertz. Jesus. Even Nwaneri. They don’t need Eze doing that job.

They need him doing what Saka does on the right – only on the opposite side.

Arsenal are still giving Man City hope

There is little between Arsenal and City at their peak. Pep Guardiola simply took longer this season to find balance out of possession. Injuries to Dias, Gvardiol and Stones helped open the door.

Arsenal should have killed the race there and then.

But back-to-back flat goalless draws keep the door ajar for a City team that have fought back similar point-margins before.

City have done what City do – they’ve splashed the cash to strengthen any minor problem areas that can help them close the gap.

They’ve brought in Marc Guehi to shore up the defensive depth, they’ve brought in an attacking gamechanger in Antoine Semenyo, and those injured defenders will return soon. And history tells us what happens next.

City have gone on relentless run-ins before. They did it to Klopp’s Liverpool. They’ve done it to Arteta’s Arsenal already. If Arsenal were 10 or more points clear, belief would be gone. But instead, City still have oxygen.

Arsenal games are too tight of late. Their games require perfection. Tactical control has to be flawless. One missed chance, one blocked passing lane, one bad bounce, and they’ve dropped points.

That comes back to creativity. Arsenal rely too heavily on structure. Sometimes you just need special quality to decide a game. They have that on the right. They don’t consistently have it on the left.

Eze vs Trossard and Martinelli

This isn’t a criticism of effort or output. Both Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli have been excellent servants for Arsenal and are top players that can decide big games. They will still deliver moments.

But they are moments players.

They drift in and out. They arrive on the end of things. They might beat a man, win separation, or finish clinically. What they can’t do is run a game.

Eze can.

He is the type of profile Arsenal are missing: a dribbler, a passer, a penetrator. A Bradley Barcola. Someone who bends games around him from wide areas.

Persisting with good-but-not-quite-elite quality in that role is why Arsenal are operating at 90 percent, not 100.

That last 10 percent is the difference between grinding wins and suffocating opponents.

Eze could be the difference in Arsenal’s title race

Arsenal may still win the league as they are. They are good enough. But history suggests City will go on a run. They always do.

When that happens, the margins tighten further. One moment of special quality can be the difference between a draw and a win.

This is where Eze becomes more than a selection question. He becomes the edge.

Used from the left, he gives Arsenal another outlet in transition, another risk-taker against low blocks, another way to break games open without needing everything to be perfect.

Arteta deserves enormous credit for building this side. He is the reason Arsenal are here at all. But this feels like his blind spot – minimising risk, having the handbrake on, balancing squad harmony and control at the expense of maximising his attacking threat.

The tools are already there. They don’t need to dip into the transfer market like City have.

They just need to let Eze do what he does best.