ICC: Atletico Madrid v Arsenal | July 26, 2018 12:35 BST

[<<reed>>]

What's the point of being a great finisher when you are too slow, weak, and don't have great movement? Lacazette was useless in most away games, he's hardly a crucial player for us. He'll do more damage coming off the bench when there'll be tired legs and more space.

I'm sure Auba can play on the wing but he's much better in the centre so why play him wide? It worked last year in dead rubber (home) games where everyone was playing out of their skins for Wenger's last games. I'd rather play one of our best players in their best position.

Laca isn't a great finisher, that's a myth, he's good at finishing at best.
Without pens his conversation rate is nothing special, 20-22%.

 

[Camron]

Laca isn't a great finisher, that's a myth, he's good at finishing at best.
Without pens his conversation rate is nothing special, 20-22%.

Think he's quite well spoken.

Interesting stats in this article though.

Lacazette 21%. Aubameyang 30%. Kane 15%. Aguero 21%. Cavani 26%. Lewandowski 25% Neymar 22%. Ronaldo 15%. Messi 15%.

http://dailycannon.com/2018/04/auba...ion-rate-in-the-premier-league-this-season/3/

 

[Dutch D]

Nelson was encouraging and bright. Looked dangerous when dribbling and played a few clever passes when he needed to. Didn't see enough of the ball for my liking towards the end of the half and he faded. Nonetheless, it was so refreshing to see him revert to his 1v1 game, we need so much more of that.

Was he? He didn't appear in the highlight video except for one instance where he could've taken the fullback on but decided to cut back to Bellerin. This is something he did often last year as well. I want to be hyped about him, but I'm just not seeing it in his performances so far (couldn't see the full game though).

 

[Makingtrax]

I didn't get to catch much of the game, how did we look? How was our attack, midfield, and defense? Who stood out, and who looked like they struggled?

You don’t get much from a friendly when virtually the whole team changes at half time.

Nothing new from the regulars.

Some of the youngsters played well, particularly ESR. What a goal. But not getting carried away until he can replicate that.

But here’s the exciting part. Emery is clearly fulfilling his promise to Gazidis to continue with attacking football. OK the Emeryball wasn’t too slick at times in and around the box, but the intent was there and there’s time to work on it with major players yet to come in.

And there were other good signs too. Auba shot from a metre outside the box. It may go against xG and Wenger philosophy but there are times when waiting for players and recycling the ball just lets the opposition defence get back into shape. The high press looked better too, at times.

Defensively we looked the same with personnel, particularly Ramsey, making mistakes, like trying to dribble out of the box. Expecting Emery to take some time to improve on this, because I’m not convinced his new personnel are much better than the old, in terms of quality. Torreira when he comes in may protect the defence better, so we’ll have to see.

So as expected, work in progress.

 

[Artisan]

Was he? He didn't appear in the highlight video except for one instance where he could've taken the fullback on but decided to cut back to Bellerin. This is something he did often last year as well. I want to be hyped about him, but I'm just not seeing it in his performances so far (couldn't see the full game though).

Yeah not understanding some of the Nelson praise here. He did well couple of times taking players on, but afterwards he did absolutely nothing with it.

Getting worried about the prospect of him making it here, along with only having a year left on his contract, he's now had dozen of opportunities in the first team in friendlies and competitive games and he's been able to impress only once and that was against Benfica at the Emirates Cup.

 

[<<reed>>]

Yeah not understanding some of the Nelson praise here. He did well couple of times taking players on, but afterwards he did absolutely nothing with it.

Getting worried about the prospect of him making it here, along with only having a year left on his contract, he's now had dozen of opportunities in the first team in friendlies and competitive games and he's been able to impress only once and that was against Benfica at the Emirates Cup.

Prepare yourself for getting death threats from Nelson fanboys

 

[Artisan]

Prepare yourself for getting death threats from Nelson fanboys

Will finally have something in common with hydro to talk about

 

[LG10]

Laca isn't a great finisher, that's a myth, he's good at finishing at best.
Without pens his conversation rate is nothing special, 20-22%.

Nah I’m not a huge fan of his but he is a very good finisher.

 

[BobP]

1. Guendouzi moves exceptionally well. Knows how to use his body to shield the ball and draw a foul.

2. The 3 in midfield were constantly rotating with one another. Also noticed that they were more likely to not progress as far forward, as had been the norm under Wenger, whilst the CBs were in possession of the ball. On the whole, they were quite flexible in their movements, for instance, on one occasion Emery was instructing ESR to push further up.

3. The defence was much more compact. Horizontal distances between the players were much less than I've been used to seeing.

4. I was impressed with how well we occupied the field at times. There was a moment around the 20 minute mark where Nelson cut in to support Guendouzi who was on the ball. ESR went out to the right to take up the space Nelson had previously occupied. On the other side of the field, Kolasinac pushed up as Aubameyang moved into the middle of the pitch to play alongside Lacazette. It's interesting because under Wenger players would frequently occupy the same spaces, causing congestion which undermined the teams ability to move the ball forward.

Below is a relevant excerpt from Spielverlagerung:

Overloads in specific areas of the pitch are an increasingly common offensive tool. They can enhance the ability for forwards to combine quickly and can assist with significantly altering the defensive shape of an opponent. However several overloads are made redundant by the offensive team themselves due to a lack of sufficient organisation within the area.

Arsenal, with their free form offensive nature. are a prime example of this. With the players being given no guidelines for a structured attack Arsenal players can be seen acting wholly out of their own will in offensive situations. While this can at times create great combinations, the lack of structure often harms the ability for their players to use their talents. It is also no surprise therefore that their attacks are inconsistent and reliant on moments, not only from game to game but from minute to minute.

The above image is an example of one of their typical redundant overloads. Elneny has the ball in this situation and technically Arsenal should benefit from a 5v4 advantage in the immediate vicinity. However the presence of Bellerin in front of him effectively does half of the defending for Liverpool as it removes three passing options effectively rendering those players redundant and practically changing the situation into a 2v4 underload. This lack of offensive organisation crippled Arsenal’s attack not only for much of this game but for the best part of the last few years.

5. There was a really interesting moment after a foul on Nelson and just prior to ESR's goal where Guendouzi and Ramsey in particular took up positions as narrow FBs. Bellerin and Kolasinac were playing a little further ahead and a little wider also. It's a long overdue move. What's the point in incorporating FBs in the build up when they only have 180 degree coverage of the field? Having midfielders, who are more competent on the ball, occupy the half spaces in the build up seems much more prudent. Interestingly the FBs were a relative non-factor in the build, being pushed away during that phase of play.

 

[MutableEarth]

Was he? He didn't appear in the highlight video except for one instance where he could've taken the fullback on but decided to cut back to Bellerin. This is something he did often last year as well. I want to be hyped about him, but I'm just not seeing it in his performances so far (couldn't see the full game though).

In the first 20-25 minutes he was good. He faded over the course of the half, didn't see much of the ball. It wasn't a perfect half but it's the first time in a while he's been properly willing to take his man on in the first team, at least for those 20 minutes.

It was not a perfect performance, it was merely encouraging and I'm looking to see more.

 

[Mo Britain]

You can play that game with any versatile player though? Would Salah score more goals if he started centrally? Would Neymar? It's not like it's some new position. He was brilliant starting from the left when Lewandowski was up front. What we do know is that both he and Lacazette look better playing together. Both tend to look isolated when played separately. Auba himself, the player in question has said that he prefers to play with Laca. And scored at pretty much the exact same rate in games he played with Laca as games he didn't. The only difference was an increase in assists so his overall influence on the game was better when they played together.

You can but Auba is clearly the better finisher so you would presume he would gobble up chances in the box which Laca might not. You would also need to look, in games where we are under the cosh, whether he is the best option on the left if we have to play 4-5-1 and if his speed isn't better used down the middle if we are forced to counter-attack. Laca's not slow but he's no speedster.

 

[Fewtch]

You can but Auba is clearly the better finisher so you would presume he would gobble up chances in the box which Laca might not. You would also need to look, in games where we are under the cosh, whether he is the best option on the left if we have to play 4-5-1 and if his speed isn't better used down the middle if we are forced to counter-attack. Laca's not slow but he's no speedster.

Laca’s finishing is on another level to auba imo. Auba was known to be a “bad” finisher in Dortmund but he made up for it by his great movement and speed with which he created more chances to score with.

 

[celestis]

I would have thought Auba would start up front , his movement is easily superior to Lacazettes as a striker . So interesting to see what Emery does .

 

[Preacher]

Good talk.

 

[Mo Britain]

Laca’s finishing is on another level to auba imo. Auba was known to be a “bad” finisher in Dortmund but he made up for it by his great movement and speed with which he created more chances to score with.

Not last year it wasn't. Laca missed sitters regularly, Auba got shots on target most of the time.

Laca shooting accuracy 51%
Auba shooting accuracy 61%

Laca goals 14 goals, 4 assists from 32 games
Auba 10 goals, 4 assists from 13 games

 

[Tir Na Nog]

Lacazette is a confidence player, when he gets in a run of form he can be lethal if he's in a run of bad form he'd struggle to hit a barn door.

Aubameyang you feel, doesn't let missing affect him much. It's just his personality, always smiling, always thinking, positively always looking for that next chance.

The good thing is that Auba and Laca have a great relationship both on and off the pitch, Auba makes Laca happy, kinda like when a young woman sees the man she loves, it just lights up her face (or vice versa), releasing endorphins and making them feel more positive.

To be fair the group in general seem like a good close group of players with no much egos in there and guys who'd certainly back each other.

 

[yybecause]

5. There was a really interesting moment after a foul on Nelson and just prior to ESR's goal where Guendouzi and Ramsey in particular took up positions as narrow FBs. Bellerin and Kolasinac were playing a little further ahead and a little wider also. It's a long overdue move. What's the point in incorporating FBs in the build up when they only have 180 degree coverage of the field? Having midfielders, who are more competent on the ball, occupy the half spaces in the build up seems much more prudent. Interestingly the FBs were a relative non-factor in the build, being pushed away during that phase of play.

basically agreed with everything you said, but this was the crucial part. I loved how we used fullbacks. rarely, at any club, is there a fullback who is so good, better, then mids around him at building up play. having them go up and wide and letting mids do the build up is crucial. Ramsey mostly, and other CM’s (even wide forwards) picked up good spots behind them and movrd the ball well, and yet we barely got catched on the break (which is something one would be affraid the most having 2 defenders so high up).

pleased with the first looks at tactical point of view

 

[celestis]

Good talk.

In all honesty , we used to see this all the time

 

[Makingtrax]

In all honesty , we used to see this all the time

People are obviously going to try to justify all their remarks about Wenger’s defence and tactics in Emery’s work. But after one friendly, it’s beyond stupid.

At the end of the year we can look at the stats . . . goals against, clean sheets, Squawka numbers etc etc and we’ll have a better idea. Only then will the real truth emerge. We can compare it with Wenger’s best, worst and average season to see where we are.

Emery looks to be a good manager, let’s just enjoy the football and get behind him.

 

[celestis]

People are obviously going to try to justify all their remarks about Wenger’s defence and tactics in Emery’s work. But after one friendly, it’s beyond stupid.

At the end of the year we can look at the stats . . . goals against, clean sheets, Squawka numbers etc etc and we’ll have a better idea. Only then will the real truth emerge. We can compare it with Wenger’s best, worst and average season to see where we are.

Emery looks to be a good manager, let’s just enjoy the football and get behind him.

Yeah agree I just want to enjoy the season but that dude on twitter is really clutching at straws there .