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

Sanchez in 16/17 had 24 goals & 10 assists. 34 G/A in total. No player in the league had more. Playing for one of the worst Arsenal sides this century Bruno is currently sitting on 8 goals and 19 assists. 27 G/A in total (about 23% less than Alexis) In that season Sanchez played 51 games amassing 45 G/A in all comps. He was basically playing a game every 3 days Bruno has only played 35 games in all comps picking up 28 G/A. Nearly 40% less than Sanchez. He is also getting much more rest than the Chilean. Basically playing a game every week But because Arsenal didn't do well as a team, Sanchez wasn't even included in the PL TOTS. Was the best player in the league hands down Sit back down with your Bruno POTS BS

He really wasn't in the TOTS? It was pretty unanimous that he was the best player in the league that year. Everyone loved watching him play, he always had a smile on his face as well. When we talk about players primes, Alexis Sanchez for them couple of seasons was as high a level as i have ever seen from an Arsenal player.

@saundzo Self fulfilling prophecy

Since I was 16 i’ve never had two good days in a row, it’s so weird man. If my day starts good I know for a fact it’ll end bad, either by not being able to sleep or my mind just crashing. Hard to believe in a purpose between that but it starts with football. Need to play again.

@brofootballtz Could be hidden behind someone else or filtered out for not enough F3 passes p90

@Wanalyst007 I can’t find Mateus Fernandes here.

📊🔍 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

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.

@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.