Well good morning to you, this will be a BIG week of writing and podcasting. I have a VERY special backroom guest lined up on Wedneday and I just know it’s going to be a banger. We’ll be powering on with a lot of writing because no doubt, because there will be a lot of people trying to take things off track this week.
First port of call? xG statistics.
There’s a table doing the rounds… sorry… a few tables doing the rounds that indicate Arsenal are the worst at everything this season.
We have two tables here. The bottom one is xG for the season, which has us in 16th. The on the top is Sky making a fuss of our attacking statistics this season.
So how do we react?
Firstly, on the xG table and data in general.
Statistics are there to point you in the direction of problem or an opportunity. In the world of football scouting, data tools allow analysts to drill down into a profile of player they are hunting, which gives finite scouting resource sharper direction so they get to what the club needs quicker.
In football, a statistic is rarely the ‘thing’, because it’s a nuanced game that is chaotic and difficult to measure.
Example:
INTERNET HOT TAKE: Aaron Ramsdale has been relegated 3 times. He conceded over 120 goals in his last two loans. He must be shit.
Ok. What contextual reference points do we have that might counter the above?
He won Fan Player of the Season at three of those clubs. Ok, interesting, so clearly, if fans of relegated clubs love a player, there must be something there. Especially if it’s the goalkeeper.
Sheffield United had 400 centre back combinations in a season that was ravaged by injury. Ok, so maybe the players in front of him weren’t that good?
There are hardly any 23-year-olds regularly making starts in the Premier League in that position. Ok, maybe he has something about him that is so unique, managers with weak squads keep going out of their way to have him as the first name on the team sheet?
He’s played for progressive managers and clubs, even if they have been poor. Ok, what are those guys interested in about his game? Maybe his passing is special?
If you scouted Ramsdale by his xG saves number, would you have bought him? If you scouted him based on goals conceded, would you have bought him? If you scouted him based on team success, would you have bought him?
No. Because context and the eye test are VERY important.
The xG table makes for grim reading this season, but only if you are an xG junkie that watches highlights of Arsenal. Remember, xG is a stat that is designed to give you a deeper understanding of results. Weaponising it when we’re 5th in the table isn’t sharp unless you have a good angle of attack, especially when context would say fans that actually go are very happy, and pundits were asking Arteta if Arsenal were a title threat before the Liverpool game.
Our start was brutal. We had a covid outbreak that wiped out 5 players, plus 4 injuries. We lost to Brentford, then had to play the European Cup finalists back to back. That was not good for xG. We deserved to lose, but there was context to those failings, and I think we’ve all accepted them now.
So a bad start for xG.
Arsenal then went out and rebuilt the defence, got injured players back to fitness, and covid patients recovered. We started Phase 2 of the season with a team that had 5 new starters. By the Spurs game, we’d finished with 6 new players in the starting 11.
What was the football trend? We started very fast, scored goals, then sat back to absorb the pressure.
Did anyone watching the Spurs game (eye test) come out of that thinking we were unlucky not to lose? No? Well, we lost on xG. If we’d won that game 5-0, no one would have thought us lucky. But xG had it as a loss despite the control and ease of the afternoon.
The Leicester game was the same. We should have won 4-0, we started majestically, but we let our foot off the gas and they had a few nice chances. Was the game ever out of control? Were we ever really in danger? No. But xG doesn’t record the context of the game or how we played it.
What is the reality of the season right now?
We’re 5th. Even after getting spanked by Liverpool this weekend.
We are 5th after our worst start in Premier League history. This position been earned.
We are 5th after reengineering our starting 11 with 6 players under the age of 24. These players have had 9 games together.
We are 5th after playing Manchester City and Liverpool away from home.
The xG sample size is small, it lacks context, and the eye test isn’t really telling us the things the Emery eye test was.
If we’re going to use context, let’s be fair here… let’s look at our performance since Arteta had all the players he wanted available for games.
Arsenal since Phase 2 of the season started (Norwich)
We haven’t scored a lot of goals, it’s true. But we’ve scored 2 less than Manchester City in the same period. Even with the absolute drubbing we took at the weekend, it’s safe to say our defence is going to be pretty good: Liverpool, West Ham, and an in-form Wolves have all conceded more than us. We have the 3rd best record defensively over that time period.
United has conceded 19 since Phase 2 started.
Attack is a worry, but again, only 4 teams have scored more than us. We have some problems here. Auba and Lacazette aren’t the full ticket. We know that. The coaching team know that. They have a very delicate political situation to deal with. How do you deftly deal with a captain that isn’t doing it? Eddie wants out, you can’t use him. Balogun is too young. Martinelli has been dreadful since the start of the year. Something has to give.
The attacking issue is also more complicated. Overall, it’s clear, we aren’t creating enough high-quality chances. But I also think part of that is because we don’t have elite quality in the final third when it comes to strikers, that is combined with having two rookie players as the focus of our chance creation in Saka and ESR. Would I change those two for anyone? No. But we have to accept they aren’t Mane and Salah… yet.
Let’s look at attempts at goal this season. The Sky stat box doesn’t have shots on goal, a number we usually use. In total, we’re at 13.25 a game. An improvement on previous years, but not amazing. However, when you take out the top 3 teams we’ve played again, the average goes up significantly to 16.3 per game. How does that look against previous seasons? Well, that number would have us higher than Liverpool for the whole of last season. That number would have us higher than Arsenal of 2014-15 when we had Santi, Ramsey, Ozil and Sanchez in the side. Take out the top 3 teams this season and our attempt production isn’t that bad. We are 9 games into the new regime, my guess is that when the cognitive style of football kicks in, we’ll see better chances, more will be taken, and our attempts on goal stat will climb.
Now imagine we had a striker in the system that could hold the ball up and make a nuisance of themselves like DCL or Ivan Toney. We don’t have anyone that can make something of all the great crosses we know we can deliver.
I know we don’t have other tools available now. We don’t need another striker to challenge for top 6 this season. But let’s be honest, it’s going to be tough against the top 2 teams until we change that.
Final point on all of this.
This is Project Youth 2.0.
We are not ready to compete with Liverpool. Our aim is to compete with everyone outside Liverpool, City and maybe Chelsea. I think this calendar year, we’re at 36 games and only City and Chelsea have more points than us, so again, when you put some noise cancellers on the drama queens, we’re actually demonstrating the sort of consistency required to be seriously considered in the mix for top 4 this season.
There will be peaks and troughs. The boys just delivered a 10+ game unbeaten run after a shocking start. This catastrophizing over bumps in the road does nobody any favours. It’s just a shame the most moronic voices on the internet are rewarded because tech algorithms prioritise confident bad takes over those grounded in reality because one is exciting and the other is boring.
These players have had 9 games together, that isn’t an excuse, it’s reality. They have so much work to do to start playing the cognitive style of football this system requires. They have so many lessons to learn until they are ready to deal with shocks to the system as a group and on the pitch. Sometimes the football will be fluid and dreamy, sometimes it’ll be clunky and tough to watch.
… but when everything beds in and clicks – and it will – this team will be ready to go to the moon.
The current strategy is the only way we make it back to the top. We spent 8 years trying to sign ‘ready-made’ players and it was a fucking disaster we still haven’t managed to get over. The simple truth is this: If you want to make it back to the top without the most money, you have to take some pain. We are going to take some pain this season, but at least it’ll be for an idea that stands a chance.
The biggest issue on our agenda right now isn’t trying to find an answer for losing at Anfield. That shit happens to the best teams in the world. The biggest agenda item is beating Newcastle, then taking advantage of a United side in disarray. Win those two games and we’re right back on track (sorry, I mean more on track, because we are already on track).
Our season works in phases. We’ve won the last two after a poor start. The objective now is to take 20 points from the next 27 in Phase 4. That’s going to be a tough ask, but so was 20 points from 24 in Phase 2 / 3, but we managed it.
Spitting distance of top 4 by January 2nd is the goal. If we’re there, I promise you, we’re going to be in with a shout of top 4 come the end of the season, because the chances are, our young players will click during those months and start delivering a more consistent flow of performances.
Finally, I know I am going overboard in answering a loud minority of people that don’t really exist in the ground, but I do think it’s important to reiterate… how we react after a defeat is important. It’s painful to watch people go to the worst possible outcome as soon as there’s a single bad moment. #ArtetaOut after yesterday? It’s so childish. If the players behaved like that, we’d be truly fucked. The great hope I always carry is that the people that go know better, as they’ve shown over and over again this season. I am so thankful for that. I cannot wait to go to some games in December and experience it myself.
So in short, I wouldn’t let xG worry you too much. We have good players, there’s a clear vision, we’ve hoovered up a lot of points, maintained a good defensive record, and hopefully our attack will kick up a gear in December.
On that note, check out our latest podcast below OR if you are feeling frisky, check out the Latte Firm video where I hang with FK, Walid and Rohan and talk xG and that ‘fight’ on the touchline.
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MD, your commentary is so bad, you’re being propped up by Graham.
I’m not sure what line of work you are in, but setting targets by time period is pretty standard stuff. By looking at a period of time and setting a target, it allows you have to perspective, so you don’t have a fit over a loss against Liverpool because you are looking at the bigger picture.
Pedro, it does make me feel better
Odegaard has got everything to succeed, he was one of the best players in Spain 18 months ago
He’s got his head screwed on properly, he’s supremely talented and works incredibly hard
I’m not worried about him, Salah + De Bruyne we’re both sacked off at 22, Gnabry was completely written off
The only thing that’ll stop Odegaard is injuries, otherwise he’ll develop into one of the best attacking midfielders in the league
His quality was easy to see when he came on against Watford
Tom, as bad as Odegaard has been, I think his absence has been more down to how good Lacazette has been.
Hard to outshine a veteran chasing a contract. Might be a change now teams have cottoned onto the role he offers the team.
@K’Phobe
“dry bedded a-holes”
Thanks for a fitting opposite to bedwetters.
“Odegaard has got everything to succeed, he was one of the best players in Spain 18 months ago“
I still like him but he doesn’t have everything Rich.
He’s slow.
Did you see Chelsea play Leicester over the weekend?
They had five 21/22 year olds in their line up and they played Leicester off the park.
Five young players playing different positions with different styles but one thing in common………. all athletic.
It is worthwhile to examine closely what is happening at Man Utd. because this is what can be expected at AFC. When SAF left they had difficulties finding a manger, because they had a disinterested owner, Bankers making footballing decisions and are now in the situation of finding their 5th manager who hopefully can get the club back where SAF had it. Total mess there since SAF’s departure and to my liking. At AFC it is almost mirrored, a disinterested owner wearing Ram’s T-Shirts to the AFC training grounds, no one with European footballing expertise in top management making decisions… Read more »
Tom, I did watch the game, Chelsea have got a brilliant squad, with a good blend of youth + experience, they were my pick for the title in August I’d generally agree the PL is all about athleticism + dynamism, but there’s still room for the odd technician to operate I’m confident Odegaard will develop into a top player over the next 12 months, I can see him making a big difference in games where the opposition cede possession He’s got qualities nobody else in our squad possesses, there’s certain games I’d currently worry about him in, but he’ll develop… Read more »
“Why are you so fixated with age ?“ Maybe because it’s commonly overlooked on here with posters thinking output/improvement is linear and expectant from 18 onwards. I was dismissed last season for claiming Saka, ESR, and Martinelli contributors to our poor attack because of their inexperience – this despite two of the three being what I’d consider the ‘best’ options for our first XI. Most on here felt those three were going to be leading us to the promise land this season because they’d shown great promise at 19/20 years old. Mysef and Weagle ignored the sentiment and pointed out… Read more »
Tom Did you see Chelsea play Leicester over the weekend? They had five 21/22 year olds in their line up and they played Leicester off the park.Five young players playing different positions with different styles but one thing in common………. all athletic. As I keep banging on about it is folly to dismiss the importance of experience. If you look at that Chelsea team it oozed experience in players like Kante, Silva, Jorginho and Rudiger. My brother is quite an expert on his team ( Chelsea) and he always talks about the players that have come through their academy and… Read more »
Terraloon, we have a younger side, played them off the park, and won by the same score. Not sure you’ve picked the right angle there.
“Newcastle are one of those teams that Arsenal should be beating, period”. This is a telling statement how would City, Pool & Chelsea approach this. Field the “B-Team” with the heavy hitters from the “A-Team’ on the bench just in case. That is successful player and game management. While AFC’s generational one is trying to move players around in formations so that “Arsenal should be beating Newcastle, period”. Bottom of the table club becomes a must win game is usually reserved for relegation stragglers but not top 4 hopefuls. “Trust the process” is not for the bedwetters but for the… Read more »
CC
Our kids are better than the experienced guys in attack particularly, which is proving quite the glass ceiling.
I am far from sure that 5here is any evidence to support that.
That is if you are suggesting that Eddie, Martinelli and Bolugan would be any more effective because frankly we really haven’t seen anything to support that in the last 12 months
Graham62: Good first half even though we were 1-0 down and then a disappointing second, but it didn’t feel like the battering the score-line suggested.
Disappointing but in the scheme of things a set-back, nothing much more, unless we can’t beat Newcastle at the weekend…
Liverpool are challenging for the title with city and chelsea , we’re not at that level. We have the youngest team in the league, they’ll learn from this game.
Pedro
Stop seeing things through blinkers.
You keep banging on about stats but for one Chelsea beat then 3-0 . Arsenal beat them 2-0
In the Arsenal game Leicester had 16 shots( 8on target ) Arsenal 9 (5 on target ) Leicester had 65% possession Arsenal 35%
In the Chelsea game Leicester had 4 shots (3 on target) Chelsea had 16 shots (7 on target) and that possession was 62% Chelsea 38% Leicester.
“I’m confident Odegaard will develop into a top player over the next 12 months, I can see him making a big difference in games where the opposition cede possession“
Rich , I think what’s more important to his game flourishing than opposing teams ceding possession is a clever movement of our own players.
He is like Ozil in that aspect that he won’t blow by players but will look for teammates clever run instead.
The first step to improve our attack is to take off the hand brake and allow the front four to exchange positions. Last game, Laca was marked out. TP was not 100%. Saka ended up playing alone and failed. In the meantime, ESR was alone on the other side of the pitch. What we should have done is move ESR over to support Saka. We are still lacking some in game management. If the opposing team comes up with a plan to stop you, you have to make adjustments.
CC, welcome back
How do you see the season playing out?
Poch to ManU. It’s apparently happening.
Terraloon Saka and ESR are nailed on starters at the club, as promising as they are we’re going to have to manage through their growing pains. Chelsea aren’t with their young players because there’s a heavy staple of elite talent slap bang in their prime. Our version is Auba, Laca, Pepe. No comparison. Rich Cheers mate. Not too dissimilar to what I said last season, it’ll be decided by how much growth we see from ESR, Ode, and Saka. Auba is a busted flush, Laca is off, Pepe is shite. Club would benefit greatly from a statement CF signing in… Read more »
CC I actually don’t see such an issue with ESR as I do with Saka. ESR has seen the other side of football out on loan. I have to be honestI have concerns that both Saka and ESR have already had too heavy a burden through expectation placed on their shoulders But I agree 100% with you about the elite talent at Chelsea Ultimately the difference between the potential of a young player and a young player of potential delivering consistently is more often than not impossible to explain. There clearly is something that is gained from having experienced players… Read more »
Rich “He’s (Odegaard)ridiculously talented, seems like a bit of a marmite player, some seem to love him, some dislike him, bit like Ozil really, who I was never a fan of, and thought was a luxury we shouldn’t be accommodating” Aa you mentioned Ozil,let’s put it into context Ozil when he was 21 in his first season at real madrid Played 39 Assists ..23 Goals …7 Now that is ridiculously talented.. As i pointed out yesterday, our creativity has plummeted during the past 18 months as has Aubameyang’s goals. .. There was a brief resurgence in our creativity last christmas… Read more »
Pierre, the games changed a lot in the last 10 years
Impact players are thing of the past, if you can’t do both sides offensively + defensively, then you’ll never survive at the top
Terraloon Saka has more top flight experience than ESR, but it’s neither her nor there as far as I’m concerned. Neither are at the level to lead us into top 4 as fixtures in the starting XI. Our issue is that both are comfortably our best options either side of the CF. It’s been great to uncover talents like the pair, but the fact they’re as important as they are is just as much a sleight on our senior talent that end of the pitch. It’s a major factor in explaining our middling goals/creation numbers. I’d argue both players are… Read more »
Terraloon, we should have been 4-0 up after 25 mins, we took the lead and held it. We also beat them 3-1 earlier in the year with a worse team. I really wouldn’t weaponize Chelsea beating them at the weekend.
MD, you need to pick it up. You’ve gone into hiding for 3 months, now we’ve lost one game, you’re on here absolutely revelling in it whilst pumping Spurs and United. It’s embarrassing, it’s not for this blog. I have warned you repeatedly about this. Pick it up or go and take your insights to reddit.
Auba and Laca just gotta go, we need fresh blood up front. I understand we’re building from the back and we also need a midfielder that can release Partey.
Rich “Impact players are thing of the past, if you can’t do both sides offensively + defensively, then you’ll never survive at the top” Sorry to say but Odegaard is a fraud when it comes to the defensive side of the game, he is the master at shirking a physical challenge ( as Ozil was), he runs around a lot but never quite gets close enough to make a challenge. I said this months ago , he’s neither brave on the ball or brave off the ball , he never tries to commit a defender , he never tries to… Read more »
MD, all you do is post against the club, I removed Bamford for that reason. I don’t need someone on here with a perspective of a United or Spurs fan. If you can’t be here when we’re winning and your contribution when we’re losing is to pile on… what value are you bringing?
Pierre
Agreed… Ode is a lot like Ozil in the ways you highlight.
He needs to build muscle, get more physical. End of….
If he can do that, he will be able to deal with the rigors of EPL
You only hear what you want to hear, how many times do I have to repeat that I have supported Arsenal from my very first post here even taken the ridicule for suggesting that Ozil belongs in the squad. Couldn’t care less about Spuds, Man Utd. or any other EPL team, but that changes when they threatening AFC’s European football. As others mentioned that some posters are no longer posting here because of the blinder vision, you may want to give serious consideration to owning the domain name le-arteta.* it fits better your narrative. However it will become evident on… Read more »
MD, As it stands, the blind vision has us in 5th, 3 points off 3rd placed West Ham, so with all due respect, I really don’t care much for people who want to take their time elsewhere. Good for them. You took 3 months off after relentlessly bashing the club. Now you are back… relentlessly bashing the club. It’s not cool. It will become relevant who was right on the 22nd of May, no one is denying it… so maybe get with the program and find a little joy in a squad of players you had zero faith in all… Read more »
I’m surprised xG was the focus of the article. I think it does a disservice to trend analysis to not include all games from our league campaign thus far. There are less subjective performance metrics that still suggest we’re outperforming our table position. Things such as our pass completion ratio, opposition passes allowed, penalty box touches, shot conversion rate, defensive actions per opposition pass, pressures leading to turnovers. We rank mid to bottom table in all of these. Top 3 or no top 3 games. The most worrying for me is we’re allowing 14.6 shots per game on our goal.… Read more »
After watching Saliba a few games, I truly believe that Saliba can help us out defensively, especially when we are playing against those top teams. Saliba is calm and measured with his tackle. I felt sick watching White got out tricked by Jota for the 2nd goal. That would never have happened to Saliba.
I dont need xg charts to know that we do not creative enough chances and score goals.
Its plainly obvious.
Its been an issue since Mike took over and declining every season.
Saying it again, this is the major issue we face. Unless he has a plan that works, we will struggle again to remain up on the table.
We really need new strikers to help matters and another CM that can score consistently
White does go to ground very quickly. That Rashford video highlights that. He should stay on his feet much more if possible.
Sliding tackles are a 50 50 % chance of working…
IAT,
Since the the new defence was put in place.
12.3 shots conceded per game.
4.2 shots on target per game.
We have basically an entirely new defence of young players, not surprising they’ve had a few shaky games.
Since the new defence was put in place, we have the 3rd best defensive record, even with a hammering.
Not quite sure that’s Emery levels of worry.
My opinion on odegaard hasn’t changed. Not what we need.
In 2 seasons time, we will be looking to move him on, at 24 years of age, just like pepe. Age doesn’t automatically mean you get better. Some players just never go above a certain level and make the same mistakes when they are 28.
It’s the manager merry-go-round week with Zuidane snubbing Manure to take over PSG. Pochettino it seems has his eyes on the vacant Manure job he wanted when he was at Spuds.
Poch got Spuds over achieving but zero trophies, so with money to burn as is Manure’s way, Pochettino will feel at home in the United hot seat.
Let’s hope Manure are slow to hire Poch or any new manager before we play them.
People have the right to doubt arteta. After 100 games, his in game management is still zero.
Gonsterous, amusing that you think there’s an in-game shift we have available to us right now that would down Liverpool at Anfield.
I agree with Pedro; shocker I know, Ode will live up to his billing, but only with a experienced manager who knows how to play him to his strengths. Ditto Balogun and Martinelli, Guen and Saliba. Arteta is not that guy as his history with youth players is last resort type tactics. Play them if no one els available. Emery gave ESR and Saka their game time to be ready for Arteta. Arteta wanted older player who walked all over Arteta. The blog owner trolling his posters because they don’t agree with his POV where he only wants nice things… Read more »
Is it just me or does the headline absolutely scream flip flopper
Maybe Goober, but hiding behind silly tables is well just silly really. Only 2 things matter: the score on the day and the table position. That is the bottom line in football. The table never lies. Teams can be unlucky to be in a position below their worth or the opposite, but the table relies on nothing but results and points. At the end of there day the silly tables are just excuses for reality. Reality was the 4:0 roasting we got from Pool where Ramsdale saved us from a far worse and sackable scoreline. Reality will be who we… Read more »
We need new strikers.
Goober have you been to Vu De Monde in Melbourne? My daughter is hoping to be allowed in to do her Masters at RMIT spring next year, so will be in Melbourne for around 18 months. When her boyfriend goes over to see her I want to treat them to a good meal. They are both foodies. Silly as it may sound I watch Masterchef Australia. Can’t stand the Brit or other versions. It’s filmed in Melbourne so many of its top restaurants have been used for challenges as well as other around the country. I like the series for… Read more »
Tony, unfortunately I have not been to the Vu de monde. Looks incredible though.
There is too many good places to go in Melbourne, so I’m sure whatever you think of they will love!
“Gonsterous, amusing that you think there’s an in-game shift we have available to us right now that would down Liverpool at Anfield.” Oh I don’t know, Pedro selecting the better players in the first place would have helped and given us a better chance, don’t you think? Partey wasn’t fit. Auba is notoriously missing in the big games and has been very poor since his contract signing bar the odd good game. CT should have played with Tavares at right wing back or bench. Lakonga for Partey with AMN along side was my thinking. Eddie couldn’t be up front, as… Read more »
We can do with an Insigne type…
Small, can break the press, ball stuck to the foot type dribbler…
Quick and nimble
Santi like if I am honest…
We need a player like that in the team.. this 2 man DM thing is not working.
Its defensive and conservative…
4231
Heck we should go back to 442, at least that won us a few trophies
Thanks Goober you’re right, Melbourne is ranked highly for food from around the world same as seafood in San Francisco. Even the small collections of food stalls deliver excellent food like footpath stalls here. Food trucks are equally worth waiting for their fresh food in Aussi as they are in New York. There’s a place in Sydney as well that has similar billing so we’ll see next year. We’re all foodies in our family from the footpath stalls to Three Hats and Michelin Stars we enjoy food that is perfectly cooked with the right seasoning; it doesn’t matter the level… Read more »
Tony, tables never lie… unless it’s Arteta’s Arsenal, who are in 5th and all that matters to you is… the 1 game in 12 we have lost.
‘I was proven right’
there it is. Your first loss in 3 months and you are claiming a victory lap.
Painful stuff.
Proven right. Youngest team in the league didn’t win at Anfield and you called it, amazing prediction ability there.
Pedro
I bring up 100 games, zero in game management, and you bring up one game, Liverpool.
Liverpool everyone agrees was unwinnable. Let it go.
Pedro
You defend arteta like he has no flaws. Don’t understand why you are so sensitive on the subject.
It’s an opinion blog after all, don’t like what you read, skip past it, instead of I don’t know, deleting comments?
Gonsterous,
‘Zero in game management’ is such an extreme view.
He has ‘never’ changed a game is what you are saying.
Is that true?
Comedy gold Pedro. Some pearlers there.
Pedro, The issue is not the table. its getting wins against big boys, and if we did not, what did we do right? Did we create enough? Get shots? Score? I mean, you need to score to win games… so how about this metric? City the excuse was so many players missing etc. Pool, a young team who was expected to lose Then all this tables stuff…. The eyes dont lie Pedro… the simple truth is we are not hanging close with the big boys. I said the other day, you MUST get wins against them to crack top 4…… Read more »
Guns,
Incorrect. You don’t need to beat Liverpool and City unless you are title contenders.
We need to beat teams like Spurs, Leicester, West Ham and United.
Are we 5th right now, 3 points off 4th, are my eyes lying? Or are yours? All this ‘tables stuff’ you speak of… is the one I’m looking at untrue? Are you going argue calendar year tables that need to be actual tables… and now argue that actual tables are now the problem?
Make up your mind man.
The XG tables man.. all that shit… its just another metric that folks manipulate to prove their points. I dont care about those tables. I do care about the league table and yes its good to be in 5th.. However, we get hammered by the big dogs. Why? Why cannot we win or give a great performace? its always some excuse or another. If we lost to pool fine, I can take it, its the manner of which we lose that is concerning to me. If teams like West Ham or Brighton can give them a run, so can we.… Read more »
Matt B.
“Managing a team that came up from the Championship to play in the top flight for the first time in nearly 2 decades is very different to managing Arsenal”
It sure is.
Even on expectations alone. Yet we have slid back to nearly the level of Brighton or leeds according to some.
Pedro
You highlight correctly as I pointed out many times that the current Arsenal team are not competing this season with Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool. All three clubs have
beaten us very comfortably.
Our horizon is finishing ahead of West Ham, Man United, Spurs, Leicester and possibly Wolves. More importantly we should qualify for Europe.
We need to focus now on building up momentum once again starting off by beating Newcastle on Saturday.
The Arsenal is at the development stage of a total re-build where they need to start sounding out marquee players to build the squad around. For me it’s Haaland, he’s 21 years of age, he is on the launch pad to stardom & there is an opportunity for him to develop a partnership with Ødegaard, both at international level & domestic. Throw everything, including the kitchen sink , @ the transfer, let him know the team will be built around him going forward. Don’t!! tell me we are not in the frigging Champions League so he won’t come, we are… Read more »
ES
Some glaring truisms there I’m afraid. It would be more apposite to hear your thoughts on why this keeps happening and whether the coaches, management and administrators are part or wholly responsible for this apparently endless tendency to underwhelm. Of course we’ll beat Newcastle – we always do. But there’s no sense of progression is there under this set up?
Cc “Most on here felt those three were going to be leading us to the promise land this season because they’d shown great promise at 19/20 years old. Mysef and Weagle ignored the sentiment and pointed out a season reliant on their output for top 4 was pie in the sky stuff.” I agree with you on Saka and esr Leading the charge for top 4. But hardly anyone wanted to keep our attack the same. I will hold my hands up and say I wasn’t opposed to keeping Auba. But even at the time I was saying in order… Read more »
What I’m saying is there has been a lot of amateur calls from all facets of the club
Gnarlyg….
What an effing dream that would be
Terraloon “In the Arsenal game Leicester had 16 shots( 8on target ) Arsenal 9 (5 on target ) Leicester had 65% possession Arsenal 35% In the Chelsea game Leicester had 4 shots (3 on target) Chelsea had 16 shots (7 on target) and that possession was 62% Chelsea 38% Leicester.” This is actually funny. I understand that once a team gets that cushion lead they tend to drop off to some degree. But there is people saying that it’s a tactic to just drop intensity and let the opposition have bulk possession which leads to more attempts at our goal.… Read more »
Esr is better as a 10 and when he has more players around him/directions to play.
Goober
Don’t dream, Do!!
Kroenkephobe The hard facts are that Arsene Wenger stayed in the job too long and we were encumbered by the construction of a stadium which has limited the club’s investment in top class players. Also the premature death of Danny Fiszman created a vacuum at the club with two billionaires competing to own Arsene and as a consequence neither was prepared to invest money in the team as opposed to buying shares. That situation was resolved finally in 2018 when Kroenke managed finally to own the club 100% and has since then unlocked funds to improve the team. I think… Read more »
correction “own Arsenal in Para 2
We are conceding too many chances, if i take a sample from last season compared to this season, it shows that we are really struggling away from home this season compared to last season when it comes to stopping the opposition having shots on goal.. Last season in the league away from home, from Christmas until the end of the season. Played 11 Shots conceded 10.7 per game on average. This season away from home Played 6 Shots conceded 17.8 per game on average That is over 7 shots per game more we are conceding this season away from home..… Read more »
Too many conclusions being drawn after a standard drubbing at Anfield.
The test this season isn’t how we perform against the top 3 clubs, it’s how we perform against the rest, imo.
Newcastle, Bam Utd, and West Ham are better indicators of the process being made. 7 points from 9 and no one should care about losing to the best clubs in the PL.
Also, Xhaka isn’t the solution going forward. His name was barely mentioned during our unbeaten run. Knee-jerk analysis to suggest he would’ve been a difference-maker against Liverpool.
progress, not process
“Arteta is not that guy as his history with youth players is last resort type tactics. Play them if no one els available.“ Literally the youngest side in the PL, and ESR was on loan at Huddersfield the season Arteta came in only for Arteta to block a second loan and make him a feature of our first XI once he was fully fit. So much shit analysis that doesn’t track with reality. “But hardly anyone wanted to keep our attack the same.“ This simply isn’t true. At best you had calls for Lacazette to be sold because of his… Read more »
CC “Maybe because it’s commonly overlooked on here with posters thinking output/improvement is linear and expectant from 18 onwards.I was dismissed last season for claiming Saka, ESR, and Martinelli contributors to our poor attack because of their inexperience – this despite two of the three being what I’d consider the ‘best’ options for our first XI.” I see it a bit differently. If Saka and ESR were playing behind Cavani and Vardy, their goal/assist contributions would easily touch 20 plus per season. I look at Saka and Mahrez and I don’t think there’s anything Mahrez can do that Saka can’t… Read more »
Cc
Auba went from top goalscorer to what we see today over one season. I know I can see with my eyes that we don’t play to any of our forwards strengths. That is only one one man.
Only on*
When a manager can’t get a tap in merchant to tap in, he’s not going to be a merchant anymore is he
Tr7 I’ll second that. Or even if our system wasn’t so defence oriented then we might get auba in behind for a change
And it still all stems from avoiding the middle of the pitch because we can’t actually take control even if the opposition gives us the ball to play with.
Eddie and martinelli fit into Artetas system better than auba does. Even if they produced aubas dismal numbers, they would certainly give more for the team as a whole. What is Arteta scared of?
Goober This is actually funny. I understand that once a team gets that cushion lead they tend to drop off to some degree. But there is people saying that it’s a tactic to just drop intensity and let the opposition have bulk possession which leads to more attempts at our goal. Is it a tactic to rely on our keeper to stop the comeback? (Yes I know that sentence sounds weird as it’s fucking great having a keeper we can rely on). It’s a bit backwards if you ask me, trying to use those stats to make Arteta look great… Read more »
I think it’s about time this blog changed its name. You know, something relevant and based on the hosts perceptions. Any ideas people? What’s the point of running a blog for the masses when the masses are being told not to criticise or have a different POV to the blog owner. This has become a dictatorship, of that there is no doubt. Telling people to go elsewhere is the lowest of the low. In fact, based on the rhetoric of these past few months, I only come on here now to question Pedro’s blinkered opinions. I really can’t be bothered… Read more »
Also, before I forget, to not question Arteta’s antics on Saturday but rather compliment him for showing some spunk, is naive and blinkered to the extreme.
It’s staggering the lengths some people will go to to justify their own delusional opinions.
My apologies of the other week, are long forgotten.
Suprised it’s not bigger but the debt wow
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-10233491/Tottenhams-revenue-drops-40m-past-12-months.html
Terraloon
Don’t worry mate, you’re right in everything you highlight.
I watched the Chelski game. They annihilated Leicester. We didn’t.
Similar scores but two totally different games.
Thanks to Ramsdale, we got out of it with a clean sheet.
Thanks to VAR, Leicester only conceded three against Chelski.
Chalk and Cheese.
“I see it a bit differently. If Saka and ESR were playing behind Cavani and Vardy, their goal/assist contributions would easily touch 20 plus per season. I look at Saka and Mahrez and I don’t think there’s anything Mahrez can do that Saka can’t if we are talking purely skill set of the two player. The level ESR is playing at is probably the same level Nasri was operating at in 2010“ Suggesting Saka and ESR are at the level of Mahrez and Nasri of 2010 is pure romantic delusion. In 2010 Nasri had spent 4 years in the Marseille… Read more »
I think it’s about time this blog changed its name. You know, something relevant and based on the hosts perceptions Hi Graham, A few from me, straight of the top of my head. Le Drove – To recognise the masses of ex-contributors and dissenters that Pedro has alienated from his own site. Le clove – a paean to Brian Garlick and all the other admistrators that make our club such a well-oiled machine. Or, given the time of the year, ‘Mikelmass (ive ego and failure to deliver)’ Or if we want to get all literary. Pride (at narrowly beating Norwich)… Read more »
Tr7
Love both ESR and Saka, but they are not better than Nasri and Mahrez at the moment. Our youngsters are more athletic, however the latter are technically elite
Terraloon
706 million quid, long may it grow!
Pedro writing a blog about why we need to ignore xG has to be the most ironic thing I’ve ever seen 😂😂
Terra,
Well said.
China1
blog of laughs mate. Lord knows we all need it
Blog of laughs can definitely keep continuing at the spuds expense
Like cmon Pedro I agree 100% about xG. All these stats are only indicative and none of them conclusive without context. I always say this But for you to rail against xG when it makes arteta look bad but to weapon use it yourself vs Emery when he was winning early days with bad xG … nah I refuse to believe you’re not self aware enough to see this. You can’t pick and choose when to take the high ground on such issues just because you like the manager Wenger celebrated top 4 with worse squads and you said it… Read more »
CC Don’t bother wasting your time, experience doesn’t count for anything on Le Grove, lacking experience is an excuse, not a legitimate reason… Pierre is convinced you can flood the team with raw youngsters just starting out, and compete against the best, no need for any balance…. Trying to build a young team from the bottom up, is no excuse, the same people who demand we flood our team with inexperience, are the same ones who’ll then demand we sack the manager when they inevitably give inconsistent performances, and come unstuck against established teams of the highest quality Cohesion is… Read more »
Rich maybe if We had a team of experienced vets we’d have done better. Lola, luiz, mustafi, Willian, xhaka, el neny, soares, Leno all experienced players from last season who always covered themselves in glory if I recall correctly
Graham WhenI read some of the comments on here regarding the age of the squad , age of the starting 11 it really surprises me that so many think it’s a given that this team is going to be able to break into the CL/EL places. There are absolutely no guarantees and some of the stats being thrown at us to prove matters are just plain embarrassing. I am no coach but watch football at all levels and talk to others who have played at and managed football at reasonably elevated levels and one of the most interesting points came… Read more »
China
Straw man arguments as per, nobody is advocating for experience to be a driving factor in anything. Competency is always key.
But really not controversial to claim competent/experienced players and teams will beat competent/inexperienced teams majority of the time.
China Rich maybe if We had a team of experienced vets we’d have done better. Lola, luiz, mustafi, Willian, xhaka, el neny, soares, Leno all experienced players from last season who always covered themselves in glory if I recall correctly Of course they didn’t work well but there is still plenty of experience in the current set up but they too don’t seem to be able to focus on anything other than their own game. The major things that are missing is that ability to calm thing downs not to play at 100mph , not to play balls blindly, not… Read more »