FPLArs

Just finishing Easter 🐣 Friday’s dinner had no breakfast at all. Paid the £2000 Rent £250 Gas and Electric £200 petrol £300 council Tax No money left for food Happy Easter Everyone in our Islamic Caliphate I wonder what meal the illegals are on in the hotels 2nd or 3rd

L-theanine may just be the most underrated compound for when it comes to gut health and immune function.

Thomas Tuchel has cast doubt over Phil Foden going to the World Cup 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🗣️ “Phil was excellent in the camp but he struggles to show it on the pitch. It’s not a guarantee he will come…”

MLS has a unique combination of personality & athleticism that is rare to find, but it needs to be said, in a midfield role, MLS has a lot to do. MLS is a B2B player, but a B2B player must be able to impact the opponent's box like you see Declan Rice or Nico O’Reilly or Ilkay Gundogan do. This often requires physical size to dominate aerial and ground situations + a sense for movement & space in the final 3rd. A B2B player must also be proficient at defending the middle. Again, physicality + a sense for space matters here. MLS can certainly learn how to move better without the ball and he has enough athleticism to be able to contribute in both 3rds. The problem for him is that Arsenal have Declan Rice there who is the most valuable B2B player on the planet. Also, a B2B player needs a metronome or playmaker for a partner. Since the job description of this metronome is to help play football, the demand for physicality on them is not as much. The emphasis then shifts to the B2B partner to provide the physicality to compensate. Two things matter most for physicality in this role: aerial duels & running power to eat up ground when running back. Guardiola has proven that you can manage a little without the running power to eat up ground if you can at least win your aerial battles. It means you only have one weakness you can cover for and you can do that by sustaining possession in the opponent's half and reducing the amount of transitions that is possible for the opponent. This is what he achieved with Busquets & Iniesta/Rodri & Gundogan. In other words, if you do what Chelsea did and field a Caicedo & Enzo, you are in a lot of trouble defensively. Only one player has the legs to defend and neither are aerially great. For Arsenal, this means MLS needs to be partnered with a Rodri for top-level consistency in midfield. While Zubimendi is aerially competitive for his size, it would not do to have two relatively short players in the middle consistently. Even at City, they are seeing their best results nowadays with a Rodri-Nico O’Reilly pairing, with both providing aerial competitiveness and Nico providing the legs for the defensive transitions. Pep Guardiola himself cannot undo the athletic rules of the sport. In totality, MLS is unable to play in midfield because he is still developing crucial characteristics of movement impact in both offensive & defensive scenarios while not having enough physicality to compensate for a playmaker. Now, these characteristics of box-impact & athletic compensation for a partner are not as needed at left back. In fact, in terms of his decent defensive baseline, his ability to carry the ball and find a pass, he delivers a total value superior to many left-backs as you can see in his games against Real Madrid and PSG. The problem is that Arsenal have Riccardo Calafiori who matches MLS on-ball value and is superior physically at leftback. Calafiori also has more traditional qualities of cross delivery and overlapping quality that makes him even more valuable. Piero Hincapie on the other hand is a traditional leftback with power and pace for the outside while also being superior physically. In other words, Myles Lewis Skelly has —Declan Rice & Mikel Merino ahead of him at B2B LCM. —Riccardo Calafiori & Piero Hincapie ahead of him at LB He doesn't have the baseline to get the crucial minutes he needs for box-impact development as a midfielder and as a left back, Calafiori is at least better than him. Without injuries, Arsenal need to either loan him out or sell for a surplus.

All timer

Kai Havertz swapped shirts with former Arsenal teammate Thomas Partey, after Germany beat Ghana last night.