@johnspacemuller.com Bellingham got a 1/100 shooting rating yesterday, is that right? Seems kind of low for 5 shots and 0.6 xG

Looking at the Central Incisive Passes completed at the team level is pretty interesting. Arsenal have gone from the top team at these in 2022/23 completing nearly 9 per match to 8th last season completing just 5.5 per match.

Wow

I hate that type of play for a foul. Hate it

Long shot and a rebound. Just like Spain yesterday Forcing the keeper to be perfect has worked out well.

25/26 Wide Attackers, the final list - a timely list given the needs of Arsenal

Eberechi Eze - Open Play Central Incisive Passes 2025/26

The Chelsea valuation here does come pretty much mirror what my rating based valuation would be. The actual guess at the fee however seems like that's a stretch

Here is the leaders in the stat for the Premier League last season

I’ve been thinking about a stat for central progression. Rough definition, ground passes only, ball moves 20% up the field, it’s a vertical pass (+/- 15 deg), it must start and stay between the width of 18 yard box, if from your own half it gets into the attacking 40% Thoughts?

I have been trying to dedicate more time to writing every morning now that I have knocked out some of my data projects. It paid off with 3 newsletter posts this week. I would like to see if I can stick with this 2-4 newsletter posts per week.

Arsenal had the players ranked 2nd (Ødegaard), 4th (Merino), and 6th (Eze) in through balls attempted per 90 in the Premier League last season, min 900 minutes played.

It sure seems like Haaland has been the biggest breakout star among the “normies” in the US who don’t follow the club sport

With all the recent Guimarães updates, I'm considering what transfer fee makes sense for Arsenal. I've warmed up to the move, he's a damn good player, but there are trade-offs and limits to how high a fee can be justified. More here: www.cannonstats.com/p/what-is-br...

We Won the League. So Why Don't Arsenal Fans Trust Andrea Berta? www.cannonstats.com/p/we-won-the...

Does Cole Palmer know that English people don’t really use ice? I don’t know if his star power will be enough to change that. I’m surprised an athlete in the US hasn’t tried this, we love ice and things with added electrolytes

Well everyone, sometimes the bad news just doesn't take a break. We learned last week that my mom, who just turned 60, has lung cancer. I'd appreciate any support you're willing to give her as she's had to close her in-home daycare to focus on her treatment. ❤️🤍 www.gofundme.com/f/kim-voges-...

What Is Bruno Guimarães Actually Worth to Arsenal? www.cannonstats.com/p/what-is-br...

Until today I had never noticed this on the FBref wage reporting pages. "Data should not be used by sporting directors as part of their player transfer decision-making process."

Does anything I write matter anymore? | An interesting easy from Noah Smith, I too sometimes feel like reading/writing takes a backseat in the modern online world

I agree with how this poll turned out. Vini is an incredible talent but I think there JUST enough questions here if he’s worth the contract he is seeking plus transfer fee Madrid would want

Andrey Santos - Defensive Mid Radar and Distribution 2025-2026 The 48m + 2m transfer is on the high end of the estimate but not a giant overpay like you saw from Tottenham. Maybe United are getting better at this?

The Ødegaard Decision

World Cup | Weighted xG & Goal Tiers This shows all of the teams that made it to the round of 16

The Arsenal players minutes played at the World Cup so far.

United States (1-4) Belgium - Deserve to win meter Yeah Belgium were pretty clearly the better side overall in this one from start to finish.

What a roller coaster game.

Would you blow up the Arsenal wage structure to bring in Vinicius Junior? In Premier League terms, Vinicius's rumored salary demand translates to approximately £800-900k per week.

Not knowing shit about cars, it is so nice to be able to take all of the pictures and reports sent from repair shops and be able to double check everything with AI. It helps with the are they padding this? Does this actually make sense for the issue? It’s major help for peace of mind.

Penalty conversion rates for the "Big Five" Leagues last season and the World Cup (through Messi miss today in the first half of ARG vs EGY) I expected that the World Cup was a bigger outlier but maybe that because I am so used to the Premier League where they score at much higher rate.

I’m kind of okay cheaping out on backup keeper. If you have to pick a position and save money for other moves, I think that’s the trade off you want to make. Raya has a solid track record for health and if he’s fit he will play every meaningful match for the team

Thanks for Everything, Leo www.cannonstats.com/p/thanks-for...

I was worried that the US would potentially crash out in the group and they managed to surprise me and actually get me excited about them. I hate that they shit the bed under pressure and went out with a whimper.

And it ends in a disaster

Pretty easily the best stretch from the US today. Sucks that they are playing with essentially 10 men now

The aggressive vertical passing into the right channel seems to create danger constantly for the US. They just need to execute and stop shitting the bed here.

The good feelings were short lived. Great delivery from Trossard.

It’s been one way traffic and it looks like Belgium wanted to prove a point. They’ve dominated here

Seattle sounds electric

World Cup - Weighted xG & Goal Tiers

It doesn’t seem right that the USA isn’t playing today

Do they have one more miracle?

This might make for a good topic to write about while I am killing time smoking ribs and celebrating the USA’s birthday.

Fair Isn't Really the Point; Spending Rules and Sympathy for Villa and Newcastle www.cannonstats.com/p/fair-isnt-...

I’m seeing a bit more of a growing groundswell in the not overly satisfied with Andrea Berta camp. It’s hard to evaluate DoF from outside but his first year here did end in a championship. If you fit into that what reason would you give?

Álex Baena had 11 shot creating actions in just 71 minutes played vs Austria. His shot creating actions set up 1.59 expected goals.

Even more now than the Germany goal that was disallowed this seems even harsher. The Spain player jumps and tries to play the ball but still has a foul called on him. I guess it’s kind of like hockey now and in the six yard box and you don’t have a right to play if the keeper is trying for it.

World Cup 2026 - Non-Penalty xG compared to xG per Shot

I'm a huge Balogun fan but yeah Pepi has continued to put up very good numbers in Europe. He's gone to an underrated option here even if Balogun will be a big miss. Here is the ELO adjusted numbers from last season for both.

I have completed the major building and refactoring work for all of the different backend items for Cannon Stats. It was a major undertaking and sucked up a bunch of my time at the end of the season that made it so I couldn't write as much as I wanted.