2.1 – Shot based xG for West Ham (using numbers from fivethiryeight)
1.4 – Non-shot xG for West Ham
1.8 – Shot-based xG for Arsenal
2.1 – Non-shot xG for Arsenal
—
23 – Passes by Arsenal in the first 10 minutes
81 – Passes by West Ham in the first 10 minutes
6 – Passes by Chambers in the first 15 minutes
65 – Passes by Arsenal in the first 15 minutes
113 – Passes by West Ham in the first 15 minutes
44 – Passes by West Ham in the Arsenal final third in the first 15 minutes
18 – Passes by Arsenal in the West Ham final third in the first 15 minutes
4 – Shots by West Ham in the first 15 minutes
0 – Shots by Arsenal in the first 15 minutes
1 – Chart showing shots broken down into 15 minute chunks
1 – Chart showing passes broken down into 15 minute chunks
100 – Percent chance that West Ham’s extra three days of rest helped them get off to a quick start
—
Thomas had a bad game?
88 – Passes by Thomas Partey (led both teams)
81 – Passes completed by Partey (led both teams)
92 – Percent passes completed by Thomas Partey
2 – Short passes failed by Thomas (of 34)
3 – Medium passes failed by Thomas (of 45)
2 – Long passes failed by Thomas (of 8)
1447 – Total yards passed by Thomas (led both teams, his most this season in the Premier League)
458 – Progressive yards passed by Thomas (led both teams, his most this season playing for Arsenal)
16 – Passes into the final 1/3 by Thomas (led both teams, his most this season)
14 – Progressive passes by Thomas (led both teams, his most this season playing for Arsenal)
1 – Passes completed under pressure (his fewest this season)
1 – Pass straight out of play by Thomas
1 – Pass to interception by Thomas
0 – Passes to blocks
0 – Passes to an offside player
79 – Carries by Thomas (a carry is when a player moves the ball by themselves without a pass, led all players, his most this season playing for Arsenal)
14 – Progressive carries by Thomas (2nd on the team, his most this season in the Premier League)
5 – Carries into the final third by Thomas (tied for the most on the team, his 2nd most this season for Arsenal)
265 – Yards, progressive carried by Thomas (2nd on the team, his most this season in the Premier League)
3 – Number of times Thomas was dispossessed (was tackled)
0 – Number of times Thomas lost possession on his own (bad touch, etc.)
3 – Shot creating actions by Thomas
3 – Tackles by Thomas, 2 tackles won
3 – Tackles v. dribbles by Thomas, 1 tackle won (was dribbled twice)
15 – Pressures by Thomas (tied for 3rd on the team)
5 – Pressure regains by Thomas (tied for 2nd on the team)
1 – Pass blocked by Thomas
1 – Pass intercepted by Thomas
17 – Loose ball recoveries (led Arsenal, his most this season in the Premier League)
?? – Is that a bad game?
—
MØ goes nuclear
332 – Yards, progressive passing by Ø (3rd on Arsenal)
4 – Key passes by Ø (led both teams)
5 – Passes in the penalty area (led both teams)
0.4 – Expected Assists by Ø
11 – Progressive passes by Ø
60 – Touches in the opposition final third (led all players)
76 – Carries by Ø (2nd among all players)
503 – Yards carried by Ø (led all players)
247 – Progressive yards carried by Ø (3rd on Arsenal)
17 – Progressive carries by Ø (led all players)
5 – Carries into the final third by Ø (tied for the most by all players)
2 – Carries into the penalty area by Ø (led Arsenal)
4 – Attempted and 4 successful dribbles by Ø (led all players)
11 – Shot creating actions (led all players, the most by any Arsenal player this season)
19 – Shot creating actions Arsenal, as a team, average per game
6.32 – Shot creating actions Kevin de Bruyne averages per game (leads all players)
15 – Pressures by Ø (tied for 3rd on the team)
—
Chambo starts slow, rebounds quickly
1 – Pass by Chambers in the first 10 minutes (from kickoff, a pass back)
192 – Yards, progressive passing by Chambo
3 – Key passes by Chambo (2nd behind Ø)
3 – Passes in the penalty area (2nd behind Ø)
0.4 – Expected assists by Chambo (note: these are just the passes which counted, his crosses which were dangerous don’t count unless we get a shot off)
2 – Unexpected assists by Chambo (he was officially recorded with 0 assists in this match because Lacazette’s goal was counted as an own goal and his cross for the 2nd goal also was an own goal)
Sources: fbref.com, fivethirtyeight.com, whoscored.com
Good to focus on our best three players (bar Laca), there will be some (eg Auba) that don’t look good at all.
Need to be switched on (eg looking at the ball if there is a free kick) thoughout.
So many games we should have won this season with a relatively small change in what happened. I hope we are learning.
Emery PL games
P 51 W 25 D 13 Points 88 Points/game 1.73 Win rate 49%
Arteta PL Games
P 49 W 21 D 13 L 13 Points 75 Points/game 1.53 Win rate 43%
Biased towards Arteta; Priceless
and I thought Emery was a really sh*t manager…..and he was
Watching the games, without analysing them at a statistical level, it feels that we are far better under Arteta – but if that is the case, then what do the numbers above therefore mean? We we very lucky under Emery (‘luck’ being defined in this context as ‘winning games that we didn’t ‘deserve’ to win, based on statistical analysis)? We are very unlucky under Arteta? We might be playing better football, but if that doesn’t translate into points………… then is it ‘better’ at all? I’m only asking the questions – to my mind, we look a better team under Arteta,… Read more »
I agree with you that by just watching the games it looks like we are better Arteta. But end of the day playing good and not winning matches that you should is just not enough. In 10-20 years when we look back all that matters is how high did we end up finishing in the league. If Emery had the sames results as Arteta he would have been sacked mch sooner.
he manages villarreal, bye, enjoy laliga
First, there is regression to the mean–meaning in this context, the ‘luck will even out and you will, over the course of the whole season, generally get the points you deserve.’ More important, in this specific situation, the reason we `look’ better is that in most matches we are better, for much of the game. If you eliminate the ridiculous individual mistakes, we have a much better record. I’m not saying those mistakes are not relevant–but obviously you can more easily reduce them than improve a team’s quality (technical ability, pace, endurance, etc.) Finally, look at what’s happened recently (even… Read more »
Thanks for this analysis I been looking for this stats. We have improved alot though what we experienced during that time was our fault by the board when we don’t use our best creative midfielder that is available and improvised and putting just crosses in the matches but only God knows what transpired between the two parties. And made team suffer for that and we were still paying him his wages. all this were detrimental to the position on the table. immediately ESR was available in December our results went up we started having fair results. We are now competing… Read more »
> In 10-20 years when we look back all that matters is how high did we end up finishing in the league.
Absolutely not for me.
I remember trophies, I remember epic matches – wins or losses, epic goals, the quality of football and above all the players.
Any table position between 3rd and 16th is utterly forgettable in the long term.
Those stats don’t really tell the story.
My feeling is that Emery under performed with that set of players and was lucky (the 22 game unbeaten run), whilst occasionally playing good stuff (before the arse fell out of the team).
Arteta’s been a mixture, but I feel more confident in where it’s going. There’s been a lot of bad luck too.What the team will look like after we get the rest of the shite out this summer will give us a big indication as to where it’s going long term. Could be champions league or championship, genuinely have no idea.
Though provoking post @shedzy. In my opinion, the structure at the club and the general environment is much better under Arteta. No more distractions because of Brand Ozil, no more rash decisions from Mustafi and no more petulant behaviour tolerated (Guendouzi). The atmosphere is a lot more professional and together. One of the big factors for me this year though is how many mistakes the team has made leading to conceding goals. We must have lost 10 points from stupid decisions. That would put us in 4th. Promising signs are there, just not yet the finished article. I have hope… Read more »
under emery we wouldn’t have come from 3 down arteta’s side is flawed but there are signs of progress that don’t reflect in the stats (such as the wolves away game) one positive is our approach to big games, which is an improvement over the previous regime(s) you have to learn to live with pain if you are a gooner, and if you can’t you can go somewhere else with your knee jerk reactions rome wasn’t built in a day, this club has been in decay for quite some time now and we will take some time to get back… Read more »
That’s a point and Gooners all know about living with pain. The problem is that patience is not a commodity often in evidence in football boardrooms in particular. MA (and the players, of course) can still turn this season around via the EL. Were we to win it – and gain the huge bonus of CL football next season – I guess that that and a likely mid-table finish would be acceptable, especially as it would be only his first full season as a manager. However, if we don’t win the EL and finish mid-table then there would be a… Read more »
And were you this kind to Emery when we finished 5th? Love the excuses,,,,keep them coming.
FA Cups; Arteta 1-0 Emery.
Improvements made by Arsenal under Emery: 0. Improvements made by Arsenal under Arteta: too many to list. We’re nowhere near our destination yet – with hundreds of improvements still to be made – but at least we’re now on the right road.
we’ve got something resembling a spine, for one
our defence isn’t dodgy, we haven’t conceded more than 3 in the league in a long long time (improvement given that we’d get twatted 5-1 or 4-0 in an away game atleast once a season)
Twatted is SO under-used.
Totally agree. I thought that initially that came at a cost to our attacking prowess – but I can see that being fixed now. Under Emery, I can’t remember being overly enthusiastic about any of our players. Now I have Gabriel, Tierney, Partey, Odegaard (at least temporarily), Saka, Martinelli – and the greatest of them all ESR. Times are exciting! How many times could I have said that under Emery’s stewardship?
I remember dreading the prospect of watching our games under Emery and he had lost the dressing room. Once that happens no stat can save your job. Besides, I kept commenting during Emery’s unbeaten run that we are being lucky and soon it will come to an end and we will have to face hard facts. People said “why can’t you just enjoy the win” and our turkey came home to roost. With Arteta it is the opposite, we are playing well but are losing and our time will come where we will start winning more than losing. Both teams… Read more »
Yes, we finished 8th last season, we are currently 9th, we couldn’t beat Villa or Burnley in 4 matches…and you say we are on the right road……really?
That’s bollocks. The truth is that we’re at a crossroads. Yesterday’s game perfectly summed up Arteta’s tenure so far: An abysmal first 30 minutes followed by a spirited fight-back. We have two major problems under Arteta. First, ridiculous inconsistency; second, a habit for conceding bad goals. At the highest level these two traits will cost us major trophies. If Arteta can’t sort these problems out then he should be asked to leave. Our season now is the Europa League. If we fail to win it and then finish say 10 or 11th, as expected, then this season will have been… Read more »
I can’t understand the extent of the Arteta love in. He’s meant to be a tactics guy. And once again he got badly out maneuvered. Our setup was terrible at the start and led to us not being able to get on the ball, which in the end cost us three goals and a bunch of other chances. He adjusted but too slowly and we were already 3-0 down, but salvaged a draw. It was similar against Benfica, we were nearly knocked out by a FAR inferior team that basically had ZERO quality up front, just a lot of well… Read more »
His own players said they didn’t execute the plan he laid out for them, and it’s not the first time (recall Bellerin specifically saying the same earlier this season). He’s not blameless, but he can’t do it for them.
Didn’t? Or Couldn’t? They couldn’t execute what he wanted because the other team didn’t let them. Now is that on the players or the coach? We wanted to play out from the back and West Ham stopped us. Is that the players fault? We like space in the middle (particularly Xhaka) they didn’t give it to us. Is that on the players? We like to attack through the wings. They prevented us getting the ball in spaces there. Is that on the players? Player’s aren’t faultless obviously, but West Ham were ready and had a game plan to stop our… Read more »
Arteta spoke after the FA Cup defeat, saying he had a number of players unavailable for selection, that he otherwise would of started. So he gets some slack there. There’s a lot of mitigating circumstances for Mikel, primarily Covid has changed football, certainly this season and this might carry on into the summer transfer market. He and Edu have made the 1st step on squad management, by releasing unwanted players (still a few more to move) and the transfers have been mostly encouraging. The level of football the team can produce is already there, next season it will be about… Read more »
Those “unavailable” players suddenly became available for the league game only 3 days later. So, no, he doesn’t get any slack. He should have prioritised the FA Cup game over the PL one: that was a complete no-brainer. The 3 points we won in the PL game were meaningless for a mid-table side. He sacrificed the FA Cup for nothing.
Any analysis (if you can call citing a few numbers “analysis”) relying on a few very rudimentary statistics is just lazy. I assume you trying to make a point of sorts, ie, Arteta is a worse manager than Emery? I see progression, clarity, direction, defined style of play, buy-in (from majority) of players, and more. Quality to play at the level the style requires is not there yet, but without a doubt Arsenal is a better team now then when Arteta took over from Emery.
I don’t know much about stats, but I have enjoyed watching Arsenal more under Arteta, especially from Chelsea game forward. And I remember that coincides with the introduction of ESR.
Emery’s football was large drab bar a few exceptions. I never saw where the improvements were going to come from.
But not so, Arteta. Everyone, at least most, can see the pathway. We are a good balling side again.
The second half away to West Ham should not be sniffed at. For me, I think that might be our watershed moment.
You can make statistics prove anything you want. If you gave me enough time, i could probably prove Stepanovs was our best defender.
No you can’t because any decent data analyst can see through manipulated statistics. That’s a narrow-minded, weaponised phrase used to circumvent genuine and irrefutable data and statistics.
I thought Emery did a fine job, until a month or so was remaining of his first season. Top 4 was so within reach, the teams around us were dropping points left and right, but we managed to be even worse. From then on, I hold Emery’s Arsenal to have been the worst I can remember us to ever have played in the PL. And not just the play, the chaos around the club, non-choice choice of captain, etc. I will continue to have a lot of patience for Arteta just because of how piss poor we were at the… Read more »
In the beginning I was so happy with the way Mikel managed our club with top achievements the FA cup ofc and also the handling of Xhaka. Personally I think that Arteta is so good at communication compared to Emery that this is the key reason people are so harsh on him. Also it was a barrier for him communicating with the squad. Seen emery playing well with Villareal is making me think though. If you compare their coaching career there is only one winner. Arteta is an upcoming manager that probably/hopefully become a good one. My faith in him… Read more »
Well, with Emery’s experience considered, not worth the money we are paying him. Arteta has more to grow I hope and players seems happier under him, and most will agree that we play better and seems to be improving. whereas every UE match seems like a ticking bomb ready to explode. not saying I’m loving where we are at the table right now, but i’m willing to give MA some more time? look at where Sp*rs and Everton are at today, i think we’re still doing ok. the bright side of this season are the transfers..
UEFA Cup Final 2019 Arsenal 1 Chelsea 4
FA Cup Final 2020 Arsenal 2 Chelsea 1
This is a simplistic take and there are tonnes of examples of the opposite. Europa Cup 2019 – Finalists Europa Cup 2020 – rd 32 League Standings 2019 – 6th, 2020 – 8th League standings 2021 – 9th. I’m not trying to say Emery was better, and I think he needed to go. But trying to make Arteta out to be some godly manager right now leaves a lot to be desired. He’s got a lot to prove. We really need to be winning the Europa and on the back of our draw there is no excuse not making the… Read more »
Can’t you Hazard a guess as to why that was?
How could they not credit him for the assist.. someone must have assisted any own goal. Or is it a solo effort?
My favourite part of yesterday’s game was our 2nd goal. It’s either the defender or the striker who is going to get goal served on a plate by Chambers.
Ø has been a joy, but man, watching that game? Totally next level. we HAVE to make a legit attempt to sign him. I mean, haven’t seen that kind of intricate gliding across the pitch from an Arsenal shirt in a LONG time.
Yes, if we do get an opportunity to sign him (and it’s down to RM in the end) then we should have a go. He’s a quality act, absolutely no doubt – but there’s also no doubt that we’re not the only ones who know that.
Voices were being raised before we signed him, concerned about what this would mean for ESR’s development. That they seem to have gone quiet is evidence of Ø’s quality so far (and ESR’s contributions from the left, as well as Arteta’s ability to play them both).
I’m appreciating that that by bringing Ø in, ESR can keep developing without the expectations of needing to perform week in, week out as a no 10. It now seems like Ø’s arrival is not hindering his development, but allowing it to unfold at a natural pace.
I wonder if there is a case to be made for ESR dropping deeper in to midfield to play alongside Partey in a semi Cazorla role..
Someone suggested when we first borrowed Ø that Arteta might play him and ESR both as no8s in a 4-3-3. It didn’t seem that plausible to me at the time, but I can see it now. Saka and Pepe/Martinelli could cause all sorts of problems for the opposing team with both of them slightly behind.
We would be bit light on the defensive side in that formation, but would surely speed up the build up play which has often looked laboured with xaka partnering partey.
Love his character too. Certainly no ‘Big Time Charlie’. Great work-ethic.
Thanks for highlighting Party’s contribution. I was baffled by a lot of negative commentary about his performance. He’s an outstanding player, and the way he creates time in the ball for himself is exceptional. As he gets fitter he’ll dictate midfield even more. Just the shooting at goal is irritating. Wonder how many goals he scored for Athletico or Ghana? Can you give information on that?
His record for Madrid is 12 goals in 132 games (1 in every 11).
Surprisingly for Ghana his record is 10 goals in 30 games (1 in every 3). That’s including a hat-trick against Congo.
He’s renowned for being an excellent distance shooter. Just a bad patch of shooting form I hope.
That’s not actually accurate.
For atletico, he most scores with every shot taken in the box. Hardly scores from range.
With us (Ghana) it’s honestly just different. Probably takes on the main man tag and tries everything.
Backs up what i was saying yesterday, Ødegaard was a stand out for me. Partey overall had a good game and given his lack of minutes this season Chambers played very well. Lacazette had the best game i have seen him play this season.
If they could start, the way they finish, we might be challenging.
Possibly, but because of the continuing mistakes that occur far too frequently and haven’t been addressed, I fear that’s still more a triumph of hope over expectation.
Would love some Declan rice next to Thomas partey.
I thought for sure he was going to score that goal and it would have been goal of the fucking century…jeez that was a heck of a run! From the edge of his own box.
The numbers seem to suggest that Partey has an excellent game… I wonder why my eyes were telling me otherwise. Maybe it is just a really high expectation coupled with a game state where we were losing, so I was frustrated while watching?
Because you’re focussed on a couple low%, long ranged shots going over the bar.
When ESR came on for Xhaka, Tim Stillman tweeted, “Xhaka is not the CM I would’ve hooked,” which was precisely my thought as well. James echoed that on the Arsecast too..
With Partey, I definitely noticed him giving away the ball a few times, so it was not just the shooting. Maybe once you start watching a player’s game for all the mistakes, you notice each and every one of them.
This is all very strange. I didn’t think he was having a bad game and I hadn’t realised other people thought that way at the time. I also didn’t think Xhaka was bad, though, so maybe I was looking at other things? I thought the substitution should’ve been Auba for ESR. I don’t think ESR is ready for that responsibility at this point and I think we needed more creativity from that wide position. I also thought bringing on Martinelli was a weird choice at the time for the same reason. I would’ve preferred Ceballos on for Auba and for… Read more »