It’s been nearly a week since Arsenal lifted the FA Cup and the silly season of transfers is in full swing, and the start of next season is just 36 days away but I think that we should still take a little bit of time to reflect on the season that just finished before we fully set our sights on the future.
Arsenal 2019-20: By the numbers
56 – Points for Arsenal, tied for the 26th (of 28 years) highest in Arsenal’s history in the Premier League. 8th highest in the Premier League this season.
56 – League Goals for Arsenal, 24th highest in Arsenal’s history in the Premier League. 6th highest in the Premier League this season.
48 – League Goals allowed by Arsenal, 24th most allowed in Arsenal’s history in the Premier League. 8th fewest in the Premier League this season.
+8 – Arsenal’s goal difference in the League, 26th highest in Arsenal’s history in the Premier League. 8th highest in the Premier League this season.
29 – Goals in all competitions for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leading Arsenal, the next highest was Alexandre Lacazette with 12 and Gabriel Martinelli with 10.
24 – Rank for Arsenal in total goals among all of the teams in the Big 5 European Leagues.
18.5 – Expected goals in the Premier League and Europa League for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leading Arsenal, the next highest was Alexandre Lacazette with 11 and Nicolas Pepe with 5.3.
31 – Rank for Arsenal in total expected goals among all of the teams in the Big 5 European Leagues.
11 – Assists in all competitions for Bukayo Saka leading Arsenal, the next highest was Nicolas Pepe with 10 and four players with 4.
6.8 – Expected Goals Assisted (xA) in the Premier League and Europa League for Bukayo Saka leading Arsenal, the next highest was Nicolas Pepe with 5.2 and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with 4.1.
47 – Rank for Arsenal in total expected goals assisted among all of the teams in the Big 5 European Leagues.
112 – Shots in all competitions for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leading Arsenal, the next highest was Alexandre Lacazette with 69 and Nicolas Pepe with 66.
62 – Rank for Arsenal in total shots among all of the teams in the Big 5 European Leagues.
47 – Key Passes in the Premier League and Europa League for Nicolas Pepe leading Arsenal, the next highest was Mesut Özil with 39 and Bukayo Saka/Dani Ceballos with 36.
60 – Rank for Arsenal in total key passes among all of the teams in the Big 5 European Leagues.
84 – Shot Creating Actions (The two offensive actions directly leading to a shot, such as passes, dribbles, and drawing fouls. Note: A single player can receive credit for multiple actions and the shot-taker can also receive credit.) in the Premier League and Europa League for Nicolas Pepe leading Arsenal, the next highest was Alexandre Lacazette with 68 and Bukayo Saka with 67.
59 – Rank for Arsenal in Shot Creating Actions among all of the teams in the Big 5 European Leagues.
202 – Touches in the box in the Premier League and Europa League for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leading Arsenal, the next highest was Alexandre Lacazette with 149 and Nicolas Pepe with 138.
23 – Rank for Arsenal in Touches in the box among all of the teams in the Big 5 European Leagues.
87 – Successful dribbles in the Premier League and Europa League for Nicolas Pepe leading Arsenal, the next highest was Bukayo Saka and Dani Ceballos with 40.
24 – Rank for Arsenal in Successful dribbles among all of the teams in the Big 5 European Leagues.
1906 – Passes completed in the Premier League and Europa League for Granit Xhaka leading Arsenal, the next highest was David Luiz with 1712 and Dani Ceballos with 1349.
223 – Final third entry passes completed in the Premier League and Europa League for Granit Xhaka leading Arsenal, the next highest was Dani Ceballos with 163 and Matteo Guendouzi with 154.
25 – Rank for Arsenal in Final third entry passes completed among all of the teams in the Big 5 European Leagues.
58 – Penalty Area entry passes completed in the Premier League and Europa League for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leading Arsenal, the next highest was Nicolas Pepe with 40 and Bukayo Saka with 37.
24 – Rank for Arsenal in Penalty Area entry passes completed among all of the teams in the Big 5 European Leagues.
212 – Progressive passes completed in the Premier League and Europa League for Granit Xhaka leading Arsenal, the next highest was Dani Ceballos with 157 and Matteo Guendouzi with 154.
40 – Rank for Arsenal in Progressive passes completed among all of the teams in the Big 5 European Leagues.
41 – Tackles won in all competitions for Ainsley Maitland-Niles leading Arsenal, the next highest was Granit Xhaka with 39 and Dani Ceballos with 38.
54 – Rank for Arsenal in Tackles won among all of the teams in the Big 5 European Leagues.
43 – Interceptions in all competitions for Dani Ceballos and David Luiz leading Arsenal, the next highest was Lucas Torreira and Matteo Geundouzi with 40.
78 – Rank for Arsenal in Interceptions among all of the teams in the Big 5 European Leagues.
62 – Passes blocked in the Premier League and Europa League for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leading Arsenal, the next highest was Granit Xhaka with 43 and Matteo Guendouzi with 35.
44 – Rank for Arsenal in Passes blocked among all of the teams in the Big 5 European Leagues.
651 – Pressures in the Premier League and Europa League for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leading Arsenal, the next highest was Alexandre Lacazette with 561 and Dani Ceballos with 513.
20 – Rank for Arsenal in Pressures among all of the teams in the Big 5 European Leagues.
203 – Clearances in the Premier League and Europa League for David Luiz leading Arsenal, the next highest was Shkodran Mustafi with 168 and Sokratis Papastathopoulos with 121.
32 – Rank for Arsenal in Pressures among all of the teams in the Big 5 European Leagues.
189 – Shots on Target faced in the Premier League by Arsenal keepers. 147 for Bernd Leno and 42 for Emiliano Martínez.
9 – Rank for Arsenal in Shots on Target faced among all of the teams in the Big 5 European Leagues.
78.3 – Save Percentage in the Premier League by Arsenal keepers. 77.6 for Bernd Leno and 81.0 for Emiliano Martínez.
2 – Rank for Arsenal in Save Percentage among all of the teams in the Big 5 European Leagues.
58.7 – Post Shot xG faced in the Premier League by Arsenal keepers. 45.5 for Bernd Leno and 13.2 for Emiliano Martínez.
16 – Rank for Arsenal in Post Shot xG faced among all of the teams in the Big 5 European Leagues.
10.7 – Post Shot xG – Goals Allowed (xG goals saved) in the Premier League by Arsenal keepers. 6.5 for Bernd Leno and 4.2 for Emiliano Martínez.
1 – Rank for Arsenal in xG goals saved among all of the teams in the Big 5 European Leagues.
There is a lot there.
This doesn’t tell us everything but the big picture that I see from the above stats is that Arsenal is a decent team but there is a lot of room for improvement. Things aren’t exactly settled at the club right now but hopefully, the management has a plan to improve this team and build for the future.
Thanks for reading this season! For the rest of the summer, as signings happen I will give by the numbers on the new players.
@oh_that_crab
Source: StatsBomb via FBRef
1 – FA Cup
2 – great goalies
3 – top quality signings needed
2 midfielders (creative and box-to-box) and 1 centre back?
If we can keep Ceballos I’ll say creative, DM and CB.
Creative, Partey, and CB? I’m just drolling over the potential double pivot switchability of a Partey-Ceballos combo with a hard-working creative type in front (Buendia would be my ideal signing there…but it might well be Willian – he’s pretty good)
Ideal: Buendia, Partey, Malghaes
Probable: Willian, one of the spanish guys, ???
Thanks for all of you saying I’d be a key signing. Much appreciated.
1. Winning the cup call covers a lot of ills.
2. We sucked, even for an Europa League team. We did not go out early in that competition … We over achieved.
3. Our goalies are excellent.
4. We need significant midfield improvement.
We won the Cup! And we had an absolutely sh*t year. The table lies about how abject we were!
…… all I heard in my he’d while reading your post was…. we won more than Tottenham and made them have to Qualify for Europe… even finishing below them in table they still are in our shadow!
But that’s just me
Turns out Xhaka isn’t as bad as people think after all.
Everyone on Arseblog…
I’ve actually always thought Xhaka was a talented player who was just badly deployed. He’s been one of my favourite players for some time. I only called him a useless cunt to motivate him. It’s all Emery’s fault.
Ha ha! Yes, me too! Tough love!
I wonder what your thoughts would be if we didnt win the FA Cup. We finished 8th…not good enough. Are you be happy with 8th? How has Xhaka improved us if we have finished 8th, and the last time we finished so low was over 25 years ago. Winning the Fa Cup has given us a false hope that we are a good team. Xhaka will be a good player if we can maybe finish 4th?
How did Auba improve us if we finished 8th? and the last time we finished so low was over 25 years ago. Winning the Fa Cup has given us a false hope that we are a good team. Auba will be a good player if we can maybe finish 4th?
This is how you sound like.
Can we upgrade on Xhaka? Yes. But is it an emergency like the 7 other positions
What I am saying is are you happy with 8th?????,,,and it sounds like you are dancing around answering that question.
But we did win the FA Cup. There is nothing false about that. Pretending otherwise makes no sense at all …
Yes, we won the FA Cup, but are you happy with 8th? Yes or No? Are you happy getting beaten by Brighton home and Away? Are you happy with Wolves, and Spurs finishing above us? Getting knocked out by Olympiacos? Pretending we are doing well makes no sense at all….
Oh my Lord! It’s not black and white. You can be happy to have won the FA cup and see that as signs of progress AND be not happy with finishing 8th in the table and want to keep making improvements. I haven’t seen ANYONE here say they are happy with 8th, but not enjoying an FA cup victory just because we finished 8th is a degree of masochism that I think borders on the unproductive if not destructive.
spot on!
Of course no one is happy with 8th; there is not a single Arsenal fan on the planet who is content with where the club is at the moment. But this neat thing called perspective, and context, enables the majority of us to celebrate and enjoy the unrivalled FA Cup success and the victories along the way that do show Arteta can build this team into a winner. There is a lot to be concerned about at AFC right now, but that does not negate the incredible thing we did on the pitch last week — that is what sport… Read more »
Right. Because finishing 8th is only one person – Xhaka’s fault.
He still leads the progressive pass stats. So in that case there are plenty other players who you could “blame”. Give the mad credit.
Atrocious the way our goalies are being exposed(from the stats) ….. Thank goodness they’re worldies, evident from the sheer amount of saves they make. Tightening at the back constitutes one of the very core non-negotiables!
55 – reasons not to be cheerful.
Especially losing our best talent scout.
Lots to improve upon. Goals scored needs to jump up to at least 75 while against should drop by at least 10%. Improvement here will guarantee top 3 at the minimum.
Hopeful for a much better new season
While you’re not wrong, it’s easier said than done…
Giving Luiz an extension.
Making 55 staff redundant.
Putting AMN up for sale.
Wenger would never.
On the other hand Wenger would be throwing 10 year contracts on crazy money to Jenkinson and Sanogo. Let’s just let the new manager be his own man much as we love Arsene
It’s not about Mikel, it’s the board. Wengs always spoke about values of the club, not allowing agents to dictate our transfer business. Protecting our academy products. The Arsenal way is dissolving now under new board.
Yes but Luiz a new contract is not as bad as Sylvestre at all. He also held us back a bit in the process if you think about it. Refusing to part with a million or less to sign Alonso simply because he’d have killed Diaby and Denilson at the expense of improving the team. Going out to waste 17m on Welbeck and Lucas Perez two summers apart when peak Sanchez and Ozil needed an Aubameyang or less. I do get the point about the 55 but God knows how many they were going to be without Europa. Realistically we… Read more »
I can’t believe you’re trying to justify making 55 staff redundant at Arsenal, they are making a fool out of you. They help make the club function, and what it costs to keep them for a year is chicken feed for our billionaire owner.
If this is how you treat loyal servants of the club then don’t be surprised when players leave for what fans feel is a lack of loyalty. We are not Wolves or Leicester, we are Arsenal. Wenger made mistakes, sure, but he never compromised the values of the club like this.
Wenger was great but made big mistakes towards the end – the effects of which are still with us. Arteta has a huge task on his hands. He’s made a good start, no doubt about that, but the real test will be over the next season or two.
Totally. And he’s playing catch up with almost no money, can’t shift players on good wages and the competition has increased
What are you talking about? Wenger never gave long contracts to any player. He dallied on several that we should’ve been more decisive on, but that’s different.
Most Gooners acknowledge that we’ve been in a slow decline for several seasons now, FA Cup wins not withstanding. No point in dwelling on who is to blame, but Covid, with the redundancies that has brought, on top of that is a real double whammy for the club. The next couple of seasons will probably be the most important for Arsenal for a long time. Arteta has made a good start but we should remember that had we lost to Chelsea in the cup final we would have had another, but unwanted, “double” – the lowest league position in decades… Read more »
That’s actually some pretty decent stats from Pepe.
He hasn’t been as bad this season as some outlets will have you believe. Really looking forward to seeing him next season when he’s more settled in both the team and the league!
Factor in that he’s been in and out of the team too, rarely finishes the games he starts then you’d believe he’s on the right track if he improves his stamina
For £72m, I’d have to agree with James @gunnerblog that I think we overpaid. Having said that, he’s still 24 and under a 5 year contract. Let’s hope he improves his stats in the following seasons to come.
Pepe showed me enough this year to believe that with Bellerin, Tierney, Saka, and Martinelli, he can be a part of a very good Arsenal team for the next half-dozen years. He is a very good player; the “over-payment” argument only matters if (a) we could have gotten someone as good for less money and (b) we won’t get more from him in the future.
Those stats show Leno is pure class..actually Elite level
I was surprised how “good” [relatively to other stats above them, anyway] we were at passes in the final third & penalty area, etc. I would have thought those rankings would be on par with shots & goals, but I guess we progressed the ball decently before being unable to do anything with it. I guess that’s from all the runs down the wing that resulted in crosses that went nowhere?
3 – The amount of people to take charge of team affairs – Joint 27th highest in Arsenal’s history in the Premier League. Equals 1996-97 where Stewart Houston, Pat Rice, and Arsene Wenger were all Manager (Or official Caretaker)
47 – Key Passes in the Premier League and Europa League for Nicolas Pepe leading Arsenal, the next highest was Mesut Özil with 39 and Bukayo Saka/Dani Ceballos with 36.
The version of a not prime and disinterested Ozil still managed to be second in Key Passes. He barely played.
Shows how much we are in need of a creative outlet.
But he recorded zero in the games he didn’t participate. We hate him because we cannot spot his runs and we hate him because he is not someone who fits in the profile of highest earners we had in mind.
Would be interesting to see the stats difference between Emery’s reign vs Arteta’s reign.