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Swansea 2-2 Arsenal: Podolski shows the value of having quality in reserve

330 comments January 6th, 2013

Swansea 2 – 2 Arsenal
Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction

I think arseblog called it right when he said this was a game we could have lost and yet should have won.  For a long time, it looked as if this was going to be one of those games for Arsenal: we had plenty of possession without doing very much with it.  Swansea, however, were typically efficient, and looked a threat every time their passing game developed in to a full-blown attack.

The first half was a tepid, turgid affair.  This Arsenal team seem to have an ‘all or nothing’ approach to fluidity; when they fail to click, it’s like milking a rottweiler: painful for everyone involved and ugly on the eye.  The game only exploded in to life with the introduction of Michu.

The Spaniard came on as a 56th minute substitute.  By the 58th minute, he’d scored.  He looped the ball over Per Mertesacker, sprinted past the off-form German, and held off Laurent Koscielny to score his fifteenth goal of the campaign.  Just as at the Emirates a month or so ago, I was hugely impressed by his movement, strength, and technical ability.  Come the start of next season, he ought to be playing for a Champions League club.

The goal came against the run of play.  Arsenal had begun the second half with considerably more purpose, with the tireless forward momentum of Kieran Gibbs a key feature.  It was a substitute of our own who would help bring just reward: Lukas Podolski.  He himself had been on for less than ten minutes when he turned to volley home after Swansea failed to clear a Theo Walcott corner.

It was a stunning finish: for all the talk about Theo Walcott, the German is the most clinical man in front of goal at the club.  Some supporters seem frustrated by his habit of disappearing in certain games, but I’d suggest that pattern is typical of a forward in a side struggling for fluency.  When we’re off our game, his movement goes unnoticed and he can be very quiet.  When we’re in the groove, however, there is no player I trust more to make the most of opportunities to score or create.  His goal yesterday takes his tally for the season to 10; impressive for a player at the halfway point of his first season in English football.

Having grabbed the equaliser, Arsenal had all the momentum, and there was a touch of Podolski about their second goal too.  Kieran Gibbs played a one-two with Olivier Giroud to meet his clipped pass with a sumptuous volley that had more than a hint of Poldi’s against Montpellier about it.  It was just reward for a storming performance from Gibbs.  Whilst I appreciate he is prone to the occasional defensive lapse, his energy, stamina and positive running from left-back make up for it on balance, and I was delighted for him to get a deserved goal.

Having taken the lead with just seven minutes to play, most teams would expect to hold on for the victory.  N.B. : ‘most teams’.  Arsenal had other ideas, and their static zonal marking came a-cropper again when Danny Graham was left free at the far post to thump in a late equaliser from a corner.  Mikel Arteta will be particularly disappointed with his failure to close the striker down.

All in all, I’m content with the draw.  It meant Arsenal went in to the hat for the fourth round, when for 83 minutes that looked dubious at best.  The impact of Podolski from the bench was a lesson in the value of having quality in reserve.  The problem Arsenal have going forward is that Podolski was only on the bench to save his tired legs.  Ordinarily, they wouldn’t be able to turn to someone of that calibre to bail them out.

You can see where I’m going with this: with loan departures for Marouane Chamakh and Johan Djourou now confirmed, it’s time for Arsenal to take advantage of that space in the squad and bring in some new players.  Arsene repeated his post-match mantra of being on the lookout for “one or two” additions; I hope he’s bluffing and that those targets were identified long ago.  A month is not as long as he seems to think.

Arsenal now face a replay with Swansea on the 16th of January.  The winner of that game will travel to Brighton in the FA Cup fourth round.  Along with the rescheduled game with West Ham, it means Arsenal have a pretty hectic month ahead, and any reinforcements will thus be all the more welcome.

Arsene might be worried about 8 games in four weeks, but for supporters it means a veritable feast of football.  Bring it on.

Arsenal 5 – 2 Spurs: History Repeats Itself

1,544 comments November 18th, 2012

Arsenal's scorers against Spurs | Image via @ShahrizanDB10

Arsenal 5 – 2 Tottenham 
Highlights | Arsene’s reaction 

Yesterday, Arsenal came from behind to thump Tottenham Hotspur 5-2.  History, it seems, repeats itself.  At the heart of matters was the controversial figure of Emmanuel Adebayor, who scored a significant goal only to become the perpetrator of a violent and crude act that will grab the headlines.  History, again, repeating.

Some say that Adebayor was a little unfortunate to be sent off, and that his fate (a sending off for a thigh-high lunge at Santi Cazorla) could have befallen any player on the field.  That would be easier to believe if we hadn’t seen it all before.  Adebayor’s previous conviction was, you’ll remember, whilst playing for Manchester City.  On that occasion, a goal against his former club fuelled him with such a rush of adrenaline that he stamped on an Arsenal player’s face and celebrated distastefully in front of our fans.  On that occasion, punishment was belated, requiring an FA disciplinary panel.  Yesterday, retribution was swift and immediate.  Howard Webb pulled out the red card, and the game was turned.

Spurs had started so well.  They fielded an ambitious 4-4-2, and looked sturdy at the back, confident in possession, and threatening on the break.  Their goal typified their direct style, borne of a lofted ball down the left that exposed our defence as horribly muddled.  Per Mertesacker stepped up while the rest of the back four remained in position, Jermain Defoe raced in to the chasmic gap, and his shot was only palmed in to Adebayor’s path for the simplest of tap-ins.

It would be a slight untruth to say the game hinged entirely on Adebayor’s moment of madness.  There was another incident, just a couple of minutes before, that was almost as significant.  A lightening Tottenham break led by Gareth Bale ended with Aaron Lennon receiving the ball just inside our penalty area.  He fizzed a shot across goal, and it escaped the far post by a matter of inches.  Had that gone in, Arsenal would have been two down, and the whole shape of the game may have changed.

As it was, Lennon missed, and Adebayor followed up with an even greater aberration.  Immediately, Arsenal came to life.  Santi Cazorla suddenly found the space he’d hitherto lacked, and the game turned in our favour.  We were helped, too, by Andre Villas Boas’ selection of the inexperienced Karl Naughton at left-back.  He struggled against Theo Walcott all day long, and it was Theo’s perfectly clipped cross that found Per Mertesacker.  The big German leapt and planted a beautiful header in to the far corner for his first Arsenal goal.  It was a goal that had all the game-changing thump of Bacary Sagna’s in this fixture last season, and Per’s celebration showed just how much it meant to him.

Suddenly, Arsenal were flying.  In the two minutes before half-time they all but put the game beyond Tottenham.  First Lukas Podolski capped a hard-working display by squiring a deflected shot past the otherwise impressive Hugo Lloris, before Olivier Giroud put the icing on the cake.  He was helped in no small part by Santi Cazorla, who in one dribble overcame both a foul and a tackle from one of his own team-mates to get to the byline and square for the Frenchman to fire home.

At this stage, the half-time whistle brought welcome relief for Tottenham.  I turned to a friend and said that with our defence, I wouldn’t be confident until we got a fourth.  Fortunately, soon after the restart I got my wish.  The goal was possibly my favourite of the day, as it involved all four of our attackers.  Olivier Giroud nodded a goal-kick to Theo Walcott, who in turn played in Lukas Podolski.  The ruthlessly efficient German squared for Cazorla to slide home a well-deserved goal, and with that the game was pretty much done.

Spurs did put a few jitters up us when Gareth Bale fired home from the edge of the area with twenty minutes to go.  I have to say, I don’t get many opportunities to watch the Welshman up close, but he’s clearly some player.  Fortunately, he’s also far too good for Spurs, so I can’t imagine we’ll have to worry about him there for more than a season or too.

With only ten men, Tottenham weren’t ever able to put us under serious pressure.  All that was left was for us to replicate last season’s scoreline, which we did in added time.  Theo Walcott had been given a four minute cameo in the central role he craves, and he used the opportunity ably to grab a goal, sidefooting home after an impressive burst from substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.  It is genuinely frustrating to watch Walcott in such a rich vein of form, knowing all the time that we are creeping closer to his likely departure.  At the moment, however, pragmatism dictates that we must continue to play him.  He is simply too valuable to the team to relegate to the bench.

So there we have it: 5-2 again.  Same result; different sensation.  Because of the sending off, I feel like this game won’t have the same seismic impact on either of these teams’ seasons as the previous 5-2.  Last time, Spurs’ collapse came from a greater position of dominance, and was more complete in its cataclysmic hilarity.  This time, they have mitigating circumstances.  They can blame Adebayor’s stupidity rather than their own inadequacy.  I expect their wheels to wobble, rather than come off entirely.

For Arsenal, however, there are still plenty of positives.  Arsenal’s front six were excellent.  In midfield Arteta was solid, whilst Jack Wilshere had arguably his best game since returning from a seventeen month lay-off.  Santi Cazorla recaptured his spectacular early-season form, admittedly helped by the holes in midfield left vacant by a fast-tiring Tottenham side.

I was particularly taken with the performances of our attacking trio.  Theo Walcott and Lukas Podolski could both feel justified in laying claim to a centre-forward role, but both put in real shifts on the flank and reaped the rewards with a goal apiece.  Olivier Giroud’s adaptation continues apace – whilst he occasionally lacks pace, his aerial ability and movement generally make up for that.  It was notable how many crosses Arsenal put in yesterday – as long as Giroud is in the side, we have a genuine plan B to our conventional ‘tippy-tappy’ style.

The truth is that the long term repercussions don’t really matter.  In the immediate term, the here and now, we thumped Tottenham 5-2. Feels pretty good, doesn’t it?  Just, you could say, like last time.  Let’s make this an annual thing.  Enjoy your Sunday.

Fulham Preview + Thoughts on Theo, Podolski & more

194 comments November 10th, 2012

I expect Arsenal to make only one change today…
…and that will be an enforced one.  Jack Wilshere is suspended so will drop out of the side, with Francis Coquelin the man most likely to replace him.  Aaron Ramsey and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain are back in the squad , but having just recovered from injury are unlikely to be rushed straight back in to the side.  Other than that, I expect Thomas Vermaelen to continue at full-back and Theo Walcott to keep his place on the wing.

I can’t help but feel today could be a big day for Olivier Giroud…
The Frenchman is quietly getting in to gear.  Since breaking his duck against Coventry, he has started six games.  In that period of time, he has amassed four goals.  It means that despite all the criticism, he currently has more goals this season than, say, a certain Wayne Rooney.  The blight on his record is that only one of those goals has come in the Premier League – a competition in which he has appeared in every game.  A goal today would help give him some real momentum going in to the North London Derby.

It sounds like Theo Walcott is on the way out…
When asked about his contract situation this week, Arsene said:

“‘I don’t want to go into any details but you can believe me [that] we do the maximum we can to keep our best players.”

It’s a familiar refrain.  It’s the same thing he said previously about Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri, and Robin van Persie.  The deadline for Theo to sign a new deal is fast approaching.  For footballing and financial reasons, I’d like to see him sign a new deal.  However, I’m afraid it looks to be too late for that.

Lukas Podolski is not entirely to blame for his own downturn in form…
Arsene Wenger puts it down to culture shock.  I’d suggest it’s simply down to a lack of chances.  The German has not scored for more than a month, but in that period of time I can’t think of a significant chance he’s missed.  In fact, I can barely think of a single chance he’s missed in his time as an Arsenal player.  He’s lethal in front of goal – the team just need to work harder to get him there.

It’s great to see Tomas Rosicky back in training…
I had almost forgotten that he was still an Arsenal player.   It’s easy to forget how fantastic he was in the second half of last season, and he will add some much needed zip and verve to our midfield when he returns.  It will also enable us to give Santi Cazorla some much-needed rest – the Spaniard has looked jaded in recent weeks.

Montpellier 1 – 2 Arsenal: Resilient Arsenal keep Montpellier at bay

1,625 comments September 19th, 2012

Montpellier 1 – 2 Arsenal (Belhanda (pen) 9, Podolski 16, Gervinho 18)
Match Report | Highlights | Steve Bould’s reaction

There was less rotation than we anticipated…
I suspect there a few major factors in Arsene’s mind. First of all, the injury to Wojciech Szcesny meant that changing more of the backline any more could have resulted in real unfamiliarity. The central partnership of Mertesacker and Vermaelen has been excellent thus far, and disrupting that would be unhelpful at this stage. Lastly, I think he saw the value of getting off to a good start in the group stage, and wasn’t prepared to do anything to jeopardise that.

Arsenal were a bit impetuous early on…
Abou Diaby got himself booked after just twenty-one seconds, and their was an edginess about us in the early part of the game. It came from a good place; from wanting to get the game won as soon as possible. However, it almost cost us the match, with Thomas Vermaelen giving away that penalty after only nine minutes.

The penalty decision was 100% correct…
I find it slightly tiresome Arsenal fans contesting every decision that goes against them. This was a nailed on penalty: Vermaelen failed to get the ball, took down the man, inside the box. Simple. Our complaints are made all the more silly by the fact that many other referees would have punished us with the award of a second penalty right at the end of the game after Abou Diaby hung a leg out in our own box. As for Vermaelen, this was a little sign of his immaturity as a defender: he will learn that the conservative option of shepherding his man is often safer then diving in to a well-intentioned tackle.

Going behind was a test…
We had not been in that position thus far, and I wondered about the psychological ramifications. Our response, however, was fantastic.

Podolski is an unerring finisher…
Speaking after the game, Steve Bould said:

“Podolski has made a real impact. I have to say, I’ve not seen many finishers as good as him – ever.”

Big words from a man who played alongside the likes of Ian Wright. On the early evidence, however, it’s easy to understand why Bould was impressed. Last night, he was calm enough to take a tough, dummy the keeper, and slot home. What I thought last night was this: it is hard to think of a presentable chance he has missed. Long may that continue.

Jenkinson is improving fast…
I’ve long banged the drum about how Carl Jenkinson is the club’s best crosser, and his assist for Gervinho won’t have me putting my drum down anytime soon. His all-round play continues to improve, and his fitness levels are astonishing. His dad was a distance runner, and I’m told that he’s possibly the best stamina athlete at the club too. I thought Arsene might field Coquelin in Sagna’s absence, but his decision to go with Jenkinson has thus far been hugely vindicated.

Giroud was better than lazy pundits would have you believe…
As Giroud was subbed off for Aaron Ramsey after 75 minutes, Alan Smith called it “a night to forget” for the Frenchman. I’m not sure I agree: he was involved in the moves both for goals, provided an assist for Podolski, and worked hard throughout the game. We will need him this season; he gives us shape and a focal point. Playing with a guy like Gervinho at number nine is all very well when you control possession, but sometimes we’ll need to deploy a player who can win it in the air and hold the ball up. Giroud is that man.

The second half was all Montpellier…
Their manager has since admitted that their second half display was the best form they have shown this season. Finally, we saw why they were French champions last year. They played with real tempo and verve, whilst we looked leggy. I found it hard to understand why we didn’t make more changes earlier, but perhaps Steve Bould was loathe to make subs without Arsene’s say-so.

All in all, this was a good night…
The performance wasn’t at the same level as Southampton and Liverpool, but the result is very good indeed. There are no new injuries and our confidence is unharmed. Now the players need to rest up before a massive test on Sunday.

Liverpool 0 – 2 Arsenal: The signs are good

751 comments September 3rd, 2012

Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction

A victory built on solid foundations…
After two games, your perception of our results depended on whether your glass was half-full or half-empty. If it was half-empty, you were concerned about our lack of goals; half-full, and you were delighted to have kept two clean sheets. Three games in, we’ve broken our goalscoring duck, but remain yet to concede. It’s a great foundation on which to build, and credit is due not just to Steve Bould, Per Mertesacker and Thomas Vermaelen, but the entire team for a fantastic collective effort. To have achieved that record without Bacary Sagna, Laurent Koscielny, and (for the past two games) Wojciech Szczesny makes it all the more impressive. To put it in context, by this point last season we had scored the same number of goals, but conceded 10 goals. It is a dramatic improvement.

Two news boys got off the mark…
And both Lukas Podolski and Santi Cazorla were outstanding, picking up an assist each to go with their first Arsenal goals. Podolski combines predatory instincts with a phenomenal work-rate, whilst Cazorla is perpetual motion, and perpetual class. I haven’t seen many players who’ve made such an impression on the Premier League so early. At £12.6m, I’m convinced he will prove to be one of the buys of the season.

Olivier Giroud could do with a goal…
He snatched at a fantastic opportunity in the first half, and headed over when well-placed in the second. His movement is intelligent and the signs are good, but he could do with converting one sooner rather than later.

Abou Diaby was immense in central midfield…
His performance was a heart-warming reminder of his undoubted talent. He seemed to spin away from opposition midfielders at will, turning in to space and driving at defenders throughout the game. I’ve had to chuckle at the way pundits have fallen over themselves to praise his combination of power and technique, and label Abou as the ‘new Vieira’. These are the same comparisons people made over half a decade ago, when Diaby first arrived as a teenager from Auxerre. Still, I suppose I can forgive the Match of the Day posse for getting Diaby: prior to this season, he had not started a Premier League game in over a year.

Whilst it’s great that he played to his potential yesterday, it’s important that he goes on to show some consistency. It’s become a bit of a myth that the only obstacle between Diaby and greatness is injuries. This isn’t true: even when he’s been fit, he’s been prone to drift in and out of games, or inexplicably lose confidence and subsequently form. He needs to use the hunger from his time on the sidelines to drive him on to a good run of performances. Fingers crossed he and the rest of the squad return from the international break healthy.

Alex Who?
Alongside Diaby, Mikel Arteta was immaculate in the holding role. In fact, our central midfield display was so good that the discourse about our failure to replace Alex Song almost evaporated over the course of the ninety minutes. It is, as someone has observed before, a funny old game. Had we lost this match, with one-time transfer target Nuri Sahin impressing for Liverpool, the fanbase would be up in arms. As it is, Arteta and Diaby bossed it, Sahin was anonymous, Arsenal victorious, and Song forgotten. Add that to the news that Jack Wilshere could return inside a month, and our midfield suddenly looks much healthier. Perhaps Arsene does know after all.

Is the window really shut?
It was intriguing that both Andrey Arshavin and Marouane Chamakh were left out of the matchday squad. Although I expect both to stay, the windows in Russia and Turkey are still open for a few days. If a decent offer came in, could we resist? We’ll have to wait and see.