jones like I said before. I think we need additional forwards with different characteristics. But I don’t agree with this defense vs attack framing. I think there is just an issue getting that 4th or 5th top attacker in the team. But that’s not being stopped by the fact that we improved our goalie situation significantly. Can chew, walk and shit at the same time.
Official: Mikel Arteta is the new Arsenal manager.
Claudius it's not a framing of us having to do one or the other, it's an observation that one is clearly prioritised. Otherwise why don't we do all three at once then? Club didn't have an issue spending big on Ramsdale who was a huge gamble and was ruthless when he showed he wasn't up to it. We signed more goalies than attackers since Arteta and Cana joined the club.
Lets not rewrite history. Havertz is absolutely not bought as a centreforward for us.
He brought Havertz to be his Fellaini. When it became obvious that he was better as a CF, he brought in Merino to be his Fellaini replacement.
Now we have a team with no proper striker, our attacking play is based on getting crosses in for two Fellainis to score headers or getting corners and swinging them in for our 4 CBs and 2 Fellainis to score. If that fails, plan B is for Odegaard/Saka to create something out of nothing.
est and the thing about that is Havertz isn't really the type of CF who gets on those crosses that often. His movement just isn't there for that. He's more of a ball at feet player and good at getting on those lose balls from the byline. He's got the size to get some headers but its not his forte. You never see him making that little move from behind the centre back to nip around in front of him and get the header the way Giroud would routinely for instance.
Qwiss giroud is certainly better at that. What Havertz is really good at is working defenders. I’m sure they hate him. He’s constantly moving defenders around, and very physical with them. He’d actually benefit from more vertical movement from our midfielders into the spaces he makes defenders vacate with his movement. Guy’s a warrior
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Here's the thing - our midfield and attack are predominantly made up of players that are physically robust, hard working and tactically excellent. What we're missing is some guile, improv and creativity so we'll soon have to make a decision to sacrifice some of these warriors for an artist or two.
Clrnc i think the issue is that Arteta is buying players and thinking about positions differently from many people's fixed ideas of them. So what you see, particularly with players he has bought recently is a lot of malleability. Nobody knows what exactly Calafiori is, or Timber. Even Trossard. Havertz. He's more interested in sets of attributes that enable our way of playing versus fitting a traditional role in a 433 or 442 etc., as one might typically expect.
It also shows in how much formations and match-ups change within games, either during a transition or as game phases evolve.
A great example is Ben White. There are games where he has been a flying right back, inverted right back, and then right centre back; depending on what is required. And he does all of these roles well. You won't, for example, see Trent playing or Gusto playing all all these different roles in a single match.
Claudius He's more interested in sets of attributes that enable our way of playing versus fitting a traditional role in a 433 or 442 etc.
I'm fine with this, but at some point these attributes should probably be shot power and accuracy, vertical passing, dribbling and close control, speed, intelligent movement, and the feverish desire to score fuckloads of goals.
@Coombs Scott Willis / Cannon Stats has written a hand-wringing defensive blog post dedicated to you 
https://www.cannonstats.com/p/arsenal-did-not-screw-up-their-summer
Coombs I'm fine with this, but at some point these attributes should probably be shot power and accuracy
The problem with stat guys today is that they don't think shooting related skills are relevant. It's all about the xG, which is only about getting to the point where you take a shot.
QuincyAbeyie
If you ever find a credible stats guy who writes exactly what you have put down, please share that article with us.
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"who writes exactly what you have put down" lol
Point is no stats person has ever said you should not buy players who cannot score.
What they say from a basic numbers perspective, and we see this with Arsenal now, and over the last two years, the biggest contributor to scoring goals is actual chance creation. The best finishers in the league right now are doing 20-24% (Salah and Haaland), and your typical guys are doing around 16%, but what you also see the importance of taking tons of shots. Haaland has taken 55 shots to get to his 12 goals. If he had only taken 33 shots like Salah has this season, Haaland would have only 7 goals this season.
Guess what, none of our players have taken as many shots as Salah this season - with Saka and Havertz both around 27 shots this season. That much more than our finishing ability is what is holding us back. We are not getting the ball into areas to take shots.
We had this discussion last season - you said we Havertz was a waste of money, we needed to buy a striker in January. And then we started getting the ball into the box and had our best 38 game goal scoring output ever. Because we took shitloads of shots. And that's just a numbers thing - but no stats guy will ever say no to a Salah or Haaland because if i am faced with an individual chance, I want one of those guys.