Haha. Stuff we inherently know, but still: no PSG attacker ranks among the top 1,000 players in league minutes across Europe's top five leagues this season. The leader is Barcola with 1,395. Which is 16 starts, five of them completed.
Deep recruitment. And other things...
bsky.app/profile/bill...
Haha, it's a dumb reference from I Think You Should Leave.
For this purpose, three options at each full-back position (third likely being pulled from midfield/FB)
[meaning:
— 44 games total started and completed (8.8/yr)
— 41.3% of total league minutes played]
Triples is Best
Pep Guardiola every January
I know all the context, but it's still wild to see it typed out:
Nuno Mendes averages 8.8 league full-90s a season for PSG.
Across 5 seasons at PSG, he has finished fewer total games than Ben White did in one year for Leeds
One of my feelings is that top coaches have hacked the ideal role for FBs as the all-action, perpetually free man. But the physical demands are unsustainable. So you need a superhuman athlete to defy gravity, or PSG's luxury of playing them ~20x a year in league, or triples.
Reminder (to myself and you) to put dates on graphics and data tables. Those things can live long half-lives as screenshots and social posts, so that context is necessary.
I don't have a date on this, but saw this graphic
Nothing more upsetting than creeping around in the middle of the night to see all my chances under the tree, only to see that it'd been Bukayo Saka wrapping them the whole time.
Chances come from the Chance Stork who drops them off at your doorstep in the small hours. Whether you accept responsibility from there is up to you
With my flair for timing (and perfectionism), I put this out too close to the City game. But if you haven't read it yet, it all still stands. Among other things, it was a pre-emptive case for riding a setup like the one we saw against City until the wheels come off.
Yep. Biggest thing is not winning any battles in neutral game-states against Premier League CBs. Literally no first-half goals in open-play. So second halves are always closer and more stressful, and if you're OOP more, you're running more.
Saw somebody say Havertz only looked better than Gyökeres because Arsenal played differently than they usually do.
They're so close.
One of my faves to watch when he's on, honestly
More shots, higher (wyscout) xG, and more aerial duels won than any Gyökeres game in an Arsenal shirt
Remember Omar Marmoush?
Yeah, just finally saw it on the wide angle. Was initially angry at Martinelli, then wondered if Mosquera could have jumped (and had Saliba swap over, going m2m). Nope, distances way too big after a throw-in, just a simple Martinelli error. He was stewing a long-ball and never scanned behind once
Called my shot 😂
re: Kai
In the league, that was the second first-half open-play goal by an Arsenal striker all season.
The other was Merino vs Brentford.
If you're ruing near-misses for his second/third against City, so am I.
If you're really blaming him: what.
Should start every game at #9 from here on.
Guessing he was ballwatching and trying to tackle and score. Very eager performance
No clue.
The #1 player I'd bet on scoring there.
Zero dribblers on the pitch at the end, no domino effects. Hoping there's some story.
Setup was there, performance was mostly there, though I didn't feel the right XI was on at the end. Mostly, the ball didn't go in. I can live with that much more than I can live with Wolves, Bournemouth, Forest, etc. Fuck.
Signing off. I'll see you all later.
Arsenal v Sporting
Hincapie v Sporting
Hincapié's role against Sporting (below) was the high width-holder. That makes sense with a double-pivot, and can pin the RW, and push Eze inside.
(He's gotta be careful with those overhit crosses that fall in the D and turn into snap counters)
A bit taken aback. About as good as I could have hoped. There will be new relationships to build, but they all feel right.
A long-read on growing up, tactical shifts, how this team has changed, and the welcome weight of critical moments like this
❤️