Almost a quarter of season is over by this weekend. Its a good time to analyze the top midfields in EPL. In this article we will see how well the Arsenal
midfield has performed when compared against other top sides in the league. In this analysis the wing forwards are assumed as a part of
the midfield area as teams like Chelsea, City and Arsenal mostly use midfield
players as wingers due to injury or acclimatization issues. Rooney and Welbeck
have been also added to the list of midfield for United as they have been
playing more frequently either in the CAM or Wing Forward position. The analysis has not
included Phil Jones as a part of United midfield as he had played only one match
in the Defensive Midfield position, whereas in the rest of the matches he has
been playing either as a CB or a RB.
Each team’s stats (Courtesy of whoscored.com) have been provided in tables below:
Manchester City:
Possession - 59.7%; Yellow Card- 9; Red Card-0; Shots per
goal-6.5.
Games
|
Goals
|
Shots
|
A
|
KP
|
T
|
Interc
|
PA
|
ATB
|
AC
|
ALB
|
|
Toure
|
10
|
5
|
20
|
1
|
12
|
17
|
8
|
91.3
|
3
|
0
|
59
|
Fernandino
|
9
|
0
|
3
|
1
|
13
|
26
|
23
|
86.6
|
1
|
2
|
40
|
Silva
|
7
|
3
|
14
|
3
|
26
|
10
|
3
|
88.3
|
5
|
17
|
20
|
Nasri
|
10
|
2
|
10
|
3
|
17
|
8
|
3
|
89.9
|
2
|
13
|
12
|
Milner
|
8
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
5
|
11
|
3
|
85.8
|
0
|
6
|
3
|
Rodwell
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
85
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
Garcia
|
6
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
5
|
8
|
94
|
0
|
0
|
12
|
Navas
|
8
|
0
|
4
|
2
|
11
|
6
|
6
|
84
|
1
|
6
|
12
|
Jovetic
|
3
|
0
|
6
|
0
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
87.5
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Total
|
62
|
10
|
65
|
10
|
85
|
87
|
54
|
88.05
|
12
|
44
|
160
|
(A;Assists;KP:Key Passes; T: Tackles; Interc:
Interception;PA: Pass Accuracy; ATB: Accurate Through balls; AC: Accurate
Crosses; ALB: Accurate Long Balls)
In City’s midfield, two players stand out in more than 2
categories. These two players are Silva and Toure. Toure, leads the stats in the Games
Played, Goals, Shots taken and Accurate Long ball categories for City. His
Tackling and Interception stats are not bad either. He took 20 shots for his 5
goals which give an average of 4 shots for a goal. In other words, it also
means that he scored a goal in every alternate match. Silva, on the other hand
leads in the category of Assists, Key passes, Accurate through balls and
Accurate Crosses. Both of the players have shown decent enough stats for
Passing Accuracy too. Garcia has the
highest Passing Accuracy of around 94% in City’s midfield. Nasri, leads jointly
with Toure in Games played and with Silva in the Assists category. Fernandinho,
is the ultimate midfield enforcer for City as he leads the table with 26
tackles and 23 interceptions.
When, the cumulative score is taken to account, it shows 9
different midfield players for city playing around 62 matches amongst
themselves. This signifies that there has been a lot of like for like
substitution in the EPL games. The midfield is accountable for 10 goals and 10
assists. They have played 85 key passes amongst themselves, while making 87
tackles and 54 interceptions as a unit. The midfield has played 12 Accurate
Through balls. The city team has in Silva, Toure and Nasri players who are capable to
thread a ball through the opposition’s defences. The accurate crosses are not
so high. This might explain the lack of use for Dzeko in the forward positions.
But the Pass Accuracy and the amount of Accurate Long balls suggests that
City’s midfield has the ability to play both short and long passes effectively
in a game. The effective and efficient way of playing all kind of passes has
seen them maintaining their possession at around 59.5% after 10 matches. All in
all the City’s midfield is keen on intercepting opposition passes to get the
ball than to aggressively tackle an opposition player to gain the control of
possession. Their Passing accuracy also suggests
that they are more organized and keep more possession than their
opposition which could explain an average of 8.7 tackles per game from the
midfield. The Yellow cards is also significantly lesser for the team, which has shown
reluctance to tackle.
Chelsea:
Possession - 56%; Yellow Card -7; Red Card -0; Shots per
goal -8.9.
Games
|
Goals
|
Shots
|
A
|
KP
|
T
|
Interc
|
PA
|
ATB
|
AC
|
ALB
|
|
Hazard
|
10
|
3
|
19
|
1
|
19
|
12
|
4
|
81.1
|
0
|
3
|
14
|
Oscar
|
10
|
4
|
19
|
0
|
14
|
21
|
2
|
84
|
0
|
8
|
19
|
De Bruyen
|
3
|
0
|
4
|
1
|
3
|
2
|
0
|
82.9
|
1
|
0
|
6
|
Mikel
|
5
|
1
|
3
|
0
|
2
|
8
|
5
|
92.3
|
0
|
1
|
20
|
Lampard
|
10
|
1
|
16
|
2
|
15
|
18
|
7
|
83.8
|
0
|
16
|
25
|
Mata
|
6
|
0
|
3
|
1
|
15
|
4
|
0
|
90
|
1
|
12
|
13
|
Van Ginkel
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
50
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
Willian
|
4
|
1
|
4
|
0
|
2
|
3
|
1
|
85.9
|
0
|
0
|
9
|
Ramires
|
10
|
0
|
14
|
1
|
13
|
32
|
8
|
85.5
|
2
|
4
|
36
|
Schurrle
|
9
|
1
|
15
|
0
|
14
|
12
|
6
|
87.8
|
0
|
6
|
1
|
Total
|
69
|
11
|
97
|
6
|
97
|
112
|
34
|
82.33
|
4
|
50
|
144
|
(A;Assists;KP:Key Passes; T: Tackles; Interc:
Interception;PA: Pass Accuracy; ATB: Accurate Through balls; AC: Accurate
Crosses; ALB: Accurate Long Balls)
Chelsea’s midfield has played 69 games amongst themselves.
Hazard, Oscar, Lampard and Ramires are the only ones who have played in some
capacity in all the 10 matches. In the attacking front Hazard leads the Chelsea
midfield with shots taken and Key Passes made, while Oscar leads with Goals as
well as shots taken. Ramires could be hailed as the Chelsea defensive lynchpin
with 32 tackles and 8 interceptions. He has also played the most Accurate
Through balls as well as most Accurate Long balls. Lampard leads in the Assists
and Accurate Crosses whereas Mikel leads the passing stats with 92.3% accuracy.
The high amount of games amongst the Chelsea midfield shows that Mourinho has a
deep squad where he can rely on like for like substitution if things are not
going his way or if he wants to do it just to show that he is the BOSS.
The Chelsea midfield as a whole has scored 11 goals with 6
different players contributing to the cause. They have taken 97 shots and have
gathered 6 assists as an unit. They have played 97 key passes. The midfield seems happier to tackle than
intercept, which explains a high amount of tackling coupled with relatively low
amounts of interceptions made. The Passing accuracy as a Unit is only 82.33%.
The amounts of through balls played are also low for the midfield of such high
quality. The accurate Crosses and Accurate Long balls stats are impressive. The
stats show how Mourinho has inculcated a tackling attitude among its most
advanced playmakers. The Tackling stats explain why he favors Oscar over Mata.
The Yellow cards for the midfield are a
lowly 7 which is a surprise when one considers the amounts of tackles made.
Is Mourinho the New
Ferguson? Only time will tell.
Arsenal:
Possession -55.1%; Yellow Card -12; Red Card -1; Shots per
goal -5.87.
Games
|
Goals
|
Shots
|
A
|
KP
|
T
|
Interc
|
PA
|
ATB
|
AC
|
ALB
|
|
Arteta
|
6
|
1
|
4
|
0
|
2
|
20
|
6
|
93.9
|
0
|
2
|
25
|
Flamini
|
7
|
0
|
3
|
0
|
2
|
11
|
10
|
93.2
|
0
|
0
|
31
|
Wilshere
|
9
|
2
|
7
|
1
|
12
|
7
|
3
|
85.9
|
4
|
1
|
20
|
Ramsey
|
10
|
6
|
23
|
4
|
13
|
46
|
13
|
86.7
|
2
|
0
|
37
|
Rocisky
|
6
|
0
|
6
|
1
|
10
|
8
|
3
|
85.7
|
1
|
3
|
6
|
Cazorla
|
6
|
1
|
13
|
1
|
13
|
6
|
5
|
86.3
|
1
|
1
|
9
|
Ozil
|
7
|
2
|
11
|
4
|
22
|
9
|
1
|
87
|
2
|
12
|
15
|
Walcott
|
4
|
0
|
12
|
1
|
9
|
1
|
2
|
80.4
|
1
|
11
|
2
|
Chamberlain
|
1
|
0
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
83.3
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Podolski
|
2
|
2
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
89.7
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
Gnabry
|
3
|
1
|
4
|
0
|
3
|
6
|
5
|
85.7
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
Total
|
61
|
15
|
88
|
13
|
87
|
115
|
48
|
87.07
|
12
|
30
|
145
|
(A;Assists;KP:Key Passes; T: Tackles; Interc:
Interception;PA: Pass Accuracy; ATB: Accurate Through balls; AC: Accurate
Crosses; ALB: Accurate Long Balls)
After 10 matches, the Arsenal midfield has 61 matches
amongst 11 different players. The low
amount of matches spread across such a wide range of players explains the
injury situation as well as the pragmatic stance taken by Wenger to preserve
the lead by bringing in more defensive minded players for the attacking
ones. In the Arsenal midfield only one
player has played 10 matches so far. It is no surprise that the player goes by
the name of Aaron Ramsey. Arteta leads the Passing Accuracy Stats at 93.9%,
while Wilshere, leads the maximum amounts of through balls played. Ozil the
record signing has lived up to his reputation by playing 22 key passes. He also
leads the midfield in the most amounts of Accurate Crosses and the Assists. In
the rest of the other departments it is Ramsey who leads all the way. He leads
in 7 out of 11 categories that has been analyzed.
As a unit the
Arsenal midfield has scored a staggering 15 goals in 10 matches while not being
shabby in the Assists department either by assisting 13 goals. They have played
87 key passes and have taken 88 shots. This highlights the clinical nature of Arsenal
midfield in front of the goal. In the defensive side of things they have made 115 tackles,
which shows they rely more on pressing the opposition rather than being
organized and cutting off harmful passes. The midfield has just intercepted 48
passes in the 10 matches played. The passing accuracy is 87.07%. With the
passing accuracy and the tackles made it is a surprise that the midfield has
kept only 55.1% possession. This could
be explained by the fact that now Arsenal lets the opposition keep the ball
after the lead has been taken. This lets
the Arsenal midfield to makes the space compact and then tackle or intercept
when things look ominous. The Through
balls and Long balls are played effectively by the midfield but it disappoints
by the amount of crosses made. This explains why Giroud has scored only one
header yet. The amount of tackling made by the midfield leaves it vulnerable to
making fouls and getting Yellow cards. The amount of Yellow Cards received is 12 and
the only midfield in top 6 to receive a Red. The attacking side of the midfield
has been staggering but they can improve a bit on their defensive side.
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