Some of Arsenal’s stats so far this season

44 comments

1. That’s really interesting regarding our being the most fouled team and Liverpool/City being the least fouled. I have no idea what that could be interpreted as. Could it be our speed of play is slow enough to allow us getting caught? Torreira and Guendouzi do seem to be a foul-magnets, sort of a Jack Wilshere redux for both, trying to dribble past players, getting kicked in the process. Xhaka thinks fouling is defending. Interesting.

2. Yikes. That looks highly awful, in many different ways.
   Some big ones:
   Scoring – Auba and Laca have been pretty inconsistent. Ramsey has been out a fair amount, and once you get past those three, we have pretty much terrible options.
   Free kicks and corners – Ozil is better than Xhaka, but hasn’t played much, so we’re down because of that. But I’d also argue that we miss Giroud. Not only was he a big aerial threat, he forced teams to pay attention to him, opening up other opportunities. Currently we’re pretty weak aerially both on offense and defense. There was a brief TV shot on Sunday of Maitland-Niles trying to cover Maguire on a corner. The height difference looked like at least 6″.
   Fouls – I do get the feeling that the general policy around the league continues to be “play rough with Arsenal, as they don’t like it”. There’s really only two fixes to that, either the Arsenal exec team needs to pressure the league to have the refs provide more protection, or we need to get better at taking advantage of fouls.

   1. We don’t miss Giroud because I doubt he would do better than Aubameyang. What we are missing is creative players who can assist or score from direct play.

      1. I wasn’t proposing we trade back Auba for Giroud. Just that we have almost zero aerial threat now, which as you say, limits us.

   2. I firmly believe that Xhaka is put on corners duty because 1) he can’t head the ball to save his life and 2) he’s a massive liability defending counters. You could put him at the top of the box to hit those lucky strikes he loves so much but this is simply a way of maximizing his output. He truly is an awful footballer.

      1. I really would like to think positively about this team, but I can’t help but think the worst will happen in the league games, Europa games might turn out differently.

3. We are the most fouled bcoz ref don’t protect us
   The introduction of VAR will favour ars most next season
   Evans elbow on Toreira will not go unpunished
   niles second yellow card will be contested
   and many more
   I’m sure stats will greatly favour us

   1. VAR is not there to call fouls. Good God, that would slow the game to a crawl if it was.

      1. It would be used because a dive is also a cautionable offence, I have seen a referee give a card based on VAR recalling a foul.

   2. I think we are going to be the most VAR punished team in the League. I will bet you that, in fact.

4. Aubameyang lost 20big chances
   so so serious
   meaning he could have bagged 39 goals
   1 per game enough to get 2nd spot on the table

   One more thing is that we are not winning when opponent are down with one man but losing heavily when down with one man

   1. Big chances are converted at 50%. Assuming he scored 10 of his 19 in big chances, that’s 10 out of 30. So he could have got 4-6 more goals.
      Hard to say wherw that would put us, but if you consider the missed penalty with sp*rs and maybe one other victory, that would get us to second.

5. Shots shots shots shots shots… What Arsenal need and what we need while watching Arsenal.. Sheesh

   The most fouled despite so many fouls not being called is annoying but not at all surprising. I wonder if Sanllehi can do something about that. He supposedly knows how to move in these circles. Something like David Dein used to.

   I mean, if we’ve hired the shark who is gnawing at our leg, we might as well have him do shark things to other sharks.

   Great signing made with Deni Suarez though. Top work from the man who was never supposed to be in charge now also being in charge of the football because his ego couldn’t handle Sven’s expertise. I liked Sven and it seemed like he had a plan. Promises made to him were reneged on by Raul, just like with Ramsey. Seems a pattern with this dude.

   oh sorry, this was a stats based post.
   We know we don’t have a dribbler. I find it weird that we haven’t played Willock once Ramsey went down. The kid has some good skills and is better in the attack than Guendouzi. We definitely need to add some flair up front. So, Reiss Nelson it will be.

   The numbers on Torreira’s tackles. Does it seem like he’s become less effective as a defensive shield in the last few months? Is it fatigue, is there a change in tactics, or some fitness issue? I still like him. I think he’ll come good.

   Leno is awesome and I’m glad we have him (Thanks Sven)

6. Yo Tim. Now that our loan signing is out for the season with a groin injury, I remembered that you jokingly called him Penis Suarez.

   1. Remember how Doc was all “you’re better than that” and I was like “nope, I’m really not”.

      1. Heh. You’ve mellowed down. Maybe Doc wasn’t around in the early days.

         Where is Doc anyway? Is he banned or did he just decide to stay away?

   2. I never understood the amount of attention given to the Suarez loan by Arsenal fans( not necessarily here).I mean, there’s enough stick to beat Emery with everywhere else, from team selection, not a terribly attractive brand of football or even chop and changing formations to the point players have a right to get confused.
      But a nothing punt on a player he once managed?
      Jesus H C , even the now everyone’s new favorite manager , Klopp, has made worse transfer decisions Liverpool fans didn’t care to get their panties in a twist over.
      Three of his first signings for Liverpool: Grujic, Klavan, Karius cost them around £15 m and only Grujic may still have Liverpool future( doubtful) , while Klavan was sold for a loss and Karius cost them the CL and turned out to be a bit of a mental case.

      1. Yeah but Liverpool weren’t pleading poverty and umm let’s say overstating the impact of FFP on their finances. Nor were they pushing two of their best players out for that reason.

         I was against the Suarez signing because despite both coach and transfer fixer having history with him, they wouldn’t agree to a permanent deal in the summer “when we’ll have more funds”. Clearly they didn’t believe in him.

         But Suarez got himself a new contract at Barcelona, and they got to preserve value while getting a 6 month freebie. I’m sure they’re both content with this.

         1. None of what you just said makes it any more significant
            Like I said , plenty to nitpick with this club right now but the Suarez deal is making mountains out of molehills.

            1. I agree it isn’t all that significant. I was just saying why it got the attention it did.

7. If the rumors about Gabriel Martinelli are true, then we will be trying to build wingplay around Nelson and Martinelli.

   It’s no wonder we are no longer an attacking team, because we have no risk takers a.k.a dribblers. Compare the last stat about Alexis and Iwobi and it tells you the whole story. We desperately need to improve our attack and our defense.

8. Insightful post. The first thing that jumps out as mentioned already is our complete lack of dribblers. Infact, our complete lack of goals/assists from the flanks.
   To be fair we were linked with a few wide players over last summer O.Dembele (HA!), Malcom and i’m guessing Salomon Kalou. Then again in the Jan window with Carrasco, Perisic and i’m guessing Salomon Kalou.

   Point being, i think Emery thought we lacked quality out wide from day one. By January he knew. He asked for a CB and two wide players, to which the board replied “Si Senor. No problemo” as long as they cost a combined £2m with a combined wage increase of 80k pw.
   NO! said Dalian Yifang to a Kg of pure opium in exchange for Carrasco.
   NO! said Inter Milan to 7 royal blue versace suits in exchange for Perisic.
   End result? An underplayed, underloved and Unproven Attacking Mid on loan.

   This is why i have a hard time in accepting that all our woes are all down to Emery. Yes he has made mistakes, but i honestly feel with our current team and lack of financial backing 90% of coaches out there would struggle to do much better overall than Emery in my opinion.

   1. That transfer breakdown was entertaining.

      Agreed that it’s not all, or even mostly, on Emery. But I don’t think Emery’s gone about things right. He’s not made the most of his options. If wingers were always needed, why loan out Nelson? Or ESR in January. Why not play the likes of Nketiah, Amaechi, Saka etc?

      If it isn’t working because the players lack a set of skills, then use the inexperienced talent we have who do possess them. Those mistakes are more tolerable, and you gain by building for the future. Promoting the youth was one of the goals he’d cited himself when he was first introduced.

      So, I have sympathy for Emery. I just don’t think his vision for how to play football is very good. He seems like he’s afraid of risks, even when they are necessary. Frustratingly, even when they pay off. For once he’ll start with an attacking lineup, we’ll play well, go ahead, and he’ll make a defensive sub to try to kill the game.

      I said this after the BATE loss, and I think it might be true again, though to a lesser extent because we have the EL trophy within sight. It doesn’t seem like the players believe in him. Maybe because he doesn’t show belief in them and their abilities.

      1. There’s stories coming out now, however true, that the players are confused by his instructions.

         1. Arseblog had a good discussion about Emery’s style and it was suggested that it’s in actuality a reaction mindset and not the “protagonist” mindset he said he wanted at the outset of the season. I would hesitantly agree. That unfortunately means instructions could be changing on a steady basis, including during games and also players like to buy into a vision that they can work towards. It’s all adding up to Emery becoming an underwhelming manager.

            1. Honestly, I think he’s just a bit of a control freak. Any deviation from his plan -good or bad- by the players or during the game, just gets him to try to seize back control.

               If we’re losing he’ll make quick subs (which often work it must be said) if we’re winning and playing well but are ‘too open’ he’ll proactively make subs to slow the flow of the game.

               2 of our more adventurous players got on his bad side. Iwobi has had the unpredictability coached out of him. Miki plays because he runs to defend and stay in shape more than being effective in attack. Young players aren’t trusted.

   2. Thanks for the perspective!

      Please, I appeal that we should all give Emery this one season for him to understand this team, this league and (ironically) his bosses before we hang him or condemn “his style” and pass a vote of no confidence.

      This was the general sentiment preseason, though Emery (ironically) with his 22 games unbeaten run and relatively better performances in big games somehow convinced a lot of us to adjust expectations up a level.

      Now that current reality appears to be toeing the line of general expectation preseason, what do we do? Completely turn around to burn everything before it even gets a proper start?

      It’s very unlikely the club will sack the new man. But, if the general sentiment turns against the new man even before the end of the current season,…

9. This is grim reading… good lord.

10. Tim, I’m not suggesting like for like but do the stats compare with Emery at PSG or Seville I.e. low shots, dribbles and poor set pieces are indicative of his style or are these unique to him being at arsenal?

    Just trying to gauge whether this is being compounded by emery or more a result of him trying to get the best out of our average squad.

    1. At Sevilla Emery had a negative shots ratio in each season, growing worse toward the end. And his teams tended not to dribble as much as people might like, though that could be down to personnel – remember that Sevilla got players in on the cheap and dribblers are rarely cheap. They did, however, generate a fair number of shots from corners and free kicks. I think the set play problems at Arsenal aren’t down to his playing style but rather the fact that we have one of the worst free kick takers in the League taking our free kicks and no one even up front to deliver them to.

11. Leicester fan I work with who was at the game on Sunday reckons that Lacazette goes down every time he’s touched, which is not how I see Laca at all… Is this a thing? Is this why we are so fouled?

    1. Torreira is Arsenal’s most fouled player, Guendouzi is second, Xhaka is third. These three players account for almost half of the fouls received per game. Teams are targeting Arsenal’s midfield. Lacazette is 4th most fouled because he’s a dribbler, a forward, and often has to hold up play while our slow-ass team gets into attack.

12. for anyone who thinks emery should continue as arsenal manager next season, i have a question. is that based on something that you’ve seen or is it based on blind faith? the bible defines faith as something hoped for with zero evidence that it’s real.

    what we know to be real is that emery was brought into psg because of his success in tournament play and psg were desperate to win a particular tournament. he’s blown the biggest aggregate lead in champions league history. he failed to win a stepped down league when he had a ridiculously unfair advantage over everyone else. he managed to go an entire season with no away wins. he’s had conflicts with his biggest players everywhere he’s gone. finally, under emery’s supervision, we’ve watched arsenal play the worst football most of us have ever seen.

    this season, we’ve seen evidence of emery being what he’s been his entire career, a serial bottler. he’s failed to keep many of the commitments he made to gazidis and the arsenal fans. there’s absolutely nothing suggesting he’s capable of making good on his promises except faith. should we hope for divine intervention? please, folks. it’s football! do we really need god to successfully manage a football club? no. god does miracles. we simply need competence.

    fyi, i was team vieira/bergkamp and the non-flying dutch master is doing quite alright developing talent with less money at ajax. same with pv4. that was based on evidence of what i’d seen from them in the past, not faith.

    1. Say if we were to sack Emery next month and hire another coach, surely the most we can have in that new coach is faith. Regardless of their prior successes, I only say this as there has been numerous occasions where the hiring of a well decorated coach does not replicate similar success at their new club. Nothings guaranteed in this sport so faith or lack of it is all we have until the end of May.

       1. fair comment. my point, however, is that emery is showing us that he is who he’s always been; there’s nothing we’ve seen this season to suggest that he can make arsenal better. i have no belief he can make arsenal a title contender or even entertaining to watch. i said the same last summer. time always tells.

          on the players side, granit xhaka is the biggest problem. he lacks the tactical nous/situational awareness to make sound and timely decisions. as a cdm, the most important position on the field, your sa has to be beyond reproach. it can’t be marginal or average. you have to be able to play without the ball and you have to be the smartest guy on the field. at his age, he’ll improve a little but not enough to be a top cdm. as a result, arsenal won’t win any championship counting on him to control the game’s tempo. there’s a direct correlation with xhaka’s arrival and arsenal’s fall from the champions league.

          while i don’t blame xhaka for being xhaka, arsenal have to recognized the need to do something about his lack of suitability at cdm or it’ll continue to be their biggest problem.

13. Regarding Unai Emery, i honestly believe he should be here next season. My reasonings for this are quite simple.

    If i recall it correctly the vast majority (if not all) of our summer signings were made BEFORE we hired Emery so i’m guessing he had no say on who came in.
    Then in January we were working with a £2m budget for loans while Emery wanted a CB to cover the loss of Holding , a wide player to cover Welbeck and another Wide/attacking player because our wide / attacking players weren’t consistent enough. We all know how that turned out.

    I see Emery as a transitional manager for us i.e 2-4 years so i have no real attachment to him whatsoever, in fact the last week i think he got many things wrong but to sack him after one season without financially backing him is wrong imo. £40m summer rebuilding budgets are a disgrace to a team of our size and structure when you consider newly promoted Fulham spent a cool £100m.

    I’m not Emery in or out, i just think we need to give him a year to shake it all about.

    1. I think I agree with pretty much all you’ve said and you put it far better than my blatherings on a different general comment.

    2. I don’t want Emery signing anyone.

14. We have a lot of players who should leave in the summer. Õzil and his wage, Mhkitaryan, Xhaka, Elneny, Welbeck,Mustafi and Lichsteiner, if we can successfully get these guys out and replace them with young glory-hungry players, then we would do better.

    While everyone is on about Emery. We forgot that Oxlade was our most recent sale of note and we don’t sell well. This is compounded by Ramsey’s exit and the need to show some balls by the club management. I am not a Ramsey fan, but his situation illustrates why Kroenkes are very much the problem with Arsenal.

    So, there’s BOD mentality issues, management issues and poor player psychology issues prior to Emery.

    This is the Arsenal football club, a billion pound club hamstrung by the owner’s lack of diligence in the past, and the owner’s penny pinching stance in the present.

15. I’m just adding to the general question of: “should we keep faith in Emery for the second half of his contract, or admit we got it wrong and get someone else?”

    What were Emery’s targets this season (not ours as fans)?
    – was it simply(!) to get us into the CL?
    – was it to *begin* to rebuild the team/ lay the foundations (via style or structure or whatever)?

    I ‘think’ (I obviously have zero knowledge if its true) that his priority was CL.
    Why?
    Well I don’t think its fair to *expect* both those of anyone in their first season.
    Either:
    – take what you’ve got and find a way to get to CL,
    OR
    – take what you’ve got, set down a ‘style’/philosophy and begin to build (ie identify those that can execute this style).
    Expecting as a bare minimum both is… ‘tough’.
    The lack of investment in the team after Emery joined might also suggest “this is what you have – get them to the CL”.
    However you could equally say “these are the players you’ve got – show us a style that we can get behind and find who stays and goes”.

    So, if Emery’s single objective was CL for next season then… sadly he has failed and we’ll start again. I say “sadly” as I think its unrealistic to expect that of a new coach but there you go. I also expect him to be our manager as it will save face for Raul.
    But I also think he should have a season where he gets at least *one* transfer window to bring in players to get to the CL (I’m now thinking his ‘style’ may not be something the Board actually want long term anyway, hence why some commenters say “transitional” and I think they’re right, as does a 2+1 contract).

    Shard – I think you wondered whether we should trust in faith but mate, mate, stop with all this negativity mate.
    Also pulling his contract now would almost be as bad as having one on the table and then pulling it off said table, even though the person didn’t necessarily ‘fail’ which would hardly be an Arsenal thing to do, though…

    [ahem]

    ;¬)

    1. Expectations from Emery were listed by the then CEO and Emery himself at the start of the season. There’s no need to guess.

       The target wasn’t explicitly stated as CL, but it is assumed that it is pretty high up the list. We might even get there still.

       I didn’t make the faith argument, and I don’t think I’m being negative. I’m not even against Emery staying. I do worry though.

       And in the past I’ve stated that I felt that just as we turned down Wenger because of his inexperience (in England) in favour of Rioch, we possibly turned down a new transformational manager in Arteta in favour of Emery. We rectified it then, and look where that got us.

       But arguing for Arteta is more of a faith based argument. So I’m not pushing that. However, it does seem like members of the previous regime had more of a vision for Arsenal than this.

       1. Shard – massive apologies.
          My hamfisted attempt at humour (faith “mate”) was… rubbish.
          Massive apologies (and apologies to Faith in fact).

          You’re one of the commenters I look out for and consider.

          And I actually agree with you. After reading the Amy Lawrence article on the Guardian I was wondering if that was where Gazidis was wondering.

          But – to be clear, I expected us to be 6th before the season. Everything more was gravy.
          I would stick with Emery next season possibly out of faith (or hope?).

          Again – massive apologies if my ham-fisted comment was misconstrued (and if this one is also!).

          1. Relax dude. I didn’t take it personally. If I appeared curt it was just that I was about to go tune in to the CL game.

16. appropos nothing but watching the Sp*rs Ajax match.
    Ref rightly asked if Vertongen was ok to come back onto the pitch after a head clash with his own player.

    He was told by Sp*rs staff there’s no problem.

    Vertongen went back on then head went down and they had to (rightly) replace him.

    In Rugby in England this has been taken out of the ref’s hands but also the player’s hands.
    Head ‘bang’ (from challenge or hitting ground) is immediately a HIA (Head Injury Assessment).

    Soccer is less ‘impact’ based than Rugby (and with players getting bigger and faster in rugby this situation is rightly being balanced in the possibly injured player’s behalf) but footy should be looking there for where they might improve, not (just) VAR (where I think it will have negative improvement and actually a negative impact).

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