This is what annoy me the most about him. He clearly can be progressive if he actually tries as seen in the newcastle game. But he is just so risk averse. He is how i imagine elneny would play in that position, just without the occasional blooter.
We’re a very cautious team when you look at the risks we take. Our fullbacks aren’t as aggressive in attack, we normally have a shield of 2 in front of our defence and we rarely try pot shots or low percentage passes.
This is reflected in the stats for needs too. Our games have the lowest total xG in the league. We don’t create an insane amount but we barely give up any chances
I don’t agree with this. One fullback inverts into midfield so that the 8 position can get forward and join the attack while the other fullback overlaps the winger to take away a defender creating space for cutting inside or creating a crossing opportunity. I mean Zinchenko just scored this past game ffs. We play a high line in possession with the triangles passing pattern so that there’s always a passing outlet and when your main holding/defensive mid is out, you have to fill in that gap with an extra body bc he (Partey) was integral to our defense and build up. Declan can’t do it on his own, though he tries. Jorginho is far from a “shield” for the defense. He’s there to retain possession and help with the build up burden.
We are 7th in the league rn on the xG table and we were 5th last season… even taking away penalties we’re 10th so idk what you’re talking about lowest in the league? That’s with injuries to our creative players (like Jesus, Odegaard, Martinelli for a bit) and Partey who, again, integral to our build up too.
edit: not to mention playing out from the back no matter how many times it burns us
One fullback inverts into midfield so that the 8 position can get forward and join the attack while the other fullback overlaps the winger to take away a defender creating space for cutting inside or creating a crossing opportunity.
The fullbacks do that very conservatively. Compare that to any other team in the “big 6” and you’ll see that, plus the fact that we play FBs that are closer to CBs than they are to the traditional FB.
I mean Zinchenko just scored this past game
From a corner lol. Saliba also scored from the same situation, you wouldn’t use that to imply our CBs are attacking.
so idk what you’re talking about lowest in the league?
As I said, our matches’ combined xG, which is our attacking xG+ our opponents xG, which indicates how open matches are. I can show you my source in about an hour since I I’m on mobile rn but the point is, our matches are very stingy. Even the example you give is great, we are 7th in attacking xG, give away the least xG. We aren’t some swashbuckling team like last season. We are a lot more measured and careful, and that’s a good thing imo.
not to mention playing out from the back no matter how many times it burns us
Playing out from the back is actually the safer option lol. You lump the ball forward results in the opposition being way more likely to win the ball back.
when your main holding/defensive mid is out, you have to fill in that gap with an extra body
We did the same thing last season when Partey was around. Our rest offence in 3-2-5, Zinny was Partey’s midfield partner.
To summarise, ask yourself this simple question when watching us. How many times do we try low % options? We don’t spam long shots, we don’t span through balls, our wingers almost never run into outnumbered situations and will almost always pass back inside, we’re even pickier at which transitional moments we’ll attack. This is all mostly by design, because our performances have been a lot more mature and controlled as opposed to the high intensity of last season.
I wonder how this lines up with the amount of corners we get.
We give away the fewest in the league which adds up, but we get the most by quite a distance, which I would have thought meant higher xG with us getting in the positions to create the corners and the corners themselves (although our corners generally tend to be poor and wasted)
This is what annoy me the most about him. He clearly can be progressive if he actually tries as seen in the newcastle game. But he is just so risk averse. He is how i imagine elneny would play in that position, just without the occasional blooter.
Risk goes against Artetas entire philosophy, so Kai is like his perfect player.
Spurs play risky football and look at them, living on a knife edge and now the wheels have fallen off.
Huh?
We’re a very cautious team when you look at the risks we take. Our fullbacks aren’t as aggressive in attack, we normally have a shield of 2 in front of our defence and we rarely try pot shots or low percentage passes.
This is reflected in the stats for needs too. Our games have the lowest total xG in the league. We don’t create an insane amount but we barely give up any chances
I don’t agree with this. One fullback inverts into midfield so that the 8 position can get forward and join the attack while the other fullback overlaps the winger to take away a defender creating space for cutting inside or creating a crossing opportunity. I mean Zinchenko just scored this past game ffs. We play a high line in possession with the triangles passing pattern so that there’s always a passing outlet and when your main holding/defensive mid is out, you have to fill in that gap with an extra body bc he (Partey) was integral to our defense and build up. Declan can’t do it on his own, though he tries. Jorginho is far from a “shield” for the defense. He’s there to retain possession and help with the build up burden.
We are 7th in the league rn on the xG table and we were 5th last season… even taking away penalties we’re 10th so idk what you’re talking about lowest in the league? That’s with injuries to our creative players (like Jesus, Odegaard, Martinelli for a bit) and Partey who, again, integral to our build up too.
edit: not to mention playing out from the back no matter how many times it burns us
The fullbacks do that very conservatively. Compare that to any other team in the “big 6” and you’ll see that, plus the fact that we play FBs that are closer to CBs than they are to the traditional FB.
From a corner lol. Saliba also scored from the same situation, you wouldn’t use that to imply our CBs are attacking.
As I said, our matches’ combined xG, which is our attacking xG+ our opponents xG, which indicates how open matches are. I can show you my source in about an hour since I I’m on mobile rn but the point is, our matches are very stingy. Even the example you give is great, we are 7th in attacking xG, give away the least xG. We aren’t some swashbuckling team like last season. We are a lot more measured and careful, and that’s a good thing imo.
Playing out from the back is actually the safer option lol. You lump the ball forward results in the opposition being way more likely to win the ball back.
We did the same thing last season when Partey was around. Our rest offence in 3-2-5, Zinny was Partey’s midfield partner.
To summarise, ask yourself this simple question when watching us. How many times do we try low % options? We don’t spam long shots, we don’t span through balls, our wingers almost never run into outnumbered situations and will almost always pass back inside, we’re even pickier at which transitional moments we’ll attack. This is all mostly by design, because our performances have been a lot more mature and controlled as opposed to the high intensity of last season.
I wonder how this lines up with the amount of corners we get.
We give away the fewest in the league which adds up, but we get the most by quite a distance, which I would have thought meant higher xG with us getting in the positions to create the corners and the corners themselves (although our corners generally tend to be poor and wasted)
There is just 1 point between us and Tottenham
They had one bad game and then lost to wolves with most of their key players out it’s hardly the wheels falling off
It is when the wheels literally fell off in that bad game. Makers of their own downfall