Finally, the Arsenal we all know and love decided to show up again. Sure, Crystal Palace hasn’t been brilliant this season, but judging by the way the pundits were talking during the build up last week, it was expected to be a struggle for the Gunners. Instead, the supporters were treated to a classic display of Arsenal attacking class, with all of the heavy lifting done before a half hour had even elapsed. They may have let their foot off the accelerator a bit in the second half, but Arsenal never looked in doubt of winning, eventually taking 3 points at the final whistle with the 4-1 victory.

Shape Shifters

Was it a 4-1-2-2-1? A 4-1-4-1 with a narrow midfield? When Arsenal took the Emirates Pitch on Saturday against Crystal Palace, they did so welcoming 3 of their most experienced players back from injury in Mesut Ozil, Laurent Koscielny and Nacho Monreal. Perhaps reflecting Arsene Wenger’s increased confidence in the players at his disposal, he once again switched to a back 4 in defence but added a bit of a new wrinkle to the midfield. Having already flirted this season with using Granit Xhaka’s more mobile central midfield partner to drop deeper than he to collect the ball out of the midfield just some matches. Against Palace, Wenger opted to put Mohammed Elneny in the hole between the midfield and defence to act as a simple possession recycler, which allowed Granit Xhaka and Jack Wilshere to push further up the pitch to join a floating Mesut Ozil and Alex Iwobi in more dangerous areas of the pitch behind Alexandre Lacazette.

This tactical change seemed to benefit Xhaka greatly, who showed up on a couple surging runs forward into the half spaces, and he even got involved in a few of the more intricate passing plays on the edge of the Palace box. He and Wilshere still worked in tandem with Elneny in behind, but they were given far more license to drive forward than the Egyptian, who at times dropped between a wide-split Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi at the back when Arsenal had the ball. Mesut Ozil was given his usual freedom and looked sharp in his first action since the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final at Stamford Bridge, while Alex Iwobi also put in a solid performance. Lacazette also benefitted from having more good passers further up the pitch in support of him, and his goal was pure Wengerball class.

It is hard to draw a conclusion from 1 match, but the Gunners looked more alive on the pitch than they have several matches on Saturday. After a year of experimentation and moving players from the centre of the pitch toward the flanks, Wenger seems to be going back to the heart of his team and packing the midfield once again. Jack Wilshere has looked more and more like himself, Aaron Ramsey has been as good as any player in the side when healthy and Wenger values the qualities that Xhaka brings to the midfield. With Henrikh Mkhitaryan soon to bring his superb technical quality into the mix as well, it makes sense that Wenger would be experimenting with getting more of them on the pitch together.

The Old Guard Returns

The Gunners were given a major boost for the match wIth Laurent Koscielny and Nacho Monreal returning from their injury troubles to help stabilise an ailing defence. Rob Holding and Calum Chambers may be the future of the Arsenal back line, they are still not yet up to the quality of the two returning veterans, and Arsene Wenger was especially effusive in his praise of Monreal following the match. The Spaniard didn’t even make it out of the first half, as his ankle injury flared up on him around the half hour mark, but he is not likely to be sidelined for as long as he was after the intitial occurrence.

Monreal and Koscielny joined Shkodran Mustafi and Hector Bellerin at the back, and the group delivered a solid performance, keeping the bulk of Palace’s most threatening moves at bay and driven out toward the flanks. Unfortunately, an ill-advised foul on the edge of the box was enough to rob Petr Cech of his 200th Premier League clean sheet, as the resulting free kick found Luka Milivojevic at the back post, who fired his shot past Cech for the only Palace goal. From open play however, the Gunners held the initiative until the second half, when their approach became more conservative with Wednesday’s Carabao Cup showdown with Chelsea in their sights. Neither player is a sure bet to play against their London rivals, as Monreal is still nursing his ankle injury and Koscielny is perpetually managing back and Achilles woes, but it will be essential for the Gunners’ top 4 assault to have both back and playing as much as possible.

Ending the Drought

Whether it was a direct result of better quality service from his teammates, or because of the recent transfer rumours linking another, even more expensive striker than himself to the team, Alexandre Lacazette finally ended his goal scoring drought on Saturday in spectacular fashion. Having not scored since December 2, Lacazette had clearly been frustrated in recent matches, and even uncharacteristically missed badly on a golden opportunity in the last match against Bournemouth. His goal followed an incredible passing combination started by Mesut Ozil, who then received the ball in the box for a cheeky backheel to Lacazette, who fired home his one-timed effort with practised ease.

It is far too early to say that his time in London has been A disappointment, but Arsenal are desperate to keep their top 4 ambitions alive and can’t afford to have their best goal scorer go cold for long stretches of the season. It is looking increasingly likely by the jothat Lacazette will be joined by speedy Dortmund striker, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the Arsenal attack, but their form and chemistry will go a long way towards determining whether or not they both could coexist in the same starting XI, or if they will be forced to fight over the lone central striker role.

Missing the Wrong Man

After the Bournemouth loss last weekend, everyone was quick to blame the absence of Alexis Sanchez for the Gunners’ toothless attack at the Vitality Stadium. The Chilean was one of the most dangerous attackers in his time on the pitch with Arsenal, but he was most effective when leaving the bulk of the creative duties to Mesut Ozil, freeing himself up to get into goal scoring positions. The German maestro once again proved his quality against Palace, showing livery little rust from his time away from the pitch.

Ozil’s ability to link the midfield to the attack is unrivalled in the Arsenal squad. Wenger has been getting some solid play from Jack Wilshere and isolated moments of quality from Alex Iwobi, but Ozil is essential to what Arsenal try to do. It is no coincidence that Lacazette was able to find the score sheet again for the first time in a month in his Ozil’s first match in over a week, and the goal demonstrated everything one needs to know about the importance of the former Madrid man. Talk is heating up that he is nearing a contract extension, and his negotiating position is strengthened every time he has a performance like the one on Saturday.

A Need For Consistency

Everyone, from the team to the supporters, needed this win after a tough week of scrutiny and criticism in the media. However, it should surprise anyone that Arsenal are capable of a performance like the one they put in against Palace. What the Gunners need more than anything now is a consistent run of positive results to legitimise their claim on a top 4 place. Tottenham have fallen off the pace slightly, but both Manchester clubs and Liverpool have been collecting points ruthlessly of late. The competition is too strong this season for the Gunners to expect their rivals to fall out of the chase, so it is imperative that they take their destiny into their own hands. If they perform like they did against Crystal Palace in the first half on Saturday, they will have little problem stringing together a few wins and being talked about as a serious threat once again.