I’ve been saying this since the beginning of the season. I’m glad people are starting to come around so I can stop reading threads about “XX is a shit player”.

I think Tifo made a good video talking about how Arsenal are progressing ball differently. The progression is certainly slower and less direct. It also seems more likely the attack stalls when the ball moves out wide. I think teams have realized they can afford to double up on Saka and Martinelli. However I think Odegaard could learn something from Havertz…

When Havertz has played next to Saka, Saka has looked more impactful. I think this is because Havertz isn’t as predictable and is more likely to shift outside rather than in like Odegaard. This gives Saka space to move inside which throws defenses off because they expect him to hold the width. Also Havertz makes more runs in behind which also creates some space for Saka to move under or inside.

Odegaard tends to float around the half space and to your point players like Partey and Xhaka were able to pick him out sooner in an attack before defenses could transition. This gave both him and Saka more time and space in the attack.

Anyway all of that to say more rotations on the wings with CM and CF will help move defenses around which should benefit the whole front line.

The title was saying rice is worth 105m. When I posted my comment others were stating their thoughts on how good he’s been and that he was worth the money. I was agreeing and just adding the thought that he might not be worth that to other teams. I don’t get why anyone is bothered by that comment?

Personally I think it’s all relative. For Arsenal he’s been a great deal and he can become an even better deal still. He’s still integrating into the team, he’s young, and he’s willing to learn. However I don’t think he makes the same impact for every big club based on their specific roster and he doesn’t solve all the problems of a small club which could use the same money spread across several positions. So I would just add that for Arsenal he’s been worth it no doubt.

The angle is a little bit lower than I like but I appreciate the innovation.

I think the operator needs some direction and training. The frame was moving too much which I found to be distracting and for some people it can be nauseating. The camera has another degree of freedom or axis it can move. In my opinion this means the operator needs to reduce how much they are moving the other axis while translating otherwise the frame has too much motion. Then again the frame translating might never feel normal because it’s just too foreign because we can’t do that normally? Like humans have to sit in a seat and watch a game.

I don’t know but I certainly like it during replays. I hope they keep experimenting.