Wasi

Arsenal released him at 13 & Fulham at 16. He stacked shelves at Tesco just to survive Now he's become Arsenal's 3rd most expensive signing EVER Ebereche Eze is coming home I analyzed his data to see if he's worth the hype. Here's what I found out 🧵MEGATHREAD

Ozil in 15/16 had 156 chances created (PL record). Bruno is currently sitting at 122 with 2 games to go Ozil finished with 19 assists, Bruno is currently sitting at 19. Ozil had 6 goals, Bruno has 8 Arsenal finished 2nd in the league table and challenged for the Prem title until the final stretch with Ozil being at the heart of that push. United were never in a title race or any race Ozil played 45 games that season. Bruno can at best finish with 37 (basically playing a game a week for the whole season) Ozil didn't even make it to the PL TOTS but apparently this Bruno is somehow better than Rice being the best player in a side that's about to win the Premier League and the Champions League

@LordSokovilla Thay Giroud 16 game goal drought 😭

@Wanalyst007 Plus Ozil would have gotten more if we had a better striker, and he was actively taken corners.

@TalesNTrolls Mission impossible

Adding onto this - 20/31 times it has been won by a player playing for the team that won the PL i.e., ~ 65% - Suarez, Bale, Salah, VVD wonder seasons being the exception. - When KDB won it, he scored 13 goals on top of 20 assists. Played FA cup SF, finished 2nd. United fans need to stop thinking about this emotionally and maybe put perspective into this conversation.

Nah City have done fine with much lighter midfields while being worse in attack Zubi himself is really good OOP Of course we wont be as good without Rice. But if we make OOP a big factor with the new midfield signing, we'd be increasing the floor of the team (again) while missing out on player who has the potentially to completely transform our open play + massively increase our ceiling

@thearsfamily97 Spot on, ageee with this. But i think, the only saving grace for Wharton alone as the only signing is Rice’s availability.

Any talk about a midfield MUST account of OOP scenarios when Rice isn't on the team. This is the EPL, not Ligue 1. Teams will always try to find scenarios to attack. Imagine a midfield of Wharton-MLS-Zubimendi trying to stop a Newcastle counter (13th place). We don't need to kill Rice just because we can. I actually think MLS can handle, to an extent, Rice's IP duties (high ball carrying and has generalist qualities), but OOP is where the issues arise. While MLS is a really good dueller, he doesn't have the aerial ability or large space coverage ANYWHERE CLOSE to Rice. We can all clearly see how tired Rice is, he's said it himself on interviews after games. You want him to go to the WC and still come and play all the minutes? Hell no. Nobody can cover distances like Rice, no one. The closest would be Onana. So when you think about any solutions for our midfield, you have to think about it in two-fold: 🚫 We need a midfielder who receives comfortably from deep (among our double pivot midfielders, only MLS can do this at a top level) 🚫 We need a midfielder who can defend transitions OOP and duel both aerially and ground at a respectable level (only Rice can do all this among our double pivots, and he does it at an elite level. Zubimendi is a great dueller, but cannot defend large spaces during a transition... same with MLS) These are the solutions: ✅ Elliot Anderson. The cream of the crop. Checks both boxes expertly. Is fantastic OOP but also has superb press resitance. Would be perfect we're it not for the price tag. EPL proven, especially in a team that gives him the build up load. ✅ Mateus Fernandes. He has the duelling of an MLS/Zubimendi, the press resistance of an MLS, while being aerially better than MLS and a better transition defender than both MLS and Zubimendi. He's an even better interceptor of the ball than Zubimendi, and covers ground very well. Cheap, too. EPL proven in a team that gives him the build up load. ✅ James Garner. Underrated as hell. After Onana, Garner is the closest thing to Rice. He's a 7/10 IP and 9.5/10 OOP. He can also play ANYWHERE and perform. Aerially strong, secure in possession, and super versatile. Mentality levels are superb, too. EPL proven in a team that gives him the build up load. ✅ Sign two midfielders. Adam Wharton is not the answer if he'll be our only midfield signing. You have to sign him alongside someone with high OOP chops (Onana, Baleba, James Garner, etc). We're not gonna get Rice injured because we want more technical security. You have to address both problems. This also means we'll have to sell Zubimendi and it'll demand more money in general. So, in summary, you go with Anderson, Fernandes, Garner, or Wharton+an OOP demon. Any other answer doesn't address our midfield needs for next season.

@Gradient_Sports Raya overall grade no 1 I'm guessing

It's been another excellent Premier League season for Matz Sels Among Premier League Goalkeepers: Overall Grade: 81.5 (3rd) Passing Grade: 70.9 (5th) Shot-Stopping Grade: 80.1 (5th) #NFFC 🌳

For the people asking for Rice stats. Here is a comprehensive advanced data dive into Rice being the best PL player. Not just 1 chart of facet of play that suits your personal bias x.com/Gradient_Sport…

@thearsfamily97 I agree re Trossard. 2 different player with and without Calafiori. Also a lot of his quality passes to Calafiori are usually the pass before the chance created so all of that is racking up his xT instead of xA

1. City have 3 players comfortably in elite or above category. Arsenal have 1 (Saka seems borderline). Our LW has to have high creative chops. 2. I would have hoped to see Trossard higher, but without Calafiori, he's not the same player. I think if just Trossard's games with Calafiori were used, he could be in elite? 3. I would have liked Eze to be near where Chukwueze is, but I'm not surprised. I think with more LW minutes next season, he can be around there as a low touch, high impact player. 4. Madueke and Rogers, disappointing twins.

@FPLfrasier Not everything is stats. But here you go anyways, real advanced numbers not just 1 graph or facet of play that suits your own bias x.com/Gradient_Sport…

Not a single stat for Rice BTW. Oh, check who won the POTS that Ozil year and you won’t give any argument in favor Ozil for that year. Every year is different. If Ozil had that season for Arsenal this season, nobody would be debating POTS award.

📊🔍 Final Third Template| PL 25-26 Open Play xA vs F3 Passes; per 90 🥇 Cherki tops every CC chart like he's ... 🪄 Chukwueze silently having a big szn 🧊 "Cold" Palmer

@PitchsidePub Slot discarded Salah after a record breaking season to platform Wirtz. He's tried him in every position/role possible. What more do you want

@Wanalyst007 I don’t think Slot is using him to the best of his abilities but even so being in this place on this chart while not being at his best says something pretty impressive.

@PitchsidePub He is having an avg/under avg season, even in this chart he is closer to 8s and 6s than he to the best AMs

@Wanalyst007 Yet I’ve been told all year that Florian Wirtz is having a bad season.

@FootballEra_ I underrated him + Pep's ability to platform an attacker. Def hold a higher opinion of him now as compared to same time last year

@Wanalyst007 I’ll like to know how much your opinion on Cherki has changed from the start of the season compared to now.

@wator_ski Against Burnley I would like to see that 8 pairing given a go as well but with Rice at 6

@Wanalyst007 Yes, I've been thinking about it too, but they're more likely to progress at both wings.

📋 What do we think about this setup? Triangles first and foremost, but we need a bit more firepower against a low block. Without Rice in midfield, we haven’t looked as convincing, although I still remember how dominant we were against Brighton at home. That’s why I believe Eze and Ødegaard can create something special at the Emirates in our final home game of the season. One last dance at home in what has been an absolutely crazy campaign.

@fc_mossman Simple is best. This is really good

📊 The Striker Graph A snapshot to identify future stars. Many of the best strikers on the planet place well on this particular graph, and just as many stood out against their u19/u21/u23 peers when they were ascending. The proof isn't just in the placement of big names, but also the logic behind the two axes. - Shots on Target: this captures so much information in one number; a player's ability to find opportunities to shoot in the first place, find good shots that can be easier to convert into shots that hit the target, and the accuracy to do so... it is not a sniper rifle for detailed profiling, rather a shotgun to hit a number of different important traits that would warrant further investigation - Offensive + Aerial Duel Success Rate: this one is pretty simple; looking for forwards that can win in the air, with their frames, and/or with their feet Treat this as a way to quickly synthesize information and prioritize your scouting viewing. A sketch, because you could never paint the full picture with two axes and three variables. The figures for this graph are adjusted for team possession and league ELO based off of Opta's strongest leagues power ratings. u23 data points are white, notable other strikers green.

Here's Bruno Fernandes delivering a slap to United fans' faces right out in the open

In the long history of football, the first time I'm hearing golden glove discourse is when an Arsenal GK has won it three times in a row and is on course to win it for the forseeable future And to clear up a misconception Saves made ≠ Goals prevented In modern football, especiallyat an elite club, shot stopping is only about 30-40% share in terms of preventing goals. Rest is made up cross claims, sweeps and distribution

@winap Wharton is feasible ofc Idk about club's interest, these are just my thoughts

@Wanalyst007 Is wharton actuallt a feasible to player to get? Is the club/arteta interested in him? - i haven’t heard anything on that front

🪄 First to Mateus Fernandes, nice to see tacticos and scouting departments catching up. Quality player and any top side would do well with him But trust me when I say this, no PL player improves the quality of Arsenal midfield unit like Adam Wharton. Not Anderson, not Tonali, not even Guimaraes Think of it this way. In the 6/8s department, Arsenal have Rice, Zubimendi, Skelly and Norgaard Rice is the best generalist in the world. So he is an automatic starter Zubimendi is also a generalist (who was mistaken as a specialist by FT tacticos). But much lower in quality compared to Rice. His best role is Rice's backup Norgaard is another genralist but he is not good enough to be a starter or even a regular rotation option. Should be replaced by the new incoming MF (who I'll tell you in a bit) Lastly we have MLS. Whose profile lies somewhere between a specialist (extraordinary press-breaker/central carrier) and a generalist (because he can do every midfield task to a very high standard) Now coming back to Mateus Fernandes. What do you think he is? If you answered a generalist, you'd be absolutely right. He can pass, carry, tackle, switch, etc etc. Good at everything, extraordinary at nothing. A quality player who starts for most CL sides But he's not what Arsenal need (unless we sell Zubi and replace with Mateus, which is highly unlikely, as reality is not FIFA manager mode) What Arsenal need is an In-possession specialist who can improve our build-up, ball progression, central penetration and open play chance creation. There is no player in the PL who is suited for this job better than Adam Wharton (and maybe 2-3 in the whole world) He is a specialists' specialist with that wand of a left foot. Would completely transform our lethargic U-shaped football into something truly exciting Think Xhaka and Zinchenko's passing bag combined into one player. Think of the football we played in 22/23. That's the reality Wharton can make happen for the Arsenal. And that's a beautiful reality indeed