Interesting stats from this morning's Arseblog:
"I looked at stats from last season, and he wins 57% of his aerial duels. Certainly there’s room for improvement, with the likes of Virgil van Dijk and John Stones in the 70%s for that particular stat, but in relation to his teammates, he measures up well. Gabriel is at 52%, and Takehiro Tomiyasu – someone perceived as very strong in the air – is at 50%.
He also wins 67% of his defensive duels, with Gabriel at 69% and Tomiyasu at 60%. As we know from watching All Or Nothing, Mikel Arteta does not like it when ‘he’ loses a duel. It makes him upset in a high pitched voice. This season, with the sample size admittedly quite a bit smaller, White has won nearly 70% of his aerial and defensive duels in the four games thus far. A long way to go but in a season when you’ve had to deal with Mitrovic, and relentless long balls fizzed towards Wilfried Zaha, it’s decent."
I know the nature of football debate is such that it has to be one or the other, but really we should just be happy that we now have three top quality centre backs as well as two excellent options each at right & left back. And Cedric & Rob Holding.
