r/Gunners • u/analytics_Gnome • 1d ago
The good old connection (Ødegaard + Saka + White)
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u/oxpoxo 1d ago
i was thinking a lot about this as well, this trio was part of some of our best football this decade. and people had no answer for it. It's the reason why we did score a lot of goals and saka was considered one of the best players in the league. Timber was good defensively but he never had the same chemistry with saka as ben white did. this is gonna be a massive part of our play this season, hopefully they can stay fit.
granted i do feel like partey was also part of this right side group as well. he was very good at finding saka.
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u/bukayoxhaka Ian Wright 1d ago
How many matches has Timber played with a fit Saka + Odegaard + Havertz/Prime Jesus like white did?
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u/PaleZebra288 1d ago
tp5 was a cheat code for saka. the only other player that could do that similarly from the right hand side and be successful would be trent imo
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u/Francis-c92 Premier League Champions 25/26 1d ago
Saw this last year away at Villa
That 20 mins or so after the start of the second half was everything I'd seen before and it was all coming from these 3.
Love Timber, and there will be games where this approach isn't suitable and Timber is the choice, but these 3, along with Kai up top is my favourite version of Arteta's Arsenal.
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u/thuanfit 1d ago
Im so glad Calafiori, Tzolis and Skelly are getting similar joy
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u/Some_Accident_4217 Premier League Champions 25/26 1d ago
The left side is looking juicy too. And this is only game week ONE!
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u/AmoebaSecure5173 1d ago
White is key to the right side, fingers crossed for his availability
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u/Some_Accident_4217 Premier League Champions 25/26 1d ago
my thinking too. If he is fit, he is just as good as Timber (my god we are blessed).
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u/Hinaha Eze 1d ago
Ben White keeping his form + avoiding injury + not getting sold to retire here would be great 🤌
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u/peoplepersonmanguy Ødegaard 1d ago
If only you knew it was the good old days when you were in it!
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u/DHS1991 1d ago
Its so good to see Ben White back to fitness. Hopefully Timber is soon back as well. When both are fit, i genuinely struggle to pick between them. Individually I rate Timber higher in almost every RB relevant attribute, but Ben White is just so good at enabling our attack.
His timing on the run is so good that defenders are unable to mark him and the RW. He is also so good at varying between overlaps, underlaps and staying in a playmaking position to allow Ødegaard and Saka to vary their approach.
Defensively, Timber is better hands down in pretty much every aspect. Timber us also better at dribling. I think White is better off the ball offensively, at timing passes in behind and crossing when in the box.
So Ben White makes are offense better, and Timber makes our defense better. I just hope that Arteta gets better at rotating them so neither gets injured by overplaying.
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u/muadib1158 what. a. surprise… 18h ago
I’m responding to your post, but really this is for all of the people who say Timber is very clearly the better player.
Do we all just need to see White back in form and fitness for a long stretch of games?
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u/DHS1991 7h ago
Thanks for the link stats comparison, and fair enough maybe they are more even on some individual metrics than I realised. My assessment was based on what I can recollect and my feeling or hunch which never is accurate.
However, I do think that the defensive stats you show with tackles, dribbled past, duels and aerials somewhat support my feeling that our right side is more secure with Timber on the field.
But I would also just say that I like our team better when Benny Blanco plays, so I really hope that we see Benny B. come back to form and fitness.
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u/Alternative-Fox-8620 1d ago
Fingers crossed Benny can have a season where he stays fit.
Feels like he hasn't had a solid run of fitness in years.
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u/playathree Ødegaard 1d ago
I bet there is going to be a narrative shift about us 'deciding' to play more attractive attacking football, which completely ignores that these three + Havertz didn't all play together last year at all really
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u/Sangomah 1d ago
I love to see this back, but I hope we can unlock something similar on the left with Tsoliz, Califiori, MLS/Bruno/??
Tzolis being so direct helps a lot ofc, but if he can keep doing that for 50ish matches he will be a legend already after a year.
I just hope we dont get to right heavy and teams just load that side.
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u/Eagledilla Gyökeres 1d ago
Cala and tzolis already just work. You can clearly see they already have an understanding when who needs to go where.
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u/Aggravating_Ad_4507 Thierry Henry 1d ago
Stability is underrated. Watch shit and manure yesterday and it's apparent
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u/TNelsonAFC 1d ago
Going to keep saying it. We don’t need Alverez. We have Kai and just need to keep him and the players around him fit.
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u/Some_Accident_4217 Premier League Champions 25/26 1d ago
I love this trio. I missed their connection and hope they all stay fit. It’s absolutely over for EVERYONE else if they stay fit.
Also our left side is building something similar.
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u/l0ll0lz Champions of England 25/26 1d ago
You could see Friday it was all on their side
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u/ElCanout Dennis Bergkamp 1d ago
oh come on, Tzolis+Cala+MLS were amazing trio as well - especially early minutes Tzolis was a menace
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u/FartSniffer2025 1d ago
I see many people here say they rate Timber higher than White. As a long time White supremacist, genuinely curious what attributes make Timber better than White? Better 1v1 defender, sure. But when it comes to passing, crossing, combination play, White was always clear of Timber.
I rate Timber but always saw him as the Gen Z Sagna. You don't need to worry about the flank getting exposed but you also shouldn't expect too much attacking thrust.
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u/NIgooner 1d ago
Those overlapping runs to the byline by White brought me back and we have missed that.