Thread by @remigoomba

A few @Arsenal stats from @WhoScored

Arsenal is the team which allows the most shots to their opponents and has the most penaltys against.

They are bottom 4 for tackles and interceptions with a middle of the range 53% possession (9th)

Arsenal is also the 3rd team to spend the most time in their own 3rd behind newly promoted Norwich and Aston Villa.

All teams ahead of Arsenal (8th) complete more short passes per game but none completes more dribble (1st)

Arsenal is only the 15th team in terms of fouls per game but first in cards per game.

Digging into fouls and cards, Xhaka with 15 fouls for 4 yellows illustrate perfectly the Arsenal case. I haven’t crunched the numbers but he must have the highest card to foul ratio for a midfielder in the league

So if I try to make sense of all this the data hints at a team which carries the ball a lot and takes a lot of risk (1st dribbles) for average end product (8th shots-7th goal).

At the other side we don’t put enough pressure allowing an easy path to the last third as our midfielders backtrack. The lack of organisation then leads to last ditch defending (cards, penalties) and a lot of shots for opponents.

These numbers just back my opinion that

Arsenal doesn’t have any clear identity or blue print and that we play as fearful team, playing really low in a very narrow block.

Any change would come through a more coherent midfield.

Worth noting that the CMs in teams above and around Arsenal are all very mobile athletes 🤷‍♂️

Regarding Emery, it feels like everything we needed to know about him in terms of output has been out there for a while.

@Arsenal is the new @SevillaFC_ENG

Difficult to reconcile what’s above with @UnaiEmery_ ‘a ambition to be protagonists