What Happened to Hector Bellerin?
Hector Bellerin’s departure this summer, albeit on loan, sparked some surprise but his role in the Arsenal side has seen a steady decline under Arteta. The wing back looked to have his position nailed down for the coming decade but in the past two seasons Bellerin has failed threaten as much as he did under Wenger or Emery.
Following the departure of Wenger at the end of the 17/18 season, Bellerin was the typical wing back in a fluid attacking system, given the freedom to press further up the pitch, looking to stretch play and carry the ball into the penalty area to eventually assist teammates.
Emery’s reign continued this trend of Bellerin making attacking runs, but the new manager looked to sure-up Arsenal’s vulnerable defence; utilising a higher defence line that relieved pressure from the defenders by compacting the team’s shape. Whilst that didn’t quite work out all the time, Bellerin’s style of play remained largely similar to previous seasons with a little less pressing intensity thanks to a compact midfield that mopped up effectively.
Come January 2019 Bellerin suffered an injury to his cruciate ligament that ruled him out for the remainder of the season and well into the start of the 20/21 season.
Whilst Bellerin sat on the treatment table Arsenal’s management changed hands with Arteta taking charge. Arteta has experimented with his defensive shape and style throughout his reign, with mixed success.
The main difference between Arteta and Emery’s style is upfront. Emery tasked his wide forwards to cut inside and run the channels, whilst his wing backs: Bellerin & Monreal, stretched the defence out wide. This forced opposition fullbacks to make a decision whether to maintain their defensive shape or move out to challenge Arsenal’s marauding Spaniards. This diversity in attack allowed Arsenal to either cross the ball from out wide or split the defence with the runs of Aubameyang.
Arteta has instead instigated a horseshoe attacking formation, with a central striker often sitting back and arriving late into the box whilst also informing his wide attacking players like Aubameyang and Saka to overload wide areas and cross to one another before pulling it back for the late arriving striker. This means the right winger in Arteta’s system is now standing exactly where Bellerin is most effective.
In the two years following his major injury (19/20 and 20/21) Bellerin’s creative output has dropped significantly, but both of those seasons have also been under the tactical direction of Arteta. Whilst there is a correlation with both his injury and Arsenal’s complete change in attacking style it’s perhaps too soon to say which is to blame for Bellerin’s depleted output.
Perhaps the most revealing piece of transfer business by Arsenal was the signing of Takehiro Tomiyasu.
“We needed a full back who could be very versatile, can play as a center-back, can play in a back three, Tomi has this capacity” Arteta
Arteta could well move Arsenal into a 3-4-3 formation with Tomiyasu as a wide CB or utilise him as a defensive fullback. It’s not really a case of Bellerin or Tomiyasu but rather Arteta choosing to funnel Arsenal’s creative play through Kieran Tierney and compensate for his lack of defensive contribution elsewhere. With Tierney pushing high up the pitch Arsenal’s defence is frequently left vulnerable, even with Xhaka covering for his teammate. Tomiyasu will provide additional defensive cover whether that’s in a 3 or 4 at the back formation.
Bellerin has clearly played further down the pitch under Arteta. Receiving fewer progressive passes, Bellerin is finding himself behind the ball more so than under previous managers, and with a crowd of players in front of him he doesn’t have the usual space to run into anymore. Arteta’s clearly defined roles and positions inhibit attacking freedom and space that players like Bellerin have relied on throughout their career.
Arteta will probably continue to instruct his wingers to stretch the opposition defence and rely on a sole central striker. With Odegaard’s permanent transfer he may well be tasked with late runs into the box, but his goal scoring statistics have remained unimpressive throughout his career. Allowing the left winger (Smith-Rowe or Aubameyang) to cut inside and operate in the half space will give Tierney the space to overlap. Of course, Tierney’s crosses will continue to find absolutely nobody in the middle of the pitch as Aubameyang and Lacazette have amassed just 9 headed goals between them in their Premier League careers.
Bellerin’s departure threatens to make Arsenal’s attacking play rather one dimensional with the majority of their threat being funneled through Tierney and with his injury recorded it may well only be a matter of time until Arsenal are even more impotent than normal.
There is the argument that Bellerin’s statistical fall off in the past two seasons following his cruciate injury is a sign of decline rather Arteta’s negative influence. Bellerin’s loan to Real Betis will prove if his injury has significantly impacted his ability or whether Arteta’s tactical direction is at fault for his recent decline.
