James Benge
@jamesbenge.bsky.social
Football Correspondent, CBS Views own
At the end of last season it was legitimate to worry that Noni Madueke was a good stats, bad player type. Here was a healthy sign that good stats very often come from good footballing actions.
Arsenal's Noni Madueke dilemma: Stats love him, but are they missing what makes him such a frustrating winger?
Madueke started on the right in a 2-1 win against Leeds and relentlessly attacked the defense, but how consistently will that lead to goals?
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At the end of last season it was legitimate to worry that Noni Madueke was a good stats, bad player type. Here was a healthy sign that good stats very often come from good footballing actions.
Arsenal's Noni Madueke dilemma: Stats love him, but are they missing what makes him such a frustrating winger?
Madueke started on the right in a 2-1 win against Leeds and relentlessly attacked the defense, but how consistently will that lead to goals?
cbssports.com
FT Arsenal 2, Leeds 1 - A strange, strange game. Arsenal rallied well from their sloppy start and could have run up the score late on. Maybe the abiding takeaway from this is that Leeds are going to be a tough nut to crack this season. Arsenal? Harder to read today.
Looks like Guimaraes as the pivot with Rice pushed upfield. Rice had been unusually loose with the ball in deep areas and quite leggy too.
It doesn't feel like it but in that first half Arsenal were completing their attacking third passes with greater accuracy (90.5%) than any full PL game since they beat Sheffield United 6-0 in March 2024. Too slow and too cautious. Certainly should have resulted in more shots.
This game is so 12:30 you half expect England to declare war on France
Chant coming from the Leeds away end that Arsenal are "just a shit Crystal Palace". I'm going to need that one explaining to me.
Mikel Arteta didn’t say much about Manchester City. In fact there was perhaps only one question he answered directly. Asked if his conscience was clear, he said yes emphatically.
Arsenal's Mikel Arteta maintains conscience clear on time as Manchester City assistant
Newly committed to north London through 2030, the reigning champion brushed off questions regarding City's alleged rule breaches to focus on turning his side into the best in the world
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Arteta press conference news - City questions get the "it's an ongoing process... no comment" replies - Havertz and Konsa will have late fitness tests before Leeds - Rice "has been with a few issues" since World Cup - Tzolis out for weeks
Speaking at the Leaders in Sport conference, Richard Garlick describes having Mikel Arteta in the dugout as "a competitive advantage over the other teams in the Premier League".
James Benge@jamesbenge.bsky.social · 4d agoMikel Arteta and his staff have extended their contracts at Arsenal through to 2030. If Arteta sees it out he will be the third longest serving manager in Arsenal's history, fourth in Premier League.
Mikel Arteta and his staff have extended their contracts at Arsenal through to 2030. If Arteta sees it out he will be the third longest serving manager in Arsenal's history, fourth in Premier League.
Have to keep this to one per artist don’t you or else it’s a pointless endeavour
How different might the last 18 years have been for the likes of Aston Villa, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City were it not for the takeover? On the Premier League’s sliding doors moment
Manchester City's 'sliding doors' moment: How the Premier League changed after Abu Dhabi started spending
A look back at how the 2008 Abu Dhabi takeover altered English football and closed the door on rising contenders like Aston Villa and Everton who were poised to challenge Premier League elite
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And now Manchester City thrust the Premier League ever deeper into limbo while they hunt for that “irrefutable evidence” of theirs.
English football can punish Manchester City for violations, but can Premier League ever recover what was lost?
An appeal will delay any immediate sanctions, but a guilty verdict on 114 charges leaves 17 years of trophies, title races and rivals like Liverpool and Arsenal trapped in an existential fog
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When Manchester City return to Premier League action next month, what will their games mean? Title contenders, fighting against relegation or an utter irrelevance? The league’s present, like its past, has been warped beyond repair.
English football can punish Manchester City for violations, but can Premier League ever recover what was lost?
An appeal will delay any immediate sanctions, but a guilty verdict on 114 charges leaves 17 years of trophies, title races and rivals like Liverpool and Arsenal trapped in an existential fog
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KMI panel ruled 5 to 0 that John Brookes had made an incorrect call awarding the penalty to Sunderland for what he viewed as a foul by Ezri Konsa on Dan Ballard. However by 3 to 2 they viewed it as correct that VAR didn’t intervene.
Manchester United's attack really is fascinating for so many of the wrong reasons www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/...
Bruno Fernandes wasn’t Manchester United’s problem against Fulham. All in all, he was good by the standards of his position. It’s just that Manchester United need him to be better than that. If he isn’t the best playmaker in the league, their attack is toothless.
Manchester United's big problem: When Bruno Fernandes isn't brilliant, Red Devils are ordinary
A fortunate equalizer at Fulham masks deep structural issues for Michael Carrick as his attack struggles when Bruno Fernandes isn't at his best
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FT Fulham 1, Manchester United 1 - In the end an avalanche of mediocre shots overwhelmed Fulham, who looked the better team in a pretty ordinary contest. The best you could say for United is it didn't get dramatically worse.
Such an impressive game from Iwobi with and without the ball. He showed game intelligence in his every action, his movement to receive the ball creating space for himself and others. Can't shake the sense that United made him look even better but he is a high grade PL pro.
Not sure the TV cameras will have spotted how abysmal United's defending of their left flank was just there. Robinson advances, Mbeumo does not track at all. Iwobi moves infield and through it all Dalot seems trapped with decision paralysis, taking the worst of many bad options.
It should be frightening for United how easily Fulham are driving passes between their lines. Iwobi, Garcia and King very mobile in their positioning and too often their opponent is several steps behind.
Most non-penalty expected goals allowed in a game in Europe's top five leagues this season Racing Santander - 4.38 vs. Barcelona Manchester City - 4.25 vs. Sunderland Athletic Club - 4.23 vs. Barcelona Valencia - 4.08 vs. Barcelona Stuttgart - 4.06 vs. Bayern Munich
Weird one, before today Arsenal had allowed six shots that Opta judges as low pressure (i.e. defenders not really closing down) across their first four PL games. They've allowed three just in that first half against Brighton. They've conceded twice.
