Arsenal Football Club

[Jay Gooner]

Wir dominieren Spurs 20 Minuten komplett, riecht nach Cornertor für Spurs,

 

wollt ich schreiben, in dem Moment in dem das 1:0 fällt

bearbeitet 1. Oktober 2022 von Jay Gooner

[Jay Gooner]

huawaJ schrieb am 20.9.2022 um 13:04 :

Kurzum: wir haben xhaka bisher zu tief spielen lassen und er kann mehr zeigen, wenn er etwas offensiver agiert. So könnte man es zusammenfassen? Also gemessen an den letzten spielen/auftritten

denke die Antwort lässt sich nicht leicht zusammenfassen, für mich jedenfalls wie gesagt va Verdienst des Trainers, aber viel Spaß beim Lesen:

 

Spoiler

The ingredients behind Granit Xhaka’s Arsenal redemption arc

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By Maram AlBaharna

Sep 29, 2022

44

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Perhaps there is no greater player that embodies Arsenal’s progress this season more than Granit Xhaka.

Throughout his six and a bit seasons in the Premier League, Xhaka has regularly found himself a lightning rod for criticism.

Xhaka was nearly always used as Arsenal’s deepest central midfielder, often partnering a team-mate in front of the Arsenal defence, under every manager from Arsene Wenger to Unai Emery to Mikel Arteta — but the 30-year-old never appeared to settle.

 

His technical ability on the ball was never in question. It was well known that Xhaka was able to break lines with a lovely crossfield ball or burst the net with a long-range screamer. He contributed in a manner that wasn’t obvious — by reading the play and also reacting and narrowing down the options available to attackers with clever positioning.

It was playing in a defensive position that always appeared to showcase his inherent “Xhaka-ness” — the impetuous lunges, the last-ditch tackles, the 54 yellow cards and four red cards he’s been shown in the league since joining Arsenal — more so than his technical prowess with the ball.

Now though, Xhaka is as loud as he has ever been, arguably playing his best football since moving to north London. Seven games into the 2022-23 Premier League season, the midfielder is already putting up his best numbers when it comes to chance creation: be that actions leading to goals or assists.

In each of the last three campaigns, he has combined one goal with two assists. This season, he has scored once and racked up three assists — and the underlying numbers suggest that many more could be on the way.

While Xhaka’s end product going forward is impressive, the most important metric here is how his touches in the penalty box have more than doubled compared to his previous season.

The first time in Xhaka’s Premier League career that he both scored and provided an assist in the same game — and the first time he had contributed to two goals in a league match in five years— was in Arsenal’s 4-2 win over Leicester City in August, where he set up Gabriel Jesus to score one goal and then netted Arsenal’s third himself with a tap-in from just a few yards out. Striker Jesus was the only Arsenal player to have more touches in the Leicester box than his four.

 

The Switzerland international then recorded another assist in his team’s 3-0 win at Bournemouth, setting up William Saliba after a smart set-piece routine, but he was a nuisance for Scott Parker’s back line from the opening minutes.

This wasn’t by chance. The key to Xhaka’s improvement is quite simple: he’s higher up the pitch.

Six years ago, Arsene Wenger insisted that Xhaka had the “engine, power and the long pass” to both come deep and dictate the game, but also impact it with his runs. He then proceeded to play him in a completely different position. Nonetheless, the best Xhaka we’ve seen is the Xhaka he once described and we are now witnessing in 2022.

What you would expect to see when looking at the areas Xhaka has been involved on the ball this season is what you get below: the majority of his presence has been in his own half, while he has also contributed to building and developing attacks in the middle third.

However, it is analysing when his touches are taking place compared to last season that you find a stark difference to the areas he is operating in. Having Thomas Partey able to command the responsibility of a lone No 6 in possession means Xhaka’s responsibilities in his defensive half are much less than they used to be.

Instead of just initiating attacks, Arsenal can now use Xhaka’s progression to deliver the final ball. His presence in the central areas of the pitch has increased, especially in the penalty box. He’s also involved out wide at a higher rate thanks to the interchange he’s developed with Gabriel Martinelli.

But the Swiss midfielder gravitating towards higher pockets of space isn’t new. He began doing so towards the back end of last season but Xhaka’s lack of agility and mobility compared to his counterparts made him look like a fish out of water.

 

What is new is how effective he now is at his advanced role. That is in part due to the signings of Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko.

An example of how Arsenal’s change in structure, and the impact of their recent new signings, have helped Xhaka can be shown using passing networks.

Passing networks display each player’s average location on the pitch and the passes between them are the “connections”. The more players combine while passing, the higher their connection and the thicker the line. The size of each player’s nodes (shown as circles) indicates how involved they are in possession: the bigger the node, the higher the involvement.

The structure that previously surrounded Xhaka (No 34) in 2021-22 was a 4-2-3-1 formation that was rigid in how it moved in possession. He was a defensive screener in front of the back four, a makeshift left-back when Tierney (No 3) flooded forward and sprayed passes from deep in build-up.

Arsenal’s now 2-3-5 shape in possession has created wider midfield coverage that can be seen with how spaced out Partey (No 5) and Xhaka are, and how inverted Zinchenko (No 35) is.

This structure is allowing Xhaka to push higher into the half-spaces.

Where Alexandre Lacazette (not shown) or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (No 14) were static around Arsenal’s forward line and moved up and down the middle, Jesus (No 9) is comfortable drifting out onto both flanks, which in turn allows Martinelli (No 11) to move infield and usually pull a defender wide to ensure a disconnect in the opposition back line.

Zinchenko gravitating centrally and plugging the gaps Xhaka used to fill means he is now able to move up the pitch rather than shift across it and with Jesus occupying one or more markers, this allows even further space for Xhaka to maraud into pockets between defenders.

The technical skill and chemistry between Martinelli, Zinchenko and Xhaka means they can generate multiple rotations on the ball.

As seen below, Xhaka can go forward and wreak havoc for opposition defensive lines with runs in behind, with Zinchenko moving centrally and Martinelli wide:

He can also exchange positions with the Brazilian forward and move out wide in a settled position…

… and is comfortable dictating in deeper areas, with more time and space on the ball to cut open the whole field, with Zinchenko providing runs in behind the opposition back line.

The conditions at Arsenal are all shrewdly set up for Xhaka to succeed going forward. If his runs aren’t spotted, these bursts create space to be exploited by other players thanks to Arsenal’s reimagined No 34 drawing out a defender.

A flexible attacking set-up, where he can roam out wide, centrally, or deep, as the situation sees fit, is one that gets the best out of Xhaka and empowers him to provide a solution in many of Arsenal’s attacking scenarios.

In his current form, Xhaka has never been as crucial a player to Arsenal as he is right now.

 

bearbeitet 1. Oktober 2022 von Jay Gooner

[froehlix]

Starkes Spiel, Xhaka wieder richtig stark, gemeinsam mit Partey das Mittelfeld komplett dominiert. Der Elfer war unnötig von Gabriel, sonst starkes Spiel von allen, LFC next (nach EL)

[froehlix]

Xhaka heute mit seinem ersten PL MOTM, irre Story eigentlich. Für mich diese Saison bisher allgemein mit unser bester Spieler, wer hätte damit gerechnet Freut mich auch für ihn, kam in All or Nothing sehr sympathisch rüber

[Kaiser Soße]

Arsenal mächtig stark diese Saison. Wieder mal der Beweis, dass es Sinn macht, Ruhe zu bewahren, wenn es mal nicht so gut läuft, und nicht immer gleich den Trainer stanzen. Man gab Arteta die Zeit und jetzt zahlt es sich aus.

bearbeitet 2. Oktober 2022 von Kaiser Soße

[lingudude]

das war mMn Parteys stärkstes Spiel für uns bisher, mein persönlicher motm

[Jay Gooner]

 

 

Saliba wahnsinnig stark wieder auch, das ist schon fast scary was für eine Ruhe und Souveränität der in dem Alter hat, dessen Vertragsverlängerung hat für mich absolut oberste Priorität, fingers crossed 

[oggy4tw]

Jay Gooner schrieb vor 4 Stunden:

 

 

Saliba wahnsinnig stark wieder auch, das ist schon fast scary was für eine Ruhe und Souveränität der in dem Alter hat, dessen Vertragsverlängerung hat für mich absolut oberste Priorität, fingers crossed 

der tunnel am ende ♥

[froehlix]

Jesus ist ein irrer Kicker

[Jay Gooner]

Konnt das Spiel nicht sehen. einziges was mich interessiert, hat sich eh niemand verletzt??

[Jay Gooner]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2022/oct/08/granit-xhaka-banishes-discord-to-become-symbol-of-arsenals-progress

 

der gefühlt hundertste Xhaka-Artikel in letzter Zeit, aber seine Story ist auch wirklich eine der Faszinierendsten seit ich Arsenal fan bin. Und dieser Artikel sicher einer der am besten Geschriebenen

[Jay Gooner]

Mit Blick auf die Startaufstellungen kann man schon optimistisch sein. Tomiyasu auf links überrascht zwar aber is sicher ka schlechte Idee dort defensiv zu fahren, dafür haben wir im Mittelfeld die Übermacht. 

bin gespannt, dürft ein lustiges match werden, kann in alle Richtungen ausgehn

bearbeitet 9. Oktober 2022 von Jay Gooner

[Jay Gooner]

Jay Gooner schrieb vor einer Stunde:

 dafür haben wir im Mittelfeld die Übermacht. 

...die wir leider die letzten 30 Minuten überhaupt nicht ausspielen. Ziemlich kurios wie man da Liverpool wieder ins Spiel kommen lässt, leider hat im MF einfach niemand heut ein gutes Spiel.

Najo dafür hamman Martinelli

 

 

egal wie das ausgeht, ich würd Gabriel ab jetzt auf die Bank setzen, das war wieder ein ziemlich unnötiges Tor das auf seine Kappe geht

bearbeitet 9. Oktober 2022 von Jay Gooner

[Jay Gooner]

und egal wie das ausgeht, zündet dem huso ref sein Auto an dafür dass er da nicht abpfeift wenn Odegaard liegt

 

e: 2.HZ von uns zum Glück viel besser, ganzes MF hat sich enorm gesteigert

bearbeitet 9. Oktober 2022 von Jay Gooner

[Jay Gooner]

was für ein starker Elfer von Saka

Martinelli MOTM 

get fucking in