Arsenal: The one obvious stat that Unai Emery must address

There is one obvious, simple, worrying stat from Arsenal’s first four Premier League games that Unai Emery needs to address: goals conceded. This team is not good enough defensively.

When Arsene Wenger was kindly ushered out of the door, one of the key changes that the club wanted to see, on the pitch, at least, was a defensive one. Last season, Arsenal conceded 51 goals. No other team in the top seven conceded more than 40. Newcastle United conceded fewer. Two of the bottom three conceded 56, only five more than the Gunners.

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So when Unai Emery arrived at the club in the summer, one of his most pertinent tasks was to fix the defence — I should state that fixing the defence is not exclusive work on the back four but providing structure, organisation and discipline for the whole team. That takes time, so take all of the following analysis with a rather hefty pinch of salt. But, four games into the new Premier League season, Emery is yet to fix the defence.

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Arsenal have conceded eight goals in four games. Only four teams have conceded more. Three of those four currently sit in the bottom four positions of the table. Admittedly, five of those goals came against Manchester City and Chelsea, but the defensive performances and results have been concerning thus far. And it has led to one, very simple, very worrying stat: Arsenal have not yet earned a clean sheet. It is something that Emery must address.

Thankfully, they have proven themselves capable of scoring vast numbers of goals — they have scored two or more in three of the four matches — and they will, to some extent, be able to rely on a prolific attack to bail out a leaky defence. But it would be naive to think that they can enjoy a prosperous season without finding a way to record clean sheets on a consistent basis. They are necessary to year-long, prolonged success.

Digging a little deeper, it is easy to see why Arsenal are yet to keep a clean sheet. They have allowed 17 shots per game. Only Burnley (18.3) and Huddersfield Town (17.5) have conceded more shots per game this season. Manchester City, in contrast, have allowed only seven per game. Arsenal also rank fourth in saves per game, 15th in successful tackles per game, and joint-second in open-play goals conceded, just one behind Burnley.

And all of this is while maintaining the seventh highest amount of average possession in the league. So not only are the opposition creating a lot of shooting opportunities, but they are doing so with not much possession, which only worsens the effectiveness of the Gunners’ defending.

In very simple and stark terms, this is a team that is not very good at defending. From the exposure against the counter-attack to the lack of organisation at centre-half, from the lack of pressure on the ball when crosses are put into the box and passes are played into the final third to the individual errors in marking, missed tackles and poor positioning, it is easy to score against this team, as the stats highlight.

As I stated, it will take Unai Emery time. This is no quick fix. But the early results are nonetheless troubling. Something needs to change. And quickly.