I don’t, like Arsene Wenger, blame the referee for our defeat at Fulham. Â Nor do I blame the Fulham players who targeted a player struggling on a booking: I would hope Arsenal would do exactly the same thing. Â I don’t blame Johan Djorou for being sent off, or Francis Coquelin for being out of position when Bobby Zamora volleyed home the winner. Â When you line-up with two out-of-position players in your back four, you have to accept there is a chance you’ll be punished defensively. Â Instead, you need to make the most of your attacking opportunities. Â And that, I believe, is where Arsenal fell down.
Let me start by saying that Robin van Persie is exempt from criticism. Â He has been outstanding this season and the fact he went a single game without a goal cannot possibly be held against him. Â But on the days when he doesn’t score, it is even more vital that the players around him take advantage of any time and space afforded to them. Â For my money, the other two members of the front three, Theo Walcott and Gervinho, are currently not doing enough.
Both players are quick and have reasonably intelligent movement, so inevitably find themselves receiving the ball in promising positions. Â All too often of late, however, their final ball or decision-making has not been up to scratch. Â In Theo’s case, I feel his confidence has dipped slightly. Â He’s talking up the number of assists he provides for Robin van Persie, and rightly so, but when played through one-on-one against QPR he seemed to be more interested in trying to square for his Dutch mate than finishing the simple chance right in front of him. Â He seems to be in danger of contracting Hlebitis.
And then there is Gervinho. Â I’ve watched the Ivorian winger with intrigue over his first few months in England. Â I’m conscious of how long some foreign players can take to settle, and have been hoping some of the inconsistencies in his game would iron themselves out over these winter months. Â It does not seem so. Â Already in his short Arsenal career he has produced enough outrageous misses to banish any memories of Nicklas Bendtner’s private collection of howlers. Â His decision-making is erratic and his final ball variable. Â He reminds me of the old adage about Andy Cole: he would always score, but he’d need five opportunities to do so. Â Gervinho occasionally produces vital contributions, but in the meantime so many simpler chances to make the difference pass by the wayside. Â His defenders will point to his stats (4 Premier League goals and 5 assists), but some of those assists simply hit Gervinho on their way to the goal. Â They were far from deliberate.
I’ve not given up on him and I see the value he brings to the team in terms of his work-rate and interchanging of positions. Â But were he and Theo more effective in the final third, we would have been out of sight against Fulham by half-time.
If Thierry Henry is to be available to face Leeds on Monday, his registration needs to be completed by lunchtime tomorrow. Â It cannot come soon enough. Â The combined goal tally of Walcott, Gervinho, and Aaron Ramsey (who has played right behind Robin, almost as a number 10) barely reaches double figures. Â It is less than half of RVP’s total. Â Anyone who can add some much needed confidence and quality to our attacking play is very welcome indeed.
I know you’re not half as quick as you used to be, but hurry up Thierry. Â We’re waiting.
‘Tis the season to be jolly. And then less so. Arsenal have just completed a festive sandwich of fixtures. On the one side, a wholesome and thoroughly rewarding victory away to Aston Villa. On the other, a rather stale draw at home to Wolves. In the middle, of course, was a big fat Christmas. Hope you had a great one, wherever you are and whatever you might be celebrating.
Alex McCleish is the enemy of football. Anyone who watched our game against them on Wednesday last will surely concur. This man must be stopped: he seems to suck the joy out of any club he takes over. His Villa are a horrendous side – seemingly as dull on the eye as the Birmingham City team he led to relegation last season. On Boxing Day, Sky sought to outdo Scrooge himself by screening just one game: Stoke vs. Aston Villa. It was apocalyptically bad.
Yossi Benayoun deserves more opportunities. His headed winner at Villa Park was a rare example of an Arsenal player coming off the bench and making a genuine different to the game. Supporters are tired of seeing the uninspiring sight of Marouane Chamakh or Andrey Arshavin preparing to take to the field. Benayoun guarantees hard work and, of late, real quality. His display at home to Wolves was another example of what he can offer the side.
Arsenal were denied by Hennessey’s brilliance rather than their own incompetence. A point at home to Wolves is a frustrating result, particularly when the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool have both dropped points in similar circumstances, but on this occasion I think arseblog has it right: we have to offer congratulations to an outstanding performance by the goalkeeper rather than blame ourselves. These freakish results will occasionally occur – it’s only when they become regular that there is genuine cause for concern.
Four points from Villa and Wolves is not a bad return. If we go on to beat QPR and Fulham, which is not an unrealistic target, 10 points from 12 available will look even healthier.
Whisper it quietly, but Spurs don’t look likely to collapse anytime soon. Whilst of course we ought to try and pursue and overhaul them, I’m increasingly of the belief that the real battle for Champions League qualification is between us and Chelsea, and for fourth rather than third place. Spurs look very strong indeed, and I don’t perceive Liverpool to have the strength in depth to mount a sustained challenge – particularly in light of Luis Suarez’s ban.
Thierry Henry could be the best available option to strengthen the squad.
Of course there are better strikers out there than a 34-year old who plies his trade in the MLS, but how many of them are available in January? Very few. It’s not worth investing millions of pounds in a substandard player who will make a limited impact – you could argue we’ve already done that with Chu-Young Park. Bringing in Henry would give us a viable option from the bench as well as providing a lift to everyone at the club. If it happens, however, it’d have to be soon. No point waiting to look at other options until the end of January then letting Henry go back to the states after a fortnight.
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Right. The next game is QPR at home on New Year’s Eve, after which we’ll be able to put a very rocky 2011 to bed.
Our first trip to Manchester since that fateful day in late August was always going to carry a certain weight. Â Back then, a very different-looking Arsenal side had left thrashed, embarrassed, and ashamed. Â This time, we might not have brought back any points, but we can at least hold our heads up high on the back of an impressive performance.
It’s indicative of how far we’ve come. Â Since Old Trafford, we’ve added experience, steel and belief to the squad. Â Arsenal entered yesterday’s game as an unfancied underdog, and ended up trading blows with a the richest club in world football. Â It is typical of Arsene Wenger’s relentless ambition that after the game he was disheartened at what he felt was the end of our title challenge. Â Personally, I have felt for some time that City will win the league at a canter, and that in any case our bad start was far too big a handicap from which to launch a bid for the championship. Â A Champions League spot, however, remains a realistic target. Â In August, even that seemed unlikely.
We started somewhat shakily, as it swiftly became evident that City are the strongest side we’ve faced in some time. Â The movement and skill of the likes of Silva, Aguero and Balotelli had our defence chasing shadows, and twice we relied upon impressive saves from Wojciech Szczesny to keep the score at 0-0.
Alex Song was yellow-carded for a cynical trip after just ten minutes, and spent the rest of the game walking a precarious tight-rope. Â It was a tight-rope that the likes of Micah Richards attempted to topple him off by throwing themselves to the ground every time Song even thought about going in to a challenge.
As the half wore on, we settled and began to offer a threat of our own. Â The pace and movement of Gervinho made him a constant menace, but he suffered from the now familiar flaw of failing to convert promising opportunities in to final product. Â When he did muster a shot on target, Joe Hart was able to turn it away at the near post.
Having reached half-time at 0-0, there was a growing sense that Arsenal could pull off a major result. Â However, our momentum was disrupted when, just two minutes in to the second half, Johan Djourou was withdrawn with an injury problem. Â The Swiss had been doing a fine job at right-back, but his withdrawal meant shifting Laurent Koscielny on to the flank. Â Vermaelen stepped in to to the centre alongside Mertesacker, and substitute Miquel played at left-back. Â It’s odd how injuries seem to strike in one particular area – we’re now without our five first choice full-backs (Sagna, Jenkinson, Gibbs, Santos, Djorou).
The reshuffle worried me. Â In an ideal world you’d bring on a like-for-like player, as it’s very difficult for a defender to reorientate himself during the game. Â And so it proved just five minutes later, with Koscielny caught out of position, leaving Balotelli free on the left flank. Â He skipped inside a cautious Song and fired in a shot with Szczesny parried. Â Aguero was first to the ball and his header was poked in by David Silva.
At this stage, Arsenal threw caution to the wind a little earlier than was necessary, and were very nearly punished. Â As men poured forward in search of an equaliser, City had several opportunities to extend their lead. Â Fortunately, we were spared. Â Samir Nasri, who had been afforded a rare start by City, made his major contribution to the game when he overhit a simple pass across goal, preventing Balotelli from tapping in to seal the game. Â Bizarrely, the City PA announced him as Man of the Match towards the end of the game – a stupid, inflammatory decision which clearly had nothing to do with what had transpired on the pitch.
It was clear we had them rattled though. Â A fierce Walcott drive was tipped over by Hart, and Robin van Persie chipped home, only to be flagged (correctly, but marginally) offside. Â On another day Micah Richards’ handball might have been deemed purposeful, or Van Persie might have connected truer with Gervinho’s cut-back.
If you were to fault anything yesterday, it would have been the lack of convincing attacking options from the bench. Â City were able to call on the likes of Edin Dzeko. Â We, however, were forced to gamble with Arshavin and Chamakh, both of whom are woefully out of form. Â There are increasingly fervent whispers that Arsene will look to strengthen the attack in January, with Thierry Henry one of the names most commonly-mentioned. Â However, signings aside, one does have to question how long someone under performing as badly as Arshavin can prevent the exciting Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from superseding him in the pecking order.
In all honesty, our biggest goal threat after Robin van Persie probably came from Thomas Vermaelen. Â The Belgian had headed on target in the first half, and late on he saw one side-footed effort from the edge of the box tipped over by Hart, before bending a thirty yard strike just outside the post. Â Hart performed well on the day, but even he would have been unable to keep that effort out.
And so the day ended in defeat. Â Arsenal now have to pick themselves up in time for Wednesday’s trip to Aston Villa, who surely can’t be as poor as they were in a lifeless defeat to Liverpool. Â Alex Song will be suspended, but fortunately we will be able to rely on the sure-footed Mikel Arteta. Â I thought the Spaniard was brilliant in Manchester: disciplined, intelligent, and composed. Â The more one sees of him the more one wonders why Arsene waited so long before taking the plunge.
My overriding sense from the City game is that these sorts of occasion need hold no fear for us anymore. Â The scars of Old Trafford were entirely invisible: this was an Arsenal side playing with belief and a sense of entitlement that they belong on this stage, at the top table of English football. Â Between now and the end of the season, we need to pick up enough points to snatch fourth place and ensure we remain there.
Arsenal are finally sharing the goals around…
Although Robin van Persie did grab his expected goal, he was joined by three other less familiar names on the scoresheet. Gervinho, Arteta and Vermaelen are all players capable of lessening the burden on the Dutchman, and it’s fantastic to see them finally beginning to do so. One only wishes that Park and Chamakh were capable of doing the same.
Thomas Vermaelen has a poacher’s instinct…
It’s remarkable that one of the players we’re looking at to take up some of the goalscoring burden is a centre-back. But then, Thomas Vermaelen is a remarkable footballer. Over his entire Arsenal career to date, he has a strike rate of almost a goal every four games. One need only see that when Arteta’s long-range strike hits the net, it is the Belgian who is following up in case of any rebound. The man simply loves a goal. As Arsene commented after the game, “I still don’t know if he came to replace Toure or Adebayor”.
Gervinho’s goal was much more than a tap-in…
Admittedly, it was a simply finish – and one which the erratic Ivorian almost miscued – but in some respects this was a spectacular goal. Excluding Ali Al-Habsi’s parry on Robin van Persie’s shot, this was a move that included a mammoth 33 passes. Take a look:
Admittedly, Wigan’s defending is poor, but our use of the ball is as good here as it has been all season. Promising indeed.
Theo Walcott is becoming a true team player…
His unselfish square for Van Persie spoke volumes, as did his obvious delight at getting an assist. Walcott’s good form has been one of the highlights of our season thus far, and one only hopes he and Van Persie can remain fit enough for their fruitful relationship to continue. Walcott has now assisted 11 goals for RVP – that’s as many as Dennis Bergkamp provided for Thierry Henry in their entire time at Arsenal.
Szczesny is part of a new core…
I expect by now you’ll have seen the clips of Wojciech Szczesny singing Arsenal songs at the top of his voice in the aftermath of Saturday’s game. His love for the club is palpable, and along with the likes of Vermaelen, Wilshere, and Frimpong, he is helping to forge a new spirit in the squad. These players seem to take genuine pride in representing Arsenal, as the treatment dished out by Frimpong towards deserter Samir Nasri shows. It’s heartwarming stuff, but there’s a serious side to it too – it’s a sign of the kind of spirit you find at many trophy-winning teams.
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Arsenal fly to Greece later today for their dead rubber tie with Olympiacos. I won’t be able to watch the game live, but I’ll hopefully provide some thoughts once I’ve caught up on Sky+.
