Yellow for Havertz
Big question here is whether Arteta thinks a player like Aleix García can get bullied. Footage says usually not, so maybe it's best to close space and not intervene too much. But you can also go bold and bet on your guys to win.
Set pieces are indeed an opportunity.
Arteta hasn't been picking the lineups I would, but hard to argue with Martinelli on an away day in the Champions League. Eze needs to lean.
Will be interesting to see who Kai comes on for. Gyök would be best suited for the last 20 mins.
Leverkusen have a habit of getting around the shooter but not truly closing down, so shots can get through while blocking the view for the keeper. There's some chance for keeper miscomms, too. Let some go and see what happens.
Always like to attack the diffusion of responsibility in back-threes. Get Eze in Zone-14, on same line as Gyökeres, and let it rip. That, or trail Gyökeres with someone who can win aerially (maybe even Zubimendi) and force Leverkusen to pick them up.
With this lineup, I’d let them have it a bit, preserve space for Eze/Gyökeres/Martinelli, and hit them through the middle on the counter. Without Palacios, at least, they were struggling on recovery runs through the middle, so you want to hit crosses quick before they get back.
Few thoughts after quick Leverkusen watching/stat-ing. They’re clean and composed with the ball. Very few miscontrols, very lateral passing. Good at breaking the midfield lines. Least direct team in Bundesliga. Big difference in whether you close down their crosses or not (do it)
Cristhian Mosquera is one of those players who shows how insufficient calling somebody 'fast' or 'slow' is. I've watched him ~15-20 times now, and I'm not sure I can accurately describe his speed. Nuanced differences between short, medium, long, side-to-side, stop/start, etc.
It was such a sliding doors summer for Newcastle. There were some potential XIs (with Mbeumo, Šeško, Pedro types) that looked like hell to face. And then it didn't work out, but they still spent the bag.
We talk about "service" and the player who most needs it, imo, is Eze. And it's mostly tactical: just get him in the places where we all know he can shoot from.
Massive appreciation for Havertz today.
His sub made a massive difference towards Arsenal's ability to grab a foothold in this match.
Oddly mixed feelings after that. We won the game, and advanced in the title race ... but we didn't do it in a way that pleased Fabian Hürzeler. I keep asking myself if it was worth it.
100% dog.
Mighta been 1 point without Havertz.
Mighta been 0 points without Hincapie.
Trossard's total actions from LW vs Chelsea.
Add a few zone-14 touches, and bah gawd, that's Ebere's music.
Van Dijk has done this approximately 10,000 times. Game's the game.
During the transition from loading to takeoff: if you time it right, for a split-second, any player, even the strongest, is basically incapable of producing resistance to lateral pressure.
Everybody acts real concerned about the loneliness epidemic. God forbid some young men want to hug their opponents on a corner kick. Pick a side.
[My son places "twerk" on a triple word score, beating me quite easily]
Me: This is not the game I know and love. This has become unwatchable
I love it when you can feel a player's football genealogy. Arteta is an extreme case. Merino is a good one: Basque, Bundesliga, Newcastle, it's all there.
Same with Hincapié: Ecuador, Germany, Xabi Alonso ... but you can watch him and blindly guess he spent a year in Argentina.
I put on old games every so often. Partially just because, partially to get a sense of what's actually changed versus what just feels like it has.
I put on an 89/90 Arsenal game last night. The first two goals were from inswinging corners :(
I loved every minute of that, was never nervous, and enjoy how we see out games. I won't be accepting further questions.
It's far from VAR's biggest problem, but the backdrop for a referee going to the screen absolutely shouldn't be a wall of home fans with their phones out.
I knew Man City had struggled in second halves, but was still surprised to see they have the fewest goals by subs in the whole league (1). And that was Cherki in the first week. None since.
Aggregating "duels won %" has its limits. If the mix of duels changes (more attacking 1v1, less low-blocking, etc), that number shifts. This is because duels aren't equally meaningful or difficult. Defensive duels are by nature higher percentage (62.5% win rate this year, per Wyscout).
😍
Expected goals are everywhere now, but there's so much more we can do with them. Here's how futi turns basic xG into team-level metrics including deserved results, projected points and projected finish.
Overlaps are tiring and can clog space. This shows a situation meeting the right conditions.
1. Saka has a clean 1v1 (no cover), so Timber can arrive at pace, forcing handoff.
2. Saka slows/jinks inside to pin the marker.
3. Flat-footed defender can’t match Timber’s inertia.
The quintessential Gyökeres goal does hit different. Very satisfying.
