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The death of the one-man team?
24 – Percent of Arsenal’s total shots taken by Santi Cazorla³
27 – Percent of Arsenal’s total League shots taken by Robin van Persie last season³
13 – Percent of Arsenal’s total goals scored by Santi Cazorla
41 – Percent of Arsenal’s total League goals scored by Robin van Persie last season³
31 – Percent of Arsenal’s total goals scored by Gervinho³
25 – Percent of Arsenal’s total goals scored by Podolski
26 – Percent of Arsenal’s total key passes produced by Santi Cazorla³
18 – Percent of Arsenal’s total League key passes produced by Robin van Persie last season³
0 – Key passes by Cazorla v. Schalke
23 – Percent of Arsenal’s total assists produced by Podolski³
15 – Percent of Arsenal’s total assists produced by each of Cazorla, Giroud and Gervinho
20 – Percent of Arsenal’s total League assists produced by Song last season³
16 – Percent of Arsenal’s total League assists produced by Robin van Persie last season
24 – Percent of Arsenal’s goals + assists by each of Podolski and Gervinho³
14 – Percent of Arsenal’s goals + assists by Cazorla
30 – Percent of Arsenal’s League goals + assists by Robin van Persie last season³
25 – Percent of Arsenal’s shots + key passes by Cazorla³
23 – Percent of Arsenal’s League shots + key passes by Robin van Persie last season³
19 – Percent of Arsenal’s total offense by Cazorla³
18 – Percent of Arsenal’s total offense by Gervinho
17 – Percent of Arsenal’s total offense by Podolski
27 – Percent of Arsenal’s total League offense by Robin van Persie last season³
Jaded?
15 – Games played by Gervinho since the end of last season (all starts?)
26 – Games played by Fernando Torres since the end of last season (19 starts)
26 – Games played by Eden Hazard since the end of last season (21 starts)
20 – Games played by Juan Mata since the end of last season (16 starts)
21 – Games played by Robin van Persie since the end of last season (19 starts)
16 – Games played by Yaya Toure since the end of last season (all starts)
21 – Games played by Lukas Podolski since the end of last season (17 starts)
23 – Games played by Santi Cazorla since the end of last season (17 starts)
21 – Games played by Aaron Ramsey since the end of last season (14 starts)
(all data here via the notoriously unreliable ESPN)
Arsenal 0-2 Schalke 04
(Quick edit… I found another resource and wanted to add a few more data points)
21 - Passes from Vermaelen to Mertesacker, Arsenal’s most common pass combination
15 - Passes from Arteta to Jenkinson, Arsenal’s second most common pass combination
14 - Passes from either Mertesacker to Vermaelen or Mertsacker to Jenkinson, Arsenal’s third most common pass combination
16 - Passes from Fuchs to Affelay, Schalke’s most common pass combination
13 - Passes from Uchida to Farfan, Schalke’s second most common pass combination
61 - Total minutes that the ball was actually in play over the 90 minute game
17 - Shots per game Arsenal average in the Premier League
7 - Shots per game that Arsenal are averaging in the Champions League
13 - Shots per game that Schalke are averaging in the Bundesliga
14 - Shots per game that Schalke are averaging in the Champions League
(Data from UEFA press kits)
3 – Shots by Arsenal in the first 27 minutes
0 – Shots by Schalke in the first 27 minutes
66 – Minutes Arsenal played without recording a shot
7 – Shots by Schalke in the 66 minutes which Arsenal failed to take a shot
7 – Shots by Schalke in the entire match
@Barcelona – Last time that Arsenal was held to fewer than 6 shots in a game
93 – Minute in which Arsenal recorded their fourth and fifth shots of the game
93 – Minute in which Arsenal recorded their only shot on goal of the game
1 – Shots on goal by Serge Gnabry
1 – Number of times Serge Gnabry was dispossessed in midfield which led to Schalke’s second goal
0 – Number of times Serge Gnabry was dispossessed according to Opta
6 – Aerial duels won by Andre Santos (of 7 contested)²
6 – Aerial duels won per game by Andre Santos¹
4 – Fouls conceded by Andre Santos²
4 – Turnovers by Santos²
3 – Turnovers by Neustader, Affelay, and Uchida, combined (1 each³)
2 - Goals conceded by Santos playing the attacker onside (Norwich and Schalke)
9 – Attempted crosses by Jefferson Farfan playing on the right for Schalke²
1 – Successful through balls by Farfan² (tied with Affelay and Cazorla)
1 – Assists by Farfan² (tied with Affelay)
2 – Successful dribbles by Farfan² (tied with Arteta and Coquelin)
2 – Key Passes by each of Farfan and Uchida playing on the right against Andre Santos² (Cazorla Podolski also had 2 KP)
1.6 – Shots per game by Podolski when playing with Gibbs
0.5 – Shots per game by Podolski when playing with Santos
4.1 – Key passes per game by Leighton Baines (leads all five of the major leagues in this category)
3.6 – Crosses per game by Leighton Baines (leads all five of the major leagues in this category)
7am
Follow Tim on twitter @7amkickoff and at 7amkickoff.com
¹Best in the Champions League in this category
²Lead both teams in this category
³Lead just his team in this category
So, what we need to do is to buy Leighton Baines?
Yes that’s exactly what we need sadly but now that you’ve mentioned it we’ll never get him.
With regardz Gazidis!
Do you get your kicks being lame? What a tosser!
C’mon Arteta, snipe some Everton players for us. Please????
We should be poaching citeh, barca and madrid players, not everton players.
*Omitting barca and citeh…… Go on.
Your request has been duly noted and i will advise mikel accordingly…i have his ear you know…as well as his hair
Van Persie performance last season eclipsing three of our players this season? And he single-handedly the decisive factor of our “succes” last season?
Maybe, what we need is to try again using Podolski in the striker position or at least a false nine. The left position could be occupied by Cazorla or Gnabry to give an extra bite and directness. When in desperate situation, sometimes you need desperate measures.
No you don’t. After a string of bad performance we need to keep it tight at the back first and foremost then progress from there. Even if it means a scoreless draw. Defense first.
Uncle George, is that you?
Can’t fault it. Build on a base, go forward from there.
No what we need to do is play 2 up front. and replace fabianski squillaci santos denilson arshavin park bendtner and chamakh with martinez miquel meade henderson ryo gnabry afobe and campbell. up front any combination pairing of giroud podolski walcott gervinho afobe campbell will suffice. its good enough for the 2 manchester clubs, newcastle, liverpool and everton so why not us? Play arteta or coquelin or frimpong in front of the back 4
with a fluid offensive midfield of wilshire diaby cazorla or gnabry henderson ryo or ramsey chamberlain rosicky
So we’re shit?
Podolski should definitely play CF. He’s just as good as van persie at the finishing compartment wenger said it himself he could be scoring 30 goals or more..He’s the best finisher we have so why not?
Did anyone else notice we switched to a 4-4-2 with Gervinho and Poldi up top with Santi on the left?
First time I’ve seen us switch to that in a long time. Shame it ended up being a gigantic waste of time! We couldn’t even get the fuck ball up the field……
Interesting all the same though, wish we would try it Saturday with Theo and Giroud partnering up front…………….sigh
Wait, actually I have a question for Tim. Are you implying that Santos, this season, is the opposite of van Persie last season? If van Persie was the player that made our team played much better, then could Santos be the player that made our team played much worse?
If what you observed is right and Santos hampering our offensive play and contribute a lot to our worsening defensive play, then why can’t it be rectify? Hopefully the next match will prove that it is being rectified, but base on experience, many of Arsenal players literally forget about their last performance and doing the same mistake all over again.
Santos could get better, though that wouldn’t take much since he’s pretty much one of the worst players on the field at the moment.
And this is more than just stats talking. His positional awareness both offensively and defensively is shocking at the moment. He gums up the Arsenal attack with his constant drifting inside and he’s far too easily exploited at the back. Schalke targeted the right flank (our left) all night. It was embarrassing how easily they overran that section.
I’m not one to say that means he’s utter shit, I’d rather think he has a LOT to improve on. Good players work on their faults, now’s the time to see if he’s a good player or not.
One misleading stat was this though ’0.5 – Shots per game by Podolski when playing with Santos’
IIRC Santos has only played with Poldi twice or thrice so far. Against Norwich the whole team was shit, and I guess Schalke too.
Besides this there was always 3 Schalke players on our left flank, so maybe a bit harsh to vilify Santos, whereas Ramsey on the right side kept drifting inside which makes it rather favourable for Schalke. Average position map will undoubtedly show 3 Schalke players on our left.
Actually, Debuchy, I have seen the average position charts.
http://www.uefa.com/newsfiles/ucl/2013/2009522_tl.pdf
As you can see, Ramsey did a great job covering on the right and played deeper than many probably expected. Jenkinson also played deep and provided needed width down the right.
But there are two key areas where the Arsenal players were tripping all over each other: the center circle and the center-left forward.
Look at Schalke’s average position graphic and you will see that they are very organized, especially in the second half. All the lanes are covered and every “zone” is covered by a back 6. Their two center mids were outstanding in that regard and the space between them was well balanced.
Arsenal’s two CM were literally stacked on top of one another. Not sure whose fault that is (Arteta or Coquelin) but looking at that makes Arsenal look like they are basically playing with one CM. It gets slightly better in the second half, but not much.
Meanwhile, up front, Santos drifted in far too much, as shown by his average position graph and instead of responding to that by going wide, Podolski also went central. Then to compound the problem, Cazorla jumped in that area as well. Sorry but that is not a good looking attack, that is a disorganized mob with everyone trying to play center forward. And while you can forgive the CAM (Cazorla) and the guy who has a number 9 on his back (Podolski) why would the left back be trying to play center forward?
Gibbs provides that width that Podolski and Arsenal need, Santos does not. That’s why Poldi couldn’t get a shot and that’s why Santos is at fault. The stat is far from misleading.
Schalke recognized this imbalance and if you look at the progression of Farfan’s average position you see that despite being all alone, he’s pushing wide. The wider he got, the more they pressed Arsenal. And eventually they broke and won the game.
Sorry, but it is about Santos. It’s also about why Arteta and Coquelin didn’t have a better spread between them, but that’s a sub-plot. Santos’ positioning both offensively and defensively has to be the main story.
Problem is depth. When Arsenal is free of injury, no problems. When hit by a marauding idiots, injuries limit the options. That’s what going.
No excuse though, if we even have an inkling of the prospective of winning the league, we should have cover. I blame Wenger, that’s the only negative thing I can say about his policy. Emphasising the youth is a virtue and it should be one of the hallmarks of Arsenal. But not to detriment of the club.
(This goes both way, RVP, Nasri betrayals and everything, but that’s something you can’t blame Wenger for. At least, insofar, that he should replace them either way.)
And how many times did we play it backwards instead of taking on the Germans last night. Playing safe in the final third all night. If only we could get a graphic on our passing in the final third you would be shocked.
There was surely a lack of aggression and intent last night from Arsenal. Basically our team needs Balls.
5 – Number of years I’ve watched every single game of Arsenal.
1 – Number of games I’ve switched channels to watch another match. It was last night. I watched Borussia Dortmund instead.
0 – Predicted number of games I`ll watch Arsenal play again.
0 – number of fucks anyone gives
1 – ”fan” we’re happy to be rid of
Fuck all——> number of fucks i’d like to give at this moment regarding what you just said.
Imho this team hasn’t had a chance to gel together for a long enough time to actually be a force together. The players Mr. Wenger has brought in recently are all team-players and rely on a collective effort and a chemistry to shine. We as fans only have to wait and alongwith that keep our support at the maximum. (away fans?) For some example take Liverpool fans. Let’s act as a ‘club’ with history & fandom.
Soon you’ll suggest that the team needs half time cuddles and ice lollies! They need balls! Some big fuckin’ balls!
Bullshit Mace. Every team every year brings in players and loose players. We have a lot of players that`s been in the club for years like Djourou, Gibbs, Ramsey, Diaby….. We lost two first team players and bought three. Not that many and it should not take long for the team to gel and the new ones to come in. The problem is that most of the squad, is just not good enough. The first 11 yes (if szczesny can get his gloves out of his arse) but the replacements belongs in middle or bottom teams.
To say that the Liverpool fans always support their team is just nonsense. They are not one bit better than any other clubs supporters. The good thing they did was to force their previous owners out of the club and that`s something we should look at. Get that slimy c**t Gazidis, PHW and Silent Stan out of the club and get some football people in.
I point out that our left side midfielder left Santos exposed on many occassions. Its a pity our highly defensive coach was exposed last night. The least we can do is acknowledge rather than continuing to vilify Arsene for things he can’t control
Last I checked, he DOES get to pick who to play.
I echo this
#onlyagooner will expect an immediate effect of the UEFA financial fair play.
#onlyagooner can easily survive any future
heartbreak due to it’s an annual occurrence at the
club. Even though we all wish and believe these trends wont last for long.
Being a gunner for 40 years, I have seen some good moments and many bad moments but nothing compares to the last 8 years. Lots of respect for Arsene Wenger but he has lost the plot. I am sorry to say but it is time he leaves Arsenal and another manager is given the chance to make Arsenal great again.
damn i miss gibbs
if arsenal were to play 4-4-2.. We’ll need personnel changes.. Not coquelin and arteta as the CMs.. if all were fit and we hapnd to switch to that formation i’d suggest..
-Shzny-
- sagna – mertersaker – koscienly – gibbs -
- Walcott – wilshere – arteta – carzola –
– giroud – podolski –
We will need atleast 1 “true” winger (Walcott) because Carzola will be drifting around behind podolski.. Wilshere and arteta..? Need ii say more..? Sagna and gibbs are the best we have in their respective positions..
Not if we played 4132
szcesney
sagna mertesacker vermaelen gibbs
arteta
wilshire diaby cazorla
giroud podolski
or
Mannone
jenkinson djourou koscielny meade
coquelin
Chamberlain ramsey rosicky
walcott giroud
players to trade
It doesn’t matter what formation we play and you lot can name off lineups till the cows come home. If we continue to play with the same desire and hunger we will finish 12th. 124567,442,182, 433, 011. It means fuck all when you’ve got a manger who’s lost the plot, a captain who’s shit at his position and hasnt the gut to scream at the others, the worst footballer ever plaing cf, Ramsey, and a 12 million pound striker on the bench. and don’t let me forget, a league 2 Keeper. Jack wilshere, rosicky, Thierry Henry and Jesus Christ couldn’t keep this boat afloat rite now. Bring on Joachim Löw, sack gazidis and phw, let’s finish in 8th and start fresh.
Whoa shit, queue the thumbs.
Queue the thumbs?
That’s already presupposing that people read the posts with your name in it.
* on it. Knob.
Go away frog. Your opinion is quite frankly horse dung. You speak as if you just landed from freaking mass, well just incase you did, Wenger will never leave, atleast not in the near future. We need a fresh board and that’s it. Joachim low can quite frankly disappear for now!.
I don’t think it was the board who decided to play gervinho as a cf, Ramsey and Bendtner as right wingers and make the same pointless 70 min subs. But you’re rite, the board should be sacked.
Yeah but the board being the total bellends that they are made sure this were the mediocre signings that wenger had to work with. He has transformed bendtner nto a self-proclaimed gstel, gervinho still work to be done and ramsey as many say, “had his leg broken” so we’ll have to wait.
The board is rotting with grumpy outdated fuck wits who would rather keep a balance in cheque books than actually compete at the highest level amd win what we all fans want…TROPHIES…..goddamnit!.
I’m off to slumber now, i’ll continue with the rant first thing tomorrow morning. *alarm set.
What we need to do is get Mr . Wenger out.He is not helping either Gervinho,though I don’t think Gervinho can cut it at this level,or GIroud by juggling them around every match,when Gervinho scores,he starts him in the middle when Giroud scores,he is given a start.This is utter nonsense,you buy players,and even in absence of alternatives you continue to doubt your own purchase–can’t help the confidence of either.He brings on Girould –our only recogised striker in the 70th minute of a game where we hardly created anything for anyone and thinks he will do wonder.Then add to this lunacity he brings our most effective player going forward Sarge Gnabry in the 82nd minute,and poor Arshavin who I can only feel sorry for.I wish Arshavin leaves in January because I can’t this stubborn Wenger guy giving him any real chance to prove himself.I am afraid if Wenger is around he will destroy players like Carzola,Podolski and Girould–all in one season.
To Nikki: your ideas are brilliant but our brilliant manager is dumb enough not to realise that,to tell you the truth he can not concieve such ideas,because the guy just doesn’t have an imagination,maybe he reads a book on managing and implements those wacky ideas from that book,alas!Books don’t change everyday,we will have to wait until reprinting of that book with latest managerial tips and tricks.
What we see on ground is not controlled by board,I quite agree with people who say board should be sacked,but please don’t defend Wenger,if an Everton team with not even decent signings as we have can compete at the level,then there is no reason for our failure,obviously,just one man to blame Arsene BAnger!!!!!
Why is it that people are overprotective of that old French scum who manages our club,could he not have bought Gary Cahil,even on a stingy budget,could he not have bought Fellaini or Leighton Baines all these players are gettable,but the scum this manager is he will much rather invest in French prodigy like Squillachi and Gervinho,so,stop pretending as if he is the unluckiest man this world,it’s people like you who suggest that our club will not survive if this man was to leave.Why couldn’t he get Mirallas,not because he was too expensive,just bcause he would rather have a French player.Diaby maybe wonderkid but if he plays only 5 matches the whole season–why even have him in the squad,for some talent that he will unleash in the last season of his contract and then sign off to a more ambitious club,just like that Robin Van Pussy.Get rid of players who are liabilities and make room for players that can play and fight it on the pitch not in the treatment room.We are still better equipped to sign players than Everton,QPR,but our manager says we have no need of players then why is his team struggling now,he has to answer that question.He was the one who said there was no real need for any more signings,now it’s backfiring and supporters are not Arsenal supporters but Arsene Supporters.
Ok mate, take a deep breath. You said sign Gary Cahill. That means you’re banned from arseblog news for three days. While away serving your ban, please try to acquire just a wee bit of sentence structure.
Also, it’s one thing to want Arsene out, it’s a whole nother thing to be calling him a scumbag and such. The man has done more for this club than anyone else I can remember. He leaves on good terms with a statue. Now fuck off.
I think one of the most worrying things about this club at present, is that Theo Walcott is Arsenal’s highest top scorer in the squad. If he is to leave, then who is it? Vermaelen?
It will take another 7 years for any of the players we have at present to make it into the Gooners hall of fame.
Atleast when RVP was coming through, he was playing with Bergkamp, Henry, players with 100 goals for the club and the club meant something to them. Now we are left with Giroud and Poldi, who have already scored more goals then the other strikers we have on the books in 8 games.
It is very very worrying.
Good to see everyone isn’t in total panic on here… oh, wait.
How many people would be satisfied with a top four finish this season?
Satisfied thumbs up
not satisfied thumbs down
The passing between mertesacker and vermaelen; jenkinsen and arteta tells me one thing.
Our midfield set up is extremely weak! We are used to bossing the midfield, Santi Cazorla and Arteta and (who ever in diaby’s position) need to have the most amount of passes with eachother. Maybe Cazorla needs to be put on the wing for that to happen in our current formation!
Oh dear.. It’s been two fucking games in five days where our team has been a birth from anus and same people who’d suck Girouds dick after hammers game are now calling Wenger a scum, what the fuck!? Read what 7am kickoff write in comments and you can see where our problem has been in these two games. If you won epl in football manager it doesn’t make you a manager in real life. It just make you a little happier in your mediocre life.
we just cant cross! if we do we cant connect inside the box! if the passing games does’nt yeild result we hv to play long balls, play in crosses to compact the opposing defence, so we make more space in the midfield, yet we stick to passing game without pressing, lets face it our players cant concentrate on the game as much as cutalona which is essential in a tight passing game! the midfield fluffed big time! but it seems ramsey, who supposed to be our secondry creative spark does’nt even posses basic awareness! hence cazorla got easily marked out..if we had another player who could make the void useful then maybe we’ll have a chance this season..
we waste our corners, any other team with decent basics could atleast convert one, we take our corners for granted, there is no drive to convert from them at all.
gervinho has been too wasteful, y dribble wen a first time pass can do the job?
santos does not look fit at all, he seemed to tired to defend, was not looking match fit in any way!
hopefully introduction of wilshere will help to take the creativity burden off cazorla, but if anyone gets injured its back to squre one! i cant see rosicky playing more than 12-15 games this season at all, same goes to diaby, they will add quality without doubt wen they’re fit but right now we r beginning to look a lil thin in the mid field department..
Gibbs can cross. His crosses are so good they end up in the back of the net. Hopefully he stops getting hurt.
I haven’t actually seen the game but based on what everyone’s saying It seems like we’ve got some business to do in the winter.
I don’t think anyone will disagree with the fact that we need another CF. I know Poldi can play in the centre but Arsene seems to think he’s better drifting in from the left. The players we could realistically get are, I would say, Lewandowski and Llorente. They’re currently pretty buyable.
There’s also the winger. Does anyone have an update on the Theo situation? I’m starting to get seriously worried. If Theo won’t sign a new contract, we’ll have to let him go and get a new player in that mould. Granit Xhaka, maybe, or Holtby or Eriksen or Ayew. And with all due respect to Theo I’m starting get annoyed with his “I want to be a CF” claims. The manager has the final say on where and how you play and that’s final.
I also think we need another CM in the Diaby mould. 7amkickoff pointed out Rosicky and Wilshere could play in that role. However, due to claims elsewhere on the internet that Rosicky failed in the box-to-box role, I am currently cautious. And we shouldn’t be trusting Wilshere in that role anyway. He’s been out for around an year. Besides, we should have more cover in that region anyway if we’re not trusting Frimpong or Coquelin enough to start in that role. However I’m cautious because I can’t think of another player who’s got enough ability and doesn’t block Frimpong or Coqulin’s progress.
How is Ryo playing now? Any assists/goals? He looks like a good Wenger signing. Maybe he can come back and make an impact. When Ramsey is playing in the wide position I just can’t imagine any threat coming from that side (nothing against him in his natural position in the queue behind Diaby and Wilshere). It makes me want to see someone else on the wing bad and I don’t think Walcott is sticking around. Ryo might be better than Walcott in the long term anyway — not sure where that leaves us in the meantime.
By the way what’s up with Diaby? I haven’t seen any news but it didn’t look like a serious injury — just weak muscles as a result of not playing. At least I’m hoping.
I think Giroud can do the job but it wouldn’t hurt to have a different sort striker as another option. Not another target-man like Lewondoski (and Llorente looks like a brat) but a false nine or whatever you call it — someone who ran play in midfield and score goals with Giroud playing in front or without him as out and out striker, depending on opposition.