Arsenal: Joe Willock and a goalscoring knack

On Thursday night, Joe Willock scored once again in Arsenal’s 4-0 win over Standard Liege. His knack for making the net ripple illustrates just how special he is.

Frank Lampard was a special footballer. His numbers speak for themselves. That he is Chelsea’s record goalscorer from the central midfield position tells you everything you need to know. But if you were asked at what skill he was particularly special at, could you name one?

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He was a decent passer, athletic enough, a fine dribbler and dangerous shooter. But if you were to summarise his skill set, a skill set that led to him becoming one of the greatest midfielders of his generation, you might say that he was just pretty good at everything.

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Perhaps his most prominent and effective quality was his ability to score goals. Curiously for someone who was not special at any one thing, Lampard had a remarkable knack for goalscoring. He just knew where and when to be. And the numbers, over a sustained period of time, prove as much.

Joe Willock is no Frank Lampard. Not yet, anyway. But he certainly possesses this same ambiguous but effective goalscoring quality. Like with Lampard, it is difficult to say what he is brilliant at. A good runner, yes, a decent dribbler and passer and a capable finisher. But unlike some of his other Arsenal academy graduates who have clear skills that they excel at, Willock is a more rounded individual. And yet, his goalscoring record is phenomenal.

Willock scored his third goal of the season in Thursday night’s 4-0 victory over Standard Liege. It was a terrific touch and finish after hauling in Reiss Nelson’s deflected shot that fell right to him after he typically found space in the penalty area. After the match, Willock spoke about his eagerness to continue his scoring:

"“That’s one of my targets, to add goals into my game, so I am happy to have done that, but also happy to get the win and happy for the clean sheet. The manager got into us to keep going even if it’s 3-0 or 4-0 and we knew we had targets, we had to keep pressing and keep trying to win the ball back even when we’ve scored a lot of goals. That’s what he drills into us and that’s what we try to do.”"

Since the start of last season, he now has six goals. That is the same number as Mesut Ozil, who plays a similar position, but in 23 fewer matches. Only Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have scored more. And even on Thursday, he could have had more. Willock volleyed over from inside the penalty area after making a Lampardian dart to split the Liege defence, found by a lovely Kieran Tierney cross.

Willock has averaged 1.8 shots per 90 minutes. Of those, 1.6 per 90 minutes have come from within the penalty area. His movement, anticipation and eagerness to get into the right positions as attacking moves develop lead to plenty of shooting opportunities. And as his side-footed pass into the bottom corner on Thursday proved, he then has the composure and quality to finish these opportunities.

Next. Arsenal Vs Standard Liege: 5 things we learned. dark

It is difficult to put your finger on why Willock is a special talent. Like it was always difficult to put your finger on why Lampard was such a special player. But those who score goals tend to be a cut above the rest, even if you cannot determine why. Lampard had it in spades, and it seems as though Willock has it too.

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