THE STORY OF ‘SHOTS TAKEN’

by .

Ugh, trying to be creative during a dead week is… tough.

How about a table?

Arsenal rank 10th in the league for shots on goal according to the Premier League data. We’ve had 92 shots across 7 games. That’s 13 a game.

Now, there’s a little bit of misleading context there. We’ve played City and Chelsea, the two best teams in the world, and we played them when we were in pieces with covid issues. Take them out and our shots per game looks a little healthier at 17.

What is clear is this: No one knows where we are on the attacking front.

We do know this:

  • We are not scoring enough goals in the Premier League

The job to be done after the break is clear. We need to see a consistent level of shooting output in all of our games. Liverpool clocked in with 147 shots. City 15 odd. United 107. Wayne Gretzky said you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. Or something like that. We need to take more high-quality shots if we’re going to move on this season. That means we need to move the ball quicker, be more creative, and take risks.

We’re playing teams that will give us a chance to do that. Palace, Watford, Villa and Leicester aren’t ruthless defensive teams. There will be openings, we have to craft them, the football needs to be more us vs Spurs than Brighton.

That is Arteta’s challenge now. We need to see this team bang more often. I can’t have a taste of a glorious future then not see it again until next year.

A lot has to workout on that front. What is clear is that Auba, in this current system, needs a lot of things to happen for him to work. That’s why it’s interesting that the club are tackling a striker for the Lacazette replacement. We need someone that can rough it against teams like Brighton. DCL and Ollie Watkins are front runners. One is very good in the year and a Gooner, the other leads a press like an absolute monster and he’s also a Gooner.

The biggest miss of the summer, in my opinion, was Tammy Abrahams… we wanted it, the player wanted it, but it was one in one out on the striker front.

Onto some cool tech news. Arsenal’s GPS partner, StatSport, has just announced that their tech is for everyone. Yep, they are promising that you, and your fat arse, can use their equipment in your Sunday League games and compare yourself to Bukayo Saka in their app.

THAT IS AWESOME.

If you don’t know what those packs are… they basically monitor about a 1000 movements on your body so sports scientists can assess thing like: How hard did that training session go? What is the peak exertion this player can handle? Should Thomas Partey be rested because he’s in the red zone?

Health apps have always been a bit meh to me because the contextualization is broing. I really couldn’t give a shit about how many steps I take. My fit bit is boring. I don’t believe the sleep app actually works.

Gamifying the football experience? That is some next-level stuff. Imagine being a 12 year old and being able to monitor your performance to an exact science. Imagine the business opportunities behind that sort of data?

They’re also running a competition for the chance to win one of their pod things. They are £300, so might be worth getting into the mixer on that one (not you Dave, you’re too old).

Feeling starved of football? Haven’t seen the Women’s team this season? Then jump on their game vs Barcelona this afternoon. It’s 8pm UK time, 3pm Eastern… it’s going to be a banger of a game. The new coach is dropping 3.9 goals per game. Maybe he can have a word with the boys team?

FABRIZIO ROMANO has leaked MORE good press about the Arteta Regime. He’s told the world that Arsenal are thrilled with the progress William Saliba is making and he’ll defintely be part of our plans next season. Reiterating that playing 38 games is better for his career at 20 then bumming around on our bench all season.

Nice one Fabrizio, nice one Arsenal FC.

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bacaryisgod

By the way, it’s a slow news day when Pedro turns over the blog to Statpro for some informercial. I hope Pedro’s getting paid to promote this because he works hard enough on the site for minimal compensation, but if so it really should be announced as an advertisement.

The Bard

I’ve posted before. This is our biggest handicap. Auba is most effective whe we break quickly and he can get behind defences. He’s next to useless if we have to play through because his link up play is hopeless and he cant hold the ball up. Not sire what the solution is except spend a fortune on another striker. I thought Abrahams was a good shout.

Up 4 grabs now

Morning, i keep banging on about it, but we should be able to play two strikers in the majority of games, if thats a 442, 4312, 4132 or a 352. this will help with the scoring issue. yes play more in midfield or more defensively if we’re playing the likes of United, city, Chelsea or the Bindippers but most of the other teams in the league are not going to overrun us in midfield, especially if we up our possession game a little more. we struggle to score, if Auba plays as the loan striker, he drifts out left, and… Read more »

englandsbest

Wenger’s biennial WC is the worst possible threat to football as every fan twiddling thumbs right now knows very well. It’s an attempt by FIFA to control the game entirely, a kind of super league setup that will benefit them, not Clubs. How long will it take before it becomes an annual competition? IMO two properly set up European Super leagues is a good idea – the Yankee owners (primarily Liverpool) screwed the idea by demanding exclusivity and permanence – the kind they have in the States. In the proper way, entry would be open to the majority of clubs… Read more »

Pierre

It’s no wonder that Arsenal were poor offensively v Brighton as Aubameyang’s first touch was atrocious and we all know( or should do) that the first touch is the important touch, get that right and the game becomes so much easier… Denis Bergkamp had an exquisite first touch which was a godsend for ian wright , Anelka and Henry as they knew they could make a run and he would deliver with perfect weight on the ball. Odegaard and smith rowe have a decent first touch but as yet i haven’t seen the vision for the defence splitting pass, maybe… Read more »

Up 4 grabs now

Pierre,

In his prime Bergkamp would be a 200 million pound player these days.
a true world class legend.

CG

u4g “”””I keep banging on about it, but we should be able to play two strikers in the majority of games,”””” Keep banging. ‘””The quality of your center forwards in the prem ultimately makes the difference””‘ …..Fergie’s sentiments. Think Henry /Arsenal Think Salah/ Liverpool Think Cole and York Man Utd Think Wengers nemesis Drogba./Chelsea Re- signing Odegaard and extending Xhaka really reduces your chances of ever playing 2 or 3 center forwards a game. I can’ t think of many managers out there that have Laca, Martinelli, Balogun and Eddie and even Pepe and refuse to utilize them in pairs.… Read more »

Nelson

Just read that the last game, our XG is 0.32 and our opponent’s XG is 2.94. Was our coach present on the sideline? How come he didn’t change the formation or do something to correct this during the game until the two Subs? That’s not good enough.

Up 4 grabs now

CG, Odegaard i can live with, xhaka is just a waste of resources, should have cut our losses 2-3 years ago. wengers early years, chasing a game lets have 4 strikers on for the last 15- 20 minutes. fergie was the same. at some point you have to risk it, not all the time but at least you need to try. nothing is more frustrating when you play one up top and replace like for like. sometimes you have to overload the box with strikers and pressure the opposition defence. i cant remember the last time i saw that. 10… Read more »

englandsbest

In defence of Arteta sticking to the routine set-up (against Brighton in the rain) is that he is trying to make it ‘routine’, second-nature, instinctive. Even so, he should have substituted Auba, strenthened midfield.

Pierre

Arsenal away matches v the likes of brentford’ brighton’ villa , west ham , watford, Everton , Burnley leicester and a few more tend to be physical affairs and this season from what i have seen , they will be more physical than ever… In these type of games we can’t afford passengers, the players have to be brave on the ball and brave off the ball Aubameyang and Odegaard are neither, we lnow that Aubameyang plays in self preservation mode , meaning he rarely gets involved on the physical side of the game and will not put his foot/head/body… Read more »

CG

u4g ”””wengers early years, chasing a game lets have 4 strikers on for the last 15- 20 minutes. fergie was the same.”””””’ Those were the days….. The imperious A. Wenger one of the few managers who used to bring on x 3 attacking subs on in a game when the team is 3 zero up. Most shut up shop and close the game out, not him. Wenger and especially Fergie used their array of center forwards to devastating affects, late on in the games. Why Arsenal and Arteta didnt make x 3 attacking subs on at half time against Brighton… Read more »

Kroenkephobe

In defence of Arteta

EB
In order to help new readers, it might be prudent if you started EVERY message you post on here with that little but oh-so-revealing phrase. 🤓

Kroenkephobe

It also helps us more veteran and forgetful posters to know that we can scroll down without reading it.

CG

Pierre

Are you basically saying Odegaard can only play on that big pitch at the Emirates and is not really cut out for away fixtures where the grass aint cut as short?

Nelson

I thing one reason that makes Luka Modrić such a good passer in midfield is that he can pass the ball with inside of his right foot and outside of his right foot accurately. It can give the ball a different trajectory to pass the opponent. Arteta insists to have right footer on the right and left footer on the left. It did allow the player to have a better passing lane to the full back. Unless you are as good as Modrić, then it doesn’t matter.

Nelson

#think

Up 4 grabs now

CG True wenger never used to shut up shop very often, there was a few times he should have done which cost us though. in 66 league games under Arteta we have only hit 3 goals or more 16 times in that period, about 22% of games. The last two seasons we scored 55 and 56 goals over a 38 game league season. just to get back to top four levels i think we probably need to be hitting the 70 mark Either that or tightening so far up at the back that were conceding 25-28 across the whole season.… Read more »

raptora

Up4: “i just cant see us hitting 70 plus goals though”

Cause we won’t be scoring 70 goals under Arteta ever. If we keep on going with Arteta’s low percentage moves like blind Tierney crosses to no one and Partey shots to the moon.

raptora

If we keep on going with Arteta’s low percentage moves like blind Tierney crosses to no one and Partey shots to the moon we’re probably going to end with the same amount of goals scored as the 2 seasons before – 55 and 56.

China1

Arsenal winning 1-0? Bring on 3 strikers!

Those days were terrifying but it paid off most of the time lol

And when it did it was very satisfying

raptora

https://www.twitch.tv/arsenalofficial

Ben White Ask Me Anything live on our Twitch channel. If you’ve got a question to ask him be sure to check it out. It starts in 10 minutes.

I’ll try to ask him if he can feel the pressure of Saliba coming back next season to claim his spot.

Up 4 grabs now

In the last 10 years the team thats finished 5th and missed out on top four eight times out of ten haven’t hit 70 goals. The two times 70 plus goals were scored and the team missed out was both 5th placed Arsenal conceding 51 and 44.respectively. all the teams that finished fifth over the last ten years the average goals conceded was 50.4 all the teams that finished forth over the last ten years the average goals conceded was 44.9 most times the teams conceded 35-41 goals with the exception a few years back when Chelsea conceded 54 realistically… Read more »

Northbanker

Let it go Raptora
The Saliba obsession is not good for your health

raptora

Ben White sounds much quieter than I expected. Borderline boring lol.

China1

Lol raptora

He is hopefully a good player but he appears to have the personality of a ham sandwich 😅

Kris

“Gabriel Martinelli is considering his future at Arsenal – according to The Mirror.
The 20-year-old forward is growing “anxious” over a lack of playing time, having only featured in two Premier League games for the Gunners so far this term.
Martinelli has been an unused substitute in Arsenal’s last fives matches in all competitions, and may seek a January move if his situation doesn’t improve soon.”

Should he go on a loan? A player of his age needs to play regularly, and we all know he does have potential so losing him could be another Gnabry situation.

raptora

White is one of those players that didn’t watch football when he was young and he’s still not watching any football now. He chose to have a football career ahead of cricket.

raptora

Northbanker,
Obviously I’m not asking him that. It was banter lol.

englandsbest

kroenkephobe

Take it as read then.

Northbanker

In Lisbon today – 28 in the Sun – last port before Sunny Southampton

Northbanker

Factor 50 working overtime – may have to step up to Factor Why-Bother-Go-Out-At-All

raptora

Who’s the most skillful player in the squad?

White: Let me go Gabriel Martinelli.

Who’s the hardest to play against in the squad, one that always gives you hard time?

White: I’m going to say Eddie (Nketiah).

Nelson

One think I noticed is that Arteta seems to be able to use the water break well. Maybe we should request to have a water break whenever we play. Ha!

Nelson

#thing

Nelson

Is our training route even more tiring than playing a game? How come our players looked more tired last game???

China1

Are we still using bed wetter as a derogatory term???

I for one think the smell of stale piss in the morning is rather fragrant

China1

What happened to almunia and his stories?

They are my favourite thief about arsenal this season clean sheets aside

Dissenter

“What happened to almunia and his stories?”

I believe Pedro banned them

Globalgunner

China: Positive Pete aka Pedro was not happy with Arteta being the butt of Almunia`s jokes so he basically banned his blog escapism. .

China1

Pampers for me thanks, Pedro.

Dry nights is false advertising and leaks

China1

Almunias stories were literally awesome tho

Surely even the most ardent of Arteta lover had to appreciate how good they were

China1

Pedro seriously man if you banned almunias stories I don’t understand

Forget Arteta in or out or any of that shit IT WAS HILARIOUS

China1

Almunia if you’re out there reading this, please give us a sign….

By dropping to your knees and fumbling with your zipper

CG

u4g

”””’CG. True wenger never used to shut up shop very often, there was a few times he should have done which cost us though.”””””””””’

Yes, undoubtedly.
Eg, the Spurs 4-4 classic/debacle.

In Wengers last season his team in the x 19 HOME games scored x 54 goals only 2nd to City’s 60.( some mess he left……?.!)

in Arteta’s last x 22 HOME games his team has scored just x28 goals.

And multi millions have been spent post Wenger.

A. Wenger like all the great managers ( Klopp. Fergie ) believed in attacking players and attacking formations and goals!

Nigel Tufnel

Piling more strikers on the pitch does not equal more goals.

Man City is the proof. They’ve basically been doing without a striker for a season or 2, more really, because when he was injured it was no like replacement..

Liverpool too. It just proves that the most successful and dangerous attacks have more skill players on the pitch and use that to get around traditional setups.

englandsbest

China1

No reason for panic. I am looking forward to writing an ‘almuniasaynomorere’ myself. I can picture the scene now, the doomsters gathered together on a murky rainy night trying to figure out an explanation of how they got Arteta so very, very wrong. Using pseudonyms of course, I wouldn’t want to embarrass them.

Graham62

englandsbest

……….I’ll give you another take on that story.

A small huddle of Arsenal supporters, hankies in hand, wave goodbye to the departing Arteta as the taxi pulls out of the Emirates Stadium.

How could we get it so wrong? Why couldn’t we see this happening?

Remember, it’s just an opinion.

raptora

“the doomsters gathered together on a murky rainy night trying to figure out an explanation of how they got Arteta so very, very wrong. Using pseudonyms of course”

What is the requirement for Arteta to be branded successful and all of his doubters wrong? Give me the expectation that you would consider success as no one, including the manager, would are willing to put their money where their mouth is.

If you tell me top 4 in 2 years time, then fk me, we’ll be here for a while I guess.

Janky

I think it’s precious that there is still such a committed contingent of Arteta supporters.

Bless their hearts, the lot of them.

True Arteta supporters…or fans?…don’t want to use the wrong one…anyway, so much more stuff in life makes sense in light of their continued rabid support of this man and his mediocrity. Everything from shake weights to the Trump presidency, McRib sandwiches to Mike Lindell. It’s literally dripping with insight into the very mind of man.

So thank you, and carry on with your carrying on.

Globalgunner

Eternal sunshine of the Arteta worshipping mind is what encapsulates the Arteta lovers.
They see only positives. Only way is up, even while falling constantly behind. They are the type that will step onto a clump of doggy doodoo on the pavement and tell themselves. “Things could definitely be worse, I could have somersaulted and got a smelly stain on my back”

Dissenter

It seems the Saudis are going to be allowed to take over Newcastle.
They are going to clear out their entire squad at some point to become another mega spending entity.

Graham62

Being ultra positive about things, when it is clear that so many problems exist, shows a blindness to reality.

Vicky from Little Britain comes to mind here.

“Yeah but, no but, yeah but, no but”

Graham62

Dissenter

FFP being questioned yet again.

Tom

https://youtu.be/IyHUu0wubqo
Pierre, watch this and count for yourself how many take ons and tackles Odegaard ,ales in this compilation.

Tom

makes

Dissenter

The Saudia are not going to own a mediocre outfit that underperforms against the likes of PSG [Qataris] and City [UAE]
It’s good for the league though, to have another strong club to make it more competitive.
I don’t think it’s good for Arsenal, another source of easy point to fill up the tally is gone.

Tom

Comparing Odegaard and Auba and concluding they both play their game to avoid contact is about as accurate as Parteys shots on goal.

Did someone say something about Ozil and Odegaard to Pierre that got him upset?
It’s his second attempt to tell everyone how he likes Odegaard…….. except he’s only any decent in acres of space.

englandsbest

raptora

Success, for Arteta, is returning Arsenal to the elite. For me, that means Arsenal as a consistent and genuine competitor for top honours.

Top 4 is a halfway step, a return to CL My expectation is within three seasons, including this one.

Winning a major title is an authentic measure of eliteness, an expectation within four seasons

englandsbest

If any group of fans deserves success, it’s the Geordies.

Graham62

How can we expect FFP to be implemented fairly when the governing bodies are as crooked as they come.

Yep, both FIFA and UEFA are in on the act.

Globalgunner

Why are you pinning the blame on FIFA and UEFA?. Dont the FA have to approve England club takeovers?

Dissenter

FFP is a stupid effing joke
They should just do away with it.
There are multiple ways to attain great wealth or power such as;
-Inherit it like Prince William
– Marry into it like the Duchess of Cambridge
-Screw an octogenarian billionaire’s brains out like Anna Nicole Smith
-Win the lottery
-Through the ballot box, in some societies

FFP is based on the notion that they can regulate how football clubs acquire and use their wealth.

It’s just old money trying to restrict what new money can do.

Pierre

Tom
I do really like Odegaard when he is on the ball but i ado know he’s mastered the art of avoiding physical contact

How do i know , because i watched and studied his games THIS season..

His supposed take ons in the link are 90% backwards or sideways à

Graham62

Ozil being the master of “avoiding physical contact”.

Sitting at home playing Fortnite was his preferred method.

Just saying.