Where did it all go wrong for Arsenal?

Mark your calendars people, the annual Arsenal meltdown is here. It hasn’t come as early as last season’s Unai Emery disaster but its a lot sooner compared to the usual February capitulation that coincided with the yearly Champions League exit in the late Wenger years. Following Arsenal’s 2-0 thrashing by rivals Tottenham Hotspur, they sit 15th in the league and have lost 6 of their last 9 games in the Premier League. This is the worst start to an Arsenal season in 45 years, and rock bottom just keeps on getting deeper and deeper. The quiet optimism of the summer has dwindled away, replaced by the eventual resignation and acceptance of Arsenal’s mediocrity. Mikel Arteta was declared a genius in August post his fantastic FA Cup success, but just 4 months later there are already some doubting his credibility.

It has been a worrying November for the Arsenal (Credits: Sky Sports)

And if the losses aren’t bad enough, the football being played is even more worrisome. Tottenham were comfortable winners on Sunday night as Arsenal failed to register more than 2 shots on Target despite attempting 44 crosses throughout the game. The week before that Wolves dominated Arsenal in their 2-1 victory at the Emirates and were comfortably the better side, as were Leeds United and Aston Villa in their respective meetings with Arsenal in November. When Arteta first took charge of the squad in December 2019 there seemed to be a revitalised hunger amongst the squad which was evident from their pressing and intensity on the pitch. Cut to today, the pressing is a shadow of what it was and the body language of most players stink. Arsenal is approaching games as relegation contenders, happy to nick a 1-0 but just content with defending. It feels like creative expression has been outlawed on the pitch and it does not look like it is getting any better.

The numbers are bad. Arsenal has scored only 10 goals this season, and only one from open play in the last 7 games. Forget scoring, even a shot on target is a rare occurrence at Arsenal matches these days with the Gunners averaging just 3 shots on target in the league this season (ranked 17th amongst PL clubs). With no Mesut Ozil in the side, Arsenal is also struggling on the creative front. The Gunners average only 15 Shot Creating Actions Per 90 (ranked 16th amongst PL clubs) and 6 Key Passes per 90 which are both indicators of relegation form. Arsenal is also laboured in possession and they struggle to get the ball up the pitch. This is indicated by the fact that Arsenal has the 2nd most touches in the league in their own defensive penalty area but rank 11th in the league for touches in the attacking third. This shows that Arsenal is happy to keep the ball in their own half but struggle to convert their possession into chances. These indicators show that Arsenal’s league position is no fluke or temporary problem, the numbers are bad, and Arsenal are bad.

So who is to blame for this catastrophic disaster. The answer to that is unfortunately not as simple as it should be. This has been a 10-year gradual slide towards mediocrity. The guilty parties include the owners the Kroenke’s, Arsene Wenger, Unai Emery, Mikel Arteta, Ivan Gazidis (Ex-CEO), Raul Sanllehi (Ex-Director of Football), Vinai Venkateshem (Current CEO) and Edu Gaspar (Current Technical Director). It’s a collective cataclysmic failure from each of these individuals that lead to where Arsenal are today, a shadow of their former self. The final dagger was Tottenham Hotspur, a team they finished ahead of in the league for 21 seasons between 1995 and 2016 beating Arsenal to go 11 points clear of them within 11 games of the season.

There have been many mistakes made by Arsenal over the years but the more you look at it this summer was a complete failure for the club. Arsenal failed to offload any of the excess weight in the squad and was hamstrung by the mistakes made in previous windows. They desperately needed to sell some of the underperforming players and free up funds but the only significant sale made was Emiliano Martinez. They failed to find suitors for wantaway midfielders Torreira and Guendouzi and were forced to loan them out on deadline day. Mesut Ozil was completely omitted from the squad and has been earning 350k a week to send shots to Piers Morgan on Twitter. They failed to orchestrate a loan move for William Saliba who was signed for 30 million in 2019 and he has been stuck playing with the under-23’s. On top of that despite struggling to create chances last season the only attacking signing brought to the club was a 32-year-old Willian on a free transfer. Yes, the pandemic has affected all European clubs but Chelsea and Tottenham were able to significantly improve their squad in the off-season but the same can’t be said about Arsenal. The reality is that for the time being Arsenal possess a squad of overpaid players that are mid-table at best.

So where do Arsenal go from here? Hitting the reset button and sacking the manager is not going to change anything. There are deeper issues at the club currently that Arteta simply walked into. A new manager will be left with the same set of players (Lacazette, Xhaka, Bellerin, Holding, Mustafi, Luiz) who struggled under Wenger’s reign, down tooled under Emery in 2019 and are doing the same now under Arteta. This is the toughest period arguably in the clubs 135-year history and changing the manager solves none of the problems at hand. Yes, Arteta picks the team and the tactics and does deserve the blame for recent results. But he needs time to develop his philosophy and actually buy the players that he believes can carry out his vision. The scars of the mistakes made by previous managers and executives are still very much prevalent and it will take time for them to heal and be corrected. Unfortunately for Arsenal and Arteta, he needs to apply the bandages soon because the clock is already ticking and the time may well run out.

Is Lionel Messi Worth It?

Yes, its true, Lionel Messi wants to leave Barcelona. This time it is for real, there is no powerplay involved, it isn’t for a better contract, or to get Bartomeu out. Lionel Messi wants to leave Barcelona, and the shockwaves of this proposed move might change the landscape of European football permanently, much like the transfer of Neymar 3 years earlier. Messi no longer wants to be part of the Barcelona rebuild, he no longer wants to carry the team to eventual humiliation in the Champions League, and his suitors are rushing to open their chequebooks. And as the news broke out from Marca that Messi has asked the Barcelona board to terminate his contract, the footballing world went into overdrive. As expected, football clubs and social media teams rushed to quickly photoshop a photo of Messi wearing their kit and make announcements that he should come there. Yes, that is all great for social media engagement numbers. But in reality, only a precious few can even afford to approach Messi in the current market. And the question people should be asking is, is he even worth it?

And no, I am not questioning his footballing ability. He still is the best player in the world, and probably has three more years of elite-level play left in him. But as he has an enormous impact on the pitch, he also has a gargantuan effect on the finances. And Barcelona has probably crumbled under the weight of his massive contract over the past few years.

Lionel Messi earns 50 Million euros net per year from Barcelona, which comfortably makes him the highest-paid player on the planet. That comes to a pre-tax wage of around 100 million Euros which Barcelona have to shell out and that includes his basic wages, bonuses, loyalty fees and image rights. There are a few clubs in the world today who can afford that.

On top of that, he has a 700 million euro release clause in his contract that of course, no club will pay. A club could cough up a bid of 100 million euros to allow Barcelona to let him go or he could convince Barcelona to adhere to the clause in his contract and, they could unilaterally decide to terminate his contract before it expires in 2021. Let’s assume the latter happens. You still have to pay Messi a significant signing on fee and his 100 million euro salary for around three years. Even if he takes a wage cut, which he will have to, a club will have to shell out a significant amount of money for a player who also has no resale value. And all this is compounded by the fact that Covid-19 has strangled football revenues and cash is tighter than ever.

This leaves only three realistic suitors for Messi. Manchester City and PSG are backed by states and they will have the financial might to broker a deal. They will also be aided by the fact that FFP is basically suspended for a year by UEFA, although that has not stopped either of them in the past. The other option could be Italy and Inter Milan, where their new owners and lenient tax laws could be an attractive option for the Argentinian. Despite all that, if even 3 of the richest clubs in the world have to move heaven and earth to sign a player, you have to question whether it is worth it. Contrary to popular belief, clubs don’t earn any major money from shirt sales. While Messi does add to the brand appeal and marketing side of things, at what cost does that come?

Success is no longer guaranteed with Lionel Messi in the team

The other debate is that the successful modern super club has a team full of players working for each other instead of a superstar who can produce a bit of magic. Juventus and Barcelona are crippled by their huge outlay on Messi and Ronaldo and that has prevented them from adding the required pieces around them to make a championship team. Liverpool and Bayern Munich, the best two teams in the world right now are the perfect example of a team with no bonafide superstars. They implement the high press, win the ball up high and carry no passengers in defence. For teams who want to play this way, will they have to adapt to Messi and try and make the most out of the greatest player ever, or will Messi have to adapt to them?

Whatever happens, this transfer saga is going to run and run. It might even include a long drawn out legal battle between the club and the player and Barcelona may even alienate the very player who has helped them reach the pinnacle of football. But maybe this is what football has come to. Its no longer the utopian world we envisage it to be, loyalty is nothing more than a smokescreen. And as the last true one-club man leaves for greener pastures, its a dark reminder that when you strip everything away, football is nothing more than a business that aims for profit.

Willian To Arsenal Transfer Analysis

It is that time of the year again. The silly season where transfer rumours fill up the back pages and social media timelines and the most important 3-word phrase is “here we go”. Despite suggestions that this transfer window might not be as active due to the impacts of the Corona Virus outbreak on footballing revenues, clubs are still finding creative ways to get deals over the line. Arsenal will be bolstered by their recent FA Cup win which guarantees them European football for next season and an extra 30 million to spend in the transfer market. The tabloids have already linked them with a whole host of players already including the likes of Phillipe Coutinho, Thomas Partey and Gabriel Magalhaes but, it looks like the one player who is definitely signing for the club is Willian on a free transfer. 

Willian is making the move from West to North London

Willian rejected a 2-year contract extension with Chelsea and will be leaving the club after his 7-year spell to join their London rivals Arsenal. Arsenal is offering Willian a longer deal with a 3-year contract on a wage that is reportedly somewhere in the region of 100,000 pounds a week. Willian becomes the 3rd player to be represented by super-agent Kia Joorabchian to join the club in the last 12 months after David Luiz and Cedric. Kia Joorabchian is an Israeli Super-Agent who is good friends with Arsenal technical director Edu and he seems to have an increasingly bigger say on the transfer dealings of the club. The Arsenal board seem to be a lot more compliant with these super agents and one has to question whether this strategy is healthy for the club in the long term.

Willian is 32 and will be offering almost no resale value when his contract expires in 2023. One has to hope that this deal is not a favour to Arsenal’s favourite super-agent because signing a 32-year-old winger does not seem like the transfer business of a club with title-winning ambitions. Nevertheless, in the short term, Willian can provide something to the club and be a useful option to Mikel Arteta’s side.

Arsenal’s Creativity Conundrum

Arsenal is in the middle of a creativity crisis. Their biggest creator, Mesut Ozil has been frozen out by the manager and looks to have played his last game for the club. Arsenal is desperately lacking in terms of creativity in midfield and that is evident by the fact that no Arsenal midfielder created more than one big chance last season in the Premier League. They ranked 15th amongst PL teams last season for Shot Creating Actions (16.18 Per 90) and 16th in the League for Key Passes (285). Arsenal is also 12th in the Premier League for big chances created and is the worst of the Big 6 Teams in terms of Expected Assists and progressive passes. What is worse is the only Arsenal player in the top 50 players in the league last season for Shot Creating Actions is Mesut Ozil with 3.94 per 90. With the next best Arsenal player being Nicholas Pepe with 2.96 down in 51st place.

Willian, on the other hand, was one of the most creative players in the league last season. Willian ranks 6th in terms of Shot Creating Actions per 90 in the league last season (5.02) and had the 3rd most shot-creating actions from open play behind De Bruyne and Grealish. He was also 7th in the league for key passes (71) and 6th in the league in terms of Passes into the Penalty Area (68). Arsenal can utilise some of Willian’s creativity to unlock the likes of Aubameyang and Lacazette in the final 3rd, especially against low blocks.

Willian vs Nicholas Pepe Comparison 2019/20 Season

Willian offers a different threat on the right-wing compared to Pepe as shown by the chart above. Pepe offers a bigger goal threat and is slightly more adventurous with his dribbling. However, Willian ranks much higher in terms of creativity with regards to Shot Creating Actions, Progressive Distance and passes into the box. If Arteta were to continue with the 3-4-3 system then Willian can prove to be a viable alternative on the right flank to Nicholas Pepe or even an option on the left if Aubameyang was to play through the middle.

However, Willian will not be starting ahead of Arsenal’s record signing Nicholas Pepe and it is unlikely that Willian was brought to the club to be an option off the bench. Arteta used the 3-4-3 system after the restart due to the shortcomings of the Arsenal squad but, his long term vision for the team is to transition into a 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1. In this formation, Willian can be used as a number 10. For Chelsea, Willian played almost exclusively on the right-wing but before that Willian was often deployed in a central position during his Shakthar Donetsk days and he could do something similar in North London. Willian is brilliant on the half-turn and he could occupy the spaces in between midfield and defence to create chances. Willian will also be more willing to press from the front than Mesut Ozil and having him there can be an education for someone like Joe Willock.

Whatever way you look at it, adding Willian to the Arsenal squad is a plus. He is an experienced Premier League player who can immediately improve the first 11 if they decide to play 4-2-3-1. The other plus side is the cost, he will be joining on a free transfer and if the wages are reportedly 100 grand a week then it is a transfer with little risk and high reward. Signing a 32-year-old player is not ideal, but these may be the signs of the times for Arsenal and in this point in time, Willian might be the best they are going to get.

 

Life After Mesut Ozil

The crowd grew late into the night around the Emirates Stadium, the Sky Sports reporter and van, were mobbed by Arsenal fans as the news filtered in. In the fag hours of deadline day in September 2013, Arsenal shocked the footballing world as they announced the signing of Mesut Ozil. Signing a player of that stature and ability was met by disbelief by the Arsenal faithful and signalled a watershed moment for the club. After years of being crippled by the weight of the Emirates Stadium move, Arsenal could finally challenge again. It was believed to be the end of the Gervinho, Park Chu-Young and Andre Santos era and Arsenal could finally compete financially with the petrodollars of Chelsea and Man City. Mesut Ozil was arguably the first world-class player in their prime that Arsenal managed to sign for the best part of a decade. It was the first sign of real ambition from the American owners, as Arsenal smashed their transfer record fee to sign the German from Real Madrid, for 42.5 million pounds.

Mesut Ozil signed for Arsenal from Real Madrid for 42.5 Million Pounds

And in the opening few seasons, Ozil did not disappoint. Despite the English media bias against him due to his laid back nature, football purists would agree that Ozil was elite for the majority of the time he spent in North London.  He graced the Premier League with his silky passing, subtle flicks and extraordinary vision. He racked up 19 PL assists in 2015/16 as Arsenal finished 2nd in the league and a further 18 goals and assists the season after. But seven years since that fateful night in September, Ozil is now a shadow of his former self. He has been frozen out by Arteta, presumably due to poor attitude in training and has failed to feature for the club in the restart. Arsenal will look to move the German on in this transfer window, despite him having a year left on his contract. Unfortunately, his 350,000 pound a week wages makes him almost impossible to sell, and he is set for another year on the sidelines where he could be spending more time on Twitch, than the football pitch.

The first few years of Mesut Ozil in North London were Poetic

The waning of Ozil’s powers mirrors Arsenals decline as a footballing powerhouse in England. In the pomp of Arsene Wenger’s tenure at Arsenal, they were known as a team that were modelled behind Guardiola’s Barcelona. Arsenal had a plethora of creative midfielders at their disposal and was even often criticized for wanting to pass the ball into the net. From Cesc Fabregas to Tomas Rosicky to Santi Cazorla, Arsenal was known for their diminutive creative midfielders with technical quality. However, in recent years there has been a mass exodus of those type of players at the club. In the last 3 years, Arsenal has lost Cazorla, Wilshere, Ramsey, Sanchez, Mkhitaryan, Iwobi and Alex Oxlade Chamberlain. And finally, their last and perhaps greatest creator, Mesut Ozil, has been frozen out and is set to leave. The creative heart of the team has been ripped out and that is causing them grave problems on the pitch.

In the past season, Arsenal has struggled to create chances in games and have often relied on only the individual brilliance of Aubameyang to bail them out. A perfect snapshot of that issue was witnessed in Arsenals penultimate league game against Aston Villa where they failed to have a single shot on target versus a team who was happy to sit back and let them have the ball. In terms of numbers, Arsenal is one of the worst creative teams in the league. They ranked 15th amongst PL teams last season for Shot Creating Actions (16.18 Per 90) and 16th in the League for Key Passes (285). Arsenal is also 12th in the Premier League for big chances created and is the worst of the Big 6 Teams in terms of Expected Assists and progressive passes.

What is worse is the only Arsenal player in the top 50 players in the league last season for Shot Creating Actions is Mesut Ozil with 3.94 per 90. With the next best Arsenal player being Nicholas Pepe with 2.96 down in 51st place. It is no surprise that Arsenal is now being linked with the likes of Willian and Coutinho to help mitigate their creativity drought. Arsenal has players like Pepe and Aubameyang who can run in behind the defence but unfortunately, they do not have the creative linchpin who can find these runs with the eye of the needle passes.

Mesut Ozil has played 0 minutes of competitive football since March

So where does this leave Mesut Ozil? Is he just another victim of an evolving game where the number 10 is now nothing more than a luxury. Players like Coutinho and James Rodriguez have been forced out of clubs while the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Thomas Muller have been made to evolve. The emergence of a counter-pressing system and the popularity of the 4-3-3 has rendered Number 10’s redundant, and maybe Ozil was just too slow to pick up on the trends, and the game has left him behind. And maybe this Arsenal team has moved on from Ozil as well. Yes at times he may seem like the better option in games, but Arteta is building a footballing philosophy at the club. And he can’t carry any passengers who aren’t fully on board with his vision.

So after all the assist records, dainty flicks and trademark bounce shots, Ozil’s Arsenal and England career ends with this bad divorce. The 2 partners unwilling to speak to each other and make amends, and the requirement of a hefty settlement offer to end the marriage. Ozil will leave England as a villain, with the tales of his wizardry leaning towards the mythical. His legacy might be tarnished and he may be remembered as the 350k man who stole a living. But when he signed for Arsenal in 2013, he offered the hope of a new dawn. And as this misunderstood genius leaves North London, under a new manager and regime, Arsenal might be on the cusp of a new one.

Emiliano Martinez’s 10 Year Journey to Arsenal No. 1

As Bernd Leno screamed in anguish at the Amex Stadium on the 20th of June, Arsenal fans had their heart in their mouths. After receiving a blow from Neal Maupay while he was mid-air, Leno landed awkwardly and significantly damaged his knee ligaments. As the German was stretchered off the field, he seemed to be taking all of Arsenal’s hopes with him. Leno had established himself as one of the key members of the side and was one of the standout players of the campaign. He has kept them in games all season long and was often the difference between a draw and a heavy defeat. But now without their number 1, and a huge run of games before the end of the season, Arsenal’s European aspirations were dealt a significant blow.

Bernd Leno’s injury at Brighton could have been a lot worse

However, Leno’s replacement and Arsenal No. 2 Emiliano Martinez would quickly allay all fears. The Argentine was faultless as his outstanding performances helped Arsenal win the FA Cup and secure their place in Europe next season. But Martinez’s story starts much before that fateful day in Brighton, and in this video, we will be taking an in-depth look at his journey from Argentina to Arsenal’s number 1.

Growing up in Argentina

Emiliano Martinez was born in Marta de Plata, a city in the Province of Buenos Aires. He started his youth career with Independiente, which was 400km from his hometown. His family struggled financially throughout his childhood and there were times where his parents could not even put food on the table or pay the bills. At aged 16, he was noticed by an Arsenal scout while playing for Argentina Under 17’s and after impressing in a trial, he was signed for 1.1 million pounds in 2010 from Independiente. It was a tough move for a 16-year-old, and his mother and brother dissuaded him from leaving Argentina. But he decided to go anyway knowing it would be a once in a lifetime opportunity for both him and his family. Martinez arrived in London as a scared teenager who did not speak a word of English. He was not even allowed to play any professional games till he was 18 as he did not have a European passport and was forced to play only friendlies instead. 

Martinez’s 10-year career with Arsenal

After spells in the youth team and an emergency loan to Oxford United, Martinez finally made his Arsenal debut in a 3rd round league cup tie vs Coventry City at home in September 2012. He made his second Arsenal appearance in the next round in the infamous 7-5 game vs Reading where Arsenal were 4-0 down after 40 minutes but still managed to claw back after extra-time thanks to a Theo Walcott hattrick. Martinez then spent the 2013/14 season on loan to Championship side Sheffield Wednesday. He returned to Arsenal in the following 2014/15 season and was the Third Choice Goalkeeper behind David Ospina and Wojciech Szczesny. However, due to an injury to the Colombian and a suspension for Szczesny, Martinez was handed his debut in the Champions League away to Anderlecht where Arsenal won 2-1. 1 month later he came on for his Premier League debut against Manchester United at home after an injury to Szczesny.

Martinez made his debut in the UCL away to Anderlecht

Martinez went on to play the next 4 games for the club while the other 2 keepers were sidelined and he did an excellent job considering he was only 22. He managed to keep a clean sheet in 3 of the 4 games and was even named in UEFA’s team of the week for his performance in a 2-0 victory at home to Borussia Dortmund.

After those fringe appearances, more loan spells followed for the Argentine. The first of which was an emergency loan to Rotherham United in the back half of the 2014/15 season followed by a season-long loan to Wolves in the 2015/16 season where he struggled with injuries. Martinez then went into the 2016-17 season as the 3rd choice keeper for the gunners, starting all the League Cup games as well as 2 Premier League appearances against West Ham and Crystal Palace when Petr Cech was injured in April.

Martinez’s loan spell at Reading was career-defining

However, with Petr Cech, David Ospina and later Bernd Leno at the club, Martinez failed to breakthrough and was relegated to 2 more loan spells. He spent the 2017/18 season at Spanish first division side Getafe where unfortunately he only made 5 league starts and was the number 2 behind Vincente Guaita. In January 2019, he signed for Reading on loan which would go on to be the most important and impressive loan spell of his career. He made some stunning saves to help Reading pull off a great escape and avoid relegation from the championship. These performances caught the eye of Arsenal and Unai Emery and ahead of the 2019/20 season, Emery assured him that he can stay at North London and fight for the Number 1 spot as well as play in all the cup games.

Martinez’s performance in the 2019-20 season

Martinez started all of Arsenal’s Europa League games last season and performed admirably whenever called upon. However, people only started to take notice of him after the game at Brighton. Following Bernd Leno’s injury, Martinez was nearly faultless throughout the restart. He made some crucial saves for the Gunners, including an acrobatic save from a deflected Trent Alexander Arnold shot in the dying seconds of the game against Liverpool which secured Arsenal’s victory. He was also superb in Arsenal’s run in the FA Cup, making crucial saves from Riyad Mahrez in the semi-final and Christian Pulisic in the final.

Martinez has made a solid case to be number 1 next season

Emiliano Martinez’s Goalkeeping Strengths

Martinez has a huge frame and an incredible 6’4″ height which makes him nearly impossible to beat. Also, apart from his size, what stands out is his amazing handling. Many keepers including Bernd Leno like to punch the ball when crosses come in or parry shots aimed at them but Martinez does not employ those techniques. He tends to hang on to crosses coming into the box and catch shots aimed at him and that helps alleviate the pressure on an Arsenal defence that tends to concede from set-pieces. Martinez’s other strength is his ability on the ball which is an integral part of Arteta’s set up as he likes to play from the back. Martinez started his career as a striker and has always had that technical ability with the ball at his feet that a modern goalkeeper needs. Despite Arsenal’s build-up play giving most fans heart attacks, it is visible how comfortable Martinez has been on the ball even against the high press of Manchester City and Chelsea.

As for Martinez’s shot-stopping, you only have to see the statistics to see how impressive he has been. He has the highest save percentage for any goalkeeper in the league at an astonishing 81%. He also ended the season with the highest per 90 differential between Post Shot xG and actual goals conceded. His post-shot xG minus goals allowed per 90 was 0.49 which in lay man’s terms means Arsenal were conceding 1 less goal every 2 games when Martinez was on the pitch. Leno in comparison had an equally impressive save percentage of 77.6% which was the 3rd highest in the league. Together, Martinez and Leno made 143 saves this season for Arsenal which is the most for any club in the league and they will be fighting it out next season for that number 1 spot. The Argentinian has done incredibly well for Arsenal since coming in but Bernd Leno has been supremely consistent for a longer period and Mikel Arteta does have a dilemma on his hands with regards to who he picks next season.

Martinez was visibly emotional after Arsenal’s FA Cup Victory

But for now, it is time to celebrate the rise of Arsenals current longest-serving player. After years of being the 3rd and 4th choice keeper at the club, Martinez’s spirit never wavered. A decade and 6 loan spells later, Martinez finally has his moment of glory as he helps Arsenal lift the FA Cup at Wembley for the 14th time. And perhaps the most poignant moment of that final was seeing him lean against the advertising boards, earphones on and phone in hand as he video calls his family back in Argentina. And as the tears rolled down his cheeks and the emotions bubbled over, it was a moment that transcended sport and reminded us how football can change lives for the better.

 

Can Chelsea challenge Manchester City and Liverpool for the Title?

As we enter the final legs of the season, with Chelsea one step away from silverware and 2 games away from Champions League qualification, one has to say that it has been a stellar season for the blues. Frank Lampard came into the job last summer with little expectations and plenty of hope, but he seems to have delivered on most counts. After a tumultuous but successful year under Maurizio Sarri, Chelsea became a bore to watch and were labouring to victories instead of coasting to them. Lampard has done well to reverse that trend and Chelsea are now an exciting team, full of vibrant youth and attacking flair. However, as most youthful attacking teams do, Chelsea has blown hot and cold this season. The league started on a sour note with a 4-0 drubbing against United, but Chelsea did well to recover from that. Lampard won the PL manager of the month in October as Chelsea went on a 6 game winning streak in the league between September and November. Sadly, that was followed by a 14 game run in the league where they only won 4 times and lost 7 as well as a 3-0 hammering at home in the Champions League Round of 16 vs Bayern Munich.

Lampard has had a successful first season with the club

However, since the restart Chelsea have been electrifying at times, beating the likes of City and United in the FA Cup. But to match that there have been some woeful defeats to West Ham and Sheffield United. But finally, after all the chips are laid down, Chelsea could get a trophy and finish 3^rd in the league in their first season under Frank Lampard with a transfer ban and that is commendable.

Trusting the Youth

Through both circumstances and choice, Chelsea has adopted a new strategy this season and have finally started to trust their youth. This started from their bold managerial choice. After years of riding the manager merry go round and sacking coaches on a whim, Chelsea made an appointment for the long term. Chelsea was known for picking successful and experienced European coaches like Ancelotti, Mourinho, Conte and Sarri, but this time they went with the more youthful and pulsating choice in Frank Lampard. Frank Lampard has handed 8 Chelsea academy debuts this season, more than any other manager for the club in their history. Part of this is down to Chelsea’s transfer ban that they suffered due to breaching UEFA rules, but they finally found a manager who can guide and develop their successful youth prospects. The likes of Abraham, Mason Mount and Fikayo Tomori have grown into the team this season and are set to be first-team regulars while the youngsters such as Reece James and Billy Gilmour have shown plenty of promise as well.

Who they have signed

Chelsea has already made significant headway in the transfer market to try and close the gap to the Top 2. Hakim Ziyech was signed all the way in February with little competition and to add to that Timo Werner was poached from under Liverpool’s nose last month for a bargain fee in the region of 50 million pounds. Christian Pulisic has done well this season to replace some of Eden Hazards attacking threat, but Chelsea was still missing some of that firepower which they have now acquired. Timo Werner scored 34 goals and bagged 13 assists last season for RB Leipzig and Hakim Ziyech has been Ajax’s player of the year for the past 3 seasons. They both will significantly boost Chelsea’s chances next season, but it will be interesting to see how Lampard might set up with these 2 in the side.

At Leipzig, Werner was used in a front two next to a traditional target man such as Youssef Poulsen and for Chelsea he can be used in a front 2 alongside Giroud. However, Frank Lampard’s preferred choice of formation this season has been a 4-2-3-1 and that might see Werner be used up top as the only number 9. Unfortunately, Werner is not great with his back facing the goal and does not have great hold up play. Hence, he might struggle initially playing as the lone striker in a 4-2-3-1 system like he did with Germany in the 2018 World Cup. Instead, he could be used on the left and play as an inside forward that looks to get behind the defence which is similar to the role Aubameyang has at Arsenal. Ziyech is also a tactically fluid player that can play both as a CAM or from the right and helps to give Lampard some different options in attack.

What Other Areas Need Strengthening

It is clear and obvious that while Chelsea has already made 2 attacking signings, their major problems are in defence. They have conceded 49 goals this season in the league (as many as Crystal Palace) and that is not going to help them win titles. In Rudiger, Zouma and Tomori Chelsea have decent Center Backs but none of them is elite like Laporte and Van Dijk and that is what you need to win championships. Similarly Left Back is also an area of concern with Marcos Alonso not being viable in a back 4 and Emerson Palmieri on his way out and the likes of Nicolas Tagliafico and Ben Chilwell from Leicester are being touted as possible targets. However, the major problem area is undoubtedly between the sticks. Kepa Arrizalabalga was signed for a world record 72 million pounds and to say he has been a disappointment has been an understatement. He has the lowest save percentage amongst goalkeepers (56%) in the Premier League and to make matters worse he has the highest difference between goals against and expected goals on target. He has conceded 42 goals this season but has an Expected Goals on Target of 33.5, this means he has conceded 8.5 goals more than he should have based on the shots he has faced. Chelsea has been linked with the likes of Andre Onana, Dean Henderson and Jan Oblak and it is a position they must strengthen if they are to be serious threats to the title.

Kai Havertz to Chelsea?

 

Chelsea are leading the race to sign Havertz

 

However, despite their defensive deficiencies, it is being reported that Chelsea is the front runners to sign Kai Havertz, the prince of German football. It would take a significant fee upwards of 70 million pounds to afford the Bayer Leverkusen man but if they can do then there is no reason why they should not sign him. Critics have questioned that Chelsea should forget signing him and look at defensive options instead but that shouldn’t necessarily be the case. In an ideal world, they should have the finances to buy all their primary targets, but even if they don’t, they shouldn’t turn down the opportunity to sign a player of Havertz’s quality and potential.

Chelsea needs to be realistic, they will not win the league next year and it is near on impossible to cover that 30 point gap in one season. But if they can get their 3 attacking signings in this window (Werner, Havertz and Ziyech) it will allow them to adjust to the pace and physicality of England throughout the next season. Then along with additions in goal and in defence which will be made in the next 3 transfer windows, Chelsea can mount a serious title challenge in 2021-22. This is precisely the same thing which Klopp did at Liverpool. His first 3 singings were all attacking ones in Mane, Salah and Alex Oxlade Chamberlain. Once those 3 were settled in the league and the team, Klopp went big to get Van Dijk, Fabinho and Alisson and then instantly Liverpool were title contenders.

The transfer ban last season may have been a blessing in disguise and has allowed Chelsea to have enough money in the bank to spend in this year’s market where there is little competition. And the way the likes of Marina Granovskaia and Petr Cech have set up this Chelsea team, it seems like they will have the best chance to break the Liverpool and Manchester City hegemony that has ruled over England over the past few years.

Top 5 Youngsters in the Premier League 2019/20

One of the standout features of the Premier League season and restart in particular has been the rise of young talents in the country. Clubs all over the Premier League including the Big 6 are putting more of their faith in their youngsters and they are starting to reap the dividends. Academies like Chelsea and Arsenal are going through a purple patch currently with 4 and 5 graduates breaking into the first team and other teams like Manchester United are giving more and more impetus and importance to their youth. Part of this is down to the system that is created in each of the academies in the country and also the role of the youth system set up in St. Georges Park for the England youth teams which has enjoyed great success recently. In the past 4 years the England Youth Teams have won an U-20 WC, an U-17 WC, an U-19 European Championship and 3 Toulon tournaments. Clearly there is a special batch of youngsters in England at the moment and this season we are finally seeing some of that talent filter through in the premier league. But who are the standout talents in the league aged 20 or younger that are shining above the rest, lets take a look at the top 5.

5. Reece James

At number 5 we have Chelsea right back, 19 year old Reece James. England have been blessed with immense depth in the right back position, but Reece James has the ability to be the most complete one of them all. He joined Chelsea at age 6 and rose up the ranks in the immensely successful academy, winning the Chelsea academy player of the year in 2018. He also had a successful loan spell last season with Wigan, winning their player of the year award as well as being named in the Championship team of the season. This season he has had limited playing time but has managed 2 goals and 3 assists in all competitions. His major strengths are in the attacking third and he averages 6.4 crosses per game which is the most for any Chelsea player. He also has an xA of 0.17 per game which is pretty good considering the likes of Trent Alexander Arnold average an xA of 0.27 per game. He is also great with the ball on his feet and has a dribble success rate of nearly 75% which is the 3^rd most for Chelsea players. Defensively as well Reece James is quite assured, and he averages 2.37 tackles per game as well as 2.73 blocks per game which is the most for any Chelsea player. At only 20, James still has plenty of time to improve and grow and he is set to be a key part of this Chelsea defense for years to come.

4. Gabriel Martinelli

Coming in at number 4 and the only non-Englishman on the list is 19 year old Gabriel Martinelli. The Brazilian forward was an unknown quantity coming to Arsenal from Brazilian side Ituano last summer for a fee of 6 million pounds, but he has hit the ground running at the Emirates. He has played as both a left winger and striker this season and has emerged in the spotlight thanks to his work rate, spatial awareness and predatory finishing. Jurgen Klopp even hailed him as the talent of the century and it’s not hard to see why. The teenager has scored 10 goals and bagged 4 assists so far this season and has averaged a goal contribution every 100 minutes which is nearly 1 per game. But those numbers don’t tell the entire story, it is his hunger and desire to play and work for the team that really stands out. He averages 33.4 pressures per 90 which is the most in the Arsenal squad and 7 more than the next best player, to add to that he averages an astonishing 1.7 tackles won per 90. Just last week Arsenal signed Martinelli to a new long term deal and he is set to be an integral part of their rebuild under Arteta.

3. Bukayo Saka

At number 3 on the list is another Arsenal teenager who recently signed a long term contract with the club and that is Bukayo Saka. Arsenal have had the likes of Eddie Nketiah, Joe Willock and Reiss Nelson break into the first team from the Hale End academy but undoubtedly the man who has made the most impact is 18 year old Bukayo Saka. He has scored 4 goals this season but more impressively he has bagged 12 assists this season in all competitions, which is only bettered by Kevin De Bruyne and Trent Alexander Arnold amongst PL players. Saka is an extremely proficient dribbler and averages 1.7 successful dribbles per game. He is also one of the main creative outlets for the gunners and is averaging 2.8 shot creating actions per 90 in the league. To add to that he has shown his defensive abilities during his time playing LB and he averages 2 attempted tackles each game. Also, the 18 year old has been so versatile this season, playing in various positions including Left Back, Left Wing Back, Left Wing, Right Wing and even Central Midfield. His ability to keep up his assist output despite being used in various positions for 3 different managers is a real testament to the quality that he possesses.

2. Phil Foden

If there was ever a poster boy for England’s next generation of superstars, it would definitely be Phil Foden. The Man City superstar rose to fame in the 2017 U-17 World Cup which England won and where Foden was awarded the Golden Ball. In the 3 years since then, Foden has won a whole host of silverware at Manchester City but has struggled to get loads of playing time in City’s star studded team. This season though he has been extremely impressive whenever he has played and even won the Man of the Match in the league cup final. Foden has 7 goals and 9 assists this season which is astonishing considering he has only played 1397 minutes, that means he is averaging a goal contribution every 87 minutes! He is also averaging 5.4 shot creating actions per 90 in the league which is 3^rd amongst all Manchester City players. He is also 3^rd amongst the squad for successful Dribbles per 90, averaging an impressive 2.3. With David Silva leaving Manchester next season, Foden is primed and ready take up his mantle in Central Midfield and show the world just how good he is.

1. Mason Greenwood

Without a doubt the number one talent in the Premier League is Manchester United star Mason Greenwood. There has not been as much hype about a young striker in England since the days of Wayne Rooney and so far, the Manchester United man has lived up to the hype. At 18 he has already become a regular first team player for the red devils and has scored the most goals in a PL season where the player turned 18 since Michael Owen in 1998. Greenwood has scored 16 goals this season on top of the 5 assists he has provided in all competitions. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer described Greenwood as the most natural finisher at the club and looking at the numbers it is not hard to see why. Greenwood has scored 9 goals in the PL this season despite having an xG of only 3.1. This means he has a league high difference between goals and xG of 5.9 and that means he is scoring goals from places which he statistically isn’t expected to and that is a mark of a great finisher. Also, he has a league high goals per shot of 0.27 and shots on target percentage of 54.5% which is another indication of his elite finishing. The 2 footed wonderkid is clearly years ahead of his age and is set to be a key member of this Manchester United and England set up for years to come.

This is a special bunch of talents coming through right now and they are set to be the face of this league for the best part of the next decade. But lets not get ahead of ourselves, the promise and talent is evident but it still needs to be matched with desire and hunger. And once that magic combination is achieved, for these extraordinary group of kids not even the sky is the limit.

Has De Gea Taken His Eye Off The Ball?

On Friday night as David De Gea failed to save a routine Steven Bergwijn shot that was hit straight at him, it felt like déjà vu. These sort of mistakes have become more of a regularity for the Spaniard and it seems to be more than just a bad patch of form. For De Gea this downward slide can be traced back to the 2018 World Cup, where the Spaniard made only 1 save the entire tournament. This continued into the 2018/19 season where routine mistakes against the likes of Marcos Alonso, Lionel Messi and Granit Xhaka cost United dearly. This season De Gea’s errors have been even more prominent. It started with being beaten by Patrick Van Aanholt on the near post, then it was his failed attempt to catch Ismaila Sarr’s shot at Watford and finally he kicked it right into the boot of Calvert Lewin in March. This has happened far too often for a keeper of his quality and the Red Devils need to see this objectively instead of remembering him for what he was 3 years ago.

Even during the Sky Sports half time show, Roy Keane as well was extremely critical of De Gea and did not pull any punches. He said, “I am sick to death of this goal-keeper and would be fighting him at half time”. He proceeded to state that the Bergwijn goal was a standard save for an established international goalkeeper and De Gea is the most overrated goalkeeper he’s seen in a long, long time. While this is the Roy Keane way of saying things and he does go over the top, there is no denying that De Gea’s mistakes are becoming more frequent.

Henderson has been outstanding for Sheffield this season

On the flipside, Dean Henderson’s performance during the restart was the antithesis to De Gea’s. The Englishman was excellent for Sheffield United and made 6 saves for the Blades which kept them in the game as they drew 0-0 to Aston Villa. He has had a fantastic 2 year loan spell at Sheffield United and the United academy product has been one of their standout performers this season. Last year, he won the Golden Glove in the championship and kept 22 clean sheets as Sheffield United secured promotion to the Premiership. And he has built on that form this year with plenty of notable displays. He is certainly knocking on the door at United, but are his performances that impressive that he should displace United’s 4 time player of the year in the line up?

David De Gea	Metric	Dean Henderson
8	Clean Sheets	11
71%	Save Percentage	77%
57%	Close Range Save %	67%
76%	Mid Range Save %	80%
84%	Long Range Save %	100%
47%	1 on 1 Save %	54%

*Stats updated till Tottenham vs Manchester United

Henderson has kept 11 clean sheets so far this season and is in the running for the golden glove, while De Gea has only managed 8. They both have a similar number of saves 78 for De Gea and 76 for Henderson but Henderson has a superior save percentage of 77% compared to 71% for De Gea. Also, if you look at the save percentage in terms of the location of the shots, the stats are in favor of the Englishman. Henderson has a better save percentage from short range, mid range and long range shots even though those are considered to be De Gea’s specialty. Henderson even has a better record this season from 1 on 1’s.

However these statistics don’t particularly tell the entire story behind the quality of a goalkeeper and the shots they faced. A better indication of goalkeeper’s quality is Post Shot Expected Goals (PSxG) or Expected Goals on target which indicated the shot stopping ability of the goal keeper. In a nutshell PSxG is used to indicate the quality of the shots each goalkeeper has faced and how many goals they were expected to concede based on quality of shots faced. Dean Henderson has conceded 22 goals this season but has faced a PSxG of 29.7, this gives a difference of 7.7 between goals allowed and his PSxG and hence he has saved 7.7 goals for Sheffield this season which is one of the highest in the league. De Gea on the other hand has conceded 31 goals but has a PSxG of 29.3, which gives a difference of -1.7 and hence De Gea has nearly conceded 2 more goals than he should have. If you look at De Gea’s PSxG numbers over the past 3 years, the numbers are telling. In 2017/18 De Gea had a difference between goals conceded to PSxG of +12.4, that reduced to +2.1 in 2018/19 and finally now this season it is at -1.7. In terms of the numbers De Gea has gone from being the best shot stopper in the world to below average in the span of 3 years.

De Gea’s mistake against Watford cost United a victory earlier this season

The other damning statistic is the mistakes he has been making which have become more of a habit. De Gea has conceded 3 errors which have led to goals this season adding to the 4 errors he conceded last season. Comparatively Henderson has been tighter, conceding only 1 mistake which led to a goal which was against Liverpool and Gini Wijnaldum earlier in the season.

One more differentiating factor between the 2 is their penalty saving abilities. De Gea has faced only 1 penalty this season in the league which he conceded but adding to that De Gea faced 12 penalties in the league since 2015/16 and has failed to save even one of them in that period. Henderson on the other hand has saved 1 of the 2 penalties he has faced this season, which was against Gabriel Jesus. Also, In the 2017/18 season when Henderson was on loan to Shrewsbury in League one, he saved 2 of the 6 penalties he faced throughout the campaign.

David De Gea	Metric	Dean Henderson
736	Attempted Passes	812
75%	Pass Completion %	40%
0/4	Short Passes Completed	1/1
340/343	Medium Range Passes Completed	81/82
218/329	Long Range Passes Completed	243/729
2.56	xGChain	0.26

One area where De Gea does comprehensively have an edge over the Englishman is his passing and ability to play out from the back. De Gea has attempted a total of 736 passes over the season and has completed 558 successfully with a 75% completion rate. Henderson on the other hand has attempted 812 passes but completed only 325 with a completion percentage of 40. They both are pretty tidy in terms of Medium Range passes between 5 and 25 yards but in terms of Long Range passes more than 25 yards De Gea is miles better than his counterpart. Also, if you look at xGChain which measures the expected goals of every possession a player is involved in, De Gea outclasses Henderson. De Gea has an xGChain of 2.56 which is 10^th amongst goalkeepers in the League while Henderson only manages an xGChain of 0.26 which puts him at 23^rd amongst keepers. It is important to note that both Sheffield and Manchester United play completely different styles of football with Sheffield being more direct and United who prefer to play it out from the back. However, this is an area of the game where Henderson needs to work on and improve if he were to be the number 1 at Old Trafford.

For now, the situation with the goalkeeper spot at United is that they have committed their future to their long standing superstar. In 2019 De Gea signed a massive contract extension with United till 2023 worth a whopping 375,000 pounds a week which makes him the highest paid player in the Premier League. United won’t be getting rid of De Gea anytime soon, so the question arises is what do you do with Dean Henderson, the man next in line for the throne. United can do what Chelsea did with Thibaut Courtois and loan him out until he becomes a truly World Class player and then bring him in to the team. The other option is they can keep him as the number 2 and let him play the cup and European games and slowly bed him into the squad like how Barcelona did with Marc Andre Ter Stegen. They may also want to cash in on him and there are some rumors of Chelsea preparing a 50 million pound bid for Henderson to replace Kepa. Whatever they do decide to do, it will be interesting to see how the number 1 spot progresses at United over the next few years.

As for David De Gea it seems like this new normal is not too dissimilar to the old one. These high profile errors have cost United badly over the past 2 years and is hindering their progress as they look to reach the champions league and eventually challenge for the title. United have put their faith in him and that world class shot stopper is still in there somewhere but Manchester United need him now more than ever.

 

William Saliba – Explaining the Hype

Arsenals opening defeats versus Brighton and Manchester City in a nutshell explained their defensive malaise and need for better quality center backs. At Brighton, Arsenal took the lead with 20 minutes remaining and needed some leadership at the back to see out the game. However, 2 soft goals meant that Brighton were handed their first victory of 2020. Against Manchester City on the other hand, David Luiz put in possibly one of the worst individual performances by an Arsenal player in the premier league. He committed an error for Sterling’s opener before bringing down Riyad Mahrez for a penalty and getting sent off in the process.

Arsenal have announced that David Luiz has signed a 1 year contract extension with the club, but it is clear to most that the 33 year old Brazilian is not the answer. The remaining center backs at the club, Mustafi, Sokratis, Holding and Chambers do not inspire much confidence either and Arsenal do need reinforcements. One of those reinforcements will be coming next season in the form of William Saliba. Saliba signed for Arsenal in the summer of 2019 for 27 million pounds from Saint Etienne but was loaned back immediately for the season. 1 year later, the Frenchman will finally arrive in North London and Arsenal need him now more than ever. But who is this 19 year old Frenchman, what can we expect from him and what is all the hype about. Well, let’s find out.

Saliba’s Journey

William Saliba was born in Bondy in the suburbs of Paris and at age 6 he began to play for his local side AS Bondy. The fabled Bondy academy is known to have produced players like Kylian Mbappe and Lille’s Jonathan Ikone. In-fact, Saliba was coached by Mbappe’s father Wilfried Mbappe and he even went to the same primary school as the PSG starlet. Saliba started out as a midfielder which helped improve his technical ability, but he eventually shifted to center back when he joined FC Montfermeil in 2014. 2 years later he joined Saint Etienne and immediately made an impact with the youth and reserve teams which led to him signing his first professional contract at only 17.

In his debut campaign in 2018/19 with Les Verts, coach Jean Louis Gasset eased him into the side and asked him to model his game behind the likes of Raphael Varane and Thiago Silva. Saliba only made 13 league appearances in the season but was supremely important to their form in the latter half of the campaign as they lost only 1 of their last 10 games and clinched 4^th position in Ligue 1, their joint highest finish in over 3 decades. In the summer, his signature was chased by most clubs in Europe, but Arsenal eventually secured his services on a 5 year deal under the stipulation that he would be loaned back for the 2019/20 season.

His sophomore season with Saint Etienne however was disturbed by injuries. He suffered a hamstring injury in the summer before injuring his fifth metatarsal in November 2019. Nevertheless, he did have a positive influence on the side and that can be seen by their performances when he was not playing. Until his injury in November, Saint Etienne played 17 league games in 2019 without him, they won only 4 of those, losing 8 and drawing the remaining 5. They also had 0 clean sheets in that span and conceded 29 goals at a rate of 1.71 per game. Out of the total of 51 points on offer, Les Verts picked up only 17.

These numbers however were vastly improved when the big French center back was in the team. In 2019, in the 14 league games they played with him in the lineup they won 11, drew 1 and lost the other 2. In these 14 games, they only conceded 6 times, at a rate of 0.43 per game and kept 10 clean sheets in that period. They also picked up an incredible 34 out of the 42 points at hand. While all of this success is not solely due to the French defender and this is a small sample size, you can tell that he does have a positive influence on the side. Even after returning from injury, Saliba was immensely important in Saint Etienne’s run to the final of the Coupe De France where they are set to face PSG on the 24^th of July. In the Semi Finals against Stadde Rennais, Saliba was magnificent, laying 2 pre assists which included a 94^th minute winner to send Les Verts to the final.

Style of play

Saliba is a ball playing center back and is the archetype of a modern Center back, he is extremely strong, athletic and has pace to burn. Saliba is an extremely intelligent player, and his positioning is one of the key attributes to his game that allows him to be in the right place at the right time to get the ball without committing fouls. His tackling is also immense and for all the Center Backs in Europe’s top 5 leagues that have played more than 900 minutes, he has the highest true tackle success rate. (True tackle success rate looks at the normal tackle success rate while also factoring in fouls made while recovering the ball)

He is also incredible on the ball and can easily glide past incoming pressure. Add to that his incredible passing range and accuracy and Arsenal have a very promising center back on their hands. The one area of weakness to point out though is his heading. Despite standing at 6 foot 3 he is not as adept at defending balls in the air and isn’t as big of a threat in the opposition box as he should be. He himself has said that this area of the game needs work but as he plays more regularly in a more physical league such as the Premiership this too will improve over time.

Comparison to Arsenal CB’s

So how does Saliba compare to the other center halves Arsenal have at the club. Lets take a look at the statistics to find out.

Statistic (Per 90)	Saliba	Sokratis	Luiz	Mustafi
Tackles	1.73	1.33	1.22	1.16
Recoveries	7.63	3.77	4.65	3.34
Interceptions	1.91	0.9	1.07	1.89
Dribbled past	0.45	0.74	0.53	0.67
Aerial Duels	4.63	4.61	3.05	7.26
Fouls conceded	0.18	1.01	0.91	0.87
Progressive Passes	3.18	1.28	3	3.26

As you can see Saliba attempts more tackles per 90 than the other 3. Thanks to his pace Saliba also makes the most recoveries per 90 and is also superior at intercepting the ball. His Pace and athleticism also make him incredibly difficult to get past and he is dribbled past only 0.45 times per 90 compared which is the least of the quintet. However, as stated earlier his heading and aerial ability could be considered a weakness and he has a low Aerial Duels per 90 and his aerial duel success rate of 63 percent is also the lowest of the 4. One of the most striking things about the young Frenchman though is that he has only conceded 2 fouls in 12 Ligue 1 games this season at a rate of 0.18 per 90 which is miles better than the current error prone crop of Arsenal Center backs. Also, as Saint Etienne have much less possession per game compared to the gunners, Saliba has fewer passes per 90 compared to the Arsenal trio but his passing accuracy of 87.99 is better than the rest and he is extremely comfortable on the ball.

This data shows that Saliba is an incredibly calm center half that makes very few unforced errors, which is a welcome change for an Arsenal defender. His proficiency on the ball also suits Arteta’s style of playing out from the back and although he can be a liability aerially, he can be paired up with the likes of Mari or Mustafi next season who are better in the air. It is important to remember though, Saliba is not the magic solution to Arsenals defensive frailties. He will not come in and miraculously solve all of Arsenals defensive problems. The boy is only 19 and will need time to get used to the pace and physicality of the premier league and will make mistakes in the process. He won’t have the instant impact Virgil Van Dijk had at Liverpool and while he isn’t the final piece in the jigsaw, his presence is certainly a step in the right direction. The performances will come with time along with his confidence, and it seems like the boys from Bondy are destined to go to the very top.

What Arsenal Can Learn From Liverpool’s 5 Year Journey To The Top.

“Liverpool are becoming Tottenham, think they are a big club, but the real big clubs are not too worried about them and what they are going to do and who they are going to buy. At this moment Liverpool think we are a big club but we are not.”

The iconic moment live on air which led to Carragher’s impassioned rant

These are the words echoed by Jamie Carragher as Liverpool sacked Brendan Rodgers on the 4th of October 2015 in the Sky Studio. Liverpool were heading nowhere, 25 years since they won the League and only a League Cup to show in the previous decade. Their squad too was an indictment of where they were and carried the likes of Christian Benteke, Steven Caulker and Alberto Moreno to name a few. Liverpool and FSG seemed to be sailing a rudderless ship and the cycle of disappointment looked set to continue.

However 4 days later their fortunes were set to change as they appointed a bespectacled German Coach named Jurgen Klopp and the rest as they say is history. It got worse before it got better and his first season included 2 Cup Final losses and Liverpool finishing 8th in the league. But 5 years later Liverpool have won the Premier League while losing only 2 games in 2 years, reached 2 back to back Champions League finals and won the tournament in 2019. This has been nothing short of a 5 year miracle that has been a product of astute management, planning in the transfer market and a clear identity and a winning culture that starts from the owners and spreads to the guys cleaning the Kop after a match-day.

Klopp has been the influential cog on Merseyside and has developed a style of football that is both attractive to watch and effective. He has transformed his front three of Salah, Mane and Firmino into world beaters, created a midfield trio of marathon runners and has demonstrated the impact of full backs on the modern game. But this transformation is much more than just the manager.

Michael Edwards, Liverpool’s director of football and the man behind the scenes has had as much of a role in the rise of the club in recent seasons. To get to where they are today Liverpool have done as much right off the pitch as they have done on it. Their scouting network and money-ball based transfer policies have worked wonders. They unearthed diamonds from relegated clubs like Newcastle and Hull by signing Robertson and Wijnaldum. As Gary Neville said they turned 30 million pound players like Mane and Salah into 130 million pound players. And finally when they had to go big they bought the finished article in terms of Virgil Van Dijk and Alisson to complete their team.

But it does not end there, Liverpool have done all this while being a selling club and have had a net spend of only 107 million pounds across this 5 year period. They have been able to squeeze out every single penny from the transfer market. Benteke and Mamadou Sakho were sold for a total of 52 million to Crystal Palace, Dominic Solanke and Jordon Ibe were shipped off to Bournemouth for a total of 35 million and Phillipe Coutinho was sold for a massive fee in excess of 100 million. Since that fateful night in October 2015, Liverpool have hardly put a foot wrong in these last 5 years and are now set up to dominate England and Europe for the foreseeable future.

That same day, Arsenal beat Manchester United 3-0 at the Emirates. Ozil and Sanchez were in the prime of their careers, Coquelin and Cazorla controlled the midfield and Arsenal finally had a reliable keeper in the form of Cech. Coming off back to back FA Cup wins it seemed as if Arsenal had turned a corner and could supplement their consistent Champions League finishes with a sustained title push. But as Liverpool’s fortunes rose with the emergence of Klopp, Arsenal’s light grew dimmer and dimmer. The 5 years that followed included the entire Wenger Out shenanigans, the Emery fiasco and the growing divide among the fan-base as demonstrated weekly on AFTV. To add to that there has been a complete failure at board level in the last 5 years. Ozil and Sanchez were allowed to run down their contracts, Aaron Ramsey was let go on a free, the transfer strategies are highly questionable and now it seems like Arsenal’s transfer policy is dictated by super-agents.

So that is where we are now, in 2020. Arsenal are facing a situation not too dissimilar to what Liverpool found themselves in during 2015. A managerial change, the fans dissapointed with their board and American owners and the club slowly losing its identity and brand. It would be naive to think that Arsenal are a big club. Yes Arsenal are a huge organisation, with history, values and a huge stadium and a global fan following. But are Arsenal really challenging? Do the likes of City or Liverpool or Chelsea really care what Arsenal do in the transfer market or are worried that the Gunners will catch up with them or be a force to be reckoned with? Much like how it was for Liverpool in 2015 the answer unfortunately is no.

Arsenal currently sit 10th in the Premier League (as I write this) and are set for their worse Premier League finish since its inception. Their star striker and captain Pierre Emerick Aubameyang only has a year left on his contract and could leave North London this summer. Mesut Ozil is earning 350k a week and is nothing more than a shadow on match-days. And finally the defensive issues at Arsenal are perfectly encapsulated by David Luiz who Arsenal have offered a 1 year extension.

The youngsters have impressed this season for the Gunners

While things do look despondent at the club, its never as bad as you think and its isn’t all isn’t doom and gloom yet. Arsenal now have a manager who like Liverpool and Klopp, the fans can believe in and rally behind. There is a promising set of youngsters emerging from the Hale End academy such as Bukayo Saka, Eddie Nketiah, Joe Willock that Arsenal can build around. Signings such as Martinelli, Saliba, Pepe and Tierney also do show some promise. Football moves in cycles, and there will come a time in the future where Liverpool will drop off, Guardiola will leave City and United and Chelsea might have to evolve. That time will come, and Arsenal and Arteta need to set themselves up now so they can take advantage of the changing of the guard when it comes and be in a position like Liverpool are in today.
In the age of spending and oil money, Liverpool have been able to compete with the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea on a much smaller budget. They have shown clubs like Arsenal what the way forward is, and what direction they need to take. It is now down to the Arsenal hierarchy to follow their footsteps, and bring the glory days back to Islington.