I’ve seen this hailed as a great match…
I’m not sure I necessarily subscribe to that point of view. The first half was stodgy, made more turgid by some poor refereeing. Neil Swarbrick allowed Everton to get away with a few too many physical challenges – Darron Gibson in particular was lucky to stay on the field after two hacks at Theo Walcott – and Arsenal’s passing game lacked the fizz to escape Everton’s clutching and cleaving.
The second half was a marked improvement as Arsenal finally began to build up some momentum. However, we were unable to capitalise and a tiring Everton escaped with a draw.
The three best chances fell to Olivier Giroud…
…and arguably, the Frenchman should have walked away with the match-ball. First he stretched to meet an Aaron Ramsey cross but poked his effort wide. Then a goal-bound effort from close-rage was diverted away by some superb defending from Sylvain Distin. Finally, he fired over with his right-foot after creating space inside the penalty box.
I’ll be kind and say he was unlucky in front of goal. However, the very best forwards don’t rely on luck. Giroud is a good player, but he is not exceptional. It’s clear to me that acquiring a world-class centre-forward is one of the most obvious ways in which Arsene Wenger can improve the squad this summer.
Giroud is popular among the fans, but that oughtn’t disguise our need for someone superior. His defenders will point to the 17 goals he has scored, and with some justification, but I’m reminded of Emmanuel Adebayor in 2007/08. The Togolese totem-pole racked up 30 goals, but was rebuffed in most quarters with cries of, “Well how many should he have scored given the chances he’s missed?â€.
The same is true of Giroud. For every goal he’s scored, there’s another he’s let slip by. What’s more, unlike in 2008 we don’t have an Eduardo or Van Persie on the bench to support him.
Jack Wilshere struggled again…
Perhaps it’s just a fitness issue. Perhaps not.
In the past two games Arsene Wenger has deployed him in the number ten role. He’s done it to compensate for the absence of Tomas Rosicky and maintain continuity with a midfield shape that’s proved successful in recent weeks. However, I’m beginning to wonder just how suited to that position Wilshere is.
Wilshere is a player with immense vertical drive. He can burst past two or three players in succession. That quality is best deployed deeper in midfield, where he can open the game up with a moment of skill and acceleration.
In the more advanced role, the sole flaw in his game – his one-footedness – becomes painfully clear. His turning circle is relatively wide, and he becomes surprisingly predictably as he is constantly forced back on to his favoured left-foot.
Tomas Rosicky is admittedly similarly one-footed when striking the ball – his preference for the oughtside of his right over his left-foot is infamous – but he is a tighter dribbler than Jack. He turns on a six-pence. Jack’s spin is still very tidy, but requires space more akin to a ten pence piece.
It was notable that Arsenal managed to build up much more momentum when Santi Cazorla switched in to the number ten role. His two-footedness lends a genuine unpredictability to the Arsenal attack – he can go both inside and outside his marker. He’s also more comfortable dropping in to wide areas, which enables us to create an overlap and get crosses in to the box.
On the night, Wilshere ended up being outshone by Aaron Ramsey, who was again outstanding. He’s playing with confidence now, and it manifests itself in a busy physicality that makes me think he could have a genuine future as a first-team starter.
Szczesny should re-think his kicks… In this game he lumped the ball up toward Giroud time after time. However, the Frenchman was superbly marshalled by the towering Fellaini. He barely won a single flick.
I don’t know why we’ve abandoned the policy of kicking towards Sagna that was so successful last season. The right-back would win knock-down after knock-down for Theo Walcott to race on to. Against the diminutive Baines and Pienaar, it seemed like an obvious ploy to use.
One for Arsene to come back to.
Arsenal looked tired by the end…
The likes of Gibbs, Arteta, Ramsey and Cazorla were shattered. It’s been an exhausting period for the Gunners, but they’ve come out of it well. This result is not a bad one by any means, especially if coupled with a win at Fulham on Saturday.
The five fixtures we have remaining produced four losses and one draw last season. Arsenal will need to turn that round entirely if we’re to secure a top four spot.
Seeing as this was a six-pointer, can we have two points for the draw?
To be honest, both sides will feel a singular point is a small return for what was an incredibly hard-fought game. Â Our team looked a little leggy going in to it – God knows what they must feel like now. Â Our early goal gave us a platform in the game, but you have to credit Everton for the way they fought back to dominate. Â We had a few good chances on the counter, but Everton had a decent shout for a penalty, and overall you’d have to call 1-1 a fair result. Â A draw at Goodison Park is never a bad result – it’s just a shame we didn’t go in the game with the cushion of three points at Villa Park.
Theo Walcott’s stats continue to impress…
His goal tally is now in to double figures for the season – he’s on a great run and it’s manifesting in his vastly improved finishing. Â It’s been pointed out that he isn’t contributing hugely to our build-up play, but for me that simply underlines the fact that although he is deployed wide, he essentially plays as a striker. Â His game is more about movement off the ball than intricate passing on it, and the fundamental flaws in his technique make that unlikely to change anytime soon. Â Nevertheless, it’s hard to argue with the efficiency of his game. Â He’s probably our most in-form player, and has abandoned his usual humility to talk himself up now. Â That’s no bad thing – I like a bit of confidence – but I can’t help but feel he’s probably advertising himself to potential suitors as well as attempting to convince Arsenal to up their offer.
Defensively, this was our best performance for some time…
The early injury to Laurent Koscielny might have disrupted us, but aside from one aberration on the Everton goal, we were very solid indeed. Â Kieran Gibbs’ injury doesn’t seem to have disrupted his good early season form, whilst Per Mertesacker continues to be remarkably consistent. Â Credit is due, however, to two players who’ve been criticised in recent months: Thomas Vermaelen and Wojciech Szczesny. Â The pair probably had their best games of the season to help keep the Blue tide at bay. Â With Koscielny out for the next three weeks, let’s hope this performance marks the start of a better run of form for the skipper.
The period between now and Janaury will be crucial…
In that time we play six league games, four of which are at home. Â The two away games are at Reading and Wigan. Â The home games are against Swansea, WBA, West Ham and Newcastle. Â It is no exaggeration or disrespect to the teams involved to say that we should be looking to win every single one of those games. Â We’ve come through a tricky-looking November relatively unscathed, and are actually unbeaten since losing to Manchester United at the start of the month. Â Now it’s time to ramp up the momentum with some wins.
In the run up to this game, both Arsene Wenger and Wojciech Szczesny have called it a “six pointer”. Â You’ll be aware of this football cliche, I’m sure. Â It’s quite early in the season for it to appear, but traditionally it refers to matches that will have a crucial impact on league standing come the end of the season. Â Conventionally, they refer to relegation scraps or title-winning bouts between a notional ‘big two’.
This, however, is modern football. Â The fourth Champions League qualification spot is now revered as such a crucial prize that there are some of these ‘six-pointers’ being played for it. Â This too is the modern Arsenal, and it this kind of match (rather than glamourous times against Manchester United or Man City) that will ultimately define our season. Â I admire the humility and realism of both Arsene and Wojciech in admitting it, but I can’t help but find that a slightly depressing pill to swallow.
Of late, some have accused me of being a little more negative than usual. Â I don’t think I’m being actively negative; I’m just a little sobered by the steady, wearing realisation of our standing in English football. Â Every year you hope that we’ll burst above the parapet and contend again for the major titles. Â Every year you slowly realise that you’re just in another race for fourth, the trophy without a prize to lift.
Arsene’s come under a lot of flak recently – some justified, some not. Â I’m no psychologist, but I can’t help but feel his tetchiness under questioning betrays the fact that he recognises some of the disenchantment among the support is justified. Â I wasn’t particularly bowled over by his self-defence either. Â Among the things he said was:
“At the end of last season we finished third. Honestly I don’t think there was much more in the team than finishing third. My pride comes from that as well.”
Here’s my issue with that: his job isn’t simply to get the best out of the team he has available. Â He’s also in charge of building the team. Â Whose fault is it that the team he had assembled could only, at its absolute maximum, achieve third place?
Anyway, putting a more positive spin on things, we’re entirely capable of going and winning at Everton tonight. Â That said, they’re a good side with some terrific players, so it’ll be a close game. Â The ‘six-pointer’ nature of the match means a win here would eradicate memories of that dreadful 0-0 with Villa, and that’d be no bad thing.
My hunch is that Thomas Vermaelen and Bacary Sagna will come back in for Kieran Gibbs and Carl Jenkinson, with Jack Wilshere and Theo Walcott replacing Ramsey and Chamberlain. Â The tired legs of Cazorla, Podolski and Giroud will once again be called upon to inspire us to victory.
This was an old-school, hard fought victory…
It was fitting that Thomas Vermaelen should score the vital goal, because in every sense the defenders were the match-winners in this game. Messrs Vermaelen, Koscielny, Sagna and Gibbs were outstanding, showing a combination of discipline and desire to keep Everton at bay. At the start of the season we all imagined this might be our first-choice back four, and whilst I am a big fan of late arrivals Mertesacker and Santos, this quartet are clearly benefiting from a run of games together. Vermaelen, meanwhile, has rediscovered his knack for crucial goals at just the right time of the season.
Bacary Sagna is a beast…
An aspect of his game that has long been overlooked is quite how good he is in the air. Â Last night he won 14 of his 17 aerial duels. Â Find me another full-back who can match that.
Arsenal should have been out of sight early on…
Everton looked shell-shocked by our quick passing game, and the first ten minutes saw us carve out a host of presentable opportunities, the best of which fell to Aaron Ramsey, who volleyed over when well-placed. Although Vermaelen did grab the goal in this period with a great header from a Van Persie corner, we didn’t capitalise on our best spell in the game with the ruthlessness you would hope for.
It was a great night for Arsenal…
…not just because of our three points, but because of results elsewhere. Chelsea lost to a late goal at Man City (courtesy of, of all people, Samir Nasri), Spurs needed a last-gap equaliser to grab a point against Stoke, and Liverpool threw away a two-goal lead to lose at QPR.
Arsenal are now above Spurs…
It’s a delicious fact, and something that seemed impossible when they were 2-0 up at the Emirates just a few games back. A win on that day would have taken Tottenham 13 points clear. The turnaround in fortunes since that moment, for both clubs, has been extraordinary. Their collapse has been as spectacular as our resurgence.
There is still, it’s worth pointing out, a long way to go. After this weekend’s game at home to Aston Villa, we enter a potentially tricky period of fixtures where trips to relegation battlers Wolves and QPR sandwich a clash with title-chasing City.
I daren’t commit the same sin as several Spurs fans, and gloat about our current position. However, what I will say is that to be six points clear of fifth place at this stage in the season is better than any of us could have hoped for a few months back.
Finally, on Fabrice Muamba…
Like everyone connected with football, I’ve been hugely moved by the recent events surrounding the former Arsenal midfielder, England U-21 International, and thoroughly likeable human being, Fabrice Muamba.
Like many, when I saw him collapse at White Hart Lane, I feared the worst. What we’re hearing about his recovery since then is nothing short of miraculous. I’d just like to take this opportunity to publicly send my best wishes in his battle to return to health. I’m backing him all the way.
Every so often an event rolls around that reminds you how lucky you are to be an Arsenal fan. This week, there were three.
It was a week that got off to an inauspicious start as we lost 3-1 to Olympiakos in a game that already feels further away than the 1500 miles we travelled to get there. I wasn’t watching live due to alternative commitments, though from what I can gauge the match was notable for two things: the riveting competition between Lukasz Fabianski and Vito Mannone to decide who could be our most flaptacular back-up goalie, and an injury to Andre Santos which, it has just revealed, will keep him out for three months.
It’s big blow to lose the bulky Brazilian full-back, but as bare as we are in both full-back positions we’re fortunate that we have riches in the centre of defence. We’re now able to field Thomas Vermaelen at full-back, leaving the middle in the hands of Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker – two top-class international defenders. Hopefully the likes of Gibbs, Jenkinson, and even Sagna will soon be back to ease the burden on our versatile centre-halves.
As for Santos – well, he’s been outstanding in the early part of his Arsenal career. According to whoscored.com, he’s put in more tackles p/game than any other defender in the Premier League. That said, I’m told we ought to have expected this: it’s a stipulation of his contract that he never plays any games over the Christmas period. He calls it ‘The Santos Clause’ (I’ll get me coat).
The meaningless result in Greece would prove to be the low-point of my footballing week, which suggests the rest of it was pretty darn good. The following evening, around 500 Arsenal fans gathered to celebrate the release of Arseblog’s Arsenal Anthology – So Paddy Got Up. I only arrived late, as the crowds were finally beginning to dissipate, but it remained a tremendous occasion.
I have written a chapter for the book which attempts to depict how the digital world has changed things for Arsenal supporters, and without giving too much away it’s something of a sign of the times that you can put 500 strangers in a room together, with Arsenal as the sole bond between them, and witness such heartwarming results. I met some lovely folk from the Arsenal blogosphere (including Gingers4Limpar, whose recent piece on the use of the ‘Y’ word is essential reading), as well as several readers of this site, and marvelled at Arseblogger’s achievement in not just compiling and editing the book, but bringing together a community so full of support, goodwill and kindness.
The book, I should add, really would make a tremendous Christmas present for anyone with Arsenal in their height. Red and white are, after all, the most Christmassy of colours. You can order your copy here.
As if the cockels of my heart weren’t sufficiently warmed by that evening, by Thursday afternoon they were positively roasted. I was very grateful to be invited by Arsenal to attend the unveiling of three statues commissioned to commemorate the club’s 125th Anniversary. It was something of an open secret that the statue’s would be of Herbert Chapman, Tony Adams, and Thierry Henry. What I didn’t know was that Mr. Henry would be there in person, and that I would be stood just yards from the legendary striker when he broke down upon seeing his statue.
I was stood there alongside the venerable Goonerholic, and I don’t think he’d mind me saying that we too were a little choked by this obvious display of emotion.
Again, there were plenty of friendly and famous faces present. Special mention is due for Bob Wilson, who took the time to chat to fans and sign countless autographs, and Francis from ArsenalFrance, who is not only charming company but spends a lot of his own time helping Francophonic Gooners get to games.
As for the statues – well, for my money, they look magnificent, and are yet another fitting adornment to the stadium. A lot has been said about the ‘Arsenalisation’ of the Emirates, but for me the club deserve enormous credit for the way they have sought to make the ground feel like home. For me, at last, it does.
So by the time Saturday rolled around, everyone was in the mood for a party, and boy did they get it. The club handled the 125th Anniversary celebrations with the class you would expect, and thanks too are due to the BBC for the special attention we were afforded on Match of the Day:
As for the game itself – well, it wasn’t the most exciting, but as Arsene pointed out there was a certain poignancy in the scoreline: 1-0 to the Arsenal. And the goal scored was one that will be remembered well in to our next century.
It is a truly stunning volley from a player we are honoured to be watching this season.
This week ends with a trip to league leaders Man City. A positive result there and it might come close to matching the last seven days.
