Arsenal vs Burnley

That's my impression at least.

Though me viewing Emery teams play has also been only rushes, spells, patches, dots

RealGunner wrote:

Jay29 wrote:Just looking at the stats. Gave up 18 shots to Burnley, at home. xG Arsenal 1.20 and Burnley 1.07. Upside is that Burnley's goal makes up most of that and the rest is just sheer shot volume. Downside is that the team shouldn't be conceding 18 shots to Burnley at home.

Control is my big concern, really. It's a decently talented team with key plays still to come back, but it's disorganised. These upcoming Liverpool and Spurs games really come at the worst time.

This is why I am a big fan of XHAKA. He brings control in the team. I think Willock is a B2B while Ceballos is an Iniesta type.

Willock and Cebalos have almost identical profile for me, need to play one of them only.

Willock should start next week imo, need physicality in midfield and play directly not this drawing pressure nonsense

Emery's next job should be Murcia or Albacete

Dani Ceballos' game by numbers vs. Burnley:

100% take-ons completed
97 touches
90% pass accuracy
70 passes
19 duels
7 recoveries
5 crosses
4 take-ons completed
4 chances created
3 fouls won
3 shots
2 tackles made
2 assists

Dani Ceballos vs Burnley (H) [@DaniCeballos46]

Can't put into words just how good he was today, his Cazorla-esque quick feet were beautiful to watch.  #AFCComps pic.twitter.com/G4BMkliXCb

— AFCComps (@AFCComps) August 17, 2019

Nicolas Pépé vs Burnley (H) (Substitute)

He pulls off all sorts of tricks effortlessly, and the scariest thing I don't think he's even fully fit..  #AFCCompspic.twitter.com/lnIXMO2MJM

— Arsenal Digest (@arsenal_digest) August 17, 2019

Dani Ceballos, Nicolas Pepe, our potent front three and the impact of VAR.


Unai Emery discussed all that and more when he faced the media after Saturday's win over Burnley.

Here's a transcript from the press conference:

on the result...
Good afternoon. Yes, really we can be happy and I think that our idea, our game plan on the pitch was knowing it was going to be tough, because we needed to adapt to their game plan: long balls, second action, pushes and high pressing. And after, we wanted to impose our game plan. Really, I think we won in our moments... we made the difference to win 2-1 but in a lot of moments we couldn't impose our game plan because they pushed and their game plan was to make us struggle.

on David Luiz, Pepe and Ceballos’ performances…
What we wanted to create was a big atmosphere with our supporters together, today and this season. Today, with some new players, they made an impact in the first match here. We created this atmosphere today, also with some other players, like Willock, who played very well. We can also say that the young players have the chance to play, and you need to do this - and he did. I think you can speak about all the team because we worked together with an individual quality and capacity, but above all thinking like a team. Also, creating something special for each match with our supporters here at the Emirates. I think today we did that.

on Ceballos and what he adds to the midfield...
With him, it's for us to use his qualities in the best position in our team with our ideas. I spoke with him - before coming here - to play like an eight and a 10. Today he started like a 10, but a lot of times he was changing with Willock into the eight position, where he can feel better on the pitch.

on having six points after two games - having had none after two last season…
We have 36 matches to play. We’ve started with two victories and last season we started with two defeats. But after, we progressed well in the table. Our challenge is each match. We are happy we have six points but next week we are going to play against Liverpool, and it’s a big challenge. Being in this position is better but the difficulties come in each match. We want to be competitive and consistent in our way, and at the moment we did that in the two matches. But we know we need everybody, big experience, big performances, to be competitive individually and improve in each match and in each training session. Let’s be positive and realistic - it’s going to be difficult. Let’s enjoy each moment.

on if he will stick with a winning team against Liverpool...
One thing we wanted to improve is to be competitive in each position in the squad and also to take different possibilities. For example, today XHAKA is out, also Mesut is out, Rob Holding is out and Hector Bellerin too. We had different options for a bigger performance. When every player is good to play, that's perfect. But the way is long, the season is long, they are coming with different issues and different circumstances for each player, with injuries. Last year for example, I think we lost some points in some moments when we didn't have different possibilities for some matches. We lost in those moments. This year I prefer to have on the bench some important players but really, really with the possibility to be with a good impact after. I think the team is going to be more competitive. That's my idea.

on if he had any complaints over VAR…
For me, VAR is positive. When they are checking, I think it’s because they needed to. After, the decision was correct.

on Aubameyang, Lacazette and Pepe...
The structure of playing in their game plan is very strong and we needed to adapt to that. Afterwards we needed to impose our capacity, our quality, our skills, our structure also offensively and defensively. I think we did that. But for example today, if we can take off the result, I think we can do better. After, the goals of Lacazette and Aubameyang is amazing. And Pepe's impact is very good. Forty-five minutes today, he has been with us only two weeks and he needs to fit more. I spoke with him yesterday about how he is feeling every day with us, how he is feeling before the match, and he is feeling progressively better, but he needs more. Today, I think 45 minutes was perfect for him.

I just re-watched the game, and my conclusion is that the team will be a lot better with Pepe in it.

Arsenal had problems with ball progression in the first half due to two things. One was the flat positioning of the three midfielders. Although Ceballos' starting position was higher, he often dropped between Guendouzi and Willock, creating a flat line of three across the pitch. This lack of staggering meant one of the forwards had to drop short behind Burnley's midfield, but Burnley's high block and pressing made it hard for the midfield to turn and face forward. The other problem was that the forward didn't move enough to receive, choosing instead to stay high in hopes of a ball over the top or into feet. Chances were made whenever Willock or Ceballos pushed up into a higher position.

In the second half, there were two notable changes. Ceballos played higher up the pitch and didn't drop into his own half as frequently, and Pepe came on for Nelson. Ceballos' more advanced positioning helped Arsenal sustain more possession in Burnley's half. Pepe often came inside into the right half-space to receive the ball, and was much better at receiving the ball with his back to goal than Nelson was. Burnley's flat midfield four meant that whenever Pepe got the ball in those positions, he could turn and run at the defence. Alternatively, his and Ceballos' movement opened passing lanes for Willock and Guendouzi. There was a good chance for Auba when Willock played it into Lacazette from deep, Laca gave it to Pepe out wide and Pepe played a really good through pass.

I guess people will focus on Pepe's tricks and the underhit shots/passes, but in that half you could see the quality of his movement and how quickly he plays, which is really encouraging. Nelson isn't on that level, at all. He shows flashes with the ball but his decision making is slower, and his off the ball movement isn't as varied.

Nelson is definitely not ready to take the minutes that Emery is giving him.

I think we’ll see big improvement with Ceballos moving to CM, XHAKA playing and Özil taking more advanced positions. Guendouzi, Willock are impressive for their age but not ready to dominate the opposition. Most Real Madrid fans seem to agree that Ceballos plays better deeper in midfield with license to roam around.


So good.

Nelson is only starting because of Pepe and Ozil being unfit. He was always going to be the backup.

Jay wrote:This lack of staggering meant one of the forwards had to drop short behind Burnley's midfield, but Burnley's high block and pressing made it hard for the midfield to turn and face forward. The other problem was that the forward didn't move enough to receive, choosing instead to stay high in hopes of a ball over the top or into feet. Chances were made whenever Willock or Ceballos pushed up into a higher position.

This is what I said as well. Both Auba and Nelson were severely isolated because of how most of our play was taking place in midfield. I am sure the ball recycling was great between Willock, Ceballos and Guendouzi but it was limiting us to play just through the middle. I remember how our attacks were being build on either a through pass attempted or a long ball from defence or fullbacks crossing where Auba and Nelson were coming inside. Burnley realised that and just stayed compact making it even more difficult for us to create.

I really don't know what our best midfield is. I am not a big fan of changing midfield according to the opponent. For me the best midfield should be able to adapt to any team. XHAKA-Willock-Ceballos could work as our best but it leaves Torreira out who is crucial in transition. XHAKA-Torreira-Ceballos might be a bit lacking in attack unless Ceballos stays forward which he won't.

urbaNRoots wrote:

XHAKA Ceballos
Özil
Pepe Laca Auba

So good.

Not at Anfield i hope.

So good for conceding 5 goals a game you mean.

RealGunner wrote:

urbaNRoots wrote:

XHAKA Ceballos
Özil
Pepe Laca Auba

So good.

Not at Anfield i hope.

Outscoring them is our only hope. In fact we should adopt this mentality every game, with the kind of attacking capacity we have.

El Gunner wrote:don't think Emery shares the same mentality mate^^

Unfortunately no. A big reason why I hope it’s his final year here.