EPL – Arsenal vs QPR – 3:00pm - 31/12/11

[mavelous]

right. that's what I did, which you dismissed. What do you want me to do, show you video footage outlining each pass and each play?

No thanks, I have better plans for today.. like tending to this hangover

 

[ibby]

Arteta isn't eligible to play for England.

 

[mavelous]

It's difficult to judge a footballer on stats alone.

If you take Denilson, for example, he had great passing accuracy and completion but most of those passes were short to the player nearest to him, gaining no real advantage.
Whereas other players might have had less passes and accuracy but might have had more assists involving goals.

Although anyone watching Denilson would be well aware that he hardly contributed anything positive in any game

who said that X this, that and there because of the Z stat alone?

re: Denilson. People seriously need to stop using this age-old excuse.

1) he did not have 'great accuracy and completion'. 86% that was 9th in just the EPL.
2) short passes, which defeats the purpose of disproving statistics. Stats are what you make of them, not the numbers alone.
3) no, contrary to the myth, he played quite a few longballs. just taking those players with better passing accuracy than him, there were only two players with more longballs/game ratio, and he had better lb accuracy than one of them.
4) thanks for bringing actually useful statistics. only 0.6 key passes per game, compared to the league high of 3.5. just 1 assist compared to high of 14. but then again, 3 goals for a holding midfielder (the same number as Scholes)

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.whoscored.com/Regions/252/Tournaments/2/Seasons/1849/Stages/3115/PlayerStatistics/England-Premier-League-2009-2010" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.whoscored.com/Regions/252/To ... -2009-2010</a>

 

[USArsenal]

what does any of this matter? fact is, Arteta will not get called into the Spanish side. it has nothing to do with where he's playing, it has to do with the fact that the Spanish manager has the reigning European and World Cup winning midfielders at his disposal, and they havent lost a tournament with a full strength side in 4+ years and all of the same misfield is available..

unless there are injuries to about 5 of their midfielders (Iniesta, Xavi, Alonso, Busquets and Cesc), Arteta will not ever get a game with Spain. he has never been called up into the national side. ever

 

[David Smith]

That doesn't mean they shouldn't call him up for a friendly as a gesture of good faith, Arteta deserves and wants it.

 

[AFC-Phil]

btw, Xavi 120/128. that's 94% accuracy.

re: the comical aspect. How do you judge the best at football?

Where did you find these stats?

 

[AFC-Phil]

Aahh, bring out the stats that mean **** all, you only need to watch one match with both players to see Alonsos passing is superior, that's not a dig at Arteta, but there's a reason Alonso was wanted by Real for the deep lying midfield role, rather than Arteta.

I hate stats like those, like those stats for Arshavin last year that people used to use to defend him, even though he was awful. Also, how do they choose what counts as a 'long' ball? Comical.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCDzHQXzSNw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCDzHQXzSNw</a>" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Some of the passes in that video, Arteta wouldn't even attempt, that's my point.

This one is magnificent

 

[amirkat]

That doesn't mean they shouldn't call him up for a friendly as a gesture of good faith, Arteta deserves and wants it.

Complete slap to the face when Spain didn't call up Arteta for the friendly with England.

 

[Hunta]

Aahh, bring out the stats that mean **** all, you only need to watch one match with both players to see Alonsos passing is superior, that's not a dig at Arteta, but there's a reason Alonso was wanted by Real for the deep lying midfield role, rather than Arteta.

I hate stats like those, like those stats for Arshavin last year that people used to use to defend him, even though he was awful. Also, how do they choose what counts as a 'long' ball? Comical.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCDzHQXzSNw" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCDzHQXzSNw</a>" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Some of the passes in that video, Arteta wouldn't even attempt, that's my point.

This one is magnificent

Good find, best long passer in the world IMO.

 

[USArsenal]

That doesn't mean they shouldn't call him up for a friendly as a gesture of good faith, Arteta deserves and wants it.

not that he doesnt deserve it, but since when is a national team manager concerned with "good faith"? fact is, he has the team he wants, and will pick those players that have played together on the national team for years (and won everything). highly doubt they will go about changing things up anytime soon..

 

[David Smith]

That doesn't mean they shouldn't call him up for a friendly as a gesture of good faith, Arteta deserves and wants it.

not that he doesnt deserve it, but since when is a national team manager concerned with "good faith"? fact is, he has the team he wants, and will pick those players that have played together on the national team for years (and won everything). highly doubt they will go about changing things up anytime soon..

If we beat Madrid or Barcelona (with Arteta playing 90 mins), he would be more known around Spain. It's their coach's ignorance for not giving Arteta the chance he deserves in a friendly, which are of little significance. You've seen Capello bench Lampard and Gerrard to play Parker.


On a different note, reading wikipedia lead me to find out that Arteta and Alonso are very good friends who grew up together, and it was Alonso who convinced Arteta to transfer to Everton.

 

[Hunta]

Alonso and Arteta both lived in the Albert Dock in Liverpool, that's where most new players stay for the first couple of years. I actually met Mikel in a lift there.

 

[mavelous]

btw, Xavi 120/128. that's 94% accuracy.

re: the comical aspect. How do you judge the best at football?

Where did you find these stats?

whoscored.com

 

[redwhiteAustrian]

Wow, just wow.

Warnock about van Persie.
What a tool......

Warnock contradicted himself in his outburst, claiming: ‘He gets away with murder. Every long ball that comes down he gets his arm up, he fouls the centre half but he does it in a way that they don’t give it so it’s obviously within the laws of the game.’

He went on to suggest that all four match officials missed six or seven fouls by Van Persie. This was surely a laughable attempt to avoid questions about his own team, and he ended with a comment which should lead to a charge from the FA.

Warnock said: ‘It’s disappointing but you get that at the Emirates, don’t you?’

 

[Hunta]

Yeah saw him say that in his MOTD interview, bitter ****. Hated him since he was at Sheffield United, proper melt.
Somebody at Arsenal should send him a video of Taarabt elbowing Arshavin, like a *****.

 

[dpt49]

Wow, just wow.

Warnock about van Persie.
What a tool......

Warnock contradicted himself in his outburst, claiming: ‘He gets away with murder. Every long ball that comes down he gets his arm up, he fouls the centre half but he does it in a way that they don’t give it so it’s obviously within the laws of the game.’

He went on to suggest that all four match officials missed six or seven fouls by Van Persie. This was surely a laughable attempt to avoid questions about his own team, and he ended with a comment which should lead to a charge from the FA.

Warnock said: ‘It’s disappointing but you get that at the Emirates, don’t you?’

That's strange I was just about to post this.
When Warnock started the interview with, "Van Persie is the best" and "very clever" and then went on to say, "he gets away with murder," I thought it was a back handed compliment.
Even the interviewer said, "really!"
What was worse was that he said not some but, "every" header he goes up for is a foul, what planet is he living on.

I've got a theory of why Arsenal, and particularly Wenger get so much stick from other managers. It's because every other manager has spent more than Wenger and achieved nothing, also managers like Allardyce, Pulis, Mcleish and Warnock are not reknowned for playing attractive football.

Also I think because he was one of the first foreign high profile managers he didn't fit in with their old fashioned methods of football management.

Warnock has now gone on my list of managers I can't stand,

Ferguson
Mourinho
Pulis
Allardyce
Mcleish
Warnock

Anyone I've left out?

 

[brady_style]

I missed the game, just say the MOTD highlights package.

Did we struggle for long periods to open them up ?

Anyone think we should move to two strikers up front ?

I think it will offer us more forward passing options.

I sometimes freeze the screen ( when i watch a game again ) and I am always struck by how few men we have in front of our three midfielders.

 

[Gunner_JT]

Sour grapes there from Warnock, what an utterly sour and confused man.

 

[dpt49]

I missed the game, just say the MOTD highlights package.

Did we struggle for long periods to open them up ?

Anyone think we should move to two strikers up front ?

I think it will offer us more forward passing options.

I sometimes freeze the screen ( when i watch a game again ) and I am always struck by how few men we have in front of our three midfielders.

We controlled long periods of the game and limited them to a few chances and deserved to win, but at home to teams like QPR we should be winning more convincingly.

RVP had 2-3 very good chances and Walcott missed a one v one with the GK but apart from a few other fairly good chances there wasn't much to talk about.

There seems to be something missing, I know it sounds obvious, but a Cesc or player that can open up a defence is what we have lacked this season.
We have played Wolves and QPR at home in our last two league games and only scored two goals, which really isn't good enough.

There were no stand out players really, Walcott was way under par and although Arshavins assist for RVP's goal was excellent he didn't do much else.
The best player for me was Kos, he didn't really put a foot wrong, even when he was getting forward.

I just hope we are a bit better against Fulham

 

[Thommybhoy]

Wow, just wow.

Warnock about van Persie.
What a tool......

Warnock contradicted himself in his outburst, claiming: ‘He gets away with murder. Every long ball that comes down he gets his arm up, he fouls the centre half but he does it in a way that they don’t give it so it’s obviously within the laws of the game.’

He went on to suggest that all four match officials missed six or seven fouls by Van Persie. This was surely a laughable attempt to avoid questions about his own team, and he ended with a comment which should lead to a charge from the FA.

Warnock said: ‘It’s disappointing but you get that at the Emirates, don’t you?’

There was also McLeish who said it's van Persie's fault Hutton got red card, cause van Persie provoked him and laughed at him afterwards.

I don't like this sh*t. Somehow Arsenal should react, because so called "nazi" salute stupidity at Bridge, McLeish, now Warnock, it isn't coincidence and it will end up in Eduardo-style witch hunt, once he actually does something even remotely wrong.