Karim Benzema this, Karim Benzema that. If we only had Karim Benzema, he would have scored given Olivier Giroud’s chances. Why don’t we get Edinson Cavani? Or Marcel Lewandowski? The crux of the matter is, none of them are coming. Arsene Wenger is not going to buy.
Arsenal’s way out of its scoring morass is to seriously explore other ways of increasing output. Or more to context, when clearly Alexis Sanchez is a few weeks from hitting his stride, Olivier Giroud is having a timing issue, Theo Walcott lives in a twilight first feted and then relegated to the bench, and Danny Welbeck’s injury lingers on indefinitely only in an Arsenalian (Orwellian) way. The problem is further exacerbated by the fact Arsenal are distinctly third world when it comes to scoring on home turf. The Emirates have proven barren in five out of the last six matches.
By all attacking metrics, Arsenal is on top of the league. They lead the league in shot production. It’s just that they’re not very accurate and they also get about 30% of those shots blocked. Unsurprisingly, the Gunners are on top when it comes to taking a crack in the penalty area which probably accounts for the high number of blocks. They also lead the league in crosses and through balls. The message is the Gunners pour in quantity but it’s the quality that’s misfiring.
A sample of two goals in three matches, one an own goal illustrates little about the build up to the goal. But lets explore the higher scoring sides. For e.g., Man City with 8 goals in three matches. Where are these assists coming from? From a variety of different sources: corners, crosses, through balls, and others. It’s clear, Citeh have not limited themselves to finding the perfect pass to Sergio Aguero. Or goalscoring to Aguero for that matter. Their playmaker unlike our playmakers like to score too. Their defenders like to score also. So do their holding midfielders.
Maybe if Santi Cazorla could whip in those corners high and with pace to clear the first defender to create space and time Mertesacker or Koscielny could get their heads on the ball. How about some quality crosses to Giroud so he can use his height to advantage for a knockdown so someone else following up can score goals. Or take a shot at a 30 yards out pile driver like Phillipe Coutinho does to fantastic effect? Arsenal has amongst the lowest percentages of shot taking from outside the box.
How about Mesut Oezil eschewing his pass happy play for a bit of selfishness to take a crack at goal. That would take the defence by surprise. Or a mazy Hazard like run into the box to be brought down for a penalty. Bet the Ox could do it.
Maybe if we didn’t predictably overweight the left and the middle, we could get a more balanced attack. Oezil, Sanchez, and Cazorla like to work the middle to the left, Ramsey is down the middle. Arsenal has about 75% of their attack coming from these two zones, the largest imbalance in the league. The best attacking sides with the most goals in the bag have a more distributed look which is critical to the opposition second guessing the attack. This season it’s been City, Swansea, and Leicester City. Get the Ox or Walcott on the right to create width and pace. Wenger’s problem is he’s got too many midfielders collapsing space creating redundancy. Liverpool’s best attribute was each player was an additive. Check out the heatmaps and play around with them.
This pass unto death, trying to force one’s way entirely predictably through a packed, two banks of four is not working. This is not a new problem. The season is not 38 matches against Aston Villa. It’s what savvy sides do to us time and time again. Great managers find a way out of it.