Buckle up people, Adam Rae Voge (@AdamVoge) is back with a bang.
If you follow Arsenal with any degree of closeness, you’ve heard the talking point by now:
“After Boxing Day, when Arsenal pulled off its infamous 3-1 upset of Chelsea, the club played top-four football.”
Boxing Day brought the season debut of Emile Smith-Rowe, who quickly endeared himself to supporters and the manager alike becoming a permanent fixture in the starting 11.
The basic statistics make the club’s improvement after Boxing Day easy to see. Arsenal recorded 14 points in its first 14 matches, a pace that over a full season gives you Burnley, 17th place, and relegation fodder. In the 24 matches including and after Smith Rowe’s introduction, Arsenal minted nearly two points per match, which over a season gives you Manchester United, 2nd place and Champions League glory. The club scored 12 goals in the first 14 matches, and 43 (1.79 per game) after. Arsenal conceded 18 goals in those first 14 outings, and only 21 in the 24 matches to follow.
All that considered, you’d expect it to be apparent from match-by-match statistics just how much Arsenal improved once it made the change. Having spent a few weeks wandering that forest, I’m here to tell you it’s not so simple.
Some of the more basic statistics show marked improvement after Boxing Day, even if it’s not earth-shattering. Arsenal averaged about a shot on target better in its final 24 matches, about half an expected goal scored, and completed about two percent more of its passes. The club won about two more tackles and successfully pressured the ball six times more each match.
Some key statistics actually got worse after ESR’s introduction, such as shooting percentage, ball recoveries, and progressive passes per 90 minutes.
In what proved to be some of their most substantial areas of improvement, the Gunners committed around four additional shot-creating actions per match after Boxing Day, and nearly two goals creating-actions. That’s significant – two GCA/90 is also roughly the difference between United and Burnley.
But does any of that make the club almost literally twice as good, in terms of results? It’s hard to say. What’s even harder to say is whether some of those improvements could actually be tied to Smith Rowe, who ranked fourth at the club in GCA/90 and sixth in SCA, behind the likes of Willian and Dani Ceballos.
Smith Rowe is not a statistical darling. He doesn’t score a ton of goals, and his key passes are in the slightly-above-average range among Premier Leaguers. He’s not a Xhaka-level progressive passer, statistically speaking, and he didn’t have eye-popping pressing numbers like some attacking midfielders. (Giovanni Lo Celso pressures the ball about twice as often as Smith Rowe, and with a significantly higher rate of success.)
So where does Smith Rowe, Aston Villa’s dream target, really make his mark on this club? It’s all about the buildup play, and improving the play of Arsenal’s key attackers. And after searching at length, I finally found the data to back it up.
Emile Smith Rowe contributed to Arsenal about 0.59 xgChain every 90 minutes after being introduced, according to Understat. If you’re unfamiliar, xgChain is the cumulative value of every possession a player is involved in. So basically, possessions involving ESR were worth 0.59 goals per 90 minutes.
That rank puts Smith Rowe 49th among midfielders and forwards in the Premier League with at least 1,000 minutes played last season, and third among Arsenal players after Saka and Lacazette.
Another key metric from Understat, xgBuildup, puts Smith Rowe 29th in the Premier League, with 0.35 xgBuildup per 90 minutes. xgBuildup is similar to xgChain, but it doesn’t count your key passes or shots. It’s the closest thing I’ve seen in football to what’s commonly referred to as a “hockey assist.”
Smith Rowe’s xgBuildup was third among Arsenal players with more than 1,000 minutes (Martin Odegaard scored a 0.42 xgBuildup/90 in just over 800 minutes.) Again, that may not blow anyone out of the water, but the combination of the two is interesting. At left, you can see the two charted against each other. Smith Rowe’s plot is among Arsenal’s best, showing his quality contributing directly to goal-scoring opportunities as well as contributing to the build-up play that leads to those opportunities.
Even more interesting, though, is the statistical change in Arsenal’s other leaders once ESR took the pitch. [I know what you are thinking on the graph, grow up]
Statistically, it’s hard to find an Arsenal outfield player who looked to benefit more from Smith Rowe’s introduction than Bukayo Saka. The ⭐Starboy⭐ recorded half a key pass more per 90 minutes after Boxing Day, a.k.a. the difference between Allan Saint-Maximin and Son Heung-Min. His xgBuildup rose from 0.25 (on par with Sander Berge) to 0.37 (Christian Pulisic). And his xgChain rose from 0.49 to 0.72, a difference comparable to going from Granit Xhaka to Jack Grealish.
Four of Saka’s five goals came after Boxing Day, as did all three of his assists.
Another player whose numbers grew significantly was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Pre-Boxing Day, Auba was in the midst of a major slump. Auba had four goal involvements in the first 13 matches of the season, and his buildup numbers weren’t any better. Auba was putting up 1 key pass, 0.35 xgChain and 0.1 xgBuildup per 90 minutes. Perspective: Jarrod Bowen averaged 1 key pass, Daniel Podence has the same xgChain rank and that xgBuildup over a full season would put Auba in the bottom 20 percent among attackers and midfielders in the Premier League.
After Boxing Day? It was a different story. Auba’s numbers shot up, to 0.84 xgChain (comparable to Mo Salah) and 0.22 xgBuildup, still an unremarkable but vastly improved number. Nine of Auba’s 13 goal involvements came after Boxing Day.
Other Arsenal regulars such as Alexandre Lacazette, Thomas Partey and Kieran Tierney improved their play after Boxing Day, but one who stands out as one worth mentioning is the club’s 72-million-pound man, Nicolas Pepe.
Pepe had scored two goals headed into Boxing Day, one from a penalty. His passing was dismal, with 0.31 key passes per 90 minutes, a rate more suited to West Brom’s attack than Arsenal’s. And he was doing next to nothing to create goalscoring opportunities for his teammates, with 0.14 xgChain/90 and 0.06 xgBuildup/90 (again, both comparable to West Brom’s attacking output).
Pepe didn’t start on Boxing Day, but his performance improvement after that point was perhaps the club’s most significant.
Pepe after that day was a different player:
- His key passes/90 rose to 0.7, still a low number but a statistical moonshot from his earlier performance.
- His xgChain rose to 0.56, roughly the statistical equivalent of replacing Karlan Grant with 2020-2021 Paul Pogba.
- His xgBuildup remained low at 0.27, but again was a vast statistical improvement, putting him in the company of Marcus Rashford and Gabriel Jesus, rather than Rhian Brewster or Willian Jose.
That’s right, even Nicolas Pepe did more to help in the build-up! It’s also worth noting that eight of his 10 Premier League goals and his lone assist came after Boxing Day.
So there you have it: Arsenal’s build-up play improved significantly starting on Boxing Day, and its stars performed substantially better. Of course, it is impossible to say precisely how much of that was as a direct result of Emile Smith Rowe’s introduction. Tactics will not have remained exactly the same, and the Chelsea match happened shortly after the switch to the 4-2-3-1. Martin Odegaard’s introduction was also some help. But no matter which way you slice it, ESR’s first start of the season was a major turning point for Arsenal, and likely helped cement him as a starting 11 fixture for the foreseeable future (sorry, Villa!)
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Mr Serge
That’s your view and you’re entitled to it. For what it’s worth, I would absolutely loved to be proven wrong on Arteta, as I’m sure 99% of people on here would be – even the most ardent Arteta outers!
But. whether you think he is the right man for the job or not, people have the right to question his position and his decisions, even if they have been asked before. Without that, there is not much to debate because all roads lead to the manager – eventually.
Matt, who wanted us to finish 8th? The idea that some fans should ‘apologise’ for that is a strange one! I believe the majority of fans would have been happy to see Arteta sacked last season. The difficulty at the moment for those who are vehemently Arteta out is that Arsenal failing to significantly improve will get their nemesis out but as Arsenal supporters they want the club to do well. The club looks like we’re in the process of investing heavily in positions that clearly will help us improve. In recent days the agenda seems to have slightly shifted… Read more »
“Tomori is valued at what, £40m after his loan?”
Never mind that his loan came after he played 15 premier league for Chelsea that season they made top-4 with Lampard.
Pedro
Not talking about loaning our young players out for valuable game time and experience. I am talking about loan deals to bring in players at Arsenal for temporary fix. Hasn’t yielded much dividend for us. Benayoun was the last good loan deal and even he was good only for 3-4 months. Coutinho’s best days are behind him, will cost us good money too. I am sure there are better deals to be had in the market.
Maybe there really was something to that since Christmas table many have been dismissive about, myself included.
Just glanced at the league table again and looks like Arsenal have continued to improve and are top of the table now, just edging out Villa.
Amazing work by Arteta.
Bob
‘Matt, who wanted us to finish 8th? The idea that some fans should ‘apologise’ for that is a strange one!’
The question was asked whether all the Arteta doubters would apologise if he proves he knows what he is doing. I was merely asking the same question about last season, where in a lot of peoples eyes he proved the opposite.
Rich, I assume some of it definitely happened. Can’t help but think that the odds were never in Saliba’s field. I feel like Arteta gave up on him really, really easy. Way too easy when you consider the money the previous regime invested in the kid. He gave him no chance and straight up send him to play with the youth team. For the amount of plaudits Saliba was receiving, he was treated badly, in an unfair way. He says it himself, it’s football, it happens. Still got this gut feeling telling me that Arteta gave him no chance cause… Read more »
I have no problems with Lokonga and Tavares, they represent good value for money.
Tavares looks like a shrewd signing who will push Tierney hard
Lokonga was signed at the advice of two premier league legends- Kompany and Henry.
Good players will outlast managers.
Knowing what I know, Mikel will be gone pretty soon but the players will still remain.
Tom
You wits will get you in trouble around these parts.
“I feel like Arteta gave up on him really, really easy.”
Of course he did considering how Willian was given chance after chance after chance despite playing like a dead pony all season.
Tom Arteta had a lot of shit to deal with and never really got a lot of backing he had to dump 6 shit players that had seen their best days and has got rid of a few more now
It’s got to be positive that he wants xhaka bellerin and ceballos out and is replacing them with fast technical players
Football is all about being excited for the new season and see who comes in
So far so good
Willian needs to go asap too from my previous list
I actually blame the board and edu more than I blame Mikkel they are culpable what a shit show they have brought upon us for years now
“We made 3 signings already at least another 3 will come and people still bleat Well will those people apologies if Arteta proves he knows what he is doing ? Because I will gladly admit I am wrong if he cocks it up with his signings and will shout Arteta out at the top of my voice in the stadium.“ Mr Serge, I think you have that upside down. It’s the doubters who would gladly admit they were wrong if it meant Arteta taking Arsenal in the top four. I have a hard time visualizing his staunchest backers “gladly” admitting… Read more »
Matt, I don’t think your comparison is reasonable.
If those people who say Arteta is a shit, egotistical manager then see him have a successful season they’ll have to eat their words or at least the ‘ shit’ description!
Supporters were not saying ‘great we finished 8th, let’s give Arteta more time and loads of money’. So who exactly should be apologising?
Pedro Lokonga has been called up to the number 1 team in the world at international level, been approved by Thierry and Kompany, and played 80 games. Seems he’s ready. There is no doubt that Belgium were the number one rated nation but once you get into their squad then a lot of their players are very average and are no where near PL standard or put another way you wouldn’t be excited if Arsenal signed them. Lokonga didn’t make Belgium’s Euro squad so far from sure that his call up was anything other than to try and ensure going… Read more »
Dissenter, just taking advantage of Pedro being out to lunch to sneak in a few jabs.
“Supporters were not saying ‘great we finished 8th, let’s give Arteta more time and loads of money’. So who exactly should be apologising?”
Could also be seen as “Supporters are saying it’s bad we finished 8th, so why give a failed manager
like Arteta more time and loads of money”?
Understand the criticism before you try to shoo people away.
Mr Serge, I don’t mind Arteta reshaping the squad to his liking, most managers do,
I don’t approve the way he went about doing so by announcing to the entire world wholesale changes needed to be done thusly crushing the value of the entire squad pretty much.
Posters love to make Arteta/Klopp comparisons to boost his standing………at no point in his Liverpool tenure did Klopp announce he needed to replace 80% of his squad even if he did exactly that.
Tom , ‘staunchest backers’. – the Kroenkes and who else exactly?
I’m in the group that doesn’t have a lot of confidence in him, felt he should have been sacked, but are hoping that with more input in the squad and lessons learnt, he might be our manager this time next year due to progress made.
Not sure the ‘Arteta can do no wrong group’ runs to double figures!
TR7, true… remembering Julio Baptista.
Tom again that’s the board’s fault for ruining prices on some of our players they are naive
To say the least
I’m sure if Arteta struggles there will be some unknown excuse that people will think of to exonerate him.
It’s just like the “Be careful what you wish for” crowd of yesteryear. It never seems to be Arteta’s fault.
You know what makes it more outrageous. Emery, the manager that Pedro railed on, almost on a daily basis so that he could champion Arteta, outperformed Arteta last season on every legitimate table that matters, not just convenient made up tables to suit an agenda.
For all the talk around Arteta, what’ll ultimately decide our season will be how well we recruit, how successful we are on in moving players on, and how long our new recruits take to settle
If Ben White is a hit, we get the Xhaka replacement and attacking midfield signings right
Then we’ll be more competitive overall next season
*outrageous?
Terraloon, not sure their midfield is average.
Bob I think you are making the point more confusing than it needs to be. The question was asked whether people would apologise if he delivers a good season. Why is it not fair to ask the same question to all the people last season who said he could do no wrong when ultimately what he delivered was a failure? Those people are not saying yeah you were right, he was over his head and in fact are doubling down on their view. One group will be right come the end of the season and I genuinely hope I am… Read more »
Leeds, you gotta stop fantasizing about what people will say if Arsenal aren’t amazing. It reads like you are looking forward to failure.
Odegaard was a decent loan and Ceballos was serviceable, in his first season at least.
Loans done right can be effective. The massive leg up that a Coutinho loan would provide is that he is already Premier League proven and ready as opposed to Odegaard who had to adapt.
Inter has pulled out of Florida due to Covid concerns in the state. Not a well thought out trip by Arsenal brass considering that Florida has the highest Covid infection rate in the US.
The cynic in me thinks Coutinho will be disastrous signing unless he is the Coutinho of old and we can get game time out of him
I am not so sure
Brownie
Hardly surprising given that Florida has been ‘wide open’ (Donnie Brasco quote) throughout with no social distancing, facemasks etc…
My cousin was there a few months back and absolutely everything was carrying on as normal.
Matt, fair enough but I don’t think it’s semantics to question whether this group you talk about ‘ Arteta can do no wrong’ existed after the EL semi, and which was had already heavily diminished by the time of the Burnley at home debacle in December.
So fair enough the 12 people people who are unable to criticise Arteta should damn well apologise for not recognising that his performance last season was simply not good enough.
We are most likely not finishing top 4 this season. Better to buy a player who can integrate himself with our team and develop some chemistry so that perhaps in the season next to the upcoming one we can play some quality football and get in to top 4. Get a player in on loan and we are saddled with the same problem next season.
Leeds, perhaps you should come back when you have a change of attitude, no one needs a joy suck on here on a signing day, and you have turned into one. Sad to see.
Bob
Let’s move on from apologies! If Arteta smashes it this season, I will not apologise, but I will happily admit I was wrong
Pedro Arsenal improved significantly after Xmas for a variety of reasons. The introduction of both Smith-Rowe and Odegaard improved most definitely our attacking potential notwithstanding that both players don’t score many goals. Saka stopped playing in different positions in the team and played on the wing and Pepe started playing regularly on the other wing. So we played a more settled formation behind the centre forward. Defensively we conceded fewer goals this season. Partey started playing more regularly after Xmas and I do think that Xhaka also improved playing alongside him. The defence continued to be error prone and our… Read more »
“Inter has pulled out of Florida due to Covid concerns in the state. Not a well thought out trip by Arsenal brass considering that Florida has the highest Covid infection rate in the US.”
I believe Inter are still showing up with a smaller delegation. Maybe their reserves will show up to play Arsenal.
Florida covid rates lower than England, AFC probably thought it was a safer bet.
Ok lets be positive today, because we have a new signing. Excellent prosperct by the way. We have Tavares Lokonga Ben White Now here comes the important thing Xhaka replacment and teh CAM everybody are craving for (unless you want the same destiny of Wilshere for ESR) Locatelli or Neves Aouar or Madisson That are the names we are linked too, so here are the combinations Locatelli and Maddision: 110 millions Locatelli and Aouar: 60-70 millions Neves and Maddison: 100-110 millions Neved and Aouar: 50-60 millions Seems like Arsenal is pushing hard for Locatelli, but poayer wants to go to… Read more »
“So basically he did well, but because he wasn’t a top class performer at 20 yo, in his first ever EPL season, he cost Leicester points.“ No shit, same way Saka, ESR, and Martinelli are great talents but 100% contributors to us having a poor attack still – costing us points. It’s not a criticism of them, it’s merely a fact of them being children in the game and miles to go. A unique few operate at elite levels consistently from 18-20 onward, our lot are not in that bracket no matter the delusion. The responsibility is overwhelmingly with our… Read more »
Emirates, the big question is can we carry post-Christmas form into this season and build on it, if we can, we’ll be in the running for top 4.
Yes there are a lot of mood hoovers on here
Mozi, most have one thing in common: they went to war for Emery.
Besides, all professional sports have continued in the states with the bubble
Arsenal have nothing to fear going to FL, my only concern is it’s a lousy training site because of the weather; one moment it’s blazing hot with high humidity and then torrential thunderstorms will sweep. How much training can they really do with all this travelling?
Who makes these travel decisions? There is a of lack of critical thinking similar to someone who goes down the hole in an outhouse because they dropped their pen
We only have Arteta because
a) we couldn’t attract a better, more experienced FIT for our style which it seemed incumbent we would return to after Emery’s shit show. YES SHIT SHOW.
b) anyone that was a better fit brought with them a sizable backroom staff and/or contract we simply could not afford due to being out of the CL
nothing has changed.
Nice work, Sagg.
There’s an auto-ban on Fofana conversation.
Mr Serge, how exactly is the board responsible for what Arteta says in his pressers, in which he basically said he couldn’t play the football he wanted to play with the squad as it was.
Once that was out there every club in Europe took notice, it’s a small community after all.
Make no mistake about it, Arteta did as much damage to our players’ valuation as did covid.
Good data driven article today, confirmed a lot of what’s been said on here re: the impact of ESR and Odegaard on the side Boxing Day and beyond. Of course there’s the consistent few that wish to deny what was clear to the eye test, and now data, but little point arguing with such irrational nonsense. See a few mentioning Coutinho, is that a link that’s emerged? Don’t see him on the scope for this summer with a player like Aouar available for less than 30 mil. Imagine it’s Odegaard until it’s not, a Maddison Hail Mary, then Aouar as… Read more »
Saliba will be back as soon as Arteta is fired this season and a new manager with any grey cells who can see the lad’s ability.
Pedro, “Mozi, most have one thing in common: they went to war for Emery.” They backed an Arsenal manager who definitely over-performed based on all the excused that have been provided his predecessor. When that manager’s time was over, no one was complaining about his sack. The same guy who beat his saucy successor too easily when they met. Why don’t we use the same measuring tape that was used for the first Spaniard for the current one? Pedro, your duplicitousness is a major part of why these arguments drag on. You didn’t wait for the ink to dry on… Read more »
Charlie
Saka and ESR saved Arteta from being sacked and were easily the best two Arsenal players last season.And no matter how many ‘experienced’ players Arteta brings in this season, the duo will still start most of our games this season. Let me also make a prediction – Saka will be our best player this season too unless he gets injured.
Sagg I concur with that post, well put. Locatelli doesn’t sit particularly well with me, find our involvement there more as a bargaining tool than anything else. Maybe I’m wrong, but prefer a player dead keen to join unless they’re something special. Locatelli isn’t that level to me. Ruben Neves still remains my preference in CM to replace Xhaka, he’s a well-rounded player and is ready to go game 1. As far as CAM goes, I have to say I’d love Maddison for everything it would do. Quality player, hurts a CL rival, builds a strong PR for the club,… Read more »
On the positive note I like the look of Tavares, he looks a bit Alphonso Davies-esque.
Pedro
Clearly the overhaul will have some impact as the team gets used to playing with each other.
However, my view is that we should play a more settled team this season.
The starting line-up should be more consistent with
RCB White partnering Gabriel
RB Replacement for Bellerin
DMF Replacement for Xhaka
AMF Competition between new arrival and Smith-Rowe
W Martinelli competing with Pepe.
ST Hopefully Aubameyang getting his goalscoring boots after a poor season.
Emirates, yeah, it’ll take time to bed in, no doubt, but providing we have a decent start, we should be flying when it matters.
Also worth appreciating what 7 players does for the dressing room, even if it’s not 7 starters.
Leeds, you mentioned the ‘other’ Spanish gentleman- strictly verboten on here!
Seriously, I don’t find Leed’s input terribly negative, nobody (well no sane person) wants a happy clappy club so unless you’re a snowflake (borrowing the term from our groggy of centre friends) live and let live.
TR7, really hoping Saka doesn’t have a depression moment like Bergkamp did after missing that penalty in 1998
Pedro There’ll likely be a lot of hysterics early on, there’s a very good chance we lose at City, unless we can pull an ugly smash + grab We haven’t beaten them in the league since Dec 2015, we’ve taken 2 points at home since then, and lost the last 9 league games straight home + away Arsenal vs Chelsea, we’re slight favourites at home, but the game could easily go either way, can’t remember the last time we beat them 3 games in a row We’re capable of taking points in those games, but I won’t be stressing too… Read more »
Andy, tough to critique me on Raul, I led the charge on him when everyone was calling him a standout guy.
TR7
Irrelevant. Arsenal have designs on top 4 and beyond, which will not be achieved on the back of ESR and Saka alone at their current level.
The fact they were standouts says more for the senior players at the club than anything else. Saka and ESR have plenty to develop in their own game, to consider them arrived already diminishes the standard for Arsenal football club.
You can appreciate their quality/talent on top of recognising the club needs much better to achieve its ambitions.
Pedro
I restrain myself from bigging up football players but I think Saka is a superstar in the making. Despite all the hype he gets I still think people don’t realise how good he can be. He will be fine.
Rich, sure. People like Ish demanding we play City off the park, the stage has been set for a meltdown. Also a lot of new faces in defence for that game. Excited to see if our game evolves for games like that Liverpool and City were the worst two games after Xmas by a margin
Fair play Matt!
CC – guilty for mentioning introducing the possibility of a Coutinho loan thought. If Aouar/ Maddison/ Odegaard don’t come through was just wondering whether people felt a year long loan with no obligation to buy would be better than no ACM back up.
If I felt say Saka or Martinelli could play there if ESR was unavailable then I’d rather not have a loan player getting in their way. On the other hand a fit Coutinho with something to prove could be a exciting prospect! Edu certainly has the ear of the agent!
TR7, hard not to get hyped for him… the things he’s doing at 19 is something else. I like that he’s robust as well, a worry I have about ESR. Huge season for both, but if they have the right support around them, it could be a special one.
Really keen to see how Auba reacts to having vibrant young players around him.
Bob
Ah fair play. I’d take Coutinho on loan over us embarrassing ourselves waiting for Odegaard to be left empty handed. But think we’ll draw a line at some point in the next 10 days and pull the trigger.
Still, always room for an Arsenal moment.
TR7, who is your breakthrough shout this season?
Pedro, I didn’t mention Raul, I’m sure you know who I meant (I was against the fat Spanish Spiv from day 1).
P.S. If you were referring to DB10’s semi final pen against United that was in 1999 not 1998.
I also believe Partey will up his game. He is a hard worker and those ‘to the moon’ free kicks will land more often in the nets.
Saka + Partey for me. Martinelli is a huge talent and could easily be on par with Saka but I don’t think he will get that much game time.
Pedro, injuries are the only thing stopping those two from being top, top class. ESR’s ability to bring pace to an attack, his reading of the game and his two footed technical ability is a credit to our youth set up. Saka, enough has been said already.
I know we’ve been in the doldrums in the PL but if we can’t convince parents to let their sons join up with our youth programme then we’re seriously f*cking up. Mertsacker has a very easy sell to convince parents of young talent to join up!
Pedro:
I think that Saka is a bright, talented and level headed kid
My hope regarding penalties is that he reads and interviews and practices and makes sure that that was the last penalty he misses 🙂
If so we will have a reliable penalty taker for the foreseeable future 🙂
Hot take time:
ESR fitness -permitted will go on to develop into as good a player for us as Samir Nasri.
WEagle, let’s hope that he doesn’t clear off after a good six month spell like the little gimp did then!
But as far as the immediate future is concerned, I am in agreement with Champagne Charlie.
We cannot rely on Saka, ESR and Martinelli to be our key men next season and compete for top 4.
Pedro Even if we make 3-4 quality first team signings, the idea that we’ll be ready to go to City and go head to head that early in the season, seems unlikely They’re an established team, PL champions, and one of the best teams in Europe Keep it tight, play the fine margins, stay in the game, don’t panic if we go a goal down, then pray we’re efficient with our few chances, and we can keep them out I’d expect to see us develop as the season progresses, but 2 games in, just keep it simple, and go for… Read more »
Charlie
Not for once am I suggesting we don’t need experienced players. Been saying repeatedly we need two quality midfielders. But I disagree with you hypothesis that Saka being our best player last season is somehow an indicator of how far we have fallen. The guy is so good that even if we bring in Maddison and Auoar, he can outperform them.
Pedro
I have high hopes from Partey this season. He needs to shine for us to have a chance at sneaking in to top 4.
Andy
Hahaha.
He only caught the goalscoring touch in his last season but the Massuese shagger balled out in the two seasons before that too. That goal in the CL against Porto was one of the very best I have seen.
Weagle
Agree with that stylistically too, think ESR is best inside left where he’ll develop a shimmy and shot to his game adding goals. Not his biggest fan as a 10, think his quick interplay is best suited to the sides where it unleashes a winger or fullback supporting him.
Personally prefer a 10 with more security of the ball, greater control of the game that way.
Champagne Charlie “No shit, same way Saka, ESR, and Martinelli are great talents but 100% contributors to us having a poor attack still – costing us points. ” Unless I’m mistaken , I’m sure Smith Rowe and Martinelli only started contributing to the team from Christmas onwards with both starting for the first time against Chelsea in the league in 2021 , a period when we apparently had the 2nd or 3rd best attack in the league . So I’m not sure how you deduce that they were “100% contributors to us having a poor attack costing us points” as… Read more »
Saka needs to work on a few things though. He needs to learn how to shoot. He gets in to very good positions but often chooses to cross or pass. If he can learn to shoot well he can score 10 plus goals each season.
Pedro
Here’s the midfielders named in Belgium’s Euro squad
MF: Leander Dendoncker (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
MF: Timothy Castagne (Leicester City)
MF: Thomas Meunier (Borussia Dortmund)
MF: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)
MF: Nacer Chadli (Istanbul Basaksehir)
MF: Yannick Carrasco (Atletico Madrid)
MF: Youri Tielemans (Leicester City)
MF: Thorgan Hazard (Borussia Dortmund)
MF Axel Witsel (Borussia Dortmund)
MF: Dennis Praet (Leicester City)
MF: Hans Vanaken (Club Brugge)
As I said once you get into their squad it’s very very average
“But I disagree with you hypothesis that Saka being our best player last season is somehow an indicator of how far we have fallen“ Saka was good last season, but he wasn’t amazing relative to others in his position. The benefit we have as Arsenal fans is appreciating the potential a young player has when playing for us, we can see how good he could be. But it doesn’t mean he’s there yet. The fact he was a standout player, arguably best player, for us in his current state is without a doubt a bad reflection on Arsenal as much… Read more »
We’ll have to manage Saka, he’ll need a rest physically + mentally at some point
I’m in little doubt he’ll develop into a combined 30 goal + assist wide forward, he’s different class, we have to be careful not to burn him out though
Charlie Think Ishola had reservations on ESR as a wide playmaker but I agree, it’s where I see his future. He’s not quick but he’s not a plodder either, has ok speed but his foot-speed is very good and his speed of thought is excellent. Incisive and effective player higher up the pitch. He’s good off the ball and in giving and going/creating overloads, he’s not a player in the centre like KDB or Grealish that the ball stays with and most of the play is funneled through. Having a ball-dominant player/hogger isn’t always a positive. Great teams have been… Read more »
Weagle It’s not even that wide these days is it really, talking the corner of the 18 yard box typically. Think he’s at home on the left side because he can beat a man and go either way, which is massive. Fancy he’ll add a few goals this season coming from that side and shooting across goal, looks to have that technique. But playing as a 10 is a different ball game, game is 360 degrees around you and requires a more controlled approach imo. Some Hleb-Fab-Nasri vibes being mustered with the addition of a Maddison or Odegaard. Though Saka… Read more »
TR7
He scuffs his finishes a fair bit but imo there has been one or two examples of evidence that he is capable of putting his foot through the ball like his goal vs Slavia Prague in the EL.
True scuffers like Chamakh, Gervinho and Welbeck were never capable of scoring such a goal. You would hope that he can improve his shooting technique a lot though because he does miss a lot of relatively easy chances because of it.
“””””Even if we make 3-4 quality first team signings, the idea that we’ll be ready to go to City and go head to head that early in the season, seems unlikely”””” HERE WE GO, Mr. Waffle on the excuses trail already Leeds beat them with 10 men last season at their place Leicester beat them 5 2 Brighton beat them 3 2 Chelsea beat them in the final and the F A Cup semi final. If we can spend £50 m on Partey, £50 m on White and £18 m on Logonka we bloody well should be ready to go… Read more »
Saka and ESR have a natural understanding, as it’s been repeatedly pointed out by Pierre I believe, so Arteta’s chopping and changing the starting Xl did neither one a favor.
Not sure how many minutes Loconga and Tevares get together this season, but the chances of Andre Marriner sending off the wrong Arsenal player again have just gone up exponentially.
Arteta will have to think about how to use Martinelli better. He doesn’t look like he can play on the left and the few opportunities he got as a striker he failed to maintain a good level after the initial 10-15 mins.
Charlie Yep, in particular that assist vs Newcastle for Saka’s goal at the Emirates stands out as what ESR is capable of in that sort of area. Got the run on a defender wide left and drove towards the box, turned the defender inside- out before having the presence of mind to check back with his left foot to the onrushing Saka for an easy finish. Haha wouldn’t at all see a resemblance between Hleb and Saka tbh. I actually see more Reyes to Saka if anything, likes to get on the end of things more-so than be overly involved… Read more »
The idea that our new signings will be fully bedded in by the 28th August is a little wishful! A point against City will be fine- a competitive defeat will be disappointing but not a disaster!
Bob
“””The idea that our new signings will be fully bedded in by the 28th August is a little wishful! “”””
He is in his 3rd season.
Wont Man City have new signings?
Excuses, excuses excuses.
TR7
Martinelli’s definitely a future ST rather than a wide forward imo.
Has all of the CF instincts and an incredible nose for goal. So many of his goals have been tap-ins due to great positioning, he also scored a couple of really good headers in his first season here.
His all-round game still needs work but he has a lot to work with. I just worry that he won’t get many opportunities up top this season and he will be shunted out to LF to accommodate Lacazette and Auba.
CG, you spent 5 years making excuses for Wenger, not sure you have much room to reposition yourself as a powerhouse winner that takes zero excuses.
Balogun and Martinelli taking over from Auba and Lacazette would be exciting.
PedRo.
Wenger done his job.
Every season for 2 decades.
Top 4
Balanced the books
played the beautiful game
Won his cup finals
Won his home games in style
Treated players fairly.
Wore his AFC blazer
And did it his way! ( not anyones elses)
Weagle Reyes is a good comparison visually and in terms of style, I just get a real sense of intelligence with Saka in the build up like Hleb would continually offer. They’re not similar players, but that quality to me is really striking and he looks like a thinker when he’s playing. Does that make sense? But Reyes is a much better illustration of him as a whole, and I agree when it comes to matters inside the box. Saka has great penetration, but his final ball needs a sharp increase to make the most of that. Could become a… Read more »
For Martinelli and Balogun to get a chance up top, Laca and Auba will have to stink the place out. I don’t see either of them getting many opportunities. Arteta is risk averse in his approach. Martinelli should be given a free run in FA Cup and league Cup though.
CG The 5-2 against Leicester was a freak result, it’s the only game In his managerial career that Pep has conceded 5 City were down to 10 men after 10 minutes vs Brighton, if we get that lucky, then I’ll happily change my expectations The Leeds win was another rarity, Leeds had 2 shots, scored 2 goals, City had 29 shots, and it was a game sandwiched between a Champions League quarter final, when City already had a comfortable cushion in the league You also have to take into account the lack of advantage from home crowds, which produced a… Read more »