Arsenal have spent some big amounts in the transfer market this time around in order to strengthen their team and get back to playing in the Champions League from the next season. While Arsenal have bought a few quality players but we still think that the Gooner’s midfield is one of the weakest when compared to the teams like Chelsea and Manchester United.
So we decided to take a look at how does Arsenal’s midfield duo of choice stand up against Man Utd’s midfield?
We assume that Wenger will start the new season with Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey in the heart of midfield while Man Utd will go with Paul Pogba and Ander Herrera.
Goals:
Last season in the Premier League, the duo of Xhaka and Ramsey scored 3 goals while United’s Paul Pogba and Ander Herrera managed to score 6 goals. Both United and Arsenal were sailing on the same boat last season where it was very difficult for them to score goals. And add to the fact that Aaron Ramsey played in 7 different positions last season does very little help to the goal scoring column. So nothing much to judge here.
Chances created:
The Man Utd duo created 94 chances in the previous season while Xhaka and Ramsey together created 57. And as per the Premier League standards, 57 is a very low number given the fact that Pogba alone created 57 chances last time around. Aaron Ramsey virtually played in every position up front – apart from being a striker and then also he just managed only 23 chances.
Key passes:
The Arsenal duo made 51 key passes in the previous season while Pogba alone managed to make 53 of such passes. And along with Herrera, the duo managed 84.
Pass Completion %:
There’s very little to chose in this section as all four of these midfielders have a very similar completion percentage. Paul Pogba is the lowest amongst all with 85% – blame it on all those tricks and flicks.
Total Forward Passes:
United win this round too thanks to a total number of 2626 passes made by Pogba and Herrera and the Arsenal midfielders managed only 2020. But here also you have to blame Aaron Ramsey cause he managed only 543 passes throughout the Premier League season. But the surprising fact is that Ramsey has only 347 back passes in the whole season. So this clearly indicates that the Welshman is guilty of making too many side passes.
Conclusion:
In the end it looks like Arsenal’s duo of Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey are a few steps behind the United midfielders. But this season it can all change in a flash. You see, United have signed Nemanja Matic who will be deployed as defensive midfielder allowing Pogba to play much further upfront. And in case you forgot, he is still the most expensive player in the world(until Neymar catches that plane to Paris).
Time for a few midfield signings Mr Wenger?
