If KT could have stayed healthy he is likely still our starting LB.

Agree on MLS. Think he still has a solid future but this preseason he has shown his inexperience at FB.

Little more on the positional stuff.....



- OZ & MLS are playing LB like CMs (per Arteta's instructions) but a healthy Cala (or similar player) is likely better for Marti.
- Saka may be hurting himself by receiving in the same spots all of the time. How much better could he be if he was forcing defenders to follow and/or switch off.
- Think there is a significant issue that our ST (Havertz) was near identical to MO and completely outside of the box.

chjoak said:

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Little more on the positional stuff.....



- OZ & MLS are playing LB like CMs (per Arteta's instructions) but a healthy Cala (or similar player) is likely better for Marti.
- Saka may be hurting himself by receiving in the same spots all of the time. How much better could he be if he was forcing defenders to follow and/or switch off.
- Think there is a significant issue that our ST (Havertz) was near identical to MO and completely outside of the box.

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It would be interesting to compare ST heatmaps for other top class strikers. I would not be surprised that a lot of strikers receive most passes outside the box. What I find interesting is we do not seem to occupy much space in the center of the field. To many players are wide to receive passes.

Couldn't find Passes received for Gyokeres but I found a sight that would let you do 2 player comparison on touches. Here is the 24/25 season maps for....

Gyokeres vs Havertz


MO vs Havertz


sofascore.com if you wanna play.

chjoak said:

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Couldn't find Passes received for Gyokeres but I found a sight that would let you do 2 player comparison on touches. Here is the 24/25 season maps for....

Gyokeres vs Havertz


MO vs Havertz


sofascore.com if you wanna play.

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touches vs the passes received does tell a different story but still not great for Havertz. Also shows how over crowed the right touchline is.

still overlapping with MO WAAAYYY too much

chjoak said:

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still overlapping with MO WAAAYYY too much

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agreed hit post too soon then got distracted by work.

Pretty much the starters today

wangus12 said:

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Pretty much the starters today

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On tv anywhere?

I think you have to pay and watch on arsenal.com

Emirates Cup so I assume it's gonna be only on Arsenal for the paid service

wangus12 said:

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Emirates Cup so I assume it's gonna be only on Arsenal for the paid service

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Kind of silly how much they charge for a preseason friendly.

There are some pirate streams. Google "arsenal stream". Warning..... they do have a bunch of popups when you are getting to your video and some are porn related. Been using such streams to watch Arsenal for 2-3 yrs and haven't gotten any virus or malware yet.

Sweet goal between two new signings.

#2 is a great quick, direct team goal with a heads up final pass by Marti to give Saka the wide open shot

I like seeing Ricky. Hope he stays healthy

HT subs....
White for Cala (Timber to LB)
Noni for Marti

wangus12 said:

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I like seeing Ricky. Hope he stays healthy

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I think he is the better LB for Marti. Given his ability to play LCB as well, if/when we sell OZ I think we need to add a young traditional LB so we also have the flexibility to start moving MLS to MF, especially in cups and mop up duty.

And Timber steals a likely tap in for Big Vik from a corner

If preseason is any indicator, there will be no bed in period for Zubi. He 100% looks ready to go.

Damn...... Big Vik hits the post on diving header with a cross from Noni

This gives makes me feel much better for next week