29 – Arsenal out shot West Ham 29-12
12 – West Ham blocked 12 Arsenal shots
8 – Cazorla took 8 of Arsenal’s shots¹
4 – of Cazorla’s shots were from outside the 18 yard box
4 – of Cazorla’s shots were blocked
0 – of Cazorla’s shots were in the most dangerous area (6 yard box plus area in front of the penalty spot)
6 – Cazorla was second in key passes (6, 1 was an assist) and was also second overall in passes (67/97) and first in passes in the opposition final third (44/53): this was last season’s MVP, remember?
8 – Özil created 8 shots for others¹
1 – Giroud created 1 shot, an assist, for Podolski
5 – Walcott took 5 of Arsenal’s shots
1 – of Walcott’s shots were from outside the 18 yard box
2 – of Walcott’s shots were from inside the 18 yard box (1 goal)
2 – of Walcott’s shots were in the most dangerous area (1 goal)
4 – Walcott now has 4 goals and 2 assists in his last 6 matches for Arsenal
17 – Walcott’s 23 shots total in League play and four goals means that he is converting at a 17% rate
23 – Luis Suarez is scoring at a 23% rate, though Suarez has just 1 goal against a top five side this season, whereas Walcott has 2
43 – Not to be outdone, Podolski’s 3 goals on a mere 7 shots for Arsenal means he’s converting at a 43% rate*
16 – Arsenal out tackled West Ham 16-8
8 – Arsenal made 8/9 tackles in the second half, West Ham was 5/8
27 – Arsenal won more aerial duels than West Ham 27-7
30 – Arsenal made 30 headed clearances
10 – Arsenal took more corners than West Ham 10-0
7 – Arsenal connected on 7 of their 10 corners
30 – Nearly Perfect Mertesacker made 30 passes
2 – Nearly Perfect Mertesacker made 2/2 tackles
5 – Nearly Perfect Mertesacker made 5/5 aerial duels
5 – He made five headed clearances as well
0 – Zero fouls
2 – Two shots
4 – In each of the last four seasons, the team leading the League on Boxing Day won the League (Man U, City, Man U, Chelsea)
1 – Liverpool had a 1 point advantage on Boxing Day in 2008-2009 and Man U went on to win the League
4 – In the four seasons prior to that, the team leading the League on Boxing Day won the League (United, United, Chelsea, Chelsea)
7 – In the seven seasons before that (1997-2004), the team leading the League on Boxing day only went on to win the League ONCE (Man U 2000-2001)
1 – Arsenal are +1 at the top of the table on Boxing Day. In each of the previous 8 seasons, Arsenal have been the following behind the leaders on Boxing Day:
-16 – 2012-2013
-13 – 2011-2012
-5 – 2010-2011
-7 – 2009-2010
-10 – 2008-2009
-1 – 2007-2008
-14 – 2006-2007
-20 – 2005-2006
3 – Arsenal last overcame the opposition scoring first (in League and Champions League play) in the 3-1 win over Norwich in April
90 – Lukas Podolski was a sub in that match as well, scoring the winner in the 90th minute
4 – In League and Champions League play, Arsenal have fallen behind 6 times and their record is now 1-1-4
Rejoice, ye Gooners!
7am
¹Led all players today
²Led his team
³Leads the League
*Small sample size warning:
Day……Made!.
West Ham 1 (Cole, 47)
Arsenal 3 (Character 68, Mental Strength 71, Doubters o g. 79)
Nice…but we still managed to let Carlton Cole score against us
just checking our next five fixtures and they have three points written allover them.it would be a great platform for us extending our championship leadership
perhaps we should concentrate on the premiership before we start trying to win other divisions.
Careful, Newcastle are in very good form at the moment. A draw is at least as likely as a win.
Top of the league….. COYG!!!!
Incorrect info on the Norwich match. Poldi was a sub, but he scored the third goal, not the winner. Giroud scored the 2nd goal.
Back to the Top.
Geordies had an easy time of it today against Stoke down to 9 men.
We can win up there though, but why the fuck is it on Sunday?
We have to play catch up yet again.
You’d rather play Thursday – Saturday?
Well Giroud almost cost us that game, missing chances, he just doesn’t take enough gambles! Like the cross from gibbs, he just stuck a weak leg out and hoped for the best instead of sliding in and steering the ball into the net. Thank goodness podolski is back, finally some goal threat! Great performance from Santi, loved the 4-3-3 after ramsey went, with santi and ozil operating together in the middle, that would be really juicy if we could play it but I think its too ‘attacky’ and besides we don’t av a DM that can cover reliably well for… Read more »
Against a dire westham you can have chance after chance! after chance! to put things right. miss this one, another one is defo coming.
But against top teams chances come far in between and on such a day girouds misses would have cost us this match. eg chelsea Giroud is nailed on the team sheet for me but boy he should really start tucking his chances away!
I’m sure he’s frustrated by himself too….come on HFB vs newcastle!
Eh? Mr trash oh! Sorry, trask
How on earth didn’t cazorla play vs city and Chelsea??
1: szszesny’s error that led to goal this season. Top, top, super, super goalkeeping there.
apart from the villa game…
I think the red thumbs here are misunderstanding the comment. What Bolarinwa is saying is that Chezzers has only made one error leading to a goal ALL SEASON, and the Chezzers really is a top, top, super, super goalkeeper. And I agree with that. He has been superb. Berlingoon – which goal in the Villa match was Szczesny at fault for? The first penalty, which shouldn’t have been given after the advantage was played? The second penalty, which shouldn’t have been given because Koscielny won the ball cleanly? Or the three-on-one breakaway, which shouldn’t have happened because we should have… Read more »
1 more point, and I reckon we’ll be safe.
Cazorla in the middle of the park rocked. He’s at his best when he plays through the middle
It may be a blessing in disguise that rambo came up with a thigh strain. I hope he comes back soon though. If Podolski can start, he can take the pressure of HFB to score by playing on the left and having Santa in the middle again.
Where would Ozil play?
My favorite bumper sticker.
“Man U, City, Man U, Chelsea”.
“City”? Who is this “City”? Norwich City? Bristol City?
If you mean those chavs from the Middle Eastlands they don’t get to use a one word name. They don’t have anywhere near the required level of class 😉
@ bolarinwa, be mature. I see I got a lot of thumb-downs, but let’s ask ourselves, didn’t giroud miss chances? , and didn’t they av chances to score at least 2 which would have made it much harder to get a win?. Do we really av a DM that can cover RELIABLY well for both santi and ozil in a 4-3-3 if we play both through the middle? Arteta and flam are great but they do need a supporting cast. If our pressing and work rate were as good as barca’s then maybe it could work but sadly its not
Arteta and Flamini *are* the supporting cast!
How many DMs do you want? We have 2 senior (Flam and Arteta) with Frimpong and Yennaris backing them up? Again I ask, how many DMs do you really believe we need?
Thanks 7am, have just written a much more detailed and enthusive comment but managed to inadvertently delete it so once again, thank you.
There were more shots in this game than the one against Chelsea. Happy the homework was done to remind the players that it’s perfectly normal to sometimes shoot.
Avoided the result to watch on football first. Where was it? Missed the highlights completely
Newcastle will be no pushovers-hoping Jack benefits from a rest and Rambo’s loss isn’t too costly. Need to make this period count!
Also thanks for the stats!
OZIL is a world class player but I have to say…Hands down Cazorla is a way better #10 than Ozil especially when he plays in the middle. He can pass and switch play with both feet and can shoot form long range with a decnt accuracy with both feet. CAZORLA – Vision 9. Passing (long & short) 9. Weak foot 9. Long range shot accuracy 8 (and thats with both feet). Tackling and work rate 8. OZIL – Vision 8.5. Passing 8.5 (a much better short passer than a long passer). Weak foot 2. Long range shot accuracy 6.5 (Doesn’t… Read more »
Not sure your numbers are the right way to compare the two players. For example: both are fantastic passers, but see and play different types of passes. Both are good finishers, but take different types of shots. Etc.
In my book, both are outstanding players, but in different ways. Cazorla is slightly more direct, loves being on the ball and retaining possession. Ozil puts more effort in creating space and playing through balls.
You’re entitled to your opinion, but I think you’re way off here. This was Cazorla’s first outstanding game of the season. He was excellent last year, but Ozil is taking some time to adjust. They’re both excellent players, but they’re quite different. Cazorla is more dynamic and possibly better suited to the English game as a result, but once Ozil comes good, he’ll be phenomenal.
2nd outstanding game of the season. Cazorla was phenomenal against Spurs:
“Long range shot accuracy 8” … how many long-range shots has he scored in his Arsenal career? I think you’ve been playing FIFA too much.
2 — Cazorla has scored just three goals from outside the 18 yard box in League play
4 — Podolski has scored 4
If you remove blocked shots, Podolski was 4/13 from outside the box and Cazorla was 2/35.
Killing ’em with the stats
Podolski does whip in some tasty crosses. It’s great to be reminded you had such a quality player out yet we still did have been doing so well. With chamberlain still to return this too exciting.
Quality everywhere!
They’re both outstanding players… All im saying is CAZORLA is more effective in the middle than OZIL period. And thats mainly due to his skill set, which i outlined. The numbers obviously can’t be 100% accurate plus its only based on MY observation and opinion so yeah…but comparing both OZIL fades too often in and out during games while playing the number 10 role, while CAZORLA either shines or fades completely while he’s on the wings but RARELY fades when he plays that 10 role. Thats why he was MVP last season.. he always made some sort of impact when… Read more »
He was struggling after the injury and I think keeping him out of two big games have made him a better player. He is now trying to prove a point and seal his place back into the team.
Theo was THE MAN.
Give tgstel a chance to shine Wenger seeing Giroud is not delivering it will be best for the team, you get to rest your main striker and also build bentner’s confidence( he won’t possibly score an own goal ) plus he seems ready to help
8- number of matches since Giroud last scored for The Arsenal
Re Santi v Ozil can we just enjoy it we got both players in our team?
Just watched the highlights and the best and worst part of Giroud is in action. OG is a striker that lives off crosses. Right now it seems that his timing is a little off which is means that he isn’t connecting with the ball properly. He has also always been bad when striking the ball which means he isn’t going to get us any goals until he calms down and get his timing/confidence back. Also means it will be great if we can get someone who can lead the line, and shoot as well. On the other hand, the 3rd… Read more »
The boxing day performance was without a doubt the kind of performances worthy of a title winning team. We boxed our way through a tricky game on boxing day. Oh boxing day!! When I was young I thought the name boxing day was created because of my village. I grew up in a small extremely poor hunter gatherer Baka pygmy village community in the heart of the Equatorial rain forest. Our village chief was always father Christmas (SANTA) since he was the person who shared rice from house to house ON Christmas eve (rice was only eaten on Christmas days,… Read more »
I must still be drunk.
Any idea about the kilometers run during the game, especially for Giroud? Tried to check fourfourtwo’s statszone, but there’s nothing in there.
This will be jack’s oppurtunity to shine in ramsey’s box-to-box role and may he ecxel in the role as what he did against barca,cazorla was immense in the central attacking role!
I think Bishop and Rambling Pete are the same person….I mean have you ever seen them in the same room at the same time??
Ha Ha! I think he might be Rambling Pete’s long lost equatorial cousin!!