Arsenal vs Aston Villa: The Debrief

Another draw puts Arsenal drops Arsenal further behind Liverpool

As I am sitting down to write this, I can’t help but feel that there isn’t a lot to say today.

On the Arsenal Vision Instant Reaction, Elliot’s headline was “I’m tired” and that matches what I am feeling too.

It feels like one there are just too many matches, and that they have all come in a bunch that makes trying to have individualized analysis about a match hard. I normally like to re-watch a match and clip things up and keep my notes but with the relentless schedule and life that just feels impossible right now (I am also renovating my home office so my normal space to do this is disrupted and that is taking time away).

It also seems like things are getting repetitive with the same basic things coming up again and again. Arsenal have a depleted squad due to injuries. The players Arsenal have to make an eleven are good enough to win and play well but they seem to have had the ceiling of their performance sapped from them because they are being asked to play three matches in the space of seven days.

There is also a weird feeling of incredible disappointment with the season so far but with the juxtaposition that the team is still in second place in the Premier League and third place in the Champions League. The expectations have not been higher in the last decade than they are right now and that makes results that previously would have had us feeling good feeling like we are missing things.

This plays into how we are viewing the summer business now with some hindsight. I have been pretty forgiving of the business done and I still mostly agree with that take on a high level.

I think that where Arsenal strengthened was important but they took a risk not getting an additional forward in and going into the season with the attacking depth they had, it could have worked but it needed injury luck that has not come through.

What has also hurt the team is that the two “big” signings that were done have not made as big of an impact as we might have hoped for. Both have dealt with injury and coming in late after the Euros and it just has made the adaption period harder and maybe they just haven’t looked as good or suited to the Premier League.

All of this is to say, there is a lot going on beyond just a single match to analyze and it is giving me almost a bit of paralysis trying to get all of my thoughts together on things. I will try and put them together here looking at the match against Aston Villa

Arsenal vs Aston Villa: The Graphics

Arsenal vs Aston Villa: The Debrief

2 - Big Chances for Arsenal, both converted into goals

2 - Big Chances allowed by Arsenal, both converted into goals

When you look at this match, neither team created a ton and both were clinical converting their best chances into goals scored.

Arsenal had a bit better of the numbers, it should have been enough getting two goals scored but it was far from a masterclass in attacking performance (see above).

17 - Shots for Arsenal, compared to an average of 14 per match, and the Premier League Average of 13 per match

5 - Shots on target for Arsenal, compared to an average of 4.8 per match, and the Premier League Average of 4.5 per match

1.5 - Expected goals for Arsenal, compared to an average of 1.7 per match, and the Premier League Average of 1.5 per match

254 - Touches in the final third for Arsenal, compared to an average of 197 per match, and the Premier League Average of 153 per match

37 - Touches in the box for Arsenal, compared to an average of 34.7 per match, and the Premier League Average of 25.4 per match

It feels a bit like a similar story again for Arsenal. They control the territory in the match (84% field tilt here), winning the battle to get the ball into the box (37 to 13), but they fail to turn these numbers where they look elite into actual elite production.

Looking at how the stats in this match compare to Arsenal this season and League average it just hammers home this point, the attack is doing some good things but it isn’t consistently at the level that you would hope.

Again, we all know and can point to the reasons why that is happening but it is happening and that can’t be ignored.

Areta too slow to react?

In this match however, it is probably hard to put this on the attack. They did their job and got out to a 2-0 and with Arsenal’s defensive reputation and talent that should be game over.

Except this time it wasn’t and it is just so painful, especially after watching Liverpool score twice after 90 minutes to turn 1 point into 3.

After Arsenal scored to double the lead, Arsenal would have been expected to win about 90-95% of the time from that position. That doesn’t take into account that the team was playing their third match in seven days, including one that went 120 minutes and the other a pretty high intensity derby match, even still that is a great position to be in.

I think that perhaps there are questions to be asked about Arteta’s game management at that point.

Arsenal score the second goal at 55 minutes and that is basically the time that you start looking at using your bench. I get that the attacking options were not strong in this match but the defensive options were not nearly as depleted as to not be able to make some adjustments.

• Thomas Partey had played 90 minutes on Wednesday and was playing out of position. He was doing a job out there but he has looked like a player that doesn’t always have the legs, especially in a demanding position like full back.

• Myles Lewis-Skelly has been phenomenal but he is another midfielder being pressed into duty as a full back. He is in his first season and was coming off 90 minutes last Sunday and 86 minutes on Wednesday with a tough assignment against Aston Villa.

• Martin Odegaard looked out of gas, he had also played a ton this week with 120 minutes last Sunday and 90 minutes on Wednesday.

It is easy to say with hindsight, especially after two mistakes where fatigue could be a factor led to the goals scored but with a bench that had 3 senior defenders and midfielder on it the moves were potentially there to try and keep the team fresh.

This has been a complaint that I have had about Arteta in the past, and I think it is still something that he can get better at. He seems to reluctant to use his bench, especially before the 75th or 80th minute of matches and underrates how important fresh legs can be to a team.

With the five substitutions available to a team, that should mean that a team can be more aggressive and this is the type of game state that could have and should have been thought about before the match and prepared for. Instead, he rolled the dice with a team that had a lot of miles in their legs and it cost them.

Gabriel is brilliant

77 - Passes attempted, led all players

72 - Passes completed, led all players. Doing so on 93.5% passing and 112% efficiency

8 - Progressive passes, second among all players

7 - Long passes completed, led Arsenal

671 - Total net progressive passing distance in yards towards goal, led Arsenal

2 - Key passes (0.11 xA)

1.13 - xG Buildup involved in, second on Arsenal

3 - Tackles, with 0 times dribbled past

1 - Blocked Shot

2 - Clearances

4 - Aerial duels won, of 9 contested. 4/6 in the defensive side.

He had a lot of responsibility in this match with Saliba out and he stepped up. It was a very good performance from him in a season where he has taken a massive leap forward in his development.