Rasmi
Negative Nancy
Country: England
I think it’s great to have a fullback that’s great athlete. That’s the most important quality. A top manager will know how to get the best of that. Bellerin biggest problem is he is coached by a clown
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Hector Bellerin: Renaissance Man
- Thread starter Mitch
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- Status
Country: England
Country: England
Player:Rice
I agree it's great to have a FB that's a great athlete, it can cover a lot of technical flaws.
Unfortunately Bellerin isn't a great athlete anymore though. That injury has ruined him physically.
Maybe
You're wrong, no?
Some people saying it's the food, you're saying it's injury, and I'd say it's his lack of ambition and interest in football. It's all a guessing game, but the fact is this guy is not a professional player anymore, but we somehow ended up paying him 100k/w. This clubs is like a charity for rich people
Country: England
Player:Rice
I mean there are plenty of high performing sportsmen that follow a vegan diet, so I struggle to see how that is the crux of the issue.
A lack of ambition doesn't make you lose your pace or acceleration either.
I see no reason to believe that he's not giving it his all on the pitch. I just think his body isn't capable of performing to the highest standard anymore.
I agree he should be moved on and replaced at the first opportunity though. He's clearly done.
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tap-in
Nothing Wrong With Me
For me RB is a priority, more so than a partner for Partey. If Ødegaard stays, and Saliba rejoins, we only need RB, CF & LB (back up) this summer. Sell Bellerin, Laca, Willian, Luiz.
Rasmi
Negative Nancy
Country: England
Only need to do what though? Make the top 7?
tap-in
Nothing Wrong With Me
We will make top 7 this season. With top class RB, CF, Ødegaard or similar and Saliba or similar, we would challenge for top 4. Once back in CL then we can focus on the title again.
Riou
In The Winchester, Waiting For This To Blow Over
Country: Northern Ireland
Player:Gabriel
He's a good guy, but one of the worst starting players we have.
He just had pace, nothing else really, Eboue had more in his locker as a RB imo.
Not sure he will ever leave us too, annoyingly...as the teams that he would leave us for, would never look twice at him anymore...and I don't think he is the type to accept a move to a club that our below us.
Another player that will probably only leave us for free, if he ever does
He just had pace, nothing else really, Eboue had more in his locker as a RB imo.
Not sure he will ever leave us too, annoyingly...as the teams that he would leave us for, would never look twice at him anymore...and I don't think he is the type to accept a move to a club that our below us.
Another player that will probably only leave us for free, if he ever does
Country: USA
Player:Saliba
It could be a bit of everything tbh
Sweet'n'Soulful
Yet another banned account of Jury
And he’ll be our pacy Gandhi in the mean time. Every club needs one!Another player that will probably only leave us for free, if he ever does
Sweet'n'Soulful
Yet another banned account of Jury
That’s my answer whenever I’m asked what went in the curry. Look, it tastes nice, I’m not Madhur Jaffrey ffs.
Country: England
Another Bellerin burial piece by my friends over at The Athletic. Argues Cedric should maybe start.
Bellerin vs Cedric: Who starts at right-back when Tierney returns?
By Art de Roché and Tom Worville Feb 11, 2021
52
Mikel Arteta has been handicapped in recent weeks with the absence of Kieran Tierney at left-back.
As Arsenal’s only natural left-footer in that position, his importance grew after Sead Kolasinac’s loan move to Schalke. Not only was the former Celtic man a consistent presence in attack and defence, he also created the most chances (15) when he moved back to full-back during the festive period.
Cedric Soares has filled in for the past five games and has done well, but is a considerable drop-off from Tierney. While the Portugal international has proven able to drive down the left, switch the ball to the right with good effect and handle himself in defence, there have been moments of doubt. Backing off as wingers attack him directly has been his most common weakness in this position but his mistake for Aston Villa’s winner serves as the most blatant example of the difficulties he faces at times on the left.
Sidelined mostly due to fatigue rather than serious injury, as reported by The Athletic’s David Ornstein, Tierney’s return will come soon. The club have confirmed he is recovering well from the strain on his lower right leg and is aiming to integrate into first-team training next week.
With that will come a decision of what to do with Cedric. Since arriving in January 2020, the view has been that the former Southampton player would be a squad player. At 29 years old, his experience would provide the necessary support for Hector Bellerin as the club’s secondary right-back. Thirteen months and 11 Premier League appearances later, Cedric has fulfilled the role that was expected of him.
Instead of dropping him straight back to the bench, Arteta may face a dilemma regarding who to play at right-back. Bellerin has started 20 Premier League games this season and takes the captain’s armband in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s absence. Starting the season well, the Spaniard’s consistency in the final third, in particular, has dwindled recently, while team-mates are proving they can lead the side on the pitch.
At Molineux, for instance, he displayed great understanding off the ball but did not have a clear picture of the situation for just a split second.
As Thomas Partey readies to pass, Bukayo Saka drops in taking the Wolves defender out of the defensive line. Bellerin reads the situation and bursts into the space where Partey clips the ball into his path.
Note Emile Smith Rowe holding the width to spread the Wolves defence out more, helping create that space inside.
Bellerin reaches the ball but hesitates as it bounces ahead of him. While he’s reached the ball, both Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe make runs across their markers. The opportunity to cross was missed with that moment of doubt.
When Bellerin does finally produce a cross, the ball is behind Lacazette and Pepe. Both forwards are forced to check their run, backtrack to get a touch on the ball and when it reaches Pepe, he’s going away from goal before being tackled.
Moments similar to this have cropped up throughout the season, although not in identical circumstances. Earlier in the campaign, when the 3-4-3 formation was deployed, these moments of doubt were visible when Bellerin and Willian would trade passes back and forth on the wing before swinging a hopeful cross into the box. More recently, they have taken the form of the Wolves example as well as making the wrong runs off the ball once a pass has been made.
Bellerin is Arteta’s preferred option at right-back and there are reasons why he’s relied upon. Alongside being a squad leader, his ability to fulfil the “inverted wing-back” role is important. He first began altering his game to Arteta’s demands before lockdown last season, but it was evident after the three-month enforced break and as recently as the trip to Villa Park.
With the ball on the opposite wing, Bellerin is perched inward just off Jack Grealish.
Granit Xhaka, Smith Rowe and Partey move the ball quickly away from the traffic on that side and Arsenal break.
In his more central position, Bellerin is Partey’s link option. In a great position when receiving the ball, he’s able to drive straight at the Aston Villa back line.
Fairly central at the start of the move, Saka peels out wide putting doubt in Matt Targett’s mind. That doubt gives Bellerin time and space to push further forward.
Tyrone Mings steps forward to engage Bellerin as he passes into Saka. The 19-year-old’s first touch bounces away from him forcing him into a right-footed shot. There would have been a better opportunity to take on Targett one-on-one instead had the control been more crisp.
Despite moments like this, Arsenal have lacked real punch down the right wing this season. Bellerin has carried the ball well but is less dangerous in possession than Cedric has been across the Premier League and Europa League. Comparing their contributions as right-backs/wing-backs, Cedric passes into the final third 7.5 times per 90, Bellerin just 3.8 times. Similarly, he’s completing a pass in open play into the box 1.9 times per 90 compared to Bellerin’s 1.3.
Alongside this, Cedric tends to favour longer passes and crosses more often than his team-mate. When playing at right-back this season, he has a smarterscout rating of 64/99 for long passes (those 20 metres or more in length), while Bellerin is rated 18/99. Smarterscout is a site that gives players a rating from 0-99, relating to either how often a player does a given stylistic action compared with others playing in that position (such as shooting volume, or the volume of tackles they make), or how effective they are (such as measuring how well they progress the ball upfield).
For crosses, they rate 65/99 and 30/99 respectively with Cedric attempting 5.7 per 90 and Bellerin 2.4 per 90 from open play. Note these ratings are regarding volume of crosses rather than quality: Cedric has completed 18.4 per cent of those crosses with Bellerin completing 16.9 per cent.
Bellerin performing the inverted role may contribute to having less of a presence in the final third as his job becomes more about ball progression than what happens further upfield.
Comparing Cedric’s output in possession and attack, however, it appears he may suit the dual role just as well if not better when taking minutes played into consideration.
“He (Arteta) wants players to know the game. He wants a player who can play in this moment, sometimes wide, sometimes in the middle, sometimes a little bit more back,” Cedric said in November.
“It is important to play as a full-back, a wing-back, in all these three positions. Defensively, it’s a little more specific but offensively, you need to have these three positions where sometimes you are a midfielder, sometimes you are a winger and if you see our rotation on the side, it works quite a lot. Normally players pass (through) all these three positions.
“The player should have the knowledge of the game. Of course, you have some qualities that are stronger in one or another position but you need to be ready to play every position.”
At right-back, that “knowledge of the game” was most evident in January’s 3-0 win over Newcastle.
Receiving the ball wide, rather than taking a touch and inviting pressure from Jamal Lewis, Cedric uses his first touch to flick the ball back around the corner to Saka.
The pass doesn’t reach his team-mate as Saka forces Ciaran Clark into the corner, Cedric then follows up in support.
Clark’s clearance falls to him and he plays the ball straight into Saka before underlapping towards the byline for a potential return pass.
At this point, the obvious decision would be to cross. With neither Lacazette nor Aubameyang running across their markers, reaching them without an intervention from the Newcastle defence would be difficult.
Instead, Cedric takes an extra touch to head further into the box, giving the defenders decisions to make.
Fixated on the ball, the Newcastle defence drops immediately and Karl Darlow protects his near post. Lacazette and Aubameyang both hold their runs allowing Cedric space to cut the ball back and for Aubameyang to finish with Darlow still at his near post.
At Southampton, the decision to push high and defend in their half of the pitch worked well. Against Eberechi Eze of Crystal Palace and Wolves’ Adama Traore, however, getting close to them left spaces in behind to exploit, so selecting a right-back may come down to who Arteta trusts more to read those situations correctly more often.
In defence the pair are relatively similar, although Bellerin (5ft 10in) has more aerial presence. So far in the Premier League and Europa League this season, Cedric has a 46.4 per cent tackle win rate from 28 attempts, while Bellerin has a 43.3 per cent tackle win rate from 60 attempts. The Spaniard has also won 50 per cent of his 50 aerial duels compared to Cedric’s (5ft 8in) 33.3 per cent success rate from 21 duels.
When defending crosses, Cedric tends to try to compensate with sly tricks. Early on against Manchester United, for instance, he recognised a late run into the box from Bruno Fernandes and eased him away from Luke Shaw’s cross at the last second. No foul was given, but Fernandes was quick to appeal.
Away to Wolves last season, he gave Raul Jimenez a similar nudge which forced the striker to miss a header inside the box. Like Fernandes, he appealed for a penalty but a goal kick was given.
Traditionally, this would be deemed as smart gamesmanship. However, with the way football is officiated these days, if Cedric is to continue with this approach to defending crosses, he may have to be careful that he isn’t pulled up on it one day.
With Europa League matches against Benfica between games against Leeds, Manchester City and Leicester City, Arteta is likely to rotate. Of course, Calum Chambers may also be an option at right-back, but should Tierney return at left-back in these games, Arteta will face a real dilemma as to whether Cedric or Bellerin will be his favoured option.
Playing 21 games across the Premier League and Europa League this season (fourth-most at the club) in one of the most physically demanding roles on the pitch, it wouldn’t be too harmful if Bellerin was rested more often in the coming weeks.
By Art de Roché and Tom Worville Feb 11, 2021
Mikel Arteta has been handicapped in recent weeks with the absence of Kieran Tierney at left-back.
As Arsenal’s only natural left-footer in that position, his importance grew after Sead Kolasinac’s loan move to Schalke. Not only was the former Celtic man a consistent presence in attack and defence, he also created the most chances (15) when he moved back to full-back during the festive period.
Cedric Soares has filled in for the past five games and has done well, but is a considerable drop-off from Tierney. While the Portugal international has proven able to drive down the left, switch the ball to the right with good effect and handle himself in defence, there have been moments of doubt. Backing off as wingers attack him directly has been his most common weakness in this position but his mistake for Aston Villa’s winner serves as the most blatant example of the difficulties he faces at times on the left.
Sidelined mostly due to fatigue rather than serious injury, as reported by The Athletic’s David Ornstein, Tierney’s return will come soon. The club have confirmed he is recovering well from the strain on his lower right leg and is aiming to integrate into first-team training next week.
With that will come a decision of what to do with Cedric. Since arriving in January 2020, the view has been that the former Southampton player would be a squad player. At 29 years old, his experience would provide the necessary support for Hector Bellerin as the club’s secondary right-back. Thirteen months and 11 Premier League appearances later, Cedric has fulfilled the role that was expected of him.
Instead of dropping him straight back to the bench, Arteta may face a dilemma regarding who to play at right-back. Bellerin has started 20 Premier League games this season and takes the captain’s armband in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s absence. Starting the season well, the Spaniard’s consistency in the final third, in particular, has dwindled recently, while team-mates are proving they can lead the side on the pitch.
At Molineux, for instance, he displayed great understanding off the ball but did not have a clear picture of the situation for just a split second.
As Thomas Partey readies to pass, Bukayo Saka drops in taking the Wolves defender out of the defensive line. Bellerin reads the situation and bursts into the space where Partey clips the ball into his path.
Note Emile Smith Rowe holding the width to spread the Wolves defence out more, helping create that space inside.
Bellerin reaches the ball but hesitates as it bounces ahead of him. While he’s reached the ball, both Alexandre Lacazette and Nicolas Pepe make runs across their markers. The opportunity to cross was missed with that moment of doubt.
When Bellerin does finally produce a cross, the ball is behind Lacazette and Pepe. Both forwards are forced to check their run, backtrack to get a touch on the ball and when it reaches Pepe, he’s going away from goal before being tackled.
Moments similar to this have cropped up throughout the season, although not in identical circumstances. Earlier in the campaign, when the 3-4-3 formation was deployed, these moments of doubt were visible when Bellerin and Willian would trade passes back and forth on the wing before swinging a hopeful cross into the box. More recently, they have taken the form of the Wolves example as well as making the wrong runs off the ball once a pass has been made.
Bellerin is Arteta’s preferred option at right-back and there are reasons why he’s relied upon. Alongside being a squad leader, his ability to fulfil the “inverted wing-back” role is important. He first began altering his game to Arteta’s demands before lockdown last season, but it was evident after the three-month enforced break and as recently as the trip to Villa Park.
With the ball on the opposite wing, Bellerin is perched inward just off Jack Grealish.
Granit Xhaka, Smith Rowe and Partey move the ball quickly away from the traffic on that side and Arsenal break.
In his more central position, Bellerin is Partey’s link option. In a great position when receiving the ball, he’s able to drive straight at the Aston Villa back line.
Fairly central at the start of the move, Saka peels out wide putting doubt in Matt Targett’s mind. That doubt gives Bellerin time and space to push further forward.
Tyrone Mings steps forward to engage Bellerin as he passes into Saka. The 19-year-old’s first touch bounces away from him forcing him into a right-footed shot. There would have been a better opportunity to take on Targett one-on-one instead had the control been more crisp.
Despite moments like this, Arsenal have lacked real punch down the right wing this season. Bellerin has carried the ball well but is less dangerous in possession than Cedric has been across the Premier League and Europa League. Comparing their contributions as right-backs/wing-backs, Cedric passes into the final third 7.5 times per 90, Bellerin just 3.8 times. Similarly, he’s completing a pass in open play into the box 1.9 times per 90 compared to Bellerin’s 1.3.
Alongside this, Cedric tends to favour longer passes and crosses more often than his team-mate. When playing at right-back this season, he has a smarterscout rating of 64/99 for long passes (those 20 metres or more in length), while Bellerin is rated 18/99. Smarterscout is a site that gives players a rating from 0-99, relating to either how often a player does a given stylistic action compared with others playing in that position (such as shooting volume, or the volume of tackles they make), or how effective they are (such as measuring how well they progress the ball upfield).
For crosses, they rate 65/99 and 30/99 respectively with Cedric attempting 5.7 per 90 and Bellerin 2.4 per 90 from open play. Note these ratings are regarding volume of crosses rather than quality: Cedric has completed 18.4 per cent of those crosses with Bellerin completing 16.9 per cent.
Bellerin performing the inverted role may contribute to having less of a presence in the final third as his job becomes more about ball progression than what happens further upfield.
Comparing Cedric’s output in possession and attack, however, it appears he may suit the dual role just as well if not better when taking minutes played into consideration.
“He (Arteta) wants players to know the game. He wants a player who can play in this moment, sometimes wide, sometimes in the middle, sometimes a little bit more back,” Cedric said in November.
“It is important to play as a full-back, a wing-back, in all these three positions. Defensively, it’s a little more specific but offensively, you need to have these three positions where sometimes you are a midfielder, sometimes you are a winger and if you see our rotation on the side, it works quite a lot. Normally players pass (through) all these three positions.
“The player should have the knowledge of the game. Of course, you have some qualities that are stronger in one or another position but you need to be ready to play every position.”
At right-back, that “knowledge of the game” was most evident in January’s 3-0 win over Newcastle.
Receiving the ball wide, rather than taking a touch and inviting pressure from Jamal Lewis, Cedric uses his first touch to flick the ball back around the corner to Saka.
The pass doesn’t reach his team-mate as Saka forces Ciaran Clark into the corner, Cedric then follows up in support.
Clark’s clearance falls to him and he plays the ball straight into Saka before underlapping towards the byline for a potential return pass.
At this point, the obvious decision would be to cross. With neither Lacazette nor Aubameyang running across their markers, reaching them without an intervention from the Newcastle defence would be difficult.
Instead, Cedric takes an extra touch to head further into the box, giving the defenders decisions to make.
Fixated on the ball, the Newcastle defence drops immediately and Karl Darlow protects his near post. Lacazette and Aubameyang both hold their runs allowing Cedric space to cut the ball back and for Aubameyang to finish with Darlow still at his near post.
At Southampton, the decision to push high and defend in their half of the pitch worked well. Against Eberechi Eze of Crystal Palace and Wolves’ Adama Traore, however, getting close to them left spaces in behind to exploit, so selecting a right-back may come down to who Arteta trusts more to read those situations correctly more often.
In defence the pair are relatively similar, although Bellerin (5ft 10in) has more aerial presence. So far in the Premier League and Europa League this season, Cedric has a 46.4 per cent tackle win rate from 28 attempts, while Bellerin has a 43.3 per cent tackle win rate from 60 attempts. The Spaniard has also won 50 per cent of his 50 aerial duels compared to Cedric’s (5ft 8in) 33.3 per cent success rate from 21 duels.
When defending crosses, Cedric tends to try to compensate with sly tricks. Early on against Manchester United, for instance, he recognised a late run into the box from Bruno Fernandes and eased him away from Luke Shaw’s cross at the last second. No foul was given, but Fernandes was quick to appeal.
Away to Wolves last season, he gave Raul Jimenez a similar nudge which forced the striker to miss a header inside the box. Like Fernandes, he appealed for a penalty but a goal kick was given.
Traditionally, this would be deemed as smart gamesmanship. However, with the way football is officiated these days, if Cedric is to continue with this approach to defending crosses, he may have to be careful that he isn’t pulled up on it one day.
With Europa League matches against Benfica between games against Leeds, Manchester City and Leicester City, Arteta is likely to rotate. Of course, Calum Chambers may also be an option at right-back, but should Tierney return at left-back in these games, Arteta will face a real dilemma as to whether Cedric or Bellerin will be his favoured option.
Playing 21 games across the Premier League and Europa League this season (fourth-most at the club) in one of the most physically demanding roles on the pitch, it wouldn’t be too harmful if Bellerin was rested more often in the coming weeks.
Country: England
Player:Rice
I think Bellerin is the root problem at RB to the honest.
Cedric is perfectly fine as a back up in that position. The problem is he's basically 1B to Bellerins 1A and Bellerin just doesn't cut it these days.
Full back games changed obviously but you'd be fine with Cedric as back up to a Lauren or Sagna quality RB.
Cedric is perfectly fine as a back up in that position. The problem is he's basically 1B to Bellerins 1A and Bellerin just doesn't cut it these days.
Full back games changed obviously but you'd be fine with Cedric as back up to a Lauren or Sagna quality RB.
Country: England
pffft sign whichever right back you want, the boy is just the latest scapegoat at the moment.
Country: Nigeria
Player:Saliba
I don't think anyone is scapegoating him. The fact is, Bellerin has been poor for sometime now. He limits us in the right wing. It's why Pepe was so infective there because he basically had to do everything alone.
Even Arteta knows this that's why he instruct him to always drift into central areas. He's basically useless when he gets to the byline. He's quite good at triangles and combination play though. I'll give him that.
Country: England
lol sign whichever rightback of your dreams, Arsenal football club will still be pants.
Country: Nigeria
Player:Saliba
Lidl_Reed
Wants a new name
As I said before, Heccyy is just the most good looking, attractive and active right back we have
say yes
forum master baiter
Yeah everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I’m not really sure it’s possible to drop someone as good looking / great as Hector tbh.
I personally think hector hit his ceiling a few years ago. I wouldnt say he is better than cedric and i wouldnt say he is worst. He is however miles behind the likes of cancelo and he wont reach that level.
A move abroad will be good for him, in a slightly less demanding league he will look better. For us we need a powerhouse rb.
A move abroad will be good for him, in a slightly less demanding league he will look better. For us we need a powerhouse rb.
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