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AG
222 posts
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When I say Saka just fires crosses in without looking, they tell me “well, someone should be there so he’s right for assuming someone IS there”.
Saka isn’t anywhere near as good a passer as Trent, who looks up before passing. Why can’t Saka do the same? It’s just hilarious
Billy Carpenter@billycarpy
Trent is the only Trent alive (big advantage, imo), but Arsenal could learn to steal a glance before firing these in. Other than White, they're usually knocked in blind. We should be better at low crosses, and elite at cutbacks to the penalty spot.
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@alexmoneypenny No team outside of morgan Roger's carries through the middle
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@ArsenalRadar I don't know what to make of this. Are our players dumb, not to know that he's the best ball handler & should always be on the ball moving forward?
I'm sorry, but he doesn't need to shout, he should be found.
That our midfielders are not doing that enough is damning for them.
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🎙 Gabriel Jesus joked that Eberechi Eze is probably annoyed with him, speaking on Rio Ferdinand’s YouTube channel......
🗣 "Ebs is the one that, I think, last two-three weeks, he is a little bit p***ed off with me maybe, in a good way.
"Because I tell him all the time, 'Look, you have to have the ball at your feet at least 20 times per game. Tell people, scream. If they don't pass to you, tell him to pass.'
"And not to drop in there (number six role). This is a holding midfielder's role, to build and give the ball to the attacking players. I keep saying to him every day now. Before the game, I say, 'I'm counting now.'
"Because he is that good, you know? When you see someone who is so good, and you see him not having an impact or doing well, you want to help."
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@SwedishRumble When rice played 6 we had total control with and without the ball
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One thing that disturbs my universe:
Declan Rice cannot play as a No 6 in the PL. Jorginho, Partey and Zubamendi has performed much better than him there. This is not a knack on Rice who is a tremendous force as a well rounded No 8. The PL is the best league in the world, Arsenal is currently the best team in the PL and Rice is a top 3 ‘MVP’ for Arsenal. But he has struggled as a No 6, isn’t even remotely press resilient enough.
So — if any team desperately needed a No 6, and you signed Declan Rice — it would be a completely disastrous signing. Right? He can’t play there, if you want to play like Arsenal does. He could of course play there for a team that sends the ball long and don’t need a CM that can handle press. But for a team looking to dominate play, it doesn’t work. Signing Rice as a No 6 would be like a team in desperate need of a striker signing Marcus Rashford. Great LW, little to no impact as a striker.
Yet, I’ve never seen — any — stat even remotely indicate this. 🤷♂️
If you buy a car, you want it to start. The wheels to turn when you push the accelerator. If you buy a No 6, you want the player to be able to play as a No 6. If you buy a striker, you want the player to be able to play as a striker. These stats can’t even tell us if a car can drive. Oh amazing fuel consumption, Nappa leather seats. But they miss the little fact that the engine won’t even start. 🤔
Spencer Mossman@fc_mossman
Fun thought exercise: 23 year old Declan Rice vs. 23 year old Elliot Anderson? - Rice: the more accurate passer, better ball carrier, and had the higher oop responsibility - Anderson: the more prolific creator, more on-ball responsibility, and more robust dueler At least by the numbers vs. u23 PL midfielders over the past eight seasons. What's telling about the level of both is that there's clear elements of why they would succeed in any midfield role. - Rice as an 8: monster ball carrier - Anderson as an 8: creative and dueling volume - Rice as a 6: oop responsibility and prg/long pass accuracy - Anderson as a 6: the responsibility to handle that level of pass volume
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@SwedishRumble @iamshugadimpz Tf you talking about, arsenal cb's are just physical like any other. United fans are sick in the head
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Teams adopt and does what pays off the most. A scoring chance vs a red is one thing. But if it’s 50/50 red/yellow the gamble makes more sense. In reality it’s probably 45/45/10 with a non call even being an option if you manage to get a toe on the ball.
But more than anything — I also think the tactical foul gives you an advantage mentality. You know, you train on plays before a game. If you can execute them and open up an opponent — you get a lot of energy. If the opponent however stops you 10 times in a row in those situations by committing a tactical foul, getting like 3 yellow cards — you don’t get the same energy boost. The opponent doesn’t seem to be as vulnerable.
Arsenal for example commits so many fouls far away from the ball. If they lose the ball high up pitch, the CBs fouls the attacker before the pass even is made.
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I am getting increasingly annoyed at defenders always taking the 'tactical foul' in today's game, Pep/Arteta style.
A red card destroys a game, but now every single time there is a breakdown defensively there will be a foul. The only time an attacking player can beat a player and get a shot off is if he can dribble past the defender and physically withstand the foul attempt that always ensues.
De Prince 🤴@princechika861
A first half red card for Bastoni and Italy's World Cup hopes could be in danger
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@TomCantonMedia Calafiori inverting did change it, hincapie can't/wasn't trusted to invert
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This is why Arsenal lost.
Granted we didn’t have an Eze or an Odegaard.
But it’s on the manager to change things to combat it (that’s not necessarily sub btw). Nothing changed and it wasn’t fixed.
Was brilliant from Pep, but I’d bet he was shocked it worked for so long.
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@Armzinnho Are you blind?? Do you not see a narrow front 4 blocking zubi and rice
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Mancity pressing high with 3-3-4, Arteta responded by switching into 3-3-4. Rice dropping into the Saliba- Gabriel triangle to give an extra man advantage.
Arsenal with 4-4-2 shape and 5-3-2 shape out of possession.
That was Cherki's Job is trying to break down Arsenal's 5-2-3 low block, trying to make it lose shape then release Semenyo.
Saka is been fantastic today, the only winger stretching play and covering White at the same time, (4) tackles more than anyone on the pitch
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@FootballEra_ Did you watch the game?? We struggled today because man city had their 4 fowards very narrow and Lewis skelly nor califiori was their to invert and disrupt their shape
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Arsenal lack of technical quality in the buildup phase was seriously exposed today, I’ve been saying for a while that it would cost them at the highest level. Declan Rice, who’s supposed to be a supporting cast in buildup, is being used as the main ball handler because Zubimendi, who was marketed as a Spanish metronome, struggles to receive and turn under pressure.
Zubimendi is holding Rice back, and it’s part of the reason we’ve hardly seen Rice influence games in the final third, he’s having to hold the buildup together almost single-handedly.
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@FootballEra_ What??? Newcastle were aggressive m2m high, no midblock till they conceded 6
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Mikel Arteta. He tricked the rest of the league. He built a meta that only him can truly decipher, the rest of the league tried to copy him and failed woefully. They only copied the peripheral they didn’t download the entire pact.
The Premier League is well and truly in the Mikel Arteta era!
The Football Era@FootballEra_
The Premier League is currently in the Mikel Arteta era — The era of compact, physical, frustrating mid-blocks. A few seasons back, every club even the newly promoted sides were focused on perfect build ups and dominating possession like Pep. Now, the best-performing teams in the league are the ones built around compact, well-drilled mid-blocks. Arteta effectively gave inferior teams a tactical template on how to match up with and frustrate bigger sides. He’s the only coach to have successfully implemented this mid-block approach at a big club while still competing for titles with it in recent seasons. To some extent, Arteta is responsible for how high the Premier League’s floor has become this season, and how capped the ceiling looks, a blessing and a curse.
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🏴 Arsenal in 2025/2026
◉ 98th percentile for defending
◉ 88th percentile for goals
◉ 84th percentile for attacking
◉ 83rd percentile for physicality
◉ 81st percentile for possession
◉ 80th percentile for counters
◉ 80th percentile for pressing
No team concedes less shots on target per 90 in the Top 5 Leagues (2.43) 🏰
👉 datamb.football/Arsenal_Team_s…
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This exactly what I mean by Premtard delusion, they think football is only played in the PL. No time City had the best squad in that period, we're talking about a Madrid team that had prime CR7, Benzema, Isco, Bale, Ramos, Marcelo, etc and you had a Bayern team that was top, even PSG were good, tell me how City could exactly have dominated in Europe with Sterling and Sane??
🅱️@xMCFC_B
Pep’s record in the champions league with City is laughable. Not winning this competition with the team he had between 2017-19 is an actual disgrace when you think about it.
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@HarveyDiamonds Bro he's been out for soo long, it's going to take a while for him to get back fit
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The reason I don’t rate Gabriel Jesus anymore is simple. He’s lost all of his superpowers that made him such a great player.
No longer can he press effectively, he was once one of the best in the world. He is painfully bad in duels, can’t bring others into play anymore. He’s lost his agility, can’t create chances for himself.
A huge shame but not a massive surprise given his injury troubles, he’s sadly declined too much physically for #AFC.
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Pedri is a generational midfielder, an absolute joy to watch. Look how he comfortably beats every press in every phase and progresses the vertically, through passing and carrying. You can’t even use Laliga’s press against him cus’ he did it against Newcastle, who are one of the most intense pressers in the premier league.
🕊️@MagicalXavi
Pedri Gonzalez vs Atletico Madrid
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Pep is obsessing over figuring out how to exert control against man-to-man pressing.
Using the goalkeeper to create a +1 is one solution, as is playing over to 1v1's high, but neither are reliable at exerting control.
Bernardo and Rodri on the first line is Pep's latest idea 👇
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@only1tommo It's training... people who didn't play footy always expose themselves 🤦♂️
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Love Saka but I find it odd how at the time people came to the conclusion he's world class based upon this game when he was decent at best.
Peak result bias imo. PSG 1st leg he was arguably on par with this performance.
*He is world class I'm not saying otherwise*
D@1886D4VE
Saka torching them then Declan putting it top bins>>>
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