So Laurent Koscielny is Arsenal’s fourth-best player this season – or so the fans say. The Frenchman came in one place ahead of Mikel Arteta. Echoing the thoughts of one commenter yesterday, if those two are our fourth and fifth best players then we must have one helluva team.
You’re missing a digit Laurent
Without doubt, Koscielny’s been one of the Premier League’s best defenders this season. While the Frenchman’s ability to intercept and his tackling skills are well acknowleged, the 26-year old also won a league high 1.5 offsides per game (stat courtesy WhoScored.com), which indicates better concentration and decision making. He was also more competitive in duels and read danger much faster.
On Arsenal.com, Laurent spoke about some of the reasons for his improvement this season.
I was in the gym more, that is the first reason [I have been stronger].
I feel better than last year. I know the league, my team and the Club. I think I am better on and off the pitch so for a player, when you feel good with your team-mates, the Club and his family, it is better. I feel very good to help my team and to qualify for the Champions League. I just wanted that for the end of this season.
Following the Carling Cup defeat last year, the former Lorient man was criticized in many quarters and questions were asked if he was good enough for Arsenal. His excellent showing this season is proof that sometimes players just need time to adjust, especially if they are moving from another league. Hopefully, Per Mertesacker can muster a similar advancement next season.
There is still room for improvement for Koscielny though. In my season review of the defense, I highlighted the defender’s weakness in making clearances with his left foot. He conceded a couple of own goals as a result and a bit of work will help the Frenchman become even more formidable. And while different players have different personalities, I also feel he can be a little more vocal on the pitch considering he’s our best defender at present.
In years to come, other Arsenal strikers are likely to surpass the 30 Premier League goals and 37 overall scored by Robin van Persie during the 2011-12 campaign. But all will struggle to emulate the immense individual contribution of the Dutchman in rescuing a season which began so poorly for Arsenal.
It’s easy to eulogize about De Kapitein’s achievements. Robin scored a staggering league high 40% of Arsenal’s goals, netted against all but two opponents (City and Fulham) and won Man of the Match awards once every 3 games. It wasn’t only his goal scoring prowess which was noteworthy though, the tweet below shows his overall involvement in Arsenal’s attacking play.
39 - Robin van Persie was directly involved in 39 goals in the 2011/12 Premier League, at least 8 more than any other player. Dream. #juve
What the numbers fail to show is the sheer beauty of some of the goals he scored. The curler to level the match against Spurs, the equalizer against Newcastle at home and the volleys against Everton and Liverpool to seal victory were absolute gems scored under pressure. The short compilation below will help refresh the memory of some of these works of art.
Robin’s contribution off the pitch was crucial as well. After the early shocks at United and Blackburn, Arsenal had to dig deep to ensure they didn’t implode and Van Persie’s contribution as captain has to be applauded. Somewhat surprisingly, even for his manager, he took on the responsibility with an earnestness that you wouldn’t have associated with a younger wilder Robin.
Theo Walcott had his most involved season at Arsenal yet, starting as many as 32 games in the league. Like Van Persie, Theo also benefitted from a long run without injury and his link up play with the captain improved as the season progressed – in fact, Walcott-to-Van Persie was the most common assist-to-goal combination in the league this season (6 times – stat courtesy @OptaJoe).
While Walcott made some key contributions in important games, he hasn’t really shown the progression one would expect from him at this stage of his career. The table below compares his Premier League performance in 2011-12 against the previous season based on certain passing and attacking attributes.
As we can see, Walcott certainly established himself as a regular starter but as we go down the list, there aren’t any real areas where there is a marked improvement – in fact there is regression in certain areas. For e.g. it took Theo almost twice the amount of time to score a goal this season than it did the last.
Of course, everything cannot be explained purely by statistics. What the numbers don’t show is the threat of Walcott’s pace. Even when he’s not contributing actively, opposition defenses are wary of getting turned over and are forced to protect Arsenal’s right from counter attacks, which reduces their potency going forward. Having said that, Walcott has struggled against teams that defend well and with his experience, he needs to bring more to the party than just raw pace.
In my opinion, Gervinho did reasonably well for his first season in England. He was very influential in the early part of the campaign, especially after the Spurs loss in September. In the six games following that defeat at Shite Hart Lane, the Ivorian assisted six times and scored once himself in Arsenal’s 10-game unbeaten run. Since the interruption of the African Cup of Nations, it’s fair to say that the striker has not been as impressive although his performances in the last few matches of the season suggested he was rediscovering his form.
As Gervinho was essentially brought in as replacement for the wide berth occupied by Samir Nasri, I have compared the Ivorian’s first season with Nasri’s last in the table below.
Certainly, Gervinho has not been as involved as Nasri was last season, with attempted open play passes, minutes per accurate cross and mins per chances created all in favour of the departed Frenchman. We have to bear in mind two things though – one, Nasri had his best season for Arsenal in 2010-11 and two, Gervinho is much more direct and not in the playmaker mould, which means he sees much less of the ball.
Considering this, the Ivorian’s involvement in 10 goals is impressively just one short of what Nasri managed, although Gervinho played only about two-thirds of the time. Of course, Gervinho also displayed some poor decision-making and that’s an area he must improve on. For the positions he gets into, the quality of his final ball or finish leaves a lot to be desired. If he can put that right, there is no reason he can’t hit double figures for goals scored next season.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was used sparingly by the manager during the first half of the season, but the Englishman has gradually made more appearances since the turn of the year. The youngster weighed in with 4 goals and a couple of assists in the 15 starts and 11 sub appearances, his best performance coming in the 3-0 defeat of AC Milan at the Emirates where he was very impressive in the first half while playing through the middle.
Still, Arsene has not played the youngster as much as many fans would have liked. I believe one reason for this caution was to avoid a Wilshere-type injury. Another could be Oxlade-Chamberlain’s lack of defensive awareness at this stage of his career. In a season where more than two-third of Arsenal’s matches were either drawn or decided by a single goal (stat courtesy DesiGunner) and the Gunners already looking vulnerable in defense, Arsene probably felt he did not have the luxury of letting the Ox loose while leaving the stable door open.
Marouane Chamakh continued to slip spectacularly off the Arsenal radar. One start in the Premier League and just the one goal in only 16 appearances meant the Moroccan really had no impact on Arsenal’s season. With Robin in terrific form throughout the season and Arsene unwilling to play 4-4-2, even Chamakh’s substitute appearances came late in games and mostly when Arsenal were chasing or drawing games, more a sign of desperation than tactical planning.
The other striker, a certain Ju-Young Park has literally gone missing since the season ended, the Korean FA unable to trace his whereabouts. It’s fair to say that if it had happened earlier in the season at Arsenal, no one would have missed him for weeks, such was the dormancy of his first year at the Emirates.
Overall, Arsenal’s three forwards Van Persie, Walcott and Gervinho combined impressively throughout the season. Out of the 30 goals scored by RvP in the league, one-third were assisted by the other two. But for better finishing by Walcott and Gervinho, Arsenal would have scored more this season. Arsene Wenger will be acutely aware of retaining this understanding and continuity next season.
Lukas Podolski has already been signed as well, although Robin van Persie’s future is still not clear. It’s safe to assume that one or both of Chamakh and Park will exit the club. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is likely to be much more involved next season, while there is also the possibility of Ryo Miyaichi and Joel Campbell staking a claim for a spot in the squad. As for Walcott, his fate could be as much tied to Robin’s future at Arsenal as the role AW sees the Ox playing in next season.
There are so many combinations possible at the moment that it’s futile to speculate what Arsene Wenger might do. Once the RvP situation is resolved post Euro 2012, we should have more clarity on how Arsenal will shape up in attack next season. Even if he stays though, it’s unlikely the Dutchman will be able to match this season’s tally so it’s essential for the other strikers to step up and increase their goal contribution in the forthcoming campaign.
In possibly the most turbulent pre-season of Arsene Wenger’s reign at Arsenal, the summer of 2011 saw the departures of three midfielders who had played greater or lesser roles in the 2010-11 campaign.
While the Fabregas and Nasri moves hogged the headlines, Denilson was quietly shipped away on loan to São Paulo as well. Arsenal fans were still deliberating why matters were not resolved sooner when injury added to the inquest – Jack Wilshere was ruled out with a stress fracture and the ailing Abou Diaby was sidelined indefinitely. The deadline day parachuting of Mikel Arteta and Yossi Benayoun was welcomed but seemed too little too late.
After the initial havoc caused by the United loss and the result against Blackburn, our preferred midfield combination shaped up as two deep-lying players in Arteta and Song with either Ramsey or Rosicky in the attacking role in front of them. The Welshman was preferred in the first half of the season but Tomas’ sensational form since February meant it was the Czech who finished the season as first choice. Yossi Benayoun was sparsely used in 2011 but became a more integral part of the team since the new year.
Once Arteta and Song developed an understanding, Arsenal started grinding out results with a little help from Robin van Persie. Contrary to what most of expected, it was Arteta who assumed a deeper position while Song grew more attack minded.
As an attacking threat, the Cameroonian had a breakout season. His 11 assists are the fourth highest in the league while he tops the league in accurate through-balls per game (0.7). Even aesthetically, some of the pin-point dinked passes to RvP and Walcott were a joy to behold, as was this superb assist against Dortmund.
Song has been criticized for neglecting his defensive duties though, and his performances in the last few games were not the best. I feel one can attribute that to fatigue as well – Alex made the second most appearances (46) of all Arsenal outfield players and has played 26 consecutive games now since Christmas.
Mikel Arteta was arguably one of Arsenal’s best performers alongside Robin van Persie and Laurent Koscielny. The Spaniard tops the Premier League in passes per game (76.9) and boasts an impressive completion rate of over 90%. Besides his incredible ability to retain possession and supply the ball to players in attacking areas, Mikel also weighed in with 6 goals himself, one of them this crucial winner against City.
Arteta’s work rate and defensive contribution were also important. Mikel’s solid performances in covering Song allowed the Cameroonian to express himself with much more freedom. Besides his technical qualities, Mikel also brought experience and a calm presence to the team – an attribute that was required during difficult times when we were trying to get back into games or trying to close them out. The fact that the final game of the season at West Brom was the only one that Arsenal won without the Spaniard in the team is testament to his importance.
Aaron Ramsey endured a difficult first full season after returning from his leg break. He bore the brunt of criticism from supporters in the latter part of the campaign, as his dip in form coincided with the rise of Tomas Rosicky’s. However, the Welshman’s stats compare quite favorably to the Czech midfielder – in the league, Ramsey has a better pass completion percentage (86%/83%), less minutes per shot (52/88) and more goals scored (3/2) than Rosicky. He also scored an important goal against Marseille in injury time during the Champions League group stages.
Memories are short so many supporters have forgotten that during Arsenal’s 10-game unbeaten run from mid-October to late November, it was Ramsey who made the bigger contribution with seven starts as compared to Rosicky’s two. I think what affected our perception towards him was the lack of potency in his attacking intent combined with his poorer defensive capabilities.
Tomas Rosicky’s first half form was not special and he remained on the fringes of the starting eleven. Since February though, the Czech international has been in scintillating form. A fantastic performance against Spurs at the Emirates was capped off by this wonderfully poached goal, the crucial third which gave Arsenal the lead.
Still, the Czech tapered off in the last few games especially at West Brom where he was substituted at half time. It could have been a slight niggle or just tiredness, but it will be an area of concern for Arsene Wenger – will Tomas be able to produce a sustained spell of good form next season?
Yossi Benayoun stayed on the periphery of the starting eleven as well, mostly making substitute appearances from the bench. Arsene Wenger did not start the Israeli in back-to-back games until that Spurs game in Feb where he was very efficient, which earned him a start at Liverpool in the next match. An ordinary performance at Anfield saw him relegated to the bench again, but Benayoun assumed more importance in the closing stages with AW preferring his technical ability. His early goal against Norwich and the crucial opener at West Brom undoubtedly helped Arsenal’s cause in finishing third.
Frimpong and Diaby did not feature in enough games to form an opinion. Francis Coquelin was more involved, but most of his starts came as cover in the right-back slot. The Frenchman looked very good in all his outings and will definitely be worthy of more regular starts next season.
As a team, Arsenal top the league in terms of possession with 59.6% as compared to second placed City’s 57.7%. A major part of our play is structured around keeping the ball for long periods and building pressure on opponents. In that respect, the midfield did quite well once the personnel settled into the system after early debacles.
Of course, our problems have stemmed from conceding too many goals and in this, Arsenal’s midfield has been as culpable as the defense. There was a period of good solidity in October and November, but it has progressively worsened to the extent that in the last few games, it was being assumed that Arsenal were likely to ship at least as many as they would score.
Work needs to be done on the training ground to prepare the players to deal with various situations that may develop when we lose the ball. At the same time, the players themselves have to take onus in maintaining discipline when going forward and use a little more common sense when we need to see a game out. Too many times, we gave the ball away cheaply after taking the lead and exposed ourselves with some sloppy marking and tracking back.
In terms of personnel, it will be interesting to see how Arsene Wenger sees the line up in midfield next season. If Jack Wilshere is fit by the start of the season, AW will have to decide whether to play him a deeper role or as an attacking midfielder. I suspect the manager will play Wilshere behind the striker with Rosicky and Ramsey providing back up.
If a holding midfielder such as Yann M’Vila were to arrive, it would mean Song and Arteta would vie for a place as the more forward of the two deep-lying midfielders. Francis Coquelin will provide back up for the new defensive midfielder.
Which leaves Abou Diaby – I think he’ll get one more season to see if he can sustain an injury-free spell. If he can maintain a run of games without breaking down, it will give his manager a problem of plenty.
For a third season running, Arsenal shipped more than 40 goals in the Premier League, this time falling just one short of an unwanted half century.
The last time we conceded 49 goals was back in the tumultuous season of 1994/95 when George Graham left the club. Just as Arsenal’s ‘famous four’ came back from that disappointment and put things right in the coming seasons, so this team will also have to lay a more solid foundation in order for the club to challenge for honours.
Let’s take a quick look at how the players have fared individually, before we move on to Arsenal’s collective defensive performance.
Centre-halves
Amidst all the mayhem, Laurent Koscielny has arguably been the best centre-half in the league, leading his peers with most interceptions (104) and least minutes per tackle (34). He also contributed with the vital winner against West Brom on the final day. There’s one area where he can improve though, and that is attempting clearances with his left foot – both of his own goals (at Blackburn and Liverpool) suggest a bit of work on that technique is required.
His partner-in-crime has been anything but sublime this season. Thomas Vermaelen had a poor season by his high standards and while there was a good patch of form during that seven-game winning run, the Belgian has looked increasingly vulnerable towards the end of the season. His low aerial win percentage of 56% is the least of all Arsenal defenders, surprising for a player known to be good in the air. Still, he did contribute with a useful tally of 6 goals.
I am a little disappointed with Per Mertesacker’s first season with us. He struggled with the pace of the league initially and got caught napping by alert strikers a few times. While his anticipation and tackling has been good, like Vermaelen, the German too struggled to compete for aerial balls – his 63% win rate is the second lowest for an Arsenal defender. By all accounts though, the towering defender is a positive influence in the dressing room and on the pitch and we’ve missed his and Arteta’s cool heads during the run in.
Johan Djourou filled in when required, sometimes as a centre-half but mostly at right back. While he began the season shakily, the Swiss international has put in more assured performances since the turn of the year. Surprisingly, Djourou has the best tackle success rate of all Arsenal defenders at 88% .
Full-backs
In between two unfortunate fractures to his leg, Bacary Sagna was once again Arsenal’s most consistent defender and the only one not to make a single defensive error all season. He also contributed in attack with 4 assists and that memorable headed goal in February against the enemy that sparked Arsenal’s revival. Carl Jenkinson hasn’t played regularly enough to form an opinion, but does seem to have a good cross in his armoury and appears an able enough deputy.
At left-back, Kieran Gibbs and Andre Santos were also injured for long periods. Gibbs has looked increasingly better since returning in mid-Feb. His last ditch-tackle against West Brom saved Arsenal from having to wait for the Champions League final result. Still, he needs to work on covering his teammates better and his tracking hasn’t been too good either.
Andre Santos brought Brazilian flair to a creaky defense – a risky combination at best. While the new recruit’s attacking instincts have served Arsenal well and he brings added versatility to the bench, the smiling assassin doesn’t inspire much confidence as a defender with his positioning and anticipation. The stats complement him highly though – if you’re interested, read this numbers-based analysis I did a few weeks ago for EPLIndex.com on Santos’ defensive game.
Right, so if the individual performances haven’t been so bad, why have we conceded as many as 49 goals?
Early in the season, it was a combination of injuries and the late arrival of key players that saw the Gunners disorganised at the back. While Arteta needed some time to strike an understanding with Alex Song, Per Mertesacker required a few games to get used to the pace and power of the Premier League. As the ship was steadying, we lost all our recognised full backs for about two months between early December and late January.
There have been individual mistakes too. Arsenal lead the league in own goals conceded this season, gifting five to various opponents. Inadvertent slips, errors of judgement, weak defending and giving the ball away cheaply are some of the errors that have led to concession of goals. While a few can be attributed to pressure from opponents, many were just bloopers committed by players.
Arteta’s arrival did add solidity to our defensive game in midfield, but we were still susceptible to counter attacks all season. Far too many times, the midfield got bypassed leaving the back line exposed. When we consider the relatively high position of our full backs up the pitch, Arsenal have allowed gilt-edged chances to opponents to score – and most did.
In yesterday’s analysis, we looked at the figures of Wojciech Szczesny. As one reader pointed out, it’s the frailties in front of him which are casting a shadow on what’s been a good season for the Pole. While I feel Szczesny can get better in one or two areas, I do agree that many of the goals conceded were down to Arsenal allowing opponents to get into good positions in and around our box.
There are no easy solutions to the Gunners’ defensive problems. A good defensive shape and organisation will not just appear by rubbing the proverbial magic lamp. Work has to be done on the training ground and the players themselves have to work hard on cutting out the mistakes.
Importantly, Arsenal may need a change in mentality during different phases of games. An ideal example of this is the comparison of our defensive tactics against Norwich and West Brom.
Against the Canaries, we attempted to continue dominating possession and playing in the opposition half even after taking the lead and having just 5 minutes to play. Against the Baggies, we dropped deep quickly after going 3-2 ahead, and sat behind the ball for large parts of the second half, making it difficult for the home team to break us down. While the Norwich game was definitely the more exciting for the neutrals, the ugly nature of victory at West Brom was what secured third place.
I am not at all suggesting that Arsenal should adopt a more defensive approach. Sunderland have conceded fewer goals yet are ten places below us, so defensive solidity by itself means nothing. We should continue to enforce our attacking style on opponents and force them to adapt – but a better collectively focus on defending during certain phases of games would ensure we kept more clean sheets.
As promised, today is the first instalment of the season reviews. Instead of evaluating player performances though, I will be looking at the broader areas such as defense, midfield and attack.
That said, today’s topic is goalkeeping. With Wojciech Szczesny ever-present for Arsenal between the sticks this season, it may seem like a player review today after all.
So how has the Pole’s performance been? There were a couple of interesting stats from top Arsenal tweeter Orbinho in this regard:
Top 4 Save % - De Gea Man U 78%, Hart Man C 77%, MIgnolet Sunderland 74%, Friedel Tottenham 74%.
It just reiterates Arsenal’s well publicized goalkeeping problems over the last few seasons. Manuel Almunia’s alarming drop in form and Fabianski’s erratic performances meant that Arsenal had looked shaky in goal for a couple of seasons prior to this campaign. Unlike his fellow Pole, Wojciech Szczesny took his chance at the end of last season. At the start of 2011-12, he was already regarded as Arsenal’s number one.
Szczesny is the only Arsenal player to have started each of the 38 league games. In all, he’s played 48 games this season and kept 18 clean sheets. In comparison, Fabianski has started just 6 games in total and not managed a single clean sheet, whereas Manuel Almunia has not featured all season.
In terms of performances, the two most important ones that stick in memory were the crucial penalty save against Udinese in August which helped Arsenal qualify for the Champions League group stages and his match-winning performance against Liverpool in March where he made the double save from Kuyt’s penalty. Even in losing causes though, such as against AC Milan at the San Siro, the Pole produced a decent individual performance even if Arsenal were conceding goals.
The one that stands out for me is his save off Kevin Doyle in our 3-0 win against Wolves. Arsenal were comfortably leading 2-0 at the time and Wolves were down to ten men. Szczesny hadn’t had anything to do all game until the Doyle header. In previous seasons, it was the kind of goal Arsenal would have conceded and allowed the opposition back into the game. As it was, Wojciech kept his concentration and made a fine save.
Desi Gunner did an article for EPLIndex.com in December where he made a statistical comparison of Arsenal’s three keepers. He reasoned that Almunia’s ineptness in 2010-11 was as much down to Arsenal’s failure as a defensive unit as the Spaniard’s own form and that the other two Arsenal keepers were not as bad as they were made out to be.
I thought it would be interesting to compare Szczesny’s Pemier League season figures not only with his peers but also with Manuel Almunia’s 2008-09 season, when he was undoubtedly Arsenal’s number one keeper.
While stats don’t prove everything, you can see from the chart above that Desi Gunner’s reasoning from December is still valid. Whether it be the high goals per game ratio or the low save percentage, the Pole still has some way to go in matching Almunia’s best season with Arsenal, leave alone the other top 4 league keepers. The statistic right at the bottom is most disturbing; seven defensive errors at this level is probably five or six too many.
We can argue though that Arsenal’s defensive performance this season has been the worst in the last four seasons, so that may explain some of the numbers related to goals conceded by Szczesny.
For me, the most positive thing about the Pole is his ability to put mistakes behind him. As an outfield player, an individual error does not necessarily lead to concession of a goal. Even when it does, amateur armchair pundits like me can blame the lack of positional awareness by other players as a contributing factor. But the keeper is the last line of defense and there’s only the back of the net behind him. And when mistakes happen, these are highlighted and blame can be attributed much more easily. In this respect, Wojciech rarely carries bad form for two or three games in a row. For e.g. the abysmal Norwich performance was backed up by a more assured display against West Brom.
The other important factor is his leadership at the back. He exudes a confidence we did not see in Almunia’s performances towards the end of last season, except maybe in the Barca game. His judgement for when to come out for the high balls is not always perfect but he doesn’t miss too many when he does come and that leads to more confidence in the back line.
Thirdly, Szczesny has the personality to get the crowds behind him. His confidence in interviews and press conferences and his celebrations with fans post-match all point to his pride at being a Gooner. It is a quality which has endeared him to fans, who are more likely to forgive the odd lapses by players who they feel are more committed to the cause. Such forgiveness is crucial for confidence in bad times.
On the negative side, he is prone to rushing out at times when he can’t get to the ball, leaving himself to make last-ditch challenges to save the situation. His ill-advised tackle on Ashley Cole in the 5-3 at Chelsea could easily have earned him a red card and there have been other similar errors of judgement.
His kicking requires some work too. The Pole tends to be caught in two minds when strikers close him down, and his clearances under pressure leave a lot to be desired. While his possession stats are not bad, that’s more because Arsenal play their way out of the back and the Pole needs to improve his accuracy and kicking range in the coming season.
Lukasz Fabianski hasn’t done much all season as back up, although I thought he was impressive against Bolton in the Carling Cup. While Almunia will definitely move out at the end of his contract, probably already has, there are doubts whether Lukasz would be happy with another year on the bench. The fact that Szczesny played the last five weeks of the season with an injured shoulder indicates the lack of genuine competition to the youngster.
Vito Mannone has been at Hull City for two seasons now and seems to have found his level there, so I can’t see him returning. The young Damien Martinez can step up into the first team but I doubt he will challenge Szczesny anytime soon. Arsenal need a proven keeper as back up to keep Szczesny on his toes and as contingency for injuries.
In the meantime, if Wojciech Szczesny can continue to build on what has been a very good first full season, Arsenal may well have left the goalkeeping woes behind.
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Bloody hell, this is unbelievable. Three goals in three minutes. 7 months ago
What a crazy game this is turning out to be! 7 months ago
Eerie similarities for both goals conceded today: Vermalen foul, free-kick from the right, Mata delivery, Luiz movement, Koscielny mistake 7 months ago
RT @Sandeep725: If you concede absolutely awful goals like we constantly do, you don't deserve to win. End of. FT 1-2 7 months ago
Manner of defeat is deflating. Still, got to look forward and regroup. Perhaps this is the reality check to trigger improvement #AFCvCFC7 months ago
