https://twitter.com/BrasilEdition/status/1726439278190747816
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Bukayo Saka is the ONLY player to have created 50+ chances, completed 50+ take-ons, scored 10+ goals and provided 10+ assists in the Premier League in 2023.
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Dang, impressive for someone whoâs not playing well.
This is what I was talking about him having the inevitable factor.
Dude canât help himself. He turns in a 6/10 performance but will still chime in with a goal or assist.
Used be in the group with Foden, Sancho and some others but dude has graduated from that long ago.
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He should do that more often. Most of the crosses from the team yesterday were trash
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https://x.com/zrafc/status/1728904954054922409?s=46&t=AXaXFdGpC85RzXwk6DBMgA
https://x.com/zrafc/status/1728905494637715610?s=46&t=AXaXFdGpC85RzXwk6DBMgA
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It appears like theyâve been instructed by the manager to be more conservative when in possession. So theyâre not making advanced dribbles as much or attempting to beat their man when 2 v 1, unless itâs a counter/break.
One positive to this style of play is that it appears like theyâre not being kicked as much lately. And Saks still has a high goal contributions despite not playing as well.
Saka and Martinelli getting double teamed means there are holes in the opposition we can exploit.
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Havertz said theyâve worked on this situation in training ground. Weâve a lot of goals from this type of situation.
Defending team is zonal across their own box. Arsenal overload the back post. Arsenal score as a result of the spare man. Very much a staple of an Arteta attack. Also see it during corner kicks.
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Odegaard & Havertz should do that but they are out of form
Exactly.
Players doubling up on Saka and Martinelli, leaves way more space for Jesus and Odegaard.
The issue with Odegaard in this case is that he doesnât like to overlap, thatâs not in his locker really.
He loves occupying the same spaces as Saka so often enough you see them running into each other.
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I guess thatâs the idea but we havenât really perfected it due to Havertz underperforming and Odegaard also out of form/inured.
Maybe both will pick things up and we can go on a run.
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Absolutely.
Them getting doubled should absolutely be an advantage for us, not a handicap.
But the way we attack in the final third, the way we behave, move off the ball, pass or make decisions for most of the time is so so bad and not on the level of a top team.
I think one issue seems to be Artetaâs obsession with âoverloadingâ the opponent in certain areas. Making decoy runs, drawing the opponent in a certain area⌠But we donât seem to make much space with that at all, we are rarely streching the opponent and making some kind of holes and distortions in their formation with our movement and combinations. We donât crete space systematically.
Most of the time it just ends up with Saka /Martinelli somehow beating their man⌠Not even beating him properly, just getting a yard of space to make a forced, random cross, and weâre hoping someoneâs on the end of it, or someone will get the rebound. Even with the goals we scored after Sakaâs crosses to the far post recently (Havertz, Trossard etc), if thatâs the bast and the main way to create chances we arenât a really good attacking team. Thatâs closer to prime Moyes Everton swinging crosses to Fellaini/Jelavic than to some champaigne Pep football.
When you compare us to City they arenât making nearly as much crosses as we do, and you often see them making a clear cut chance with low cut backs and short passes when their winger and an AM (Grealish and Gundo/ Bernardo and Foden/KDB) double up on a full back, usually with the winger having the ball, and then the AM makes un underlap and gets into a proper positon to serve the attacker on a plate with a cut back, short pass whatever. Itâs one of their staples but you very very rarely see us with that kind of clever movement and combinations.
Why are our players so often in 1 vs 2 situations as mentioned above btw? Of our system was good it thould be the other way around and we should be able to create 2 on 1 situations.
Thatâs a question Arteta needs to answer.
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If our 2 wide players are keeping 4 opposition players busy and we still canât take advantage of that in other areas of the pitch, thatâs on us. Though one would assume once we hit our stride as a unit, we will start doing so. Hence feel like Havertz has a big role to play for us this season, so need him to kick on soon.
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Itâs not four opposition players on two of our players the whole time of course, at most two on one. That does/should leave some space, but itâs not like the entire (four men) defense is at all times consumed with marking/following our two wide players.
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thatâs when we need to penetrate in the middle and have players cutting inside when Saka/Martinelli having the ball and looking for crosses.
https://twitter.com/afcjxmes/status/1729983426634113040
And people get mad when we(and Arteta) say he is world-class.
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