So far this season, Arsenal is not scoring early enough in games, and this needs to change.
Last year Arsenal scored 14 goals in the opening 15 minutes of Premier League matches, this year it has been 0.
In the opening 30 minutes last year, it was 29 goals scored, this year just 4.
— Scott Willis (@scottjwillis) October 25, 2023
Arsenal have had a great start to the season; they are unbeaten in the league and are predicted to win their Champions League group (as of match day 3).
Nobody can deny that the Gunners this season have mastered the art of getting results rather than scoring hatfuls, and this is preved by having the lowest ‘Goals For’of all the Top 7 teams, but don’t you think they need to win emphatically rather than just avoid defeat?
Their defensive performance has improved since the addition of Declan Rice, but their attack hasn’t improved; they have struggled offensively.
They are failing to score as many goals as many Gooners expect them to. In a review of Arsenal’s attacking, stats expert Scott Willis hints at why the Gunners aren’t scoring as many goals as they should. His discovery contends that because Arsenal does not score enough early goals, they are unable to dominate opponents. He insinuates that the Gunners can disorient their opponents, rip them open, and finish them off with early goals. However, by failing to score early, they allow opponents to sit back and gain confidence, forcing draws like the Spurs and Fulham games or winning by a tight margin.
Someone could argue that his stats are for the entire season and not just the first nine games (a quarter of the season), but they still tell us something. Mikel Arteta should “tell” his players to go for goals as early as the first minute. The ability to lay down markers at the start of games can provide them with a mental advantage over their opponents. It can cause them to “open up” teams, increasing their chances of scoring more goals in a game.
It’s like Arteta’s idea last season was to overpower teams as quickly as possible, but this season he has decided to slow it down and be extra careful in the build up. Maybe to conserve energy for the long season ahead?
What do you think Gooners?
Jack Anderson This was written before our game against Sheffield
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Yes. But it’s not easy to do this season, because many EPL teams have already been familiar with Arteta’s 3-2-4-1 formation and our starters’ tendencies in the field
Gai,👌 Epl is highly competitive with great coaches. Actually this season would be tougher than the last. Thatsa why Arteta always trying to come up with ideas. It’s not difficult competing every season with, PepG, JKolpp, Unai Emery, Porchettino, Spuds gaffer, TenHag, De Zabi etc
#I mean it’s difficult
Yup. Today’s EPL is way more competitive than the one from fifteen years ago, because of the managers’ qualities and the transfer budgets
What is really meant by domination? This word means different things to different people from what I can tell. For some,it means scoring lots of early goals as it happened last season – the drawback of this is that we invariably ran out of steam in second halves of games and indeed the second half of the season. For others,domination means control of an entire game or at least two thirds of it with lots of possession- this has certainly improved compared to last season. We are having more possession. To be honest,I don’t think it matters much when we score goals as long as we win. As it is said,the end justifies the means.
The league is a marathon. Do you start a race as if it’s a 10miler. In a soccer game it’s better to drain you opponent thereafter you can overcome them with ease. Players get disappointed if they defended well, very well, and then the opponents score against them. “what’s wrong with us, we tried but they came through.” mentality. So leave MA as he plans