With Arsenal’s midfield troubles this season, I look at a player I think is good enough for Arsenal to have as their backup to Thomas Partey. Or even play alongside him in certain games/game states, Joe Willock. Since he was loaned out to Newcastle at the end of January, he has proven himself to be a strong number 8 in a 4-3-3/4-3-1-2, with the former formation being the one Arsenal want to play in the long term. I take a look at different traits of him that I like, with some notes & how Arsenal can utilize him in their team next season if they look to do so.
Willock’s positioning:
Willock is deployed as an RCM in a 4-3-3 for Newcastle, also advancing into where a number 10 would generally operate in different situations. He tends to be in the right position at the right time (even if he may not be switched on at all times.)
For Arsenal, they lack right-sided midfielders with only Thomas Partey being completely comfortable on the right-hand side (Ceballos, Xhaka & Elneny prefer operating on the left.) He would provide them with good depth at the RCM position, and he would be a good player to have deputizing for Thomas Partey (the drop off from Thomas Partey to Joe Willock won’t be as bad as the drop off between Thomas Partey to Dani Ceballos or Mo Elneny.)
Joe Willock is good at being in the right place at the right time, with this snapshot of his performance vs Aston Villa showing it. When Shelvey receives the ball, Willock slides into the space behind the Aston Villa DM & contests for the ball. That leads to Newcastle being able to venture forwards & start an attack on their own, something that would not have happened if he was static & left himself on the right of Jonjo Shelvey.
Arsenal can look to progress using Joe Willock as a ‘battering ram’ as he knows where to be & who to go after when there is a ball to be contested. In a 4-3-3, he could be the most advanced player looking to find spaces where the ball could end up & getting it to Xhaka, Partey or any of the forward players if possible.
Willock’s Passing:
His pass map vs Aston Villa shows how little he gets involved in a game, but when he does get the ball, he’s capable of getting it into the final third quite often. He operates on the right-hand side, controlling the entirety of the RHS apart from the defensive third, with his instinct being to pass it to the middle player (be it the DM, LCM OR CF’s.)
Arsenal can bring him on to see out a game & because he’s not someone that requires the ball constantly, he isn’t going to be detrimental to their style of play at all. If anything, he’ll make it easier for them as he’ll bring in other players into the game (namely the CF) as he can distract defenders from the CF or run in behind & score himself.
This pass sums up the type of passes Joe Willock likes to play. He picks up the ball, takes an opposition player or two out of the game before playing it to the central option who’s free as the opposition will end up putting 3/4 men on the wide player. This allows his team to switch the play quickly as most of the opposing team will be on the RHS, and the defensive line will be disjointed as a result.
Aubameyang will gain from this if he’s deployed as an LW as he will have more space to run in behind, with the CF getting the ball down to the unoccupied left-hand slide for him to score (as he regularly does.)
Willock’s defending:
Joe Willock doesn’t defend much as it isn’t something required by him, but he’s able to drop back & disrupt opposition attacks to start new ones to get his team on the front foot. In this instance, he prevents a 2v2 between the Aston Villa attackers & Newcastle defenders by intercepting the ball when it’s played through.
As he was able to make a late interception, his team were able to hit Aston Villa on the counter, which is one thing that Arsenal needs in their players. Someone to make that late challenge & switch from defence to attack on their own as Xhaka/Partey don’t incline to make lung-busting runs when they get the ball the same way Joe Willock does.
Where does he fit into this Arsenal team?
In this setup, Arsenal plays a 4-3-3 with Joe Willock as the advanced midfielder instead of him being the attacking midfielder. Willock is tasked with linking up the play between himself & the RW/CF, instead of him being tasked with linking up play with the entirety of the forward line (as is the case when he plays 10,) which benefits him as his work with Joelinton (the Newcastle CF) has been impeccable.
This XI is made with the assumption that Thomas Partey is out for a game or so. The role of Joe Willock in this 11 is to maintain compactness through good positioning (something he is good at doing) with >60 passes per game (something he doesn’t do right now.) It would take some adapting as Willock would be more restricted with the zones he can occupy & with the amount of concentration he would need for the game, but it’s manageable for him.
General notes on Joe Willock:
When watching Joe Willock play, one thing that stands out about him is how little he needs to do to remain involved in the game. He can go through games with 20-30 touches & still appear in the right area to finish off attacks, without needing constant involvement to remain in the game (Ødegaard is an example of this type of player.)
Another thing to note about Joe Willock (that’s a negative) is his in-game disengagement. He doesn’t need much to get involved in the game physically but he won’t be involved mentally. Sometimes the ball will run past him, or he won’t stick out his leg to win the ball back which is an issue, especially in a 4-3-3 where he will have a large section of the pitch to keep under control or his team will be dominated as a result
Last Thoughts:
Joe Willock is good enough to be Arsenal’s Thomas Partey back up but I’m less sure about him being Arsenal’s first choice CM in a 4-3-3. The 4-3-3 is the best for Arsenal in terms of overall balance (All 3 CM’s can be passing options in this setup too,) but the 4-2-3-1 is what Arsenal are better suited to, and there will be less of an adaptation period needed for that. Willock as a Partey backup in a 4-2-3-1 makes the most sense as a result.