I think he may be useful against Manchester City, tbh. I ask that question about Gabby J vs Kai. Kai is a better CF than Gabby J this season and I think we can stop pretending otherwise.
One of those “careless possessions” was on the passer, Partey was stretching to try to get a foot on it and didn’t get enough of the ball.
That’s not the sense that I get. I feel like he’s generally deferring to Jorginho when they are on the field together. But, interestingly, that’s not what the FBref data says about his two seasons at Arsenal. Both his progressive passing yardage and the number of progressive passes completed are up slightly from last season. However this may be explained by the improved control demonstrated by the team this season. Compared to last season, both his number of touches and the number of passes completed are up by more than 10 per 90 minutes this season. I did watch as many of his games as I could during his time at Nice and Marseille, which may be where I get the sense that he has always had the line breaking pass in his locker. He completed more progressive passes per 90 in both loan spells than he completed in either season at Arsenal.
At the expense of offering every team we go up against an easy way out of our press. With Kiwior in there we are not getting beat by the diagonal vertical ball every time. And if having Kiwior in there means our entire backline can comfortably sit at the halfway line or further advanced, how much more secondary ball progression do we actually need? Think there’s a reason that City has kinda gone away from the inverted wingbacks and mostly plays four CB types in a backline. It’s the same reason it’s working so well for us: you can suffocate teams by playing man-on-man press, and let the people who are actually good at progression have the ball, much further up the pitch I’m mostly agnostic about Zinchenko and our LB but it’s becoming harder to argue the results of Kiwior in over him, IMO
Havertz could potentially quell the need for a striker he really has been great in this system. Hes been good defensively in cm for us but his best contributions are high up imagine him in this team with another elite midfielder in the lcm or in a double pivot?
zinchenko is excellent when we have the ball average when we don’t Kiwior is much better defensively, adds height and is improving g with the ball but playing more as a defensive full back that gets forward when there is space be interesting to see him vs a good side again who press
I think we still likely need a good striker, depending on what we are looking to spend, but I think next season we could see Jesus and Martinelli swapping on the LW, Kai and a new ST at striker, and then Saka and someone else at RW. Really depends who the striker is.
Going forward, I think the best use of Havertz is as a F9 in the current formation or as a AM/SS (giving MO rest) in a 4-2-3-1/4-4-2 setup. If we find a legit DM (push Rice forward) or CM (Rice at 6) you reduce the need for a starting quality #9 because you have Havertz, Jesus & Trossard who can all play that F9 role. Think this is a very plausible scenario. Havertz allows you to go for a younger/cheaper option (Sesko, Zirkzee) at ST that's not necessarily ready to be a starter for a CL side but has the upside to be very good in our system. Then you have Saka, Marti, Jesus & Trossard at W with Jesus & Trossard able to rotate to F9 when needed.
It's interesting how much lumpiness of results drive narrative. Last season arsenal had an insane streak in the first half of the season before struggling - this season more even but it works out the same but likely we are a bit better Arsenal Compared to Corresponding Fixtures Last SeasonPoints: 0 (61 vs 61)xG: +5.3 (55.5 vs 50.2)G: +6 (68 vs 62)xGA: -9.2 (18.5 vs 27.7)GA: -3 (23 vs 26)xG Dif: +14.5 (+37 vs +22.5)G Dif: +9 (+45 vs +36) pic.twitter.com/STYNIHMQ4l— Scott Willis (@scottjwillis) March 5, 2024
I agree with you re: the narrative being informed too much by the results, but we’re more than a bit better. We gave up 50% more xGA last season.
A lot of that is down to Saliba getting hurt last year. Using understat (which has a different xG model), about five goals better in defense and two goals better in attack through 27 games. Most of that is because the team has been on an absurd tear since New Year's: a 7 game xGA of less than 2.5.
I think Zinchenko adds a lot when you don't have a second progressive passer like Jorginho in the XI. Basically, I think you need him in such situations, especially against low blocks. If Partey can get back to his former level, Arteta will have the choice between him and Jorginho, consequently Zinchenko might be needed even less. But that's a big if.
The problem with the 4 CBs approach is that Declan Rice isn't a great ball progresser, and so there are going to be games where the team struggles in attack (ala Porto). Arteta's come up with some jury rigged solutions, such as having White invert more, having Odegaard drop deep, and playing Jorginho in a double pivot. But Zinchenko is probably the best solution we have: having him invert and play the double pivot with Rice allows us to play two 8s with Rice and still move the ball forward. I suspect that Jurrien Timber was envisioned as someone who could provide the same ball progression while being better defensively, but we're not going to know if that's the case for a while.
The point I was making was that the stats and my eye test don’t completely align. The Arsenal stats would seem to support your eye test better than mine. I have to go back to his time in a weaker league for the stats to support my eye test.
ESR is done at Arsenal. This lack of minutes is telling. I don't know why people don't see Mikel doesn't rate him.
rice is the classic modern superstar midfielder. a total drug monster who can also play some football. i kind of miss the midfielders of yore who had to be good on the ball.
You seem to assume that everyone is doping, at least everyone who has elite performance metrics. If it's so widespread, what's your theory on why we haven't seen more doping evidence/violations in the EPL? The stories like Pogba and Onana seem few & far between... and not in England. Does England (EPL & EFL) not do random drug testing? (I thought they did but I really have no clue)
Kai Havertz as a striker in the Premier League:4 games4 wins3 assists2 goals Leading the line. [transfermarkt] pic.twitter.com/JxW0kX22TV— AfcVIP⁴⁹ (@VipArsenal) March 5, 2024
there basically is no meaningful drug testing in the top leagues and if you do get caught you usually get let off. pogba must have really messed up somehow