re: Arsenal 2022/23 Season Thread - Jesus Take The Wheel

Tierney hasn't looked good going forward. Hopefully he can knock the rust off.

Between him and White, Arsenal don't have a fullback providing anything really on attack. It's all on the wingers. Granted there isn't anyone in the box to pick out for a ball in there anyway from the fullbacks.

Game should have been put away at the half. Not ruthless enough around/in the box. Last year we lose that game so we will take the W and move on to the next.

Yeah definitely not dropped. At least one of them probably needs a bit of a rest tho

Arsenal are 12 points out of 12 and people are bitching. Jesus flipping Christ. We finally have depth at almost every spot. Enjoy this result and move on to Wednesday.

We did dominate them from an offensive standpoint. City has gone down twice now and crawled themselves back to ties and wins. So it’s good to see this team capable of that.

Great win today.

Last few days of the transfer window coming up. Excited to see what we do.

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His crossing was off today, but otherwise looked good to me

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He had 7 shots recorded and 9 crosses. Some of his set pieces were bad too. I’m saying Nketiah looked good enough to drop one of them for PL competition. You need competition for places, and unless we sign another winger with proven PL quality, I don’t know where we are going to get competition outside of Nketiah.

I believe that was only second come back PL win since Arteta has been in charge and the first time since 2013 we’ve come back to win after conceding the first goal in the second half.
My only real concern is having to play Mo Elneny for any significant Premier league minutes if we have just one injury in the midfield. I would love for us to bring in some cover at that position.

I feel like we need a winger more than a CM, as Elneny isn't a bad passer, but is one who is always going to choose the safe option. He completed 98% of his passes yesterday, and we all know he isn't expansive with his passing, which requires the CBs and and the two other CMs to drop deeper. I do want to see Azeez there though, as he looks promising. We do need a long-term solution there and for Xhaka. I would love to see Smith-Rowe at the other CM in place of Xhaka, given his ability to carry the ball.

For that single DM position, finding a player with the right defensive qualities and expansive passing range, like Partey, is exceedingly hard. The thing about Elneny is that he isn't going to ever be out of position, and he's always going to play the safe pass, while also showing for the ball as well as being sure with his touch.

In a Squakwa comparison, Elneny only lost possession once, in comparison to Partey losing the ball an average of 13 times per game. He doesn't play as many forward passes, as he played only 5 yesterday, with 42 sideways passes, which are mainly to Gabriel and Saliba, who are responsible for restarting the attack when Elneny is playing. In most other stats, it shows that Partey is the far more active player defensively, while Elneny is far more static. Still Elneny had 8 ball recoveries, which shows he is alert to the second ball, but doesn't contest on the ground or in the air as much, again which indicates his conservative approach to the position.

The actual player that seems to compare favorably to Partey is Tyler Adams, but I don't think he is as aggressive passing the ball forward as Partey, which is what makes Partey so important to us. Nor do I think it will be easy to find a DM who can carry the ball like Partey. Given how well-rounded Partey is, it's going to be extremely difficult to find a player who is available, affordable, and willing to be a back-up for a bit who is going to provide the same things Partey does, especially in a single pivot system. If we are going by what Pep has done, both Man City and Barcelona required a tall single pivot DM who was strong on the ball, comfortable in possession, and expansive in their passing. Even Fernandinho, who is 5'10, could was supremely athletic. Looking at the market, Tielemans seems more a natural number 8 than a number 6, as I don't know if he's played in a single pivot before. Otherwise his stats also compare favorably, but the issue with being a single pivot DM that is also required to contribute to the attack is that you have to be incredibly positionally disciplined, as your offensive position when your team has the ball in the final third is also your defensive positioning, which is an incredibly hard for many midfielders, as that requires amazing athletic ability if you are even slightly out of position. I don't think we should buy players just for the sake of buying, as that led us to paying exorbitant prices for Mustafi and Xhaka. While we need both an upgrade on Elneny and a long-term solution for Partey, I think finding the right player is going to be extremely difficult, especially given the how little time remains in this window.

Tielemans might be adept at the single pivot number 6, I honestly don't know. Has anyone watched him play there?