One thing that amazes me every time I watch Man City play is their work ethic. I don’t know how Pep does it. How does he convince guys like de Bruyne, Jesus, and Sterling to play both ends of the pitch? I am an Arsenal supporter and I am so used to seeing forwards do one of two things: either dash about on their own to close down on a defender/keeper (whilst waving their arms at their teammates in a big show of “HEY LET’S PLAY DEFENSE GUYS”) or players literally standing still after they turn the ball over (sometimes looking dejected).
A few years ago, when Emery came to Arsenal, I wrote about what Arteta could bring to the club. Yes, you read that right: I wrote about Arteta on the eve of Arsenal signing Emery. But the point of the post was that Arsenal needed a boot up the arse in terms of defensive workrate, especially from some of the forwards.
Back in May 2018, I wrote a post titled Arsenal need a culture change and a DM to compete for the title. In that post I said:
“My point here is that Arsenal’s forwards and attacking players don’t put in the work that other players in the League do and if Arteta is going to be the manager next season, and he carries on with the teachings of Guardiola, they are all going to have to play a much more proactive defensive role.”
As you know, Arsenal didn’t hire Arteta, they hired Unai Emery and instead of getting better at defense, well.. Arsenal got.. not better. Actually, Emery made Arsenal significantly more passive in defense than even Arsene Wenger who was often criticized with “he doesn’t do defense”. I wrote about that topic over on Arseblog News in October.
If I’m honest, lazy defending and players who just won’t defend is the one thing that absolutely infuriates me. I know that’s technically two things but I get so angry that they literally (figuratively) melt together into one item.
Since we are all about positive vibes here on 7amkickoff I just want to point out the good news! The good news is that the young players like Martinelli, Saka, and Willock are beasts when it comes to work rate on the pitch!
A few definitions: FBITS are simply adding up how many Fouls, Blocked passes, Interceptions, and TackleS a player makes per 90; “Poss Won” is how many possessions they won back (just add tackles and interceptions); and then the whole chart is sorted by the player’s NP xG+xA or non penalty expected goals and assists.
The good news is that when Arteta watches this team and analyzes the players he will see that Saka, Martinelli, and Torreira are going to fit right in to his style and will give the 120% that he demands.
I wonder how much of the discussions with Arteta centered around getting rid of the dead weight. Arteta will not want to play Ozil, Luis, Kolasinac, Xhaka, Lacazette even. Does he want to deal with the drama of benching them in favor of younger players? Probably not. It’s better just to clear them out, make the reset official.
Ozil isn’t going anywhere until his contract is up. Maybe the club could show some gumption and buy him out but I’d be surprised if we do. Another option is to wait for him to say/do something that they can use to get out of the contract.
But look, personally I hope that Ozil sees the light: playing defense, winning the ball back, MEANS MORE CHANCES FOR HIM TO SCORE/CREATE.Unless he just doesn’t want to play football anymore, he should embrace Arteta’s philosophy, really.
But you know, I’ve played with guys who would say “the defenders should defend”. They are usually big-ego turds and awful to play with. They also often lose games. It’s a team sport after all.
You were hopeful that Emery could make Ozil see the light of day. I think there’s even less chance of Arteta doing so because there’s only 6 years age difference, they played together and Ozil probably will think his status is higher than Arteta’s. (This is probably going to be his #1 problem as a manager – his age and lack of gravitas).
As I commented yesterday, Ozil’s immediate response to the team losing possession is despondency. Pressing needs anger as the immediate response to losing possession. Anger which energizes the players to pursue and harass opponents. This is a really hard paradigm switch for veteran players who’ve been more “low” pressure players – not impossible, but really hard.
Ozil has had one good 30 minute spell in a year, against West Ham second half when he was coming back and picking the ball off of Torreira. I think we’re all done wishing he’ll come around to the idea of putting in top-gear shifts game in, game out. If there’s any way to get him out of the club, I’d be for it.
The point is that he’s not a good presser/tackler, and he has mostly played in systems where he wasn’t required to be. Like Elneny, he “essays” a lot (like one of my co-workers used to say, looks busy not doing much).
I don’t think it’s despondency or anything like that… he just can’t do it day in and day out. The last FA cup final we won not that long ago, Arsene had everyone tackling, including Ozil. So let’s see how Arteta does. My hunch is that he’s not going to start a lot of games under him.
You mention a clearout in your first post, Jack, but that is not realistic mid-season. Arteta has to work with what he’s got. He may get an add or 2 in January (Denis Suarez anyone?). And come the summer, he’s going to realise that he’s not budget unlimited like he was at City.
Clearouts are not easy. Players on fat contracts are going nowhere. Emery told Mustafi PUBLICLY to find another club.
I’m pretty sure loan arrangements can be found for players to get out. And I would bet a lot of them would be happy to go given the negativity around the team.
I’m just worried that if Arteta sits Ozil again, here we are with the Ozil Drama pt II. Plus we’re entering the last year of a contract with Lacazette, January might be the best time to cash in. There’s players we can move along.
I dont know what makes you so “pretty sure”. Not precedent, that’s for sure. It’s clear that some expectations of Arteta are going to be too high. This is one. He will face the same issue that Emery did, which is that many of his personnel solutions are going to have to be internal. Mustafi was under no little pressure to leave. Jenkinson held out for 4 years after it became clear that he didnt have a future at Arsenal.
The issue with Ozil isn’t sitting him. Emery went from totally exiling Ozil from all squads, even league cup squads and dead rubber Europa games, to starting him every premiership game just before he was fired. Which is it? His treatment of the player was (you yourself said it) constructive dismissal.
I love Mesut Ozil. I think his skills make football worth watching. I spoke up against his treatment by the club, the coach and the fans all of last season.
But the issue was never about dropping him or not. In fact, I even argued if Emery didn’t think he was a good fit he should leave Ozil out and stick to it. Leaving him out doesn’t mean freezing him out of the squad btw. Emery did some 2-3 flip flops on this. Like he did with Ramsey.
Ozil isn’t infallible or irreplaceable. He’s also not worthless. I don’t think dropping him is an issue as long as there is a system that works, and/or Ozil can also be used sometimes.
Well said, Shard. Exactly.
If you think Ozil will press and do defensive duties you really are deluded.He hasnt done it for 6 seasons.When he plays we are playing with 10 men.We need Arteta to be a strong manager not weak like a latter day Wenger or Emery and not play Ozil. We need a George Graham revolution which we got in 1986 when he got rid of the slackers and shirkers and brought in grafters like Dixon Winterburn Bould Richardson Smith Groves and Marwood.We won the title 3 years later
I don’t think Ozil will press. I think Arteta will drop him.
You’re the exact kind of narcissist that kills the fun of the game.
You know what I do with guys like you? First I tell you you have to defend. If you refuse, I leave my defensive duties and go stand in your space, if the ball comes near you I might even come take it from you. Then you go cry to the manager.
Goodbye “Goat”.
The first thing Arteta must do is tell Ozil he has no part in his plans.Ozil is like a bad smell he just wont go away. All those fans who begged Emery to bring him back in the team can now see he brings nothing to the team. I would rather see Smith-Rowe start and try his best than a lazy Ozil strolling around the pictch. Arteta has to be strong from the start No Mustafi Xhaka Ozil and Luiz in the starting line up.
I think ironically, Mustafi is useful playing a high defensive line because he does have some speed as a CB. Arteta will probably bring him back in from the cold (again).
And if you’re going to play a high pressing game you have to play a high back line. The analogy is to having a blanket that’s not quite long enough to cover you from head to toe; if you want to cover your head, the feet are exposed. Cover the feet and the head is exposed. Try to cover the head and feet and you tear the blanket in half. I.E. under a high-press system the back line will have to play higher up the pitch, leaving the feet exposed. You need CB’s with pace (or at least a Mertesacker-ian ability to read the game well).
Mustafi, after his Norwich fustercluck wasn’t even on Freddie’s bench for Brighton or West Ham. I scanned the Arseblog and Guardian live blogs after Norwich– where the commentators listed 8 real errors in the match for #20. This included failing to haul down Teemu Pukki from behind– with both arms.
Keep hearing: “There’s a good footballer in there somewhere.”
I’m convinced that guy made his his escape– and we’re now stuck a footballing version of Cybil.
Hard ‘No’ on Mustafi.
Whatever tools #20 brings to the pitch?
He manages to make every other defender worse– by the skittishness in his decisions.
Mustafi has everything he needs to be a top class defender. Good technique, decent size, good speed. He just lacks the mental consistency for it. It cannot be taught. He learns to be in good positions. He understands. He just cannot keep it up.
If he were trained as a forward, he might even have gone on streaky scoring spells and become spearhead for a lower level team. At CB, he causes panic because he just cannot be trusted.
According to the stats, Torreira defied recent descriptions of being too short and lightweight… something those us who like what the guy brings felt was an anfair assessment. He is one of the standout defensive players for Arsenal, according to those stats. Hope this kills that talking point. Martinelli ‘s workrate is just ridiculous for a forward. Ridiculous.
Steve McLaren and Kevin De Bruyne distilled, brilliantly, what some of us have been saying for a long time. Defending starts with the forwards. Perhaps Willock had a few one-off bad games of late, but those numbers are good ones for him.
And Im kind of amused that the only player ahead of Xhaka in the foul stats is Saka.
Adding ESR in midfield is a big plus pressing. He and Martinelli paired are like sharks. That kind of tandem effort makes a City-like attacking press sustainable.
Nope, Torreira is still too small and slow. I would trade him for someone bigger and faster like Ndidi in a heartbeat. Thanks!
Man, I love it when you debate your own stats.
Stats don’t tell the whole story.
You can just watch him ping off of defenders and go flying 10 feet or constantly pretend that he’s been fouled or watch him try to run back and get caught 30 yards away from the play to see that he’s not physically cut out for the Premier League.
You know what Ndidi’s FBITS90 are? 10.8.
Like I said, I would take him in a heartbeat over Torreira and I like Torreira. It’s not about liking the guy, it’s just straight up a much better player in a much needed position.
Torreira is OK for now and in a slower, less adventurous system he would probably be better.
Actually, sorry I got that wrong, his FBITS90 are 12.6 – he absolutely eviscerates Torreira’s humble 7.6.
Amid the City debacle, he was one of the players who played well. And the stats support that eye conclusion. The thing I like about stats is that they kill narratives. Or are supposed to anyway.
I dont disagree that Ndidi would be a great fit for us, by the way. Thing is though that we dont have him.
Ok, but Torreira isn’t even putting in the same work rate as Saka or Martinelli. As for the City performance, after Man City had us beat 3-0 and put the handbrake on, Torreira made 3 tackles and won possession once. Zero interceptions, zero blocks, 19 passes (2 free kicks), 1 key pass (long ball), 26 touches. I guess he was ok before that: 2 tackles, 2 interceptions. But the scoreline kind of puts that stat line in perspective.
Look at some of the other DMs against City
Ndombele: 11 FBITS
Fabinho: 11 FBITS
Shelvey: 11 FBITS
Torreira: 8 FBITS
This is an ever expanding argument, Tim. Your own stats are showing that Torreira was one of the more effective performers on the day, which is where I started. Yet you talk about the bouncing 10 feet off people. I too love Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd imagery, but come on.
Are there better DMs at other clubs? You bet. Would we like to recruit an Ndidi. Well, yeah. If he’s willing to take the step down. I respect your adeptness with stats (which I do not have) but I’m going the bet that while he is behind in FBITS against the 4 guys you referenced, he is ahead of some others. Amirite?
My point isnt about whether there are better DMs at other clubs or whether we couldnt use one ourselves. LT did not fit the description of the elegant beat of my years of yearning. But yet, in an utterly lost cause against one of the best teams in football, he performed with great credit. He is a good player, and can be a better one for us in a better tactical and coaching structure, I feel.
That said, if he hadn’t missed his tackle on De Bruyne, we might have stopped Sterling’s goal.
Quite agree Tim. Is there a stat for time spent sitting on your ass? Nowhere near strong enough. Also, whenever the other team score, look around and see where he is on the pitch and note what he is doing, or rather not doing. Marginally more switched on defensively than Xhaka the Ballwatcher, but then so is Gunnersaurus.
Ndidi’s had been a beast for Leicester this season as underscored by his defensive stats. Even Kante (albeit being injured and played in a different role) can’t compare to his stellar displays in the past few months. Given how awful we had been, we probably wouldn’t even have a sniff at getting a repeat of Vardy-gate.
Was actually curious if we should take a leaf out of Liverpool’s playbook and pick promising players from the lower teams like Doucoure from Watford and Mings from Villa to boost our fragile backline.
I’m thinking Ozil’s comments about the Chinese government might mean a parting of the ways with Arsenal. As long as he is associated with the club. Any business, merchandising revenue in Asia will be dead in the water. I think the board needs to be proactive about moving him on. Or the mud will stick that we’re backing the player amidst his allegations. I suggest we mutual cancel his contract. Pay him off and be done. We don’t want to make an enemy of China
“Any business, merchandising revenue in Asia will be dead in the water….We don’t want to make an enemy of China.”
We DO need to be making an enemy of China over their murders of and brutal discrimination and suppression of its Muslim Uighur population. Yes, let’s lose some money over this.
wtf is wrong with us football supporters?
I absolute defend his right to political speech, and I feel the club should have said that even if his words represent him alone.
I mean they could’ve added that to their statement – we defend his right to free speech. That’s it. Unfortunate that they didn’t.
Agreed. Cowardly stance by the club. Sadly, not unexpected.
Did you see they’ve removed Ozil from copies of Pes2020 in China.
Spot on Claudeivan – since when do we (club and supporters) decide who can live and who can die as long as our football club isn’t inconvenienced?
The very fact that some are even suggesting that Ozil is wrong, just shows where this country is at, where Human Rights are concerned.
Politics aside, he’s basically killed any chance we had of fobbing him off to China!
Yes! 😂
Those were my thoughts too.
Sub-head…. “And at a stroke, Mesut doused all talk of finishing his career at Guangzhou Evergrande”.
Judging by his comments, it doesn’t seem likely that he would have been interested in going there to live whether he had spoken out or not.
There are a lot of good reasons to move Ozil on. This isn’t one of them. Not wanting to be associated with someone because he dislikes the systematic state oppression of a religious group is not a particularly laudable stance.
And yes, I know Ozil is bffs with Erdogan. Hypocritical? Sure. I don’t find it particularly relevant to the situation in China, however.
The fact that he’s wrong on Erdogan doesn’t make him not right about the oppression and ‘re education’ camps in China.
For their sake I’m happy for him to speak out on their behalf rather than trying to silence him and draw attention away from their oppression by calling him a hypocrite and making the conversation about him.
This is crazy
The biggest problem that arsenal is having currently is the center back. Arteta need to try out the partnership of chambers & Holding that’s if he’s expecting change in fortunes because the partnership of sokratis & luiz is doing nothing and I could go far by even saying once one of them is on the pitch, we still see the same problem so why not just give the British lads a run in the EPL which will definitely enhance there confidence and of course see a good fortune.
The biggest problem that arsenal is having currently is the center back. Arteta need to try out the partnership of chambers & Holding that’s if he’s expecting change in fortunes because the partnership of sokratis & luiz is doing nothing and I could go far by even saying once one of them is on the pitch, we still see the same problem so why not just give the British lads a run in the EPL which will definitely enhance there confidence and of course see a good fortune.
Some thoughts:
1. I’m 100% behind this appointment, even though I’m >50% sure it will fail. Emery was a supposed safe choice and he failed. This job is tough, and we have little to go on. But I like the boldness, and the upside is tremendous.
2. I’m not impressed by all this stuff on Arteta’s ideas going around. It’s thin gruel, and we’re getting excited by nothing. Players give 120%, so what. I’m sure Allardyce asks the same. The real problem is enforcing that, changing the culture. Everything else he said was generally milquetoast. But again, what detail could he possibly give at that stage that would convince us. So, it’s fine.
3. Hard working players is key, and it’s good Saka and co. are that way. Can he get that out of some of the more senior players who have less to prove? Auba? Lacazette? Xhaka (who is surely gone in Jan)? Ozil (who should be told to go travel the world on our dime, but not to show up at training anymore)? Kolasinac? Guendouzi (who looks like he thinks he’s made it this season, or is just struggling with all the change)? And how does he get that effort from some while getting rid of those who won’t commit, without poisoning the well or alienating their friends (e.g. Ozil, Kolasinac, Xhaka I believe are close?).
4. If I were him I would roll in there and say I want to see complete commitment from day 1 – no pre-judging anybody, clean slate etc. By Jan 1st, I will evaluate. Anyone who is giving less than 120% is on the transfer list. Don’t care how integral they are (Auba) or unmoveable they are (Ozil), they’re basically gone. But those who commit and show 120% in training are guaranteed a look-in. This doesn’t always work but by asking them to commit for 2 weeks – it’s not long! – you can see where there is hope and where there isn’t.
5. Arteta needs an excellent support staff, but also an experienced staff. The players may not necessarily respond to him due to his lack of experience, but if they see the new TEAM means business, then that will help.
Arteta was always strong-willed, and that counts for a lot. But it isn’t everything. He needs the players to buy in, and he needs the fans to give him time. His template shouldn’t be Pep, but Poch at Spurs.
“But again, what detail could he possibly give at that stage that would convince us.”
No dossiers or Powerpoint presentations will be accepted.
You’re on the money fella. Last season we began at the top of the table for distance run (I know it’s a crude metric) but was held up at the time as the positive impact of Emery. Culture change is what it’s all about and we’ll be able to see it very quickly as the players will (hopefully) begin to play like a team, yer know, run for each other, be available for a pass, track back.
Ozil to be removed from Pes 2020 in China after comments.
Holy sh-t.
The Chinese version of the game.
Forget about whether we like Ozil as a player or a person. There is no more important issue in life than standing up to authoritarian bullies.
Speaking of which, happy Impeachment Day. Not comparing DJT to China, of course. Just saying we should stand up to authoritarian bullies.
Where is the line though? Ozil stands up for Uyghurs but seems to have no problems with Israeli, Russian, Saudi, and American Muslim oppression and unrestricted warfare. China is an easy target because no one really understands China, and they don’t have a big Twitter population.
Ozil is free to speak his mind, but China is also free to disagree and shut him from the country and her markets.
There is no line here. Ozil is free to speak up for any cause he wants to, without needing to speak about any of the other things.
Agreed.
If the only people allowed to speak up are those that are politically and morally perfect then that’s going to leave a very small group of voices speaking out on behalf of oppressed people who need all the voices and support they can get.
“they don’t have a big Twitter population”
😄You want to make a wild guess why that is?
They don’t have Twitter because they use Weibo, they don’t use Facebook because they use WeChat Moments, they don’t have Google because they use Baidu. It’s entirely possible for people to live in a separate internet ecosystem.
Lots of people in China speak up against their government actually. I live in Beijing and just the other day, there was a placard waving peaceful protest going on downstairs over worker compensation. They just use different tools which aren’t seen by the rest of the world.
And I’ve spent two months working in Urumqi (capital of Xinjiang province). The place is run like a police state with security checkpoints at every major junction and a bag scanner into every building. It feels a lot like post 911 America but that’s because it’s remarkably alike… Muslim radicals had caused thousands of deaths in China over the past few years, and this is simply the CCP’s response. Now the question is if it’s an overboard response.
Are they being put into concentration camps and is there culture being erased? No. If anything they are resisting the influx of wahhabi islamism which is a problem Europe has with their Muslim population, and with which the USA has responded with full-scale bombing.
I don’t pretend to say that the population there is happy with being asked to go for forced technical classes and political reeducation, but there is simply no evidence of a massive death toll or even millions in a camp. China’s response in Xinjiang has so far been a massive infrastructure upgrading scheme to boost the province’s economy and these camps are ostensibly to provide training to engage the populace.
It’s a bit similar to western coverage of the HK protests. Number of protestors shot dead by policemen: Zero. And somehow this is a humanitarian crisis that’s worse than the protests in Catalunya and Chile which have received zero negative press coverage and no #StandwithHK tags by NBA GMs.
Let’s face it. The Western media has a motive against China and holds the country to a separate standard.
Dude, it’s not about people not understanding China and them being an easy target.
It’s about the FACT that the state has detained over a million people in forced ‘re education’ camps, breaking up families and subjecting them to abuse until they ‘voluntary’ give up their religious traditions.
It’s not a case of whether or not it’s happening. It IS happening and it’s an abuse of millions of people’s human rights and Ozil is right to draw attention to it.
Ultimately, if you care about the people he’s speaking out on behalf of, then his hypocrisy in other areas is of secondary concern to the fact he’s right on this.
It’s not about him and his hypocrisy.
It’s about them and their oppression.
I’m not sure about the facts. It’s not likely to be good, but I’m fairly certain some of the claims and figures are not true. One sign is the figures vary anywhere from 1 million to 3 million. It’s usually an indicator of motivated reporting. Something the Western media routinely does against a geopolitical rival.
The reasoning for the existence of the camps is not given any consideration. Nor what interest the US has there. Enough for the NED ie the CIA, to fund the ‘World uyghur congress’ which is the source for most of the claims.
It’s likely more repressive than it needs to be. China probably doesn’t even know how to not react in that fashion. The issue of radicalisation is real though. A lot of Uyghurs had gone to Syria to join the terrorists there, after the earlier spate of terror attacks in Xinjiang. (Syria, another example of western govt and media lies. See latest opcw leaks)
It’s not as simple as evil China intending to wipe out a population/culture. I’m not sure Ozil has it right. I fully support him voicing his concerns though.
I access both western and Chinese news media and try to take a balanced view of both sides. I am a paid subscriber of the NYT and I gotta say…. Many of the articles I read on it are often inaccurate and purely Sinophobic. Sensationalist news sells and the New Yellow Peril is an easy sell.
The problem with China is that they suck at PR and their press is controlled by the government. So everything that comes out is all covered in doubt, but that certainly doesn’t mean that western media is a beacon of altruistic unbiased factual reporting.
And yes agree with Shard, they are a ham-handed government and believe in a one-size-fits-all approach typical of massive countries.
Saw a graphic (which I might have posted if allowed 😏):
Don’t wish to offend—
“Is it Happy Impeachment Day”
or is
“Merry Impeachment Day OK too?”
My bad. I should not be politically correct about it.
Merry Impeachment Day.
And thank you, President Trump, for allowing us to say it again.
Hey Claude.
Using the word ‘merry’ in some contexts refers to the imbibing of alcohol and as someone who struggles with alcoholism I feel like your suggestion, regardless of context, is encouraging me to drink and making me feel uncomfortable.
Please be more aware of the harm your words can cause and check your privilege.
For all us alcoholics, ‘Have a RESPONSIBLE, or at a press if you insist on it, ENJOYABLE Impeachment Day would be the preferred slogan as, in light of our own obvious lack of autonomy as a group, you wouldn’t be unknowingly pressuring us into lives of drunken debauchery.
Thank you and be better.
Jeremy
(Joke:))
jeremy, ha!
Hey replying to the thread above you (it seems to be closed). China is complicated. One thing I can see in western coverage possibly is what chomsky calls the distinction between worthy and unworthy victims. That does not mean the Uighurs are not being persecuted, just that accurate reporting is hard to come by.
Another possibility? Start with a young side and put all our underachieving, but regular first teamers on the bench. Make it clear that the youngsters are there on merit. If the likes of Luis, Ozil, Sokratis want to get back into the starting 11, then they’re going to have to earn it. Brave, but I think courage is needed here. We’ve indulged far too many for far too long. If you always do what you’ve always done, you will always get what you’ve always got. Set down a marker, Mikel. You don’t have to necessarily piss them off, just do it.
Also, impress on the players that is perfectly ok to “turn” when the ball’s played into them. The new Arsenal method consists of simply pinging the ball straight back to whoever passed it to you. No wonder our possession stats are relatively good! We use 50 passes to get the ball up to the half way line. We then give the ball away. A couple of passes later, the opposition are through on goal and score. Happens week in, week out. What happened to our forward gear? Come back Santi. Dodgy leg or no dodgy leg. All is forgiven.
Disagree here. The axiom is “play the way you are facing”. Turning with the ball with a defender at your back is the hardest skill in football. I would rather play the ball back to the passer, but then move five steps and receive it back with my body position adjusted to better square up to the defender.
Watch Sarri-ball – players are almost never asked to turn with the ball, rather it’s a lot of vertical passes followed by quick lay-offs. And Sarri’s teams don’t have a lot of issues penetrating the lines.
If you can get a Cazorla who is able to turn with a defender at his back and the ball at his feet – great. Those are unicorns. But I don’t see one on the current roster. I had hopes for Pepe, but he seems to get stopped quite a bit 1v1 with his back to the defender.
i get what you’re saying. the thing to remember, if the turn is on, a team mate should announce/request the turn. the problem is, besides lacazette and ozil, arsenal don’t have anyone who can receive the ball with their backs to the goal.
now that i think about it. arsenal’s off the ball movement is horrendous, which may add to mesut’s struggles.
I’ve been saying this the entire season. The off-the-ball movement is amateur level. It’s the main reason we see Guendouzi and Ceballos carry the ball so much – midfielders searching for open passes. It’s absurd.
Basic analysis of the current team – lazy. Not all the players, but on aggregate, a lazy team that doesn’t work hard enough off the ball.
Goes back to Joshua’s comments about direction. Arsenal players, much like the rest of us, need something to believe in.
The trick is to be “sideways on” when you receive the ball, even when you’re being closely marked. Your first touch then takes you away from the player Into an attacking position. This puts pressure on not only the marker, but the covering defenders. Marking Arsenal players must be easiest think on earth. Static. No threat. You could get the armchair out and light a cigar. Play the way your facing? Thank God, Johann Cruyff never listened to that piece of advice.
first, there’s no such thing as a player giving 120%. they can only give 100%. the science guy in me hates that expression. if you say “step outside of your comfort zone”, i’m plenty happy with that.
second, if a player gives his all, he needs direction for it to be effective. what’s the since in running long/hard if you’re running the wrong way? i’d rather they walk the right way. this is why direction is so important…and why you can’t have eleven captains.
third, it’s tough to go out and give your best when you feel your efforts are in vain, even for the most disciplined of warriors, let alone some millionaire footballers. the whole of the team has to be on board and they have to pull in the same direction.
pep has got the likes of kdb and jesus to work hard off the ball because it was done at barcelona and everyone remembers how good that team was…and they’re given direction not just to work harder but as part of a team. if messi can press, who the hell are kdb and sterling? pep has city convinced that if everyone puts in the effort, they can be better than that barcelona team. that’s called leadership. this is what coaches do, bill. it’s not just buying the best players. example: liverpool don’t have all the best players but they have the best team because their coach has provided strategic direction.
the hard part is getting folks who think they know everything to buy into what you’re selling. if not, it doesn’t matter how good your strategy is or who you buy. this is the real challenge for coaches. i wouldn’t be surprised if it was arteta who highlighted to kdb and man city arsenal’s deficiencies in front of the arsenal defense that was the primary defensive problem and not the back line.
Superb comment. 💯on your 120% comment.
Guendouzi works hard, you know. Lately, just not very effectively. Yes, KDB turned him, but it was the skill that did him, and you could SEE him changing his mind about hauling the Belgian down. So another excellent point about effort versus smart effort.
Josh, it looks to me as if we have developed an obsession with marking space, rather than denying players, at source for example. So when the forward lets a player run by him, you can almost see a hand-off taking place… he becomes Guendouzi’s man, then Chambers’ man etc. Our players point a lot, as if trying to remember their lines, or remind colleagues of it.
What I’d like to see is our players playing more instinctively… yes, within a tactical structure, but instinctively. I dont think that we lack coaching under latter Arsene, or Emery. We just, it seems to me (someone who had never coached or played other than recreationally, but reported on a variety of sports) that we put SYSTEM above everything. Had the spontaniety coached out of us.
It’s why I think that the likes of Saka and Martinelli looks so refreshing. Theyve not had the spontaniety coached out of them. Guendouzi, a good young player who started well, looks sometimes like he’s in 3 minds about what to do.
it’s done! arteta on a 3 and a half year deal.
…according to espn sources.
According to the BBC, Arsenal haven’t even contacted City yet. So, I don’t think this is getting done by Saturday from the sounds of it.
(posted at bottom of the comments earlier)
Ornstein at The Athletic 1 hour ago–
Exclusive: Arteta makes emotional goodbye speech to Manchester City before taking Arsenal job
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/50843803
if you look up the word “tacky”, an image of raul sanllehi will pop up. we’ve been seeing it since the ramsey debacle. as long as this guy is there, our arsenal is dead.
Nice choice of word!
how do people read players minds and situations can this skill be passed on or learned?
ramsey plays one game in every three, hamstring etc and wanted £350 000 a week.
is it really that hard to see why we pulled the plug on that deal?
aaww poor man city losing the assistant coach… financially doped the team that stole Nasri, Clichy, Sagna, Adeybayor. sad innit?
and Kolo!
Brian Kidd, Vieira, Silvinho and Arteta.
Arsenal (wenger) wanabees
Why would we assume by default that Arteta will be nothing more than Pep Jr and that Arsenal will play like some City-wannabee team? If this is so, then I prefer to keep Freddie, but to try to develop/come back to an entertaining, creative and attacking style of playing.
And I know that some see Manchester City as a modern development of Wenger’s prime Arsenal style, but I don’t think that Wenger would have ever instructed and trained his team to commit so many tactical fouls.
So I would like to believe that Arteta will have his own visions for the game. And in the spirit of Tim’s two weeks of positivism, maybe he will bring back of some of that culture of the club he was captaining, that Raul is erasing so quickly now.
I may have missed this being suggested (sorry!) but I think Arteta could be a great hiring for Guendouzi.
Guendouzi really needs a senior player on the pitch in midfield to direct him, but failing that, he’ll now have one coaching him. And Arteta is more likely to focus Guendouzi’s energy into making the right runs and cutting out the throwing-his-arms-up-and-jogging that he’s been allowed (or picked up from other players).
Obv Arteta will also be good for other young players, just think he could be especially useful for Guen.
Also, @Bill – I don’t know what you do for a living but the primary role of a manager is to improve the people in their team. They ‘must’ do this. They must also ensure that the direction is understood (clarity in communication), and that goals are defined and clear. But improving the skills/ efficiency/ effectiveness of individual team members is how you achieve anything. Yes hiring is important, and that includes letting people go if needs be (harder in my work than in sport!).
If managers are not making individuals more effective, then they as managers should move on to somewhere where their skills/ culture/ principles/ charisma etc will work.
Anyway, just wanted to say sport ain’t that much different to any other work.
Ornstein at The Athletic 1 hour ago–
Exclusive: Arteta makes emotional goodbye speech to Manchester City before taking Arsenal job
Assuming Pep and Mikel’s reported attention to details when playing against
our team; they would know the weaknesses and tendencies of all our players.
Hopefully that will allow Mikel and his coaches to improve our guys,
…hopefully🤣
I reckon Mikel analysed the Man City Arsenal match 130%
;¬)