Luiz is better at distribution and I'd say Siovas too, but Sokratis wasn't being asked to play the 70-yard passes, Luiz was in fact asked to do that. Sokratis was asked to make simple ground passes and it makes no sense to suggest he shouldn't attempt them.
I saw the whole game. Arsenal as a whole struggled to make these set-plays work, not just Sokratis. FIFA introduce a law change only this past summer that permits this sort of tactic. This is new. Arsenal invited Watford all the way to their box and tried to play tiki-taka through them. If you saw how static and directionless Arsenal were on these set-plays you would have seen where the problem was. The problem was bigger than a misplaced pass by Sokratis.
And in fairness to Sokratis, he actually played well in the game. He had two nervy moments where he needed to do better, one that proved costly. Overall he was a measure of calm and reassurance at the back with Arsenal under huge pressure. Arsenal had to cope with 31 shots and came out with a 2-2 draw despite having only 7 efforts themselves! They're lucky to have gotten the draw because after Arsenal took a 2-0 lead, they turned off the attack, played too deep, and let Watford get control of the game.
I saw the whole game. Arsenal as a whole struggled to make these set-plays work, not just Sokratis. FIFA introduce a law change only this past summer that permits this sort of tactic. This is new. Arsenal invited Watford all the way to their box and tried to play tiki-taka through them. If you saw how static and directionless Arsenal were on these set-plays you would have seen where the problem was. The problem was bigger than a misplaced pass by Sokratis.
And in fairness to Sokratis, he actually played well in the game. He had two nervy moments where he needed to do better, one that proved costly. Overall he was a measure of calm and reassurance at the back with Arsenal under huge pressure. Arsenal had to cope with 31 shots and came out with a 2-2 draw despite having only 7 efforts themselves! They're lucky to have gotten the draw because after Arsenal took a 2-0 lead, they turned off the attack, played too deep, and let Watford get control of the game.
Comment