Wolves 0 – 3 Arsenal: Theo dances past Wolves

79 comments April 12th, 2012

Arsenal 3 – 0 Wolves

Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction

This was a perfectly satisfactory night for Arsenal…
Three goals, a clean sheet, and no injuries.  The game was won inside 12 minutes, and we were able to coast for the remainder.  I had the ill-fortune of listening to one Tony Gale on commentary, as he insisted the ‘professional’ thing to do was to attack a ten-man Wolves side and look to score five or six.  I disagree: the professional thing to do was keep the ball, conserve our energy, and focus on greater challenges ahead.

Theo Walcott was electric early on…
Wolves made a strange decision to play a high-line, and Walcott punished them, twice flying beyond the defence.  The first time he was brought down, culminating in a penalty and a red card, and the second he finished superbly.  Afterwards he faded, and may have been a little thrown by the boos he received from the Wolves crowd.  He should embrace that sort of reaction: from opposition fans, a boo is almost always a compliment.

Robin van Persie was magisterial…
His impudently chipped penalty was the highlight of an exemplary display.  He dropped deeper than usual, happy to let Walcott roam further ahead, and was involved in all three goals.  He’s now equalled a record held by Ian Wright by scoring against 17 different Premier League teams.  The Footballer of the Year elect simply must stay at Arsenal.

Szczesny shares a trait with all great goalkeepers…
Concentration: he has the ability to make important saves having been inactive for long portions of games.  The young Pole has had an outstanding debut season as first-choice keeper.  The main thing he needs to eradicate from his game is a tendency to roll or kick the ball out to players under too much pressure to retain it.

Yossi Benayoun has been a vitally important squad member…
He’s been used similarly to the way in which Alex Ferguson uses Park Ji-Sung – brought in to bulk up the midfield with his industry in the big games.   He’s also chipped in with a few good goals, and last night’s was no exception, thumping home in to the near post from the edge of the box.  Despite his impressive displays, I’d be surprised if Arsene were to sign him permanently – with the emergence of Chamberlain, as well as the likely additions to next seasons squad of Podolski and Miyaichi, opportunities on the flanks will become increasingly hard to come by.

Andre Santos looks a long way from fully fit…
…but that is only to be expected after so long on the sidelines.  At times last night he made my heart jump up in to my mouth, but I’m sure that as his fitness improves he’ll regain the form he showed prior to Christmas.  In any case, Kieran Gibbs should be fit to return to the side at the next available opportunity.

Wigan on Monday will be a test…
I watched their game at Stamford Bridge and they were outstanding.  It seems they were in similar form last night, beating a subdued Man United.    Hopefully a third performance like that on the trot proves to be beyond them.  We now face Wigan and Chelsea before Spurs play another league game, giving us the opportunity to open up an 11 point gap.  Indeed, 4 wins from our last 5 games (3 of which are at home) would guarantee third spot and Champions League Qualification.  Keep the focus, and it is within our grasp.

The decision not to punish Mario Balotelli…
…is, of course, ludicrous.   The rules and systems simply must be changed to prevent further miscarriages of justice.

You can hear me discuss all this and more on tomorrow’s Arseblog arsecast. Be sure to give it a listen.

Arsenal 1 – 0 Man City: Small feet, Big goal

326 comments April 9th, 2012

After his thumping free-kick against Aston Villa, Arsene Wenger revealed the secret behind Mikel Arteta’s shooting: his unusually small feet.  Well, rarely can such pies pequeños have been responsible for sending such reverberations through the Premier League.  Arteta’s 87th minute strike has not only continued our propulsion towards Champions League qualification, but also seems to have handed the title to Manchester United.

On the evidence of yesterday, City do not deserve to be Champions.  They played without fight, without passion, and with plenty of fear.  When the game was poised at 0-0, they looked more scared to fail than eager to triumph.  It was a curious twist of fate that this crucial defeat for them came against a side whose mental toughness has often been openly questioned.  Anyone watching this game would be forced to conclude that it is City, not Arsenal, who have the flaky psychology.

As for Arsenal, the victory was fully deserved.  Arteta and Song were the foundation of the victory – after City lost Yaya Toure to injury, they were unable to cope with the tenacity and technique of our midfield pair.  Ahead of them, Tomas Rosicky buzzed around effectively, whilst Robin van Persie seems to be regaining sharpness – only the post and, comically, his own man denied him a brace.

We waited a long time for the goal, but in the end justice was done.  There was justice also for Mario Balotelli, sent off for a second bookable offence after the referee somehow failed to notice his potentially career-ending lunge at Alex Song in the first half.  Balotelli is a curious case: the press are loathe to condemn him because they love the soap opera.  Why, though,  has Mancini been so loathe to condemn him?  It can only be because he shows ability on the training ground that makes the circus seem worthwhile.  However, he’s never shown anything like that form on the pitch, so I’m not unsurprised his manager’s patience is wearing thin.

Arsenal now look ahead to a clash with relegation-battling Wolves.  I say ‘battling’ – they haven’t shown too much fight in recent weeks, and look doomed.  That said, it wouldn’t remotely surprise me to see them raise their game for our visit.  Every match between now and the end of the season is a big one, and after losing at QPR hopefully the team have learnt that allowing concentration to drop in this league will almost always result in painful punishment.

I’m actually typing this from holiday in Mallorca, so am going to scoot off back in to the sun now.  Happy Easter everyone.


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