Arsenal 18 Hull 8

That scoreline is the number of shots each side had.  To give you an idea of where that stands in the scheme of things here’s some other weekend scores based on goal attempts

Wigan 10, Manchester Arab 11

Stoke 5 CSKA Fulham 14

Manchester B 32 Bolton 10

Aston V 12, Sunderland 9

Portsmouth 9 Tiny Totts 15

Everton 4, Liverpool Insolvency 11

Which tells us that mostly the team with the most goal attempts wins the game, and that in terms of goal attempts Arsenal were only beaten by an extraordinary high score from Manchester B – a score so high I really wonder if the stats are right.  (certainly if these stats, which come from the Guardian are right, the most extraordinary thing is that Manchester B only got two goals).

But I want to make a broader point – which is that if we had got a tiny number of shots then clearly we would simply be not working as an attacking forward moving team.   But we didn’t.

If you look at the same stats for the Fulham defeat the result was

Fulham 5 Arsenal 15

And overall this starts to tell us where the problem is.   Converting those shots into goals.  It’s not a midfield thing, nor is it a defensive thing.  It is simply converting those shots into goals.  It is, don’t do a Hleb, do a Henry.

3 Replies to “Arsenal 18 Hull 8”

  1. Good point.
    Did Man U really have that many shots? I thought they were toothless in attack and only after that joke of a penalty did they have any venow when attacking.

  2. Does humour have a place in football? Clearly not at the embarrasmates. You really must lighten up especially considering the Siberian ice blast that awaits you at the bridge in November. That’ll sort the schoolboys from the real footballers. Meanwhile keep deceiving yourselves with the pretty football.

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