Heavily imo

It’s really not that simple, nor the way to answer your question.

If you want to assess a whole league, then you have to analyze league stats and collective stats, and more advanced stats + tactical analysis. Goals scored by 2 players is way too short of an analysis.

German football typically has an attack-orientated, collective tactical mindset. Bundesliga’s reputation is that the games are open, a lot of goals are scored, the stadiums are full, etc. Quite an attractive league. But if you want to get intor the numbers, you have to go deeper than that.

You cant compare these transfers.

Ashley Cole was an academy player, a youngster who grew into the team, he was an Arsenal fan growing up. Him leaving is like if Bukayo Saka left now to Chelsea. You would see “proper animosity” then, trust me.

You can stop relying too much on stats and use your own eyes and football knowledge

That’s good. My theory is that Arsenal were never really in for a striker and always looked at their midfield when reflecting on a solution for our attacking problem this season. We have changed 2/3rds of our midfield (Xhaka gone, Partey injured) and are not able to recreate the fluidity needed in our transitions.

We probably need a physical 8 with good passing range, I have to say I have no idea who is available that would fit this. Douglas Luiz? No way Aston Villa let him go in January…

It’s a factor but imo the real big factor is the fact that we’ve changed 2/3rds of our midfield. And Rice for Partey leaves us quite defensive minded in midfield. Rice has been immense and a clear upgrade, but he still doesnt have Partey’s passing range, we’ve lost a lot of incisiveness there.

A. The investigation will take years. They’re not going to have a point deduction this season.

B. If they cheated, they cheated. If they gained financial advantage, allowing them to sign players, managers, win games and ultimately trophies, then they should be punished. If it means another team (Arsenal or otherwise) wins it as a consequence, then that other team won it “fair and square”.

C. not directly related to your post, but if Everton gets 10 points for 1 charge, I hope City get what they deserve for 115 charges. This could mean Championship football and stripping them from title, Italian football did it to Juventus.

I have read the full article by the way… I think it’s a very good idea but you need to run more numbers imo, and integrate more variables.

Taking the total of goals scored and total of goals conceded and then generate the expected points on average doesnt seem to predict much. According to that model, Chelsea in 04/05 should have had 74 points. But they didnt, they reached 95 points, breaking the record at the time. Best-ever attack is ManCity (but it’s 106, not 108 like in the article), they were supposed to reach 89 points according to the model, but they reached 100.

I think what that demonstrates is that there is more than just total of goals to consider if you want to know if attack or defense is more important to win a title.

Imo the hypothesis that needs to be tested is two-fold (and we would have to define the metrics to test it, but it has to go further than goals scored vs goals conceded):

- The first condition is that good teams need to play possession football and a certain degree of attacking football, in order to compete at the top of the table.

- Once the first condition is fulfilled, defense (in a broader sense than just goals conceded: solidity off the ball, pressing, control, etc.) is the difference to win titles.

Goals win games and allow to be a top 4 team.

Defense wins titles.

Long story short, the difference is the role within the club. The coach trains the team, picks the line-up, defines the tactics, etc, all things related to the actual football. The manager does that and on top of that has a broader role within the club, which can vary: finances, relation to the owners/sporting director, etc.

The reason why we are so much on the left of this graph is because we concede very few xg. Our defense has been rock solid.

If we can turn it up offensively without sacrificing that defensive solidity, we’ll be on for a real title challenge.

There are 2 ways to go about this:

- Sanchez-Henry-Saka and it’s not even close really

- Henry-Bergkamp. That’s all you need.

A - Ashburton Army or “ARSHAVIIIIN”

B - Bukayo Saka

C - Champions league participation trophy :) / Clock End

D - Dennis Bergkamp

E - (Foggin) Estandards

F - FA Cup wins record holder

G - Gooners

H - Highbury

I - Ian Wright

J - Jack Wilshere

K - Kanuuuuuu

L - Louis Dunford

M - Magic hat

N - North Bank

O - Ooh to Ooh to be Ooh to be a Goonah

P - Professor Wenger

Q - Football iQ (or something, wtf starts with Q)

R - Robert Pires

S - Stadium debt :)

T - Thierry Henry

U - Unbeaten season

V - Vieira

W - What do you think of Tottenham ?

X - X-Chelsea players strategy :)

Y - Youth development

Z - Zwaytoomuchtimespentonthisfuckingredditpost

Chelsea. No mess is bigger than ManU’s right now

The 5pt gap wasnt really indicative of their margin in the end. They did have the luxury to completely sacrifice 1 or 2 PL games to better prepare their CL final. They drew to Brighton and lost to Brentford when they didnt need points anymore.

I do feel like there is a chance that it’s going to be more tight this year, partly because ManCity might be less good, partly because Liverpool and Arsenal look stronger than last year. But I really dont know if it’s going to be enough to beat ManCity to the title.

If all in their prime, Rice-Xhaka-Özil

It’s highly unlikely anyway, it’s usually either a one or two horse race. That’s why I’m asking now. In January/February, we’ll basically know if it’s going to be a three-horse race or not.

I’m probably getting downvoted for this but the criticism and controversy to referees is getting insane. There are more articles about refereeing than tactics, it’s ridiculous. Just to be clear, I’ve been an Arsenal for nearly 30 years now.

On the McAllister handball, the rule states that if there is an unintentional handball in the build up to a goal, the goal should stand. The refs think that the handball was deliberate, so they disallowed the goal. At the end of the day, as someone who writes legislation in certain fields, I can confirm that you cant foresee all particular situations in the rules. As for every rule system (laws, regulations, etc.), there is a need for humans to implement and apply the rules to the particular situations.

This means that mistakes will happen. This also means that subjectivity plays a part but there is a difference between subjective and arbitrary. Almost everything that humans do is subjective to some degree. Football is no exception. The rules are the same for everyone, they have to be applied to particular situations by a human (a judge or, in football, a referee). And in a situation where a human has to make a decision, another human might have taken another decision. It’s the nature of the application of rules and it has to be accepted.

Now in the justice system, you can appeal and go to a higher court, then to a higher court, until the highest court which is usually, in Europe, the European Human Rights Court (or however it’s called in English). There could be a discussion to be had about an appeal system in football, but I dont really see how you can implement that without having to replay games or have huge refereeing pauses within games, which would just kill the game.

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With all that said: the Newcastle goal is a succession of 50/50 calls that, per se, arent enough to disallow the goal or to overrule the on-field decisions, for various reasons. Bruno Guimaraes forearm to the head should have been a red, it is textbook violent conduct according to the laws of the game, it’s a mistake. Havertz’ tackle is right on the line between yellow and red, to me it’s subjective and the ref could have gone either way.

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/why-we-dont-read-revisited

Yeah I should have been more precise. It’s not just transitions, it’s also passes between the line, basically unpicking the press and the defensive lines with passes. Partey can be useful even against low blocks or dense midifields.