Building on 2022/23: how Arsenal's new signings will fit in
Building on 2022/23: how Arsenal's new signings will fit in
After an underwhelming few years, Arsenal took a big step in the right direction in the 2022/23 season. Although their silverware drought continued, they jumped up to second in the league and gave Manchester City a real run for their money, quite clearly looking like the second-best side in the coun...
In a deeper role, Havertz continued to excel in terms of ball progression and defensive work compared to his peers
That's not what the graph says. The graph says that compared to other central midfielders, Havertz managed very few tackles and virtually no interceptions. The only defensive actions he did well on was clearances and aerial duels, presumably using his height during defensive corners, etc.
The player he's presumably replacing (Xhaka) played his entire career as a central midfielder, and only in his last season really ventured forward to play a bit more as an attacking midfielder. When Xhaka was Havertz's age, he didn't use great judgement when doing his midfield defensive duties, but at least he knew it was his job and did it with enthusiasm. As far as I can tell, Havertz hasn't played much as a central midfielder. For Bayer Leverkusen, he started as a CAM and then played for a while as a striker. For Chelsea he was always played as an attacker, mostly a striker.
The main concern I have with him is whether he can successfully do the defensive basics: marking, intercepting and tackling as a central midfielder.
@merc @ThePowerOfGeek
Isn't the idea that Rice picks up the defensive slack instead of KH reinventing himself?You can't have one player taking over the defensive responsibility of the entire midfield.
The system was balanced last year with a midfield 3 of Odegaard, Xhaka and Partey. Partey played very defensively, Xhaka played like a box-to-box player doing some attacking and some defending. Odegaard played as an attacker who also harried and pressed in transition phases.
Even if Rice is better defensively than Partey (and I don't think that's necessarily true), it's a lot of burden to place on any one player.
@merc @ThePowerOfGeek IIRC Odegaard wasn't a top-of-mind defender when he first joined and he's gotten better in that regard
Better, sure. But, he was still the member of the midfield 3 with the fewest defensive responsibilities. Often when Arsenal was defending he was up front with the striker in a 4-4-2, harassing the opposing defenders / GKs while Xhaka lined up next to Partey.
What happens next season, does Odegaard line up next to Partey / Rice while Havertz lines up next to the striker? If so, that's a lot of new responsibility on Odegaard. Or is it Havertz who lines up deeper, defending as a CM for one of the first times in his professional career?
Really doubt about Havertz but hope he can prove me wrong
@Never_Sm1le @ThePowerOfGeek
Cannot be worse than Xhaka, even if he is literally worse than Xhaka: he is not Xhaka and that's what matters most to me.Now for Holding and Nketieh - I won't fully buy in until all the long-term mediocrity and deadwood is gone.