Newcastle 1-0 Arsenal: The Debrief

That was probably one of the worst performances of the season. I came in full of confidence and believing that the team would be ready to bounce back from their draw against Liverpool.

That did not happen.

The soccer gods were kind to package this with a Manchester City loss as well so they didn’t fall further behind both teams they are competing for the title with. This had the chance to push the title odds dangerously close to over, instead they are holding on by a thread.

It isn’t time to look ahead just yet so lets go through the stats if you can stomach it.

Newcastle 1-0 Arsenal: The Graphics

Newcastle 1-0 Arsenal: The Debrief

10 - Shots for Arsenal, this is the 6th time in 10 league matches where the have had 10 or fewer shots.

1 - Shot on target for Arsenal (Merino 27’, blocked on the line)

1.1 - Expected Goals for Arsenal, this is the 6th time in 10 league matches where the have had 1.1 or lower xG.

1 - Big Chance (Rice 93’)

This was not a particularly good day in front of goal but it does look at the problem was further away from goal here.

31 - Touches in the box for Arsenal

40 - Touches within 25 yards of goal

That is not particularly good. For context, chasing against Leicester Arsenal managed 70 touches in the box and 115 deep touches, chasing against Southampton it as 57 touches in the box and 88 deep touches. These two are obviously not as good as Newcastle but better illustrate the level of pressure that the team was able to exert in those matches.

The more damning stat is that in the second half it was just the following numbers:

4 - Shots just 3 from Open Play

108 - Final 3rd Pass Attempts

21 - Progressive Passes

6 - Open Play Passes Completed into the box

13 - Deep Touches

11 - Touches in the box

For the whole game, the team was lacking ideas in the final third. Arsenal had 168 open play final third passes and managed just 22 to enter the area within 25 yards of goal.

So many of the passes are around the Newcastle block and often to one of the wingers where the were often left on an island with minimal support.

Arsenal wingers fail to make an impact

2 - Shots, both from Saka

1 - Key pass, from Saka

5 - Progressive passes, 3 from Martinelli and 2 from Saka

20 - Progressive carries, 10 from Saka, 6 from Martinelli, and 4 from Jesus

12 - Touches in the box, 5 from Martinelli, 5 from Saka, and 2 from Jesus

1 - Dribble completed, 1/4 from Martinelli, 0/3 from Saka, 0/1 from Jesus

30 - Times lost possession, 12 from Saka, 11 from Martinelli, 7 from Jesus

Arsenal ask a lot of their wide players and in this match they failed to deliver. Only Saka had a real tangible contribution with his late cross that could have been the equalizer.

All of the players in this match were so often isolated, given the ball and then left to go make something happen. This left them often going against two or three defenders and even the best wide players will have a hard time doing that over and over again.

I watched this match back and made special notice to count the number of times that an Arsenal full back made an overlapping run and it was just one time.

It happened in the 78th minute when Zinchenko went wide on the outside of Gabriel Jesus. That’s it.

Overlaps are not obviously the only thing, it is just a good illustration of how the team set out to play here and it was not a day where Arsenal going aggressive with their fullback play and through that they had two of the players that are a threat for a goal so far away from it.

Central Strikers are missing

2 - Shots, both from Trossard

1 - Key pass, from Havertz

7 - Progressive passes received, 4 from Trossard and 3 from Havertz

7 - Touches in the box, 5 from Trossard and 2 from Havertz

23 - Touches in the final third, 11 from Trossard and 12 from Havertz

19 - Times lost possession, 12 from Trossard and 7 from Havertz

0 - Passes completed between the two players

Like the wide players, Arsenal’s front two are given a tough and unique role. They are less two strikers and often more like two 10s. Both dropped deep in this game, with Trossard favoring the left half space and Havertz on the right-hand side.

In this game it felt like both players were too often not in the box; 7 combined touches there agrees, and there was no focal point for Arsenal. Too often the team would have the ball with the wide player and if they did manage to create an opening to play a ball in the box the options were more often a single Arsenal player and a bunch of Newcastle defenders.

It is a plan that I have a hard time understanding. Trossard is the guy who is there for end product and it is hard to do that when most of the touches are 35 yards from goal. I understand a bit more for Havertz, he is having to do more Odegaard type stuff combining with Saka but his signature trait here is being a pest in the box and running center backs ragged with his movement while being able to bang with them.

Lots of stuff to work out. Newcastle played well, they executed the game plan well and neutralized Arsenal.