Hector Bellerin: The B's Knee

[Gooner Zig]

Gotta stick up for Bellerin. He's been getting a raw deal from fans of late and I can't help but think there's some agenda towards him because of reports he wanted to leave this summer and for his IG posts aswell.

He wasn't bad in either of the last couple of matches. Could have defended better in the 2nd half vs Palace I thought, but he wasn't as bad as some were saying. He's actually had a quietly effective season so far in terms of his defending and while I think he could do with some confidence in the attack, he's been far from our worst performer and I don't think he's getting anywhere near the credit he deserves.

The criticism of him has been utterly bizarre. If anyone would take a care to have a look at some advanced statistics such as xG chain which is the chain of passing that results in a shot on goal then they will find that Hector is regularly in our top 5-6 players almost every match.

The lad is only 22 freaking years old.

 

[MutableEarth]

The criticism of him has been utterly bizarre. If anyone would take a care to have a look at some advanced statistics such as xG chain which is the chain of passing that results in a shot on goal then they will find that Hector is regularly in our top 5-6 players almost every match.

The lad is only 22 freaking years old.

Özil's been playing in front of him for most of the season - he has the entire flank to himself the vast majority of games he plays, mans it by himself. He has a much better relationship with Iwobi in terms of the right side of the attack, and Iwobi despite cutting in tends to pull wide at times in the attack to give Bellerin space on the underlap.

Admittedly, for some games this season, he passes sideways a lot and seems less confident on the dribble as before, it's been noticeable.

 

[Aevi]

I just took a look at some highlights from the C.P. game and though I feel he has been solid defensively this season, he left Chambers in the dust there. Zaha and Schlupp doubled down on Calum and were able to move around him quite easily on a few occassions because he didn't have proper support from Bellerin. Hope he knows that and is a bit more considerate to help his fellow RCB in upcoming games, or else we'll keep giving up chances.

Otherwise, I think he has had a decent season thus far and I would agree that the criticism against him has been over the top. There are some things he should work on (ie crossing, decision-making, defensive positioning...) but the basics are there. We know he is capable of good things, we've seen it before, so we should be a bit patient and see if he can put it back together after this somewhat "slow" spell.

 

[al-Ustaadh]

I just took a look at some highlights from the C.P. game and though I feel he has been solid defensively this season, he left Chambers in the dust there. Zaha and Schlupp doubled down on Calum and were able to move around him quite easily on a few occassions because he didn't have proper support from Bellerin. Hope he knows that and is a bit more considerate to help his fellow RCB in upcoming games, or else we'll keep giving up chances.

Otherwise, I think he has had a decent season thus far and I would agree that the criticism against him has been over the top. There are some things he should work on (ie crossing, decision-making, defensive positioning...) but the basics are there. We know he is capable of good things, we've seen it before, so we should be a bit patient and see if he can put it back together after this somewhat "slow" spell.

Maybe he'd get the message if Wenger sat him and started AMN or Debuchy instead?

 

[infinium]

He's a young player who has things to improve in his game. I think after his break out season, it would have been easy for opposition coaches to work out that the lad likes to bomb forward so a straightforward tactic would be to target the space Bellerin is prone to vacate. Unfortunately Bellerin is still learning how to balance the defensive and offensive side of his game and we all know Wenger doesn't like to instruct his players explicitly so the kid is going to take time to work it out himself.

 

[Bergkamp a Dutch Master]

Unfortunately Bellerin is still learning how to balance the defensive and offensive side of his game and we all know Wenger doesn't like to instruct his players explicitly

What !! The master tactician doesn't give his players advice and instruction? Have we been fooled all these years? I have watched him convert a turd into a star (err....maybe not) and a star into a turd.

 

[Hunta]

Said before on here that his body positioning is terrible. He runs like he’s pulled a muscle in his back. Niles looks more impressive in his cameos, he’d look even better at RB you’d imagine too.

Bellerin is just average now, he has been for a couple of seasons now and needs dropping.

 

[celestis]

"The electricity for his hair-drying, it takes so long, he's wasting too much money," Mustafi said. "They have to sell him, or he has to cut his hair."

 

[Trilly]

Said before on here that his body positioning is terrible. He runs like he’s pulled a muscle in his back. Niles looks more impressive in his cameos, he’d look even better at RB you’d imagine too.

Bellerin is just average now, he has been for a couple of seasons now and needs dropping.

Welcome back mate, hope your sabbatical has helped you get through the season without assaulting those innocent grandmas.

 

[CurryFlavoured]

I just don't see any stand out qualities in him. Particularly as a wing back, he needs to be threatening offensively. Kolasinac has clear attacking qualities as a wing back in his powerful running and crossing (and even shooting). So do Moses, Walker, Rose, Alonso etc. For a player who's strengths apparently are attacking, I don't see where or how he threatens going forward. As a defender I'd also consider him to be pretty average.

 

[TH14]

Another player destroyed by Wenger.

 

[yybecause]

Another player destroyed by Wenger.

Shame on you

 

[TH14]

Shame on you

I’m joking. But he’s really out of form. Needs a rest.

 

[Dokaka]

You have to ask, who does he have to shadow at Arsenal? There's not a single defender in the locker room to give him pointers, especially not for his position. Not to mention there's barely any competition for his spot in the team, which is never a good thing.

It's not like there's a culture of defensive disciplin at Arsenal during his time here. He's learning and growing in a system we all deride seemingly on a weekly basis for being naive.

Thinking about it, I can't think of any player in the last decade or so that has improved defensively while at Arsenal. I'm not saying there weren't any, but I can't think of one. There has been some periods of players playing well but it never really sticks. Koscielny is probably the closest.

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

I just don't see any stand out qualities in him. Particularly as a wing back, he needs to be threatening offensively. Kolasinac has clear attacking qualities as a wing back in his powerful running and crossing (and even shooting). So do Moses, Walker, Rose, Alonso etc. For a player who's strengths apparently are attacking, I don't see where or how he threatens going forward. As a defender I'd also consider him to be pretty average.

He has 11 assists and 4 goals in 110 premier league games. Hit the woodwork 3 times and has something that premier league stat side calls big chance created, 19 of those.

In 110 games as young promising full back he has 153 tackles with 80% success rate, 1 last man tackle, 530 recoveries, 99 header clearences and 443 duels won. He then has what premier league stat side calls error leading to goal, he has 1 of that.

Take for example B. Sagna one of the better full back in the league in his prime and look at him attacking wise. In 267 premier league games he had 19 assists(7 more than Bellerin), 4 goals(equal as Bellerin), only 20 big chance created(1 more than Bellerin). Sagna had 73% tackle success but in other stats he looked better than Bellerin defensively but I expect Bellerin to keep improving there.

Another example. Take Walker who has play 220 games in premier league. He has 5 goals(1 more than Bellerin), 22 assists(11 more than Bellerin but also in double more games), 21 big chance created(only 2 more than Bellerin in double more games), and hit the woodwork 2(1 less than Bellerin).

Walker is at crossing accuracy 19% and Bellerin is on crossing accuaracy 16%.

 

[CurryFlavoured]

He has 11 assists and 4 goals in 110 premier league games. Hit the woodwork 3 times and has something that premier league stat side calls big chance created, 19 of those.

In 110 games as young promising full back he has 153 tackles with 80% success rate, 1 last man tackle, 530 recoveries, 99 header clearences and 443 duels won. He then has what premier league stat side calls error leading to goal, he has 1 of that.

Take for example B. Sagna one of the better full back in the league in his prime and look at him attacking wise. In 267 premier league games he had 19 assists(7 more than Bellerin), 4 goals(equal as Bellerin), only 20 big chance created(1 more than Bellerin). Sagna had 73% tackle success but in other stats he looked better than Bellerin defensively but I expect Bellerin to keep improving there.

Another example. Take Walker who has play 220 games in premier league. He has 5 goals(1 more than Bellerin), 22 assists(11 more than Bellerin but also in double more games), 21 big chance created(only 2 more than Bellerin in double more games), and hit the woodwork 2(1 less than Bellerin).

Walker is at crossing accuracy 19% and Bellerin is on crossing accuaracy 16%.

What Walker has averaged over 7-8 seasons is irrelevant because he's only been a really top fullback for the last 2 seasons. And Sagna was widely regarded as a bad fullback from an attacking perspective so again I don't see the comparison here. On the whole, Sagna was a far superior player to Bellerin because he was peerless as a defender.

This forum is slowly going to just become a group of people quoting statistics at each other.

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

What Walker has averaged over 7-8 seasons is irrelevant because he's only been a really top fullback for the last 2 seasons. And Sagna was widely regarded as a bad fullback from an attacking perspective so again I don't see the comparison here. On the whole, Sagna was a far superior player to Bellerin because he was peerless as a defender.

This forum is slowly going to just become a group of people quoting statistics at each other.

Yeah when someone post nonsense like "Bellerin is no offensive threat" you throw the stats into their face. But I should have known that when people are found out by throwing stats into their face they act like "oh stats doesn't count".

 

[CurryFlavoured]

Yeah when someone post nonsense like "Bellerin is no offensive threat" you throw the stats into their face. But I should have known that when people are found out by throwing stats into their face they act like "oh stats doesn't count".

Alright sass queen! I never said that they didn't count, I said that looking at averages over multiple seasons doesn't tell the story of now. Bellerin has been particularly stale recently. Walker was pretty average up until maybe 2 or 3 years ago. You don't see how statistics based over 5+ seasons might be misleading when looking at current performance?

And there's nothing wrong with using your eyes to make a conclusion on a player. From watching Bellerin umpteen times - his crossing technique isn't great and they're generally floated, and despite being very quick he offers no threat towards beating his opposition number 1 v 1. He has become very cautious as an attacker and generally is there to help keep play ticking over.

And I never said either of your made up quotes, but keep going

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

Alright sass queen! I never said that they didn't count, I said that looking at averages over multiple seasons doesn't tell the story of now. Bellerin has been particularly stale recently. Walker was pretty average up until maybe 2 or 3 years ago. You don't see how statistics based over 5+ seasons might be misleading when looking at current performance?

And there's nothing wrong with using your eyes to make a conclusion on a player. From watching Bellerin umpteen times - his crossing technique isn't great and they're generally floated, and despite being very quick he offers no threat towards beating his opposition number 1 v 1. He has become very cautious as an attacker and generally is there to help keep play ticking over.

And I never said either of your made up quotes, but keep going

Mate, his offensive game is very strong. He constantly get into good chances and offer good outlet. At the moment it is not coming together for him with the final touch but if you watched the game you see him as a full back getting into goal scoring position at least once per game and that is only this month. He is a threat.

And there is a lot wrong with using your own eyes to make a conclusion on player. When you don't rate player and you already decided he is not good you are not gonna make a conclusion that can be backed up by the data. The data show that Bellerin is a threat.

And at a age 22 he will only get better.

 

[CurryFlavoured]

Mate, his offensive game is very strong. He constantly get into good chances and offer good outlet. At the moment it is not coming together for him with the final touch but if you watched the game you see him as a full back getting into goal scoring position at least once per game and that is only this month. He is a threat.

And there is a lot wrong with using your own eyes to make a conclusion on player. When you don't rate player and you already decided he is not good you are not gonna make a conclusion that can be backed up by the data. The data show that Bellerin is a threat.

And at a age 22 he will only get better.

No point delving much further, I see it differently and I've said why that is, and why those stats aren't the best representation. But I don't have any bias towards players, I just want to see players at their best for Arsenal. Bellerin isn't fulfilling his potential right now imo.