Riccardo Calafiori striking the balance between chaos and stability

Within the Premier League this season, Riccardo Calafiori has averaged 1.83 pictures per 90. That’s greater than Mikel Merino, Noni Madueke, Martin Odegaard and simply shy of Gabriel Martinelli’s 1.89 per 90. The common distance of the Italian’s pictures is 14 yards, so these are usually not speculative efforts.

Based on fotmob, 10 of his 22 Premier League pictures have been along with his proper foot and 5 have been along with his head, so there’s loads of selection in how he seems to be to seek out the goal. Round one third of his makes an attempt have been on his left foot, it’s extremely uncommon for a defender to take so many pictures at objective and much more uncommon for round two thirds of a left-footed participant’s makes an attempt to not be taken with their south paw.

There’s a lot about Calafiori’s recreation that’s extremely uncommon but in addition extremely efficient. When Thomas Vermaelen performed for Arsenal round 15 years in the past I recall considering that he was a very good footballer however I couldn’t consider an optimum place for him. I didn’t suppose he was fairly defensively dependable sufficient to be a centre-half, not fairly cell sufficient to be a midfielder or full-back.

This present day, I feel Vermaelen would most likely match the present pattern for a left-back a bit extra comfortably. Calafiori fairly often ‘invades the house’ within the left eight place, often Declan Rice will drift proper over to the left touchline to make an area within the inside left channel for Calafiori to buffet into like a half-back.

Since his appointment almost six years in the past, Mikel Arteta has favoured left-backs which might be left-field in each sense of the phrase. Bukayo Saka performed at left-back for Arteta’s first recreation in cost, Ainsley Maitland-Niles had a spell at left wing-back thereafter, unorthodox left-backs similar to Zinchenko, Tomiyasu, Lewis-Skelly had spells there.

Initially, I recall considering that Nuno Tavares, the kingmaker of barely zany, off-road left-backs will need to have been an Edu signing given Arteta’s insistence on defensive rigour however as time has drawn on, I’ve come to grasp that Tavares has plenty of the qualities Arteta actually likes in that place. The one left-back that he actually didn’t appear to take an unlimited shine to was Kieran Tierney, certainly essentially the most quick again and sides, customized overlapping left-back within the sport.

The will for the avant-garde at left-back has led to plenty of turnover within the place. Zinchenko briefly shone as an inverting left-back earlier than his star fizzled out as shortly because it ascended and his defensive weaknesses turned an excessive amount of to tolerate. Ainsley Maitland-Niles didn’t appear to particularly relish the place, Kieran Tierney and Takehiro Tomiyasu weren’t bodily strong sufficient (within the case of Tierney, I believe he may effectively have ended up within the Ramsdale / Smith Rowe bucket no matter his well being).

Clearly Lewis-Skelly is at the moment creating within the place however, and whisper it quietly, in Calafiori it looks as if Arteta may simply have finessed the very delicate and unstable method to its optimum type. Calafiori is at the moment treading that very high-quality line between being an agent of chaos in assault, a stable defender who can get well into house and provide aerial prowess at each ends of the pitch into the discount.

Earlier within the piece, I remarked that 5 of Calafiori’s 22 Premier League pictures have been headers, together with Arsenal’s first objective of the season which was sufficient to take the three factors at Previous Trafford. He enhances Arsenal’s vital setpiece risk. Fotmob has Calafiori within the 97th percentile for aerial duels received in comparison with different full-backs within the league.

The Italian’s debut season was blighted by accidents. Probably the most vital risk to Calafiori’s continued potential to excel as a Mikel Arteta left-back is his knees. Up to now this season, he has been capable of construct rhythm by (nearly) avoiding accidents and we needs to be grateful to the Italian Nationwide Group for his or her wise administration of him throughout the November worldwide fixtures.

Zubimendi, Rice and Timber are the one outfield gamers to clock up extra Premier League minutes than Calafiori thus far this season. From his interrupted appearances final season, we may already see his skills as a ‘joker within the pack’ from an attacking sense, particularly with regards to invading that left half-space from deep.

His first objective for the membership at Manchester Metropolis completely illustrated this, as did his successful objective at Wolves in February. He has a penchant for attending to the sting of the penalty space simply left of centre, chopping the ball again onto his proper foot and capturing. Right here we see him hitting the put up away at Nottingham Forest in January. His run within the left channel retains Forest gamers away from Trossard on the left touchline, earlier than he continues his invading run right into a harmful space.

And right here we see him do one thing comparable from the sting of the penalty space towards Brentford on Wednesday evening, forcing a save from Kelleher with a chop again onto his proper foot and shot. Then a couple of minutes later, he picks the ball up in central midfield, runs to the sting of the field, chops again inside on his proper and forces Kelleher into one other save with a right-footed shot.

The nice shock this season has not solely been Calafiori’s health report (for now…) however the sense of defensive safety he has given Arsenal. His 3.11 tackles and interceptions per 90 is just marginally behind Jurrien Timber’s 3.81 and Timber is, rightly, thought of a world class one-on-one defender who isn’t tasked with leaving his put up as typically as Calafiori.

He has received 60% of his aerial duels this season, marginally lower than Timber’s 61.8% (Gabriel is on 65% with Zubimendi on 70%). His 4.55 ball recoveries per 90 is just bettered by Lewis-Skelly (4.67) from Arsenal’s defenders. Defensive information solely offers you a snapshot in fact as a result of it’s biased in direction of occasions, your eyes inform you that the Italian is stable, imposing and when the opponent switches the ball to his aspect, you hardly ever see him floundering out of place.

Arteta’s calls for of his left-backs are unconventional and exacting. It shouldn’t be a shock that there was some trial and error up to now, I additionally suppose it makes plenty of sense to attempt to mould a younger participant like Lewis-Skelly into the function progressively. In the intervening time, it seems to be as if Calafiori has struck that troublesome stability between being a chaotic attacking presence and a stable defender.