November 23rd, 2013
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After losing at Old Trafford in their last Premier League outing, Arsenal needed a response to reassert their credentials as title challengers. Thanks to a dogged and determined display, they did just that.
Prior to the match, Arsene Wenger would have been cursing the fixture list that his team found themselves up against Mauricio Pochettino’s Southampton, flying high in the table and collecting plenty of plaudits and points along the way.
A year ago, this was a routine home win for the Gunners. Then, a Southampton team managed by Nigel Adkins shipped six goals and looked doomed for relegation. Even Gervinho belittled them with a brace.
However, since then, the South-Coast side have been radically transformed. Now, drilled by the impressive Pochettino, they have their eyes on Europe. Pochettino’s team have already won at Liverpool and drawn an Manchester United in a promising campaign.
The Argentine spent much of the build-up to the game lavishing praise on the legacy Arsene Wenger has built at Arsenal. However, there is much for Wenger to admire about Pochettino’s Southampton. He has quickly created a distinct football culture, harnessing the attacking talents of the likes of Lallana and Lambert, and introducing a relentless pressing game.
Wenger might have feared the worst. Last season, Arsenal were beaten at home by a Swansea team who employed a similar combination of polished passing and persistent pressure. With Tomas Rosicky not fit enough to start and Mathieu Flamini suspended, Arsenal were arguably missing the two midfield players best suited to cope with the Saint’s high-tempo style.
However, the Gunners were determined to show that they were up to the test.
Giving Southampton’s proficiency at pressing, there was a certain irony about the way Arsenal grabbed the opening goal. When Artur Boruc collected a simple back-pass, no danger was apparent. However, the industry of Olivier Giroud allowed Arsenal to create a chance out of nothing.
Giroud hassled Boruc, enforcing an effort in the Polish goalkeeper’s footwork before pick-pocketing the ball and poking home in to the unguarded goal. Boruc was embarrassed; Giroud elated.
Southampton have only conceded seven league goals this season. One of those was a freak effort from Asmir Begovic where the ball was caught by the wing and Boruc was caught out of position. Were it not for the Pole’s errors, Southampton’s defensive record would be even meaner.
Nevertheless, Giroud was a grateful beneficiary.
The brace put a positive end on to a mixed week for the forward. He was dropped for France’s decisive play-off against the Ukraine, but was comforted by the consolation of World Cup qualification. Away from the pitch, he lost his grandfather. After nicking the opener, he pointed to the sky in a moment of poignant reflection.
He also stepped up to stroke home the penalty that sealed the game, grabbing the ball as soon as the referee blew the whistle. That self-assurance is a far cry from the Giroud of last season. Almost exactly a year ago, Giroud opted not to take a last-minute penalty when on a hattrick against Fulham. Arteta subsequently missed, and Giroud was roundly criticised.
Now, however, his confidence is on a high. In 19 games this season he has already scored 10 goals and made five assists. He has become integral to Arsenal’s play.
His defensive work is superb. Giroud is vital when it comes to defending set-pieces, and as the opening goal shows is excellent at closing down defenders – he almost bought himself a goal from a similar situation against Liverpool.
However, you can’t keep up those effort levels for 90 minutes. The work that Giroud did in the 22nd minute to win the opening goal is impossible in the latter stages of a draining game. Subsequently, Southampton’s centre-backs were allowed more and more time on the ball, and the Saints grew in to the game.
That’s why Arsenal need to sign a striker in January: they need someone who can come on for the last twenty minutes and replicate Giroud’s presence in both boxes. He can’t be expected to continue like this without incurring physical repercussions.
This was a really good win for Arsenal against a very solid team. The Gunners avoided the banana skin, but Boruc didn’t. Roll on the next game.
April 14th, 2013
Arsenal 3 – 1 Norwich
Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction
Anyone expecting an easy ride had clearly forgotten last year…
When these two sides met at the Emirates in May of 2012, Arsenal’s Champions League destiny had finally fallen in to their own hands – their butter-clad, slippery hands. Arsenal slumped to a 3-3 draw, and only the remarkable incompetence of Tottenham Hotspur allowed us to wrest back control of the race for fourth place.
Yesterday was very nearly the same story. Norwich took the lead through a brilliantly-executed set piece, and Arsenal toiled for much of the game.
However, eventually we managed to drag ourselves back in to the lead – and unlike last year, we held on to it too.
Arsene Wenger deserves credit…
For long periods of the game I found myself wondering how Chris Hughton had managed to draw such impressive performances from a decidedly average XI. By contrast, Arsene’s Arsenal were performing well below the expected standard of a fleet of internationals. In terms of motivation and organisation, Hughton appeared the clear winner.
However, Arsene has enough experience to know when it’s not working. He is occasionally criticised for being too inflexible with his substitutions, but on this occasion he called for Theo Walcott and Lukas Podolski as soon as Norwich took the lead. He was brave enough to withdraw the out-of-sorts Jack Wilshere, and later gambled by switching Aaron Ramsey to right-back and deploying Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the centre.
The conviction Arsene showed to make those changes ultimately won us the game.
Lukas Podolski is among the very best players in this Arsenal squad…
Each of the subs made a crucial impact. Walcott grabbed an assist and should have been awarded a penalty and The Ox’s direct running created the crucial second goal. The real game-changer, however, was Lukas Podolski.
No player in the Arsenal squad represents such a consistent menace to the opposition goal. On the ball, Podolski is our best finisher and ruthlessly efficient in the penalty area. Off the ball, his movement is intelligent and he shows a real willingness to play off Olivier Giroud.
Although Podolski is comfortably one of Arsenal’s best eleven players, he has not always been in Arsene Wenger’s best XI. Some whispers suggest his spell on the sidelines is explained by an ankle problem that requires surgery.
If that is truly the case, cameos like this explain why the club have decided to wait until the summer before proceeding with an operation. Podolski can make a vital contribution between now and the end of May.
Let’s credit the officials who get it right…
The penalty given to Arsenal has been described by the Norwich management and a host of pundits as “controversialâ€. Not because it wasn’t a foul: no-one can deny that Olivier Giroud was wrestled to the ground as he went for the ball.
Instead, the supposed controversy stems from the fact it was the linesman, rather than the referee, who awarded the spot-kick.
This shouldn’t matter a jot. The referee had a stinker of a game, and the linesman should be commended for making an immaculate call from such a distance. It’s absurd that the question of whether or not a linesman should be allowed to make such a call has become secondary to the more important question of whether or not he got it right.
He did, so hats off to him. They’re called assistant referees for a reason.
Time for a sprint finish…
If Arsenal beat Everton and Fulham this week, we could be seven points clear of Spurs before they play their next game. They’ll have games in hand, of course, but it’s always better to have the points on the board rather in deal in hypotheticals.
The match against the Toffees will be a difficult one, but Arsenal have some serious momentum now.
The cannon is rolling in to position. Time to blow away the opposition.
November 16th, 2012
Hello folks. Â It’s derby weekend, and so I’ve invited my Spurs-supporting pal (contradiction in terms, I grant you) Adam Nathan along to have a quick chat.
If you’re still not satiated after reading through this, them head over to arseblog and listen to today’s arsecast, on which I join a couple of other more eloquent bloggers to discuss derbies, defending, and other delights.
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SELECTION HEADACHES
GS: Arsene has been spared a major headache with the admittedly worrying news that Kieran Gibbs is not available. Â That means he’ll be able to field all three of his first-choice centre-backs, with Thomas Vermaelen again being shunted out on to the left. Â There have been some suggestions in the media that Arsene could switch to 3-5-2 imminently, but I’m dubious about that story. Â Even if he was contemplating a switch, I doubt he’d make it ahead of such an important game. Â Aside from that, the team picks itself. Â If Wojciech Szczesny is fit he simply has to displace Vito Mannone, whilst Bacary Sagna ought to continue at right-back, despite a touch of fatigue. Â Jack Wilshere will return from suspension to join Arteta and Cazorla in midfield, whilst the front three of Podolski, Giroud and Walcott should continue after a relatively impressive showing against Reading.
Adam: Sadly, the selection headaches all Spurs fans will have wished upon Boas have been eradicated by a lengthy injury list for Saturday’s game. In addition to long term absentees like Ekotto, Parker and Kaboul, Â Dembele’s chronic hip injury could not have come at a worse time for us, with our form seriously suffering since the Belgian’s injury flared up again in the last international break.
In terms of the decisions AVB will have to make, I would expect him to again, wrongly, go with Brad Friedel in goal in place of Hugo Lloris, whilst Huddlestone, Carroll, Livermore, Dempsey and Sigurdsson will fight it out for the two centre midfield spots along side the Brazilian Sandro, who has probably been our most consistent player this season. Up front, whilst some will call for a strike partnership of Adebayor and Defoe, I would expect us to again go into the game with one striker. After an impressive full league debut in Manchester last weekend, most Spurs fans will hope that Adebayor is given a chance to line-up against his old team once again.
RECENT FORM
GS: I don’t want to talk about it. Â Ok, fine… after a positive start familiar frailties have been exposed. Â The clean sheets with which we started the season now appear anomalous rather than indicative of any kind of improvement. Â Arsenal seem stuck in their painful annual cycle. Â Traditionally, November is when the wheels come off. Â So far, it’s brought us the comprehensive defeat by United, and the surrendering of two two-goal leads against Schalke and Fulham.
Adam: Quite frankly, we have been pretty poor all season. Aside from a good 90 minutes at Reading and decent halves at Old Trafford and St. Mary’s, we have looked like a very average side thus far under our new management regime. Naturally it will take time for Boas to impress his ideas on a squad that not only suffered a terrible end to last season but has since been dismantled and put poorly back together by Daniel Levy, but in order for our season to end with any degree of success, we will really need to buck our ideas up, hopefully starting on Saturday.
HEAD TO HEAD
GS: My impression of Spurs is that Sandro and Huddlestone aren’t the most mobile of defensive midfielders, so I’m hoping the fleet-of-foot provided by Cazorla and Wilshere could be the difference. Â Moussa Dembele will be a big miss for Spurs.
In recent weeks, we’ve looked very vulnerable on our left flank, and Spurs have the players to exploit that.  They tend to line up with Kyle Walker and Aaron Lennon, but they also have the option of switching Gareth Bale to give  Thomas Vermaelen a different kind of problem to tackle.  Or attempt to, at any rate.
The major worry is the horrible habit players have of scoring against their former club. Â It’s not hard to imagine either William Gallas or Emmanuel Adebayor returning to haunt us.
Adam: In terms of where we can actually hurt Arsenal, I can’t see past our one true match winner, Gareth Bale; if we are to leave the Emirates with three points, it’s fairly safe to say that he will play a crucial role for us, with his well publicised pace, power and finesse. On the other side of the pitch, Aaron Lennon has had a decent season so far, although continues to deliver the goals and assists that would see him classed as a top player. That said, Arsenal have seemed to struggle at left back this season, so perhaps the England winger will be able to put in a big performance on Saturday afternoon.
With regard to where we can be hurt, the centre midfield area looks like a worrying proposition for Spurs fans. In all likelihood, we will continue with a three of Sandro, Huddlestone and Dempsey, the latter two who have in truth had terrible seasons thus far. If Arsenal are able to press us high up the pitch and maintain possession in the centre of the park, I worry that we will get overrun and ultimately punished by Arsenal’s attacking flair, which doesn’t seem to have been the reason for your dropping of points thus far.
PREDICTED TEAM
GS: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Arteta, Wilshere, Cazorla, Walcott, Giroud, Podolski
Adam:Â Friedel, Walker, Caulker, Gallas, Vertonghen, Sandro, Huddlestone, Dempsey, Lennon, Bale, Adebayor.
PREDICTED SCORE
GS: Arsenal 2 – 1 Spurs – I can’t see Spurs not scoring. Â In fact, I think they may even take the lead. Â However, this game is so big for Arsenal that I believe we’ll pull a result out of the bag. Â The likes of Podolski, Giroud and Cazorla have the chance to make themselves a hero. Â My money’s on the Frenchman to do just that.
Adam: Arsenal 3 – 1 Spurs – Ultimately, we have not played well for a month now, and seem to have too many injuries to stand a serious chance of taking anything away from the game this weekend. Whilst many have pointed out the frailties in Arsenal’s team, your players always seem to raise it more than ours do on games like this, with last season being a great example, and as a result I expect you to come through fairly unchallenged. That said, we live in eternal hope!
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A little over 24 hours till game-time now. Â Come On Arsenal.
March 13th, 2012
Thomas Vermaelen celebrates the late late winner against Newcastle
Arsenal 2 – 1 Newcastle
Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction
This is becoming a run that beggars belief; it’s putting the ‘mental’ in to ‘mental strength’. Â Thomas Vermaelen’s late late goal made Arsenal the first side in Premier League history to come from behind to win four consecutive games. Â And three of them have been snatched with stoppage-time strikes.
For sheer drama, none of them match last night. Â Perhaps it was that took place at an almost-full Emirates. Â Perhaps it was the fact it robbed Alan Pardew and the time-wasting Tim Krul of a precious point. Â Or perhaps it was the sheer guts of Vermaelen’s fifty yard, lung-bursting run to meet Theo Walcott’s cross. Â It’s difficult to say, and to be honest, it doesn’t matter. Â But it was brilliant.
Something has changed in this team. Â It would be nice to pin-point a precise moment when things started to go in our favour, but the reality is that the upturn in fortunes is down to a combination of factors. Â The return of our full-backs has added width and defensive stability. Â The emergence of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has given us a direct, penetrative option from the left, and brought the best out of Theo Walcott on the right. Â Tomas Rosicky is playing the best football of his Arsenal career, and in this form is richly deserving of a new contract. Â And then, of course, there’s the consistent excellence of Robin van Persie.
It might be a little whimsical of me, but I also think it has something to do with the brief but potent return of Thierry Henry. Â His sheer presence seemed to instill a belief and confidence in the squad, and maybe went some way to remind the players of what it means to represent Arsenal Football Club – and the legendary status that will be bestowed upon those who bring glory to its name.
For the first time in a long time, Arsenal play without fear. Â In they go behind, they believe they can retrieve it. Â If they go in to the tackle, they believe they can win it. Â The ghosts of Eduardo, Ramsey and others have evaporated, and Arsenal players are throwing themselves in to challenges like they’re impervious to pain. Â The commitment is fantastic, and it’s bringing results.
There will inevitably be a lot of talk of reeling in Spurs. Â With the ups and downs of the past few months, my principal target remains fourth spot and a chance of Champions League qualification. Â Anything beyond that will be a bonus – albeit a very welcome one indeed. Â For the first time in a while, Arsenal are beginning to look up as well as down.
October 31st, 2011
Hello all. I wrote this in the immediate aftermath of Saturday’s game, but have only just found the WIFI signal required to get it up.
Chelsea 3 – 5 Arsenal
Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction
The early part of this 2011/12 season has been characterised by some extraordinary results. Arsenal fans know this better than any, having been involved in remarkable clashes at both Old Trafford and Ewood Park. Yesterday, for the first time, one of these bizarre scorelines fell in our favour.
The scoreline might have been freakish, but the result wasn’t. An Arsenal win surprised many, myself included, but it comes off the back of an impressive run of form – it’s now eight wins from nine games. Chelsea, meanwhile, had lost their last league game at QPR.
Despite that, I didn’t dare anticipate victory. But before the game, looking at our team it did strike me that we are looking stronger than we have in some months. Over the past eight weeks or so, a new team has begun to gel, and there is suddenly a degree of solidity and momentum behind them.
It was a sign of Arsene’s confidence that he was able to leave Thomas Vermaelen on the bench, opting to continue with Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker at centre-back. Johan Djourou and Andre Santos continued at full-back, with the first choice midfield trio of Song, Arteta and Ramsey restored. Gervinho and Walcott were the pacy outlets on the flanks, whilst captain Robin van Persie lead the line from the front.
One of the discussion points of the season has been the poor standard of defending. One has reluctantly come to expect that from Arsenal; from Chelsea it is more of a surprise. However, this season Andre Villas Boas has liberated his full-backs with perilous consequences. John Obi Mikel, meanwhile, is simply not a Champions League quality holding midfielder. Had the unreliable David Luiz started the game would have been even more open.
As it happened, it was a miracle the game got as far as 14 minutes at 0-0 – it could easily have been 2-2. I was particularly staggered by one miss from Gervinho – Walcott did brilliantly to skin Ashley Cole and crossed for what seemed a simple tap-in. Somehow, the Ivorian sidefooted wide. I was infuriated, and didn’t feel any better when Van Persie volleyed over an opportunity which, for a player of his equality, was relatively presentable.
When Chelsea took the lead it was through a header from Frank Lampard. Andre Santos, who had looked vulnerable in the early stages, was beaten too easily by Juan Mata, and when he crossed in to the box Lampard eluded Per Mertesacker to nod past Szczesny.
Arsenal were rocking, but before half-time had an equaliser. Aaron Ramsey, whose ninety minutes was typified by moments of enterprise and invention, played an exquisite through ball for Gervinho. This time, the winger knew better than to shoot, and squared to his skipper to tap in to an empty net.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t hold the lead until half-time, as John Terry bundled home a Frank Lampard corner at the near post. Again Mertesacker was at fault, and he and fellow new boy Santos were having a torrid time. As the half-time whistle blow, most of the talk among Arsenal fans was about replacing the Brazilian with Thomas Vermaelen.
Meanwhile, in the Arsenal dressing room, it seems Arsene Wenger was giving a speech to rival his rousing words at the AGM. With no substitutions made, Arsenal came out and attacked the second half with gusto. Within 4 minutes, we had our second equaliser of the game. And, of course, it was Santos who got the goal, racing on to a Song through-ball to tuck in to the near post and continue the fine tradition of left-backs scoring at the Bridge. From that moment on, he visibly grew in to the game, putting in several crunching tackles as well as marauding forward on the break.
Arsenal had momentum, and soon went ahead for the first time with the fifth goal of the game. Theo Walcott scooted inside from the right, tripped, fell over, clambered back to his feet, whizzed beyond two more defenders and thundered an effort in to Petr Cech’s increasingly vulnerably near post.
At this point, there were still 35 minutes to go, and I had little confidence in our capability to hold the lead. That said, when Chelsea did get their predictable equaliser, we were somewhat unfortunate. Andre Santos was fouled off the ball by Romelu Lukaku, allowing Juan Mata the space to crash in a phenomenal effort from fully thirty yards. At that point, it was easy to feel frustrated that we hadn’t paid the extra few million Euros to secure the Spaniard’s signature.
But there was still time for more late drama. John Terry, who looked at half-time as if he might prove to be the match-winner, inexplicably slipped when trying to reach a loose backpass from Florent Malouda. Robin van Persie raced on to the loose ball, and from then on there was only ever going to be one outcome. The Dutchman skipped past Petr Cech and tucked home to put Arsenal 4-3 ahead.
Chelsea were then left with no choice but to go for broke, and inevitably Arsenal created chances on the break. When Tomas Rosicky headed away an inswinging free-kick, Arsenal were able in break in numbers. Even so, when Van Persie received the ball from Mikel Arteta on the corner of Chelsea’ penalty area the outcome was far from certain. However, the Dutchman unleashed an unstoppable shot which flew past Cech at his near post. It was his hatrick, his tenth league goal of the season, and the eighth of a quite unbelievable game of football. One which we had won.
The celebrations for the fifth goal and the final whistle have have looked a little over-the-top to the neutral. They were more befitting of a side winning the league than a mere three points. However, for Arsenal fans, they require no explanation. After the horrors of Old Trafford, this game provided a necessary and hugely cathartic fillip. For the first time since the victory over Barcelona in spring, Arsenal fans are able to feel unapologetically proud of their team.
Granted, we weren’t perfect – in the first half the defending left much to be desired. But we played with a swagger that has been sadly absent since the summer.
Supporters and players alike seem to be slowly regaining faith in the potential of this club and team. Winning at Stamford Bridge was a slap in the face to those pundits who said Arsenal wouldn’t even challenge for the top four this season. We’ll certainly be there or thereabouts – the sheer brilliance of Robin van Persie alone ought to be enough to ensure that.
I can’t wait to see what the atmosphere is like at the stadium when Arsenal take on Marseille tomorrow. I hope the fans give the players the raucous welcome they deserve. And should the first goal go against us, I hope they remember the way in which we were able to twice come behind with such stunning effect over the weekend.
I think we’re all agreed that our season only started on September 1st. This weekend, it finally burst in to life. Let’s consign the pain of August to the past, and start enjoying it.
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