Arsenal goal scorers: 03 - 07

[GriffinGunner]

Here's a snapshot of Arsenal's goal productivity (Premiership games only) over the past few seasons. Obviously the figures for 06-07 are with 3 games remaining, but I think there are a few trends still visible.

I've tried to group them as either strikers, midfielders or defenders. Forgive me if you might find 1-2 names you feel should be elsewhere, I know some players move around and for this statistic I think the impact of such players is negligible.
Here's what does stand out: Goal scoring overall is down and a lot of that seems linked to the production from the midfielders. The last two seasons Arsenal have gone without a midfielders scoring in the double digits, where as in the seasons ending 03 and 05 they had 2 each. (Gilberto might reach 10+ this year, but I think most of his goals have been penalties.)

Now, how much of the impotency from the midfielders stems from the personnel or from the injuries that change games plans, I don't know. It's clear Super Bob, Bergia and Freddie couldn't keep their efforts up forever and changes had to be made. Where they so special Arsenal couldn't hope to replace them or were the replacements Arsenal found simply not the answer? Or must the strategy change to fit the new lineup?



06-07 05-06 04-05 03-04 02-03
Henry 10 27 25 30 24
Reyes 0 5 9 2 0
RvP 11 5 5 0 0
Ade 7 4 0 0 0
Bergie 0 2 8 4 4
Pennant 0 0 0 0 3
Jeffers 0 0 0 0 2
Kanu 0 0 0 1 5
Diaby 1 1 0 0 0
Baptista 2 0 0 0 0

Pires 0 7 14 14 14
Cesc 2 3 2 0 0
Hleb 2 3 0 0 0
Gilberto 8 2 0 4 0
Ljungberg 0 1 10 4 6
Wiltord 0 0 0 3 10
Rosicky 3 0 0 0 0
Edu 0 0 2 2 2
Vieira 0 0 6 3 3
Flamini 3 0 1 0 0
Van Bronckhorst 0 0 0 0 1
Aliadiere 0 0 0 0 1

Campbell 0 2 1 1 2
Senderos 0 2 0 0 0
Cygan 0 2 0 0 1
A$$Cole 0 0 2 0 1
Lauren 0 0 1 0 1
Toure 3 0 0 1 2
Gallas 3 0 0 0 0
Hoyte 1 0 0 0 0

Strikers 31 44 47 37 38
Midfield 18 16 35 30 37
Defenders 7 6 4 2 7
Total 56 66 86 69 82

[gooner4eva]

ahh yes i understand???

[GriffinGunner]

ahh yes i understand???
I tried to build a table but couldn't get the script to take. Sorry. :o

Should be a little better now. Smaller table at the bottom is most telling, I thought.

[Rewinder]

If you can, redo it on excel and take a screenshot of it - it may be interesting to look at the numbers.

[rojagooner]

Strikers 31 44 47 37 38
Midfield 18 16 35 30 37

Where will the Midfield goals come from!!? :D

[NorthBank74]

Strikers 31 44 47 37 38
Midfield 18 16 35 30 37

Yes this is what caught my eye too. Lately I've been focusing big-time on lack of striker productivity and these stats show it's down a lot. BUT the midfield drop is looking maybe even more significant, both in it's size and duration.

Since we have so much midfield talent and I've felt more willing to be patient with them in terms of their scoring production, than I am with the strikers. (e.g. Ade & Bap) But these stats make me wonder if my patience is wrongly placed. Hmm...

[RealMadGunner]

I tried to build a table but couldn't get the script to take. Sorry. :o

Should be a little better now. Smaller table at the bottom is most telling, I thought.

I'll give it a try ..



06-07 05-06 04-05 03-04 02-03
Henry 10 27 25 30 24
Reyes 0 5 9 2 0
RvP 11 5 5 0 0
Ade 7 4 0 0 0
Bergie 0 2 8 4 4
Pennant 0 0 0 0 3
Jeffers 0 0 0 0 2
Kanu 0 0 0 1 5
Diaby 1 1 0 0 0
Bapti 2 0 0 0 0

Pires 0 7 14 14 14
Cesc 2 3 2 0 0
Hleb 2 3 0 0 0
*Gil 8 2 0 4 0
*Freddie0 1 10 4 6
Wiltord 0 0 0 3 10
Rosicky 3 0 0 0 0
Edu 0 0 2 2 2
Vieira 0 0 6 3 3
Flamini 3 0 1 0 0
*Van Br 0 0 0 0 1
*Aliali 0 0 0 0 1

*Sol 0 2 1 1 2
Send 0 2 0 0 0
Cygan 0 2 0 0 1
**A$$Cole0 0 2 0 1
Lauren 0 0 1 0 1
Toure 3 0 0 1 2
Gallas 3 0 0 0 0
Hoyte 1 0 0 0 0

Strk: 31 44 47 37 38
Mid: 18 16 35 30 37
Def: 7 6 4 2 7
Total: 56 66 86 69 82

NOTE:
* Names have been shortened
** Names have bben unchanged to preserve the identity


Phew, that was hard .. :D

[jameslamont]

I hope you don't mind RealMadGunner but I had a few spare minutes so I decided to try and get some of your statistics into simple charts in Excel. Perhaps I have too much time on my hands :P. I hope it is all accurate I have checked most of the data, if it's wrong, please let me know.

Here is what I came up with:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y233/jameslamont/goalsfromstrikers-1.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y233/jameslamont/goalsscoredbystrikers.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y233/jameslamont/goalscoredbymidfield.jpg

[jameslamont]

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y233/jameslamont/goalsfrommidfielders-2.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y233/jameslamont/goalsscoredfromeachposition.jpg

Perhaps the most important:

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y233/jameslamont/goalsscoredfromwholeteam.jpg

[NorthBank74]

James,

Yes you do have too much time on your hands! ;)

There may be a discrepency in your last 2 charts re midfielder goals. They don't seem to jive in the last few seasons.

[jameslamont]

James,

Yes you do have too much time on your hands! ;)

There may be a discrepency in your last 2 charts re midfielder goals. They don't seem to jive in the last few seasons.

I just saw that 2 mins ago and I am fixing it now :P

EDIT: Now fixed.

I'm going out now, later :D

[JoeAFC_9]

When did Abou Diaby ever play up front?? But fair play jameslamont for showing everybody why TH14 is so vital to us! Look at the pie chart - he's dominant and any1 who has said he should leave is, well, fooolish!! http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/images/icons/icon7.gif

[jameslamont]

When did Abou Diaby ever play up front?? But fair play jameslamont for showing everybody why TH14 is so vital to us! Look at the pie chart - he's dominant and any1 who has said he should leave is, well, fooolish!! http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/images/icons/icon7.gif

Don't blame me for that error, I took the data from RealMadGunners table :P

:D

[JoeAFC_9]

Don't blame me for that error, I took the data from RealMadGunners table :P

:D


lol i no!! and i shuddnt argue - it probably took ages to collect all the data!!

[Rewinder]

We only have 56 goals this season? How many games have we played, almost as many?

[Gooner_for_Life]

We only have 56 goals this season? How many games have we played, almost as many?

06/07 - We will have played 58 games by the end of the season.

05/06 - We played 59.

Dang i didnt think it was this close. This year we had the extra CL qualifiers, CC final, and FA Cup replays to make up for the missed rounds on the CL.

[Rewinder]

So we are averaging 1 goal a game?

That is pretty sad.

[Schu419]

Looking at the #s, we should be able to re-create those midfield strike rates in the years to come. Aside from Pires's amazing years, no one has really lit up the scoreboard, aside from one year from Freddie, when he had 10.

Seeing the recent goal scoring potential of Fabregas and Rosicky, we clearly have goals coming from then in the years to come. Hleb is not a scorer, and that is one of the main reasons he must go, IMO. With another scorer on the right wing, we will be completely fine.

We can't expect Gilberto or Toure or Gallas to break 5 goals a year each, but I don't think it's unrealistic to see each of those 3 average around 3 a year. They all definitely can score, so that can make up for the lack of a Super Bob

[Dave216J]

It's interesting to see how much it's dependent on two main factors - no Pires, and decline of Henry (yes, not permanent, but at least for one year).

RVP and Adebayor have more or less adequately replaced the Kanu/Bergkamp/Wiltord/Reyes numbers, though they could use a touch more, or some help from Baptista and Aliadiere.

Henry is down from himself, and obviously his replacements haven't made up for him at his usual scoring rate, either - assuming he returns refreshed and uninjured, he should at least top 20 goals, if not be back up near 30 again.

The defense is pretty similar to prior years.

Gilberto and Diaby are keeping pace with Edu/Vieira of old, surprisingly (I remembered them getting more).

And the midfield in general is pretty similar (Ljungberg had that one great year with 10 goals; and Wiltord was really more of strikers in those years, so I'd put him up in the top third of the chart) except for Pires.

If Hleb and Rosicky could combine for 15-20 goals per year, and Cesc can pick up from 3 to 7-8, the midfield would be back to its full potential. They get into the right positions, and have the shot (Rosicky anyway), so it's really a matter of composure, hunger, and finishing.

If the midfield can get back to 25 goals and the strikers to 40, Arsenal will be in the top 2 for sure. With a healthy season, neither of those targets seems like a huge stretch, even with current personnel.

[The Jitty Slitter]

It's interesting to see how much it's dependent on two main factors - no Pires, and decline of Henry (yes, not permanent, but at least for one year).



Nail on Head.

Pires not only scored lots of goals from midfield he also made them.

The Henry factor - well he's been injured and RvP as well.

The loss of Pires at the club has been huge.