Morning all.
Pepe is one of many Arsenal players away on international duty. French outlet Canal Plus have apparently stuck a microphone under his nose and asked him about his lack of playing time for the club.
‘A player who plays is happy. For me, I would like to play a little more to find a smile again. He [Arteta] wants me to be 100 per cent focused during the 90 minutes of the match. Afterwards, I see during training that I will be a substitute the following weekend.
But the coach speaks to me, he also has assistants who are there for that. But it is frustrating for any player to be on the bench. ‘A super-sub role? The coach makes his choices. It’s up to me to show him that I don’t have that role.’
I’m sure it’s frustrating for any footballer to be on the bench but it’s also frustrating for a manager and us fans to see the same players underperforming each time they do play. Personally, I don’t give a toss whether a footballer costs the club £70 odd million or £7 million, hard work and doing a good job is all anyone expects from them. Ollie Watkins cost Aston Villa £27 million, he came from Brentford, the Championship and yet he ripped our team to shreds with consummate ease. Pepe should be doing something similar to opponents in the Premier League but he barely stamps his mark in the Europa League fixtures. Nelson and Willock are outshining him and he should be embarrassed. I don’t want to be overly critical because none of our forward players are exactly tearing it up in the League but if a player wants to be playing more then do more during a match.
Would you select him if you were Mikel Arteta? I know I wouldn’t, not for League fixtures that’s for sure. Which is exactly why I think Arteta is opting for Willian instead although he’s hardly justifying his selection either. Dani Ceballos is industrious and despite it meaning he’d be playing out of his natural position, I’d rather he played out on the right if Nelson really isn’t considered to be ready by Arteta. Heck, I’d rather AMN because at least he’ll get up and down the pitch to help Bellerin out.
One player who hasn’t headed out on international duty is Thomas Partey which on one hand is good news but on the other, it means his injury is perhaps worse than first thought. Two weeks of rest and recuperation will hopefully see him back in the frame for the Leeds match.
Leno, Bellerin, Gabriel, Tierney, Saka, AMN, Aubameyang, Runarsson, Pepe, Elneny, Xhaka, Kolasinac and Nketiah are those who will be playing for their respective countries over the next two weeks. Some of them have three fixtures crammed in which is ridiculous.
Thankfully though, that’s it for international fixtures for this year so Mikel Arteta and his coaches can get on with the domestic challenge and getting this team clicking.
Lastly, we’re heading towards another transfer window which will be here before we know it. Rumours are already flying around with the latest being 20 year old Dominik Szoboszlai who has been at RB Salzburg since 2018. He’s made 73 appearances and been involved in a 54 goals. Sports outlet Index (via Team Talk) are the ones claiming the young Hungarian is on Mike Arteta’s radar .
Oh to have a midfielder capable of producing those kind of stats eh? Perhaps we already have in Joe Willock, just not yet.
See you in the comments guys.
Morning all.
Pepe’s last comment was “it’s up to me to show him that I don’t have that role” so if he’s serious, it’s suggests he wants to fight for a starting position.
He needs to show more and he has it in him, but talk is just that.
He’s not our most underachieving player atm though, imo.
Ozil has been known to say something similar Scott. Lol
Seriously though, Pepe has been in England over a year now, he has the talent, he should already be proving himself already. Imo anyway.
Just look at Hakim Ziyech, less amount, only few games played but has already made himself an important player in the Chelsea dressing room. Which coach in his right thinking sense bench a player of Ziyech’s pedigree after that beautiful performance he showed vs Sheffield United? Pepe has got to only blame himself for his childish performances and he deserves to be benched as long as up front and LW is concerned. I think he can do well playing in the left central midfield to give assist. Waste of money!
Rico, I pretty much said all of that though.
Talk is just that……he needs to show more.
It’s on him and nobody else but we do have others on more money who’ve shown they can perform in this league and just aren’t.
We have a few now who are not even close to their best form.
Effort, intensity, enthusiasm….the list goes on.
It’s an individual things imo
The emotional yo-yo that is Arsenal Football Club is showing signs of unravelling. The question is whether Mikel will get the time and if he does, what will he do with it?
Pepe is a small part of that particular jigsaw puzzle.
Do you think he’ll get the time Adam?
Perhaps it depends on the next 4 games Rico.
I’m quite hopeful he’ll turn things around and that the players respond in a big way after the Villa hiding.
If Mikel Arteta had been Arsenal manager the summer that Raul pushed through the Pepe deal then I wonder if Arsenal would have signed him, because I’m not sure that Pepe the ideal wide player in Arteta’s mind?
Pepe wasn’t the choice of Emery as he wanted Zaha, but Raul was mates with the people in France and we got the mercurial man from Ivory Coast. I suspect that the Pepe deal and the mist around it cost Raul his job…
I happen to agree Kev. Emery was right too, Zaha was exactly the kind of player we needed. PL proved, ready to go and an Arsenal fan too.
Similar could have been said about N’Zonzi too.
That’s a good point Rico, other than Denis Suarez I’m not sure that Emery ever got any of the players he wanted. Banega was another.
Mind you Suarez wasn’t exactly the player to give Unai any leverage insofar as having influence on new signings….
Was Suarez one he wanted though Kev, or another Raul deal with his old club?
Our first 11-15 players, barring Gabriel, Cedric, Mari, Partey and Willian are not players of Arteta’s choice as far as signing them go. The same players who failed to play for Arsene Wenger, Unai Emery and in some cases, both.
I thought that Emery pushed for Suarez during that January Window Rico, money or a lack of it was the issue as usual. Pepe came in the following summer.
I didn’t know that Kev.
To be honest, I really don’t know how club managers can motivate anyone these days, so many of them seem to lack any kind of professional pride and spend most of their time hiding behind the manager or various other issues rather than man up. Some of them are if I’m honest fcuking pathetic….
Well said by the way. Isn’t it easy to spot those with pride and those who don’t give a toot.
The players that is
Afternoon Rico and All
Talent is a gift and catches the eye in an instant.
Hard work and mentality takes a little longer to see for a new manager.
Afternoon Fred and all.
I too wasn’t fussed about Aubameyang leaving but his form and the negativity his sale might have brought on the club made me change my mind. I still think he’ll click again real soon.
Talk of Arteta being sacked is ludicrous. Okay we have been inconsistent and results haven’t always gone our way but Wenger and Emery left a legacy of underperforming, overpaid but mediocre players who just cannot change their ways.
It is going to take time to clear out the deadwood and in the meanwhile we, as supporters, have to be patient.
I remember you being sceptical about signing Aubameyang on his new contract last summer Cicero, how do you think things are going given that you was in the minority?
Wenger, Emery, Ljungberg and now Arteta, the only common denominator is the players.
I think I was entirely right to be sceptical Kev, I think he is a shadow of the player he was before getting his shiny, and bloody expensive, new contract.
We are stuck with him for another three years and I think he could easily turn into Ozil #2.
Patience is the word, Cicero, and give the man time to create something.
As long as we improve this season compared to last, and we can see Arteta shaping the squad into his own, then I’ll be happy.
Next season, we will need to see more progression and from there, who knows.
Liverpool are the club we are chasing, yet it seems it’s easy to forget it took Klopp 4-5 seasons get to where they are now so we just can’t expect it to happen in 12 months.
Well Cicero I was delighted at the time when Aubameyang signed his new shiny contract but I have to admit I’m now beginning to worry a tad, although I think that Willian is more likely to become Ozil MkII and I was pleased when we signed him also, so maybe the secret for me is to not be so pleased all the time…
Having said all that, I still think that Aubameyang will recapture his form and give us some more exciting days.
Kev, Auba is only a goal away from finding form, no question in my mind.
Willian-I thought he was a brilliant signing but so far, he’s disappointed.
It could well be a matter of Arteta working out how to best utilise them and I hope that’s the case.
Morning campers, yeah Scott, I hope you’re right about Auba because we need him, we also need Willian to recapture his form and stop playing with the handbrake on.
I saw a short video of youth team centre forward Nikolaj Moller, the 18 year old Swedish lad we signed in the summer and given that it was a vid of his best bits, his bits were very good…
Fortunately (or not as the case maybe) there are a few on here with long memories like me, so when I say that Moller is strikingly in terms of style and technique like a certain Alan ‘Smudger’ Smith you’ll know exactly what I mean. That has to be encouraging does it not?
Kev, sounds damn positive to me!!
It’s always nice to have options up front!!
He’s still quite young Scott and needs to fill out and bulk up but I liked him straight away, he would offer us something different up front. I loved Alan Smith, he was such an underrated striker by non Arsenal fans and so intelligent, a perfect out ball to him when you’re under pressure and he could control it despite being fouled and switch defence into attack and I saw the same qualities in this kid Moller. He will certainly lessen the disappointment if Balogun as expected does leave in the summer.
https://mobile.twitter.com/ChrisWheatley_/status/1326277651804413952
Big call mate-sounds bloody promising!!!!
I look forward to seeing him at some stage.
https://mobile.twitter.com/afcDW/status/1326580054424424449
Phenomenal pass!!!!
He’s very impressive, Kev.
Big, strong but with great technique!!!
Yeah Scott, Matt Smith has gone under the radar since he joined Swindon on loan, but he sure can pick a pass, I hope he gets a chance next season, he’s just turned 20 so a big next 18 months for him.
That’s what I thought about Moller when I saw him Scott, great first touch, brings it under control and plays it simple, keeps moves ticking over, nothing too flash just effective and intelligent. Very calm under pressure as well. He’s just 18, but then Martinelli was just 18 when he got his chance as was Saka!
We’ve definitely got some great kids coming through, and they must be given their chance Kev.
It’s just pointless In not allowing them a go.
I know I’m preaching to the converted lol
If we are to accept the financial constraints that we appear to have then kids from wherever they come are important to us. Our biggest problem will be to decide who to keep yet keep their value up to provide the cash for the next wave . It seems as if we develop players but let them leave rather than other teams that seem to get premium prices.
The Athletic
Arteta’s shot-shy Gunners: Quality chances but slow build-up blunting Aubameyang
Tom Worville and James McNicholas Nov 11, 2020 52
Arsenal have a problem in attack. By manager Mikel Arteta’s own admission, “To become a top team, you have to score 90 or 100 goals”. At their current rate of scoring, his side are on course to record less than half that tally.
The Gunners’ name feels inappropriate for a side who are decidedly shot-shy. Arsenal are taking just nine shots per game on average, which sees them ranked 15th in the Premier League this season.
Somewhat surprisingly, this low shot tally equates to 1.1 expected goals (xG) per game — a slightly more respectable ninth in the Premier League for 2020-21. These two statistics show that Arsenal rarely create chances, but when they do, they are usually of very good quality. Arsenal’s xG per shot of 0.12 is the third highest in the Premier League.
Arteta’s team have faced a trying fixture list, but there is enough commonality to their performances across all games to cause concern. There is a meticulous, almost dogmatic precision about the way they attack. Just as some teams strafe the goal and play the odds, Arsenal operate like snipers, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. This perfectionist approach to creating chances is not a sustainable route to success. To improve this team, Arteta must find a way to score more goals. Of course, that means taking more shots — which in turn means ensuring possession in the final third, and arriving there with a high degree of regularity.
Pressing concerns
Before getting to shots, it’s worth understanding a little better how the possession in Arsenal’s games works. In short, nobody moves the ball with less urgency than Arsenal — statistically, the frequency with which the ball changes hands between players in the team is the slowest in the Premier League
It is a far cry from the pinball-esque passing moves of Arsene Wenger’s best sides. Arsenal’s matches see them average 82 possessions per game, ranked 20th in the league and a considerable distance from the average of 91 per game.
It’s a style that seems to put them out of step with the way football is developing, particularly when you contrast it to their next Premier League opponents, Leeds United. If Arsenal games are slow, easy-listening jazz, then Leeds’ games are Bulgarian techno. Marcelo Bielsa’s men average 104 possessions per game, indicating how matches in this division are increasingly played at a much more frantic level.
That lower cadence of possession means Arsenal are holding on to the ball for a long time — but so are their opponents. Arsenal’s average possession time as a team is 28 seconds, the second-highest in the league and just behind Manchester City’s 29 seconds. When Arsenal’s opponents have possession, they keep the ball for an average of 26 seconds — the sixth-highest mark in the league.
Arsenal could be showing more urgency without the ball, pressing higher and more intensely. Their passes per defensive action (PPDA) — the number of passes allowed by the opposition before an attempt to win the ball back is made — has risen this season, from 12.4 last season to 16.1, indicating a more passive approach when out of possession.
In a team lacking creativity, closing down and forcing errors is an obvious route to fashioning goalscoring opportunities. Arsenal have done this relatively well in isolated instances, such as the game against Manchester United at Old Trafford. Arteta has shown himself capable of co-ordinating a press, but it’s something he may want to consider implementing more regularly.
Forward thinking
So the way Arsenal generate chances in games is slow, but how efficient are they in possession? How effectively do they progress the ball up the field?
Not enough of Arsenal’s moves arrive in the final third. Only 35 per cent of their possessions reach the attacking third, which is the 14th-highest mark in the league. Compare that to Manchester City (50 per cent), Liverpool (48 per cent) and Manchester United (43 per cent) and the difference in the quality of ball progression starts to become evident.
Not only do Arsenal struggle to bring the ball into dangerous areas, but they also don’t create enough possessions in the game to give themselves more opportunities to get there. The picture that begins to emerge is of a fundamentally risk-averse team, dallying on the ball in unthreatening areas.
Overall, Arsenal have just 29 possessions per game that end in the attacking third. That means, unless someone fancies pinging one in from 40 yards, Arsenal have just 29 opportunities from which to create scoring chances. That is the second-lowest mark in the league behind Newcastle United.
That represents a huge drop-off from even a few seasons ago when, under Wenger, Arsenal were averaging more than 44 possessions a game that ended in the final third. Arsenal have played only 381 passes into that area of the pitch this season. Admittedly, that is a figure that may be skewed by the taxing fixture list they have faced, but it ranks them at just 14th in the Premier League.
Interestingly, the players who can be most relied upon to play such passes are Granit Xhaka and David Luiz, who average 11.4 and 9.6 passes into the final third per game. Both players were absent from the uninspiring attacking performance against Aston Villa, and Arsenal subsequently struggled to advance the ball. There have been indications that Arteta is attempting to evolve the team and reduce the reliance on Xhaka and Luiz, but they are yet to discover another convincing path upfield.
Arsenal’s inability to get the ball into dangerous areas is impacting their attacking players substantially. Willian managed between 38 and 44 touches in the attacking third per game at Chelsea. At Arsenal, that’s dropped by more than a third, to 24. What’s more, he is a player that has tended to thrive in transition — Arsenal’s tendency to move the ball upfield slowly, averaging 0.95 metres of progress per second, means he is more likely to encounter a deep block.
It is necessary also to touch on the absence of Mesut Ozil. Although is it tempting to consider his playmaking ability to be a panacea for this side, his impact on the team had diminished in recent years. In 2015-16, he was having 45 touches per game in the final third. By 2018-19, that had fallen to 28. Similarly, Ozil’s assists per 90 minutes dropped from 0.56 in 2015-16 to 0.10 in 2018-19, a change that may not be entirely attributable to the player’s decline — it’s possible that he, like others in this Arsenal team, was simply starved of the service he requires to thrive.
Arsenal’s lack of penetration may also be down to a lack of dribblers. Arteta is reluctant to start Nicolas Pepe, so Bukayo Saka and Hector Bellerin are frequently the only strong dribblers in the starting XI. Only Sheffield United and Burnley have attempted fewer dribbles than Arsenal this season.
Blunt spearhead
Having invested in a three-year contract for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, which could eventually make him the club’s highest-paid player, Arsenal need to get some return on their star striker.
At the moment, he looks a marginalised figure. Currently, he is attempting just 1.1 shots per 90 minutes, ranking him 47th in the Premier League. His current xG per 90 minutes is just 0.06 — a meagre 65th. Only by progressing into the final third more frequently, and finding him in more dangerous positions, can Arsenal begin to unlock the true potential of their elite goalscorer.
A team in transition
Arsenal need to find a way to maximise output from their existing pool of attackers. Given the consistency of his selection, Arteta appears to be a coach who puts the system first — but none of these attacking players was recruited specifically for his system. The one attacking target we know he prioritised, Houssem Aouar, is a player suited a possession-based style.
Aubameyang, Willian, Saka and Pepe are all players who thrive in transition — yet Arsenal’s slow build-up play prevents them from receiving possession in situations where they are most dangerous. It’s an issue of compatibility between players and style. Even Alexandre Lacazette’s struggles are in part explained by the fact he is not the ideal centre-forward for Arteta’s system. Currently, Arteta is attempting to rob the bank by picking the lock, but trying to do so with a bunch of getaway drivers.
With time, some of that can and will be fixed in the transfer market. For now, Arteta may have to compromise some tactical principles to enable these players to flourish. Arsenal are not without attacking talent, but they require a system that allows them to shine. More frequent transitions and dynamic ball progression may be keys to unlocking Arsenal’s attacking potential.
Basically, speed up the passing and we’ll improve but it’s little more than we’ve been saying here.
Morning all by the way.
Talk about cutting to the chase. Summed up perfectly Rico. 😉
I do think we just need to up the pace Cicero, certainly for starters. Our stumbling around with the ball certainly doesn’t help get the best out of Auba. Luiz, probably in attempt to help Auba, bypasses the midfield and goes with the long ball.
Morning all.
Great article and it’s on point.
The problem imo has been we’ve worked and worked on what really was killing us-our defence.
Generally speaking, we defend much better now than in previous years
Time to start working on our creativity and I’ll say it, time to get Ozil in the pitch.
Tell him to just create chances, forget defending as we have Partey to run diver for him.
Get things happening, tell Auba to make runs and Ozil will find him.
Run cover.
“Diver”?
Stupid phone lol
Just watching the England vs Ireland game, well some of as I’m channel hopping, but I saw a bit of the half time analysis and as usual Roy Keane was angry and Ian Wright was Ian Wright but Ashley Cole, he just talks a load of old bollocks, how do some of these geezers get the TV gig..?
The commentator on the England game is something else,talks too much,full of it.
New post up now