Billy Carpenter

Cristhian Mosquera is one of those players who shows how insufficient calling somebody 'fast' or 'slow' is. I've watched him ~15-20 times now, and I'm not sure I can accurately describe his speed. Nuanced differences between short, medium, long, side-to-side, stop/start, etc.

It was such a sliding doors summer for Newcastle. There were some potential XIs (with Mbeumo, Šeško, Pedro types) that looked like hell to face. And then it didn't work out, but they still spent the bag.

We talk about "service" and the player who most needs it, imo, is Eze. And it's mostly tactical: just get him in the places where we all know he can shoot from.

Massive appreciation for Havertz today.

His sub made a massive difference towards Arsenal's ability to grab a foothold in this match.

Oddly mixed feelings after that. We won the game, and advanced in the title race ... but we didn't do it in a way that pleased Fabian Hürzeler. I keep asking myself if it was worth it.

100% dog.

Mighta been 1 point without Havertz.

Mighta been 0 points without Hincapie.

Trossard vs Chelsea

Trossard's total actions from LW vs Chelsea.

Add a few zone-14 touches, and bah gawd, that's Ebere's music.

Van Dijk has done this approximately 10,000 times. Game's the game.

During the transition from loading to takeoff: if you time it right, for a split-second, any player, even the strongest, is basically incapable of producing resistance to lateral pressure.

Everybody acts real concerned about the loneliness epidemic. God forbid some young men want to hug their opponents on a corner kick. Pick a side.

[My son places "twerk" on a triple word score, beating me quite easily]

Me: This is not the game I know and love. This has become unwatchable

I love it when you can feel a player's football genealogy. Arteta is an extreme case. Merino is a good one: Basque, Bundesliga, Newcastle, it's all there.

Same with Hincapié: Ecuador, Germany, Xabi Alonso ... but you can watch him and blindly guess he spent a year in Argentina.

I put on old games every so often. Partially just because, partially to get a sense of what's actually changed versus what just feels like it has.

I put on an 89/90 Arsenal game last night. The first two goals were from inswinging corners :(

I loved every minute of that, was never nervous, and enjoy how we see out games. I won't be accepting further questions.

It's far from VAR's biggest problem, but the backdrop for a referee going to the screen absolutely shouldn't be a wall of home fans with their phones out.

I knew Man City had struggled in second halves, but was still surprised to see they have the fewest goals by subs in the whole league (1). And that was Cherki in the first week. None since.

Aggregating "duels won %" has its limits. If the mix of duels changes (more attacking 1v1, less low-blocking, etc), that number shifts. This is because duels aren't equally meaningful or difficult. Defensive duels are by nature higher percentage (62.5% win rate this year, per Wyscout).

😍

How to expect more from xG Getting from shot probabilities to team performance metrics

Expected goals are everywhere now, but there's so much more we can do with them. Here's how futi turns basic xG into team-level metrics including deserved results, projected points and projected finish.

Overlaps are tiring and can clog space. This shows a situation meeting the right conditions.

1. Saka has a clean 1v1 (no cover), so Timber can arrive at pace, forcing handoff.
2. Saka slows/jinks inside to pin the marker.
3. Flat-footed defender can’t match Timber’s inertia.

The quintessential Gyökeres goal does hit different. Very satisfying.

— Spurs: Cutback to Eze (deflected, no assist) — Wolves: Olimpico off post + Johnstone’s head (OG) — Wolves: GW assist to “Jesus” (OG, Mosquera) — Wigan: Cutback cross (OG) — Palace: Nasty corner into mixer (OG, Lacroix) — Inter: Corner to Trossard (who headed it back to Jesus) — Fulham: Corner, Gabriel grazes it, Trossard goal — Villa: Corner to Gabriel v Emi (no assist?)

Just listed off some of Saka's statistical misfortunes off the top of my head.

All goals, but the screenshot collectively includes 0 A for Saka.

He's also created 4-5 missed tap-ins.

Below (via Fotmob)

Movement of those four (Tross, Eze, Hincapié, Rice) was really good. Tross was just kinda off in final actions.

Arteta is gonna revert to his old ways (mostly playing opponents who aren't Spurs) and it's fucking disgusting

Eze usage vs Spurs

Eze usage 😍

"I've started to understand how we're going to get the best out of him now." — Arteta

With Hincapié playing, you can get 90%+ of this at LW from him, btw. And you get Ødegaard, too.

Most tackles vs Spurs
1. Piero Hincapié (7)
2. Cristhian Mosquera (5)

Neither player was dribbled past.

The first-half thing, especially away, is very very tactical

After 20 league starts, Gyökeres is yet to have a first-half goal in open play. 973 minutes.

Just call a spade a spade.

Other first halves, away:
— Brentford: 1 shot (0 on target)
— Leeds: 2 shots (2 on target)
— Forest: 7 shots (0 on target)
— Bournemouth: 5 shots (1 on target)
— Everton: 6 shots (1 on target)