“That’s a lot” said Unai Emery when reflecting on the 15 Premier League goals his team have conceded so far this season.
Trying to find defensive stability has been the most difficult part of the Spaniard’s job since he took over, and it was something he spoke about this week in an interview with Marca, believing that the club’s focus had become too attacking under previous boss Arsene Wenger.
“Before Wenger, Arsenal celebrated the 1-0 and it was based on defensive solidity,” he told the Spanish publication. “With Arsene the joy was in attack, with high quality players.
“The perfect combination was the Invincibles, but over time only technical quality and offensive freedom were taken care of, losing the defensive structure. What I want is to unite both essences and be more competitive.”
And in an interview with Sky Sports, Emery says he’s spoken to the players about the need to tighten things up at the back.
“Today I was speaking in the dressing room with the players for half an hour,” he said, “different things, tactically and other things.
“We have scored 26 goals in the Premier League. That’s very good for us. But how many have we conceded? 15. That is a lot.
“At the moment the balance is positive, but it is not enough. We need to keep the scoring statistic, but concede fewer chances and let in less goals. 16 games without losing, that’s fantastic.
“But the last three we have drawn. That is not enough at the moment.”
The Gunners will be looking for all three points when they visit Bournemouth tomorrow, and if they can keep a clean sheet along the way it would add a little icing to that particular cake.
PREMIER LEAGUE GOALS CONCEDED THIS SEASON
Man City – 5
Liverpool – 5
Chelsea – 5
Sp*rs – 8
Arsenal – 15
Bournemouth – 16
Man Utd – 21
Defence doesn’t seem much different to last season, not good enough yet. Let’s hope they can step up or we’ll have more draws or even losses. Let’s hope it works and we start winning again.
Actually. I find it different but in a weird way.
Last season I thought there’s always a concentration problem with our defence. Individual errors, lack of game sense.
This year it looks like our defenders are individually playing well (exceptions with Mustafi sometimes) but our system as a whole has teething problems.
Best way i have seen it put.
Emery must have a real fetish for pressure if he’s going to compare this team to the Invincibles.
Ha ha ha, Man united… (sorry) ?
No need to apologise
I see all the top teams in the top 7 have less than 16 goals conceded
Its been a problem for a while now. We are slightly better defending as a unit but we need to tighten up further. Its not just an issue of defensive lapses because we tend not to pick players running into our box from midfield. We also tend to not have enough awareness with set pieces picking players up AND Our fullbacks in an effort to make up for lack of natural wide players tend to push up and leave gaps in which the Cbacks get dragged out of position. Monreal has as much been culpable but so too other fullbacks.… Read more »
i like that he admits our defence sucks at the moment, it makes me more comfortable than hearing we just lacked mental strenght. like, at least he sees it, even if he hasn’t found a way to fix it yet
Have we conceded any goals directly from set pieces? Dont think i can remember one