Arsenal open with a lovely trip to Fulham

What the Eyes Say:

Fulham 0-3 Arsenal – 9/12/20 Craven Cottage

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta continued his tactical approach from last season and once again fielded a 343, though there were some differences as we will see. The first surprise was Arteta’s starting XI:

Leno
Holding      Gabriel       Tierney ↓
↑Bellerin          Elneny       Xhaka        ←Maitland-Niles
Willian           Lacazette        Aubameyang↑

Maitland-Niles continues to work his way into Arteta’s good graces and was granted another chance to show what he can do, this time in his preferred position as a midfielder. Meanwhile Arteta also handed a start to Mo Elneny in central midfield and… uhhh.. just Willian up top on the right.

In possession, Arsenal often played with a back two and moved Tierney up the pitch on the right, which Arteta then had Maitland-Niles pinch in to midfield to provide cover and give the Scots space to work with Aubameyang.

In defense it was amazing to watch the players smoothly transition into a variety of shapes and formations. The most interesting one included a 442 with Auba doing some very deep defending.

I’m not saying we exclusively played a 442 in defense. In fact, Arsenal’s defensive shape was often more dictated by Fulham’s attack than by any rigid system. What an unusual feeling it was to see Arsenal’s players interchange, move, and take positions to cover each other. Perhaps it was just that Fulham were so poor that exposed this movement, but it was apparent from the start that Arsenal are working on these things in training.

Gabriel started shaky, dummying a back pass to Leno who had to scramble to stop the shot. Leno was inch perfect on the claim and luckily we didn’t concede a penalty or goal. That whole action, however, didn’t count toward Leno’s saves or toward Fulham’s expected goals or shots and that makes me think we need to have a (publicly available) stat for “non-shot big-chances”. How many times have we seen a player played clean through and fluff his touch? And obviously I think that the stats are missing something when a keeper can come out and claim the ball the way Leno did yesterday and gets a measly stat like “block” or “cross claimed” or something. Big chances count for the vast majority of goals scored, they are the things that fans remember most (when missed, scored, or stopped) and while they don’t get into many “goal of the season” comps (because we tend to adore those long-range poke and hopes) they are my favorite goals and moments. I will try to keep this data but as we have seen with me doing this on my own in the past it’s often fraught with failure. Maybe I should lean on you all??? You can help!

In possession Arsenal looked bereft of ideas again. Gabriel recovered from his shaky start to go on to command the ball and organize Arsenal’s forward approach but because Arteta started with two holding mids, three center backs, and zero creative/b2b CMs there were long passages of time where Arsenal passed the ball between the 7 defenders, with the three attackers forming a ring of uselessness up top. This cap from the 5th minute was repeated often in the 2nd half as well, not just a one off thing early. And give the way that Arteta is organizing and ruling the team with an iron fist you have to say that this must be Arsenal’s game plan.

The other very apparent tactic was that Arsenal were going to go long and try to win the second ball. With no attacking mid to control in possession, Arsenal’s FBs and MFers tried a LOT of long and high passes. I get the idea: draw the Fulham defense out to create space and then spin Aubameyang in behind but man it can be boring to watch for 90 minutes.

Xhaka made one exceptional pass among the many boring, however. He clipped in a ball over the top for Auba which curled perfectly back to him to create the extra yard for a huge chance. The shot was saved but that was one of my favorite moments of the game.

The second half was more of the same for Arsenal. It was notable that Arsenal’s best buildup play from the attacking midfield position was when Rob Holding juggled through the entire Fulham midfield and defense and dumped the pass off to Lacazette to win a corner. Willian thumped in a outswinger and Gabriel scored on his debut with a wide open header to make it 2-0.

Willian made it three when he collected the ball off a broken play and laced a knuckling cross-field pass to Auba. Auba had a little work to do, dropped his shoulder and scored a now trademark right-footed curler from the left side. But let’s not take anything away from Willian’s pass: it had to be an inch perfect 50 yard lofted pass over the defense to keep Auba with a chance to score.

I am one of the few people who thinks that Auba on the left is good for the player and for the team. He scored Arsenal’s third goal because of his starting position wide. Playing there allows him to use his right foot to dribble against other typically right-footed defenders, opening up those curling scoring chances.

From there, Arsenal were in control. Ceballos came on for Xhaka and Pepe for Willian, both looked great going forward and played some nice little tricky passes in combo with Hector Bellerin.

Starting with Willian over Pepe, Elneny over Ceballos, and Maitland-Niles on the left were huge calls by Arteta. Playing the 343 against a dire Fulham side, and then playing long-ball football wer yet another group of bold decisions. And whether you like this plan or not you have to admit that it worked 100% brilliantly (other than the non-shot big chance error, so, about 90% brilliant). Arsenal scored three goals and kept a very comfortable clean sheet in an away match.

What the Stats Say:

Bellerin led the team with 10 progressive passes and Tierney was 2nd (despite playing as a CB out of possession) with 7. Bellerin and Tierney were also number 1 and 2 in terms of progressive distance carried with 237 yards and 225 yds respectively. And between both players they were very tidy in possession with Bellerin miscontrolling just once and Tierney dispossessed just once.

Bellerin also led the team with 4 passes into the penalty area and completed 100% of 19 long balls. While everyone else was watching Willian or Gabriel, Bellerin was quietly having a fantastic game for Arsenal. Modern football demands more going forward from the wingbacks/fullbacks than ever before and with Arsenal coming off one of their worst seasons ever in terms of fullback play it’s great to see a good game from Bellerin/Tierney.

Gabriel and Holding were the top two progressive passers with Tierney and Bellerin following closely. Elneny was Arsenal’s most progressive passing midfielder.

Gabriel seriously packed the stats yesterday: led the team in touches with 121 (Holdinho was 2nd with 97, Tierney 3rd with 96 and Bellerin 4th with 730), led the team in carries with 91, was third in progressive distance carried with 219 yds, and managed to receive 108/109 passes directed at him. He completed 94% of 116 passes and led the team in passes out of pressure with 13.

Xhaka took up his now-familiar much more passive role: 9th in pressures and made zero blocks or interceptions, 6th in attempted passes, 6th in total distance passed, 7th in progressive distance, 6th in carries, 6th in touches, and 8th in progressive distance carried. Yet Xhaka still showed his quality both on and off the ball: he led the team in ball recoveries with 14 and tackles with 3, won all his tackles v. dribbles, committed zero fouls, was 2ndon the team in completed passes out of pressure (12), and (as described above) created an incredible chance for Auba with a curling high-through-ball, which was sadly saved. He also led the team in passes into the final third with 8 and tied for 3rd (with Elneny) with 3 shot-creating actions.

Willian had a man of the match performance yesterday and already has as many assists in one game as Mesut Özil had all last season, a season which equalled his assists tally of 2 the season before. He also registered 5 shot-creating actions (one of which was a saved shot that turned into a fantasy assist) and had 3 goal-creating actions. Interestingly, he didn’t try any dribbles but he led all the forwards with 141 yds progressive carries and progressive yds passing (163) both stats very good from a forward player and comparable or better than Firminho, Salah, Mane, Sterling. That said, this was a match against Fulham – who were extremely poor in the Championship last season and are easily going to be the worst team in the Premier League this year. Especially if they play like jellyfish for the rest of the season.

Defensively, I felt Fulham were far too passive against Arsenal: They attempted 148 pressures, which isn’t terrible, but only won 29 – compare to Leeds who tried 208 pressures and won 61 against Liverpool. They also only had a combined 24 tackles plus interceptions which again compares terribly to Leeds who had 43. If they don’t improve their defense and press a lot more they will be relegated with extreme prejudice.

Qq

35 comments

  1. Enjoyable analysis as always, Tim. Thank you for a good read. I particularly appreciate the eye-test vs. stats structure.

  2. What a joy to have you back writing about football. You always give us something to think about. I’ve missed that.

  3. The weekend gets even better with Spurs losing to Everton! They were dismal. Everton will be a handful this season if they can correct their wayward passing. Probably just a matter of getting to know new teammates, where they like to run, etc.

    I watched the BT feed of our game yesterday, with the ‘crowd’ noise, and there was a funny moment when whoever was controlling the noise had to switch the crowd reaction from booing to cheering based on a ref decision, and it happened instantaneously, like the flick of a switch: “YYAAAAAAHHH-BOOOOO!” I quite enjoyed that. The absurdity.

    Also, one of the match commentators mentioned that they happened to be broadcasting from a place directly above the Arsenal bench and could hear Arteta yelling instructions non-stop during the game, really orchestrating everything…and in four different languages depending on the player! Thought that was pretty cool.

    1. You could hear snippets of him throughout the game, despite the EA sports-style crowd noise…I counted English, Spanish, French, and I’m assuming Portuguese. Each when he was actively coaching different players! I remember thinking how cool that was…Arteta the Renaissance manager. Reminds me a bit of the feeling I had when I first started following the Arsenal when another Renaissance manager was running things!

  4. Good read. I really liked what I saw with Bellerin, he’s getting back to top form. I know it’s just Fulham, but if we can beat the Fulhams and Aston Villas away from home without a fuss then I’m all for that.

    1. Aston Villa will be a great team this season. Fully expexted them to challenge for a top 6 position. They bought three of the players i really like in Watkins, Matty Cash and Martinez. Still have Grealish, McGinn, and Luiz. It will be a tough day against them away from home.

  5. Thanks for the excellent insights as always, particularly regarding formation. Seem like so many fans get hung up on formation when it can be very fluid depending on possession and game state. Getting the right players in the right space on the field is what matters and Mikel seems to be doing that.
    I also found our style a bit mind-numbing but I think Ateta has drilled the team to lay patiently and not force the offense if its not there. That is actually the mark of a confident and well-drilled team imo.
    Stay safe in Tacoma! The skies feel like end times here in LA too. More just gloomy gray than the apocalyptic orange in WA, OR and NoCal.

    1. He popped up in the last post / thread with a comment in which he suggested that Elneny’s improvement can be put down to an increased lean-protein turkey diet.

      1. Oh good. I haven’t heard from him for a while. Hope he’s back soon. And as always, happy to hear your voice, Bun.

      2. lol

        LA, thanks for asking buddy. COVID-19 caused some serious re-alignment of time and other things, but (knock on wood) Ive managed to avoid direct contact with the thing.

        Yes, I did talk about Elneny, where we’d finish, Chelsea, Robinho Holding, AMN, Partey. With my usual impeccable timing, I was posing a comment on an old, dead thread, while Tim was pressing “send” on the new one.

        1. Glad to hear you’re managing these crazy times. I’ll see you at the very very end of the next thread! lol

  6. This is as insightful a piece on the Arsenal as I’ve read. Have you ever considered approaching the club with your work? I could see a forward looking club (cough) using your skills either within the coaching/analytics teams or the marketing side providing the fanbase with higher value insights. One of Arteta’s new assistants began by sending his insights to top coaches as a door opener. Hell, even sour-puss started by writing competition dossiers for Bobby Robson. Who knows?

  7. Want to shout out to Emi Martinez, who played for us with his heart on his sleeve, with a great deal of effectiveness in the last months of the old campaign, and who plainly loves Arsenal Football Club. But as Arsene said of Adebayor once, ” he has to play”, even if it’s not for us. It was a moment, seeing the team sheet yesterday… Leno in goal and Macey on the bench.

    About the game, I dont know why any defender would stand off Auba while he shifts the football right — in the same way they would Arjen Robben cutting inn from the right wing. The world and its granny knows what is coming next.

    But, onnwards. The improvement under Mikel continues.

    1. Auba, I just love him. Personality, joy, skill.

      Oh, and just to emphasize my man-crush: I love watching him run with the ball. He reminds me of Henry in the way that he can change gears effortlessly with the ball at his feet. And just when you think he’s at an all-out sprint, he somehow, incredibly, finds a higher gear.

      And yeah, I agree with your shout-out for Martinez. He’ll always have a special place in my heart (ok, I promise, I haven’t been drinking) for the way he carried us through a difficult period–including the uncertainty of a global pandemic in all our minds–with calm assurance and spectacular saves. I’m sad to see him go, but I’m delighted that he left the club with an FA Cup winner’s medal, an honor to his service and talent. And you could see how much it meant to him.

      Will follow his career with great interest and affection no matter where he ends up.

      1. Agree about Martinez Bun.
        Rumors are we need to spend 10 million on his replacement , someone I have never heard of before. Can we not just get our Ospina back and return the 3 million Napoli paid us?

    2. “I dont know why any defender would stand off Auba while he shifts the football right — in the same way they would Arjen Robben cutting inn from the right wing. The world and its granny knows what is coming next.”

      Hi Claude, good to see you buddy, but about the above though …….. apparently Zouma and his granny also thought they knew , right before Auba shifted the ball onto his left and chipped the helpless Caballero for Arsenal’s FA cup winner.

      1. True, that.

        Proves that his left is not a “chocolate leg”, in the immortal words of Robin van Persie. The left wing seems to get the best out of him. Why did I ever doubt Josh?

        Another thing…
        Was very pleased to see Tim’s stats on Bellerin. His ability going forward we always knew of, but Mikel appears to have toughened him up defensively, which was a weak area. PSG apparently want him, but I’d hate to see him leave. He is the heart and soul of Arsenal Football Club, and his value to us is far more than about what he does on the field.

        1. Does Mikel actually prefer to play up the wings with Bellerin, Tierney, AMN? We did look dangerous many times (yes, it’s just Fulham) and we weren’t playing through the middle. If we add that additional dimension, this team could start stoking some of the dreaded hope again. We are very light in midfield, so something is changing there no matter what, especially if the Torriera departure loung rumors are true. Just happy to be along for the ride to see Arteta do his thing.

  8. ‘It’s just Fulham’.

    It’s just 3-points. A skillful job done well.
    Against a team that completes passes at 88% with 47% possession.

    Just not going to suppress when Arsenal does everything necessary to take the points– due to whom the opposition are. There’s every reason to enjoy doing almost everything right. 👌

  9. I encourage anyone truly serious about “It’s just [insert team name]” to go back only to last year. Olympiakos? Brighton (twice wasn’t it?) Etc.

    With all the live gigs gone and down to mostly studio and session work my left hand callusses are getting a bit soft but thinking about Arsenal is making me hard in other places.

    OK, that was really juvenile but I am genuinely excited by our club’s marked improvement under our old playmaker/new manager. Seems like yesterday people were complaining that we got no “new manager bump” when Arteta first came in and we that initial run of mixed results while he was getting himself and us sorted.

    Matches like this first one are ones we should be winning handily. Three goals and clean sheet and I feel much more to look forward to. 2020 has been an annus horribilis. A little saving grace from Arteta and Arsenal to close out the year will boost my spirits.

    Off to practice my scales. Great post and worthy comments as usual.

    1. 1Nil, you should know better! It’s the hope that kills ya.

      Tim said the new style can feel boring at times, and there’s some truth to that. But the difference now vs. our “sterile possession” days with Arsene is that it feels like we are poised to strike at any moment. We’re not waiting for Godot, passing it in a U shape. We are stretching and pulling on the defense to create a moment where we can suddenly create space, knock a diagonal or through ball and it’s in the net. Oh god, now I’m doing it.
      I will not hope. I will not hope. I will not hope.

    2. That was hilarious re: callouses.

      Speaking of getting hard, I’m thinking of getting a smaller guitar amp for use in my house (the Deville is just so f’in loud and pulls my arm out of the socket when I try to lift it), and I’m mainly interested in tubes (so, like things the size of the Blues Jr., etc.), but wondered if you had any thoughts on the tubeless Tonemaster Deluxe Reverbs that Fender brought out. I love the idea of attenuated output settings. Seems perfect for practicing at ideal volume settings without angering the neighbors! If you have any other recommendations, I’m all ears!

      1. Wow, a real connesseur! Leave it with Bun. I’ll get back to you, I promise. And remember the only ideal volume setting is 11.

        1. No worries! And FYI, I know you’re a professional musician, so you probably have a lot of great gear ideas, but I’m on the mortgage, four kids, hobby guitarist budget! I’d like to keep it $1000 or less. I don’t need built-in effects (but onboard reverb is nice). Thanks, my man!

          1. Hey, my recommendations would be based on your budget (which you’ve already provided), what kind of musical stylings are your thing, whether you prefer solid state or tube (also answered), whether you play electric, acoustic or both and finally are you looking for just a head unit or a head/amp combo.

            A good place to start if you haven’t been there in a while, is my 2nd favorite website after 7 am Kickoff, Guitar World. And it just so happens that they put out a good piece on amps for all budgets just this summer. Check it out:
            https://www.guitarworld.com/features/best-guitar-amps

            Amps are the next most important tools of my trade after the instruments themselves and I typical work with and/or own several solid state and tube amps for different sounds, projects and guitars. I have 9 currently, none of which long-suffering Wife-of-1-Nil has thrown to the curbside yet despite many threats (promises?) to so do. It’s what helps butter the bread after all.

            Anyway, have a look at the link and I’d be more than happy to answer any follow up questions. Good luck!

            Best,

            1Nil

  10. Hi all you good folks been a while. Congrats Tim for your brilliant writing and thoughtful insights. Interesting (And a bit odd) that scez, fab, ospina and now emi all won the FA Cup whilst playing their last game for The Arsenal. Onwards and upwards and health and happiness to you all

    1. That– is a good catch. Little bit eerie too.
      (Though, has a ways to go to be as spooky as the
      Aaron Ramsey Celebs Must Die Goal-Scoring Curse!)

  11. Thought I’d post something that made me chuckle. After their defeat to Everton Jose decided to take the entire sp**s team for a day out on a mystery coach trip. The entire staff decided to have a £20 wager and have a guess at where they were going. The coach DRIVER won £800.

    1. Would that day out be before or after Jose called the whole team “lazy” and made them watch all the goals scored against them last season as a way to “motivate” them? As much as I’m enjoying watching our improvement under Mikel, I’m LOVING the cracks that are starting to appear in the Totteringham foundations as Jose works his managerial magic.

  12. New Arsenal is boring but effective. The only joy I get is visibly trying to see what Arteta tactics come to live with the players movement.
    Everton is my dream team. All ball playing midfielders, one striker, and a goal-getting winger.
    Reminds of Arsenal when we had Wilshere, santi, Rosciky, walcott, and Van Persie. You just know you weren’t going to get something exciting at certain points during the game.

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