da supremo： This article is part of Football FanCast’s In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets…
da premier bet： It was an awful day at the office for Arsenal on Sunday evening against Crystal Palace.
Well, after nine minutes, it looked like it could be a stroll in the park. At that point, the Gunners were already 2-0 up thanks to goals from centre-back pairing David Luiz and Sokratis. The former’s strike was his second for his new club.
Arsenal fans have started to turn on Unai Emery, find out who they’d rather have in charge in the video below…
However, the Eagles were in no mood to go down without a fight, and they managed to claw themselves back into the game to earn themselves a 2-2 draw. This result now means that Unai Emery and co are four points behind London rivals Chelsea in fourth as the pressure on the Spanish boss continues to rise.
The former Sevilla man set up in a 4-4-2 formation, with Dani Ceballos appearing to be played out on the left of a midfield four.
This is a position he has played in just 16 times throughout his career according to Transfermarkt, so it can be seen as somewhat of a left-field decision – excuse the pun – from Emery to play him in such a role.
Ultimately, it was a choice that backfired.
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Ceballos was ineffective throughout the match. He failed to have a single shot at goal, whilst he also didn’t complete a single dribble either.
In this game, he created just one chance for his teammates, which, in comparison to Nicolas Pepe who had four on the opposite flank, was rather disappointing. He also completed just one cross.
All in all, he lost possession of the ball 17 times, and managed a passing accuracy of just 76%.
Defensively, he had slightly more influence, managing five tackles, but he was still dribbled past twice, which was more than any other Arsenal player.
It looks as though the pressure is beginning to get to Emery.
There is no indication that the 23-year-old Real Madrid man, who Los Merengues signed for €17m (£14.7m) in 2017, is any good on that side of the midfield, yet the former PSG boss decided to play him there anyway despite having Bukayo Saka on the bench.
He may be inexperienced, but he is at least comfortable on the left of the pitch, unlike Ceballos.
The Emirates Stadium outfit have won just two of their last eight Premier League games. Things need to change, and quick, but playing creative players out of position is unlikely to do the trick.