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Arsenal 4 – 1 Reading: Arsenal win on Gervinho roulette

1,263 comments March 31st, 2013

Gervinho shows off his Paolo Di Canio impression

Arsenal 4 – 1 Reading
Match Report | Arsene’s reaction | Highlights 

Fair play to Arsene…
I raised my eyebrows when I first saw the line-up he’d selected, but the result redeemed him. The two surprise inclusions were Gervinho and Bacary Sagna at the expense of Carl Jenkinson and Lukas Podolski, but both players demonstrated their worth with impressive displays.

Let’s celebrate Gervinho when he’s good…
…because we’re certainly quick to criticise him when he’s bad. The Ivorian was terrific in the wide attacking role usually occupied by Theo Walcott. Like Walcott, he was clearly encouraged by the manager to dart inside and support Olivier Giroud whenever possible. While the Englishman is undoubtedly a better finisher, Gervinho’s movement and dribbling ability is probably superior, and provided a constant headache for the Reading defence. We’re used to seeing Gervinho cause chaos on the pitch, but rarely for the right reasons.

I don’t expect this performance to mark any kind of pivotal moment in Gervinho’s Arsenal career. I don’t think he’s about to embark on a long run characterised by reliability and consistency. The goals and assists will always be accompanied by glaring moments of miscontrol. The flaws in his technique mean he will always remain unpredictable and erratic. However, every so often it will click and work out for him. When it does, we should be grateful and gracious.

Santi Cazorla was far too good for Reading…
Watching him, I began to worry that if we continue our gradual decline he will soon be too good for Arsenal as well. Since moving to England, he has been selected for the Spanish national team with increasing regularity. Among that group of players he represents something of an anomaly as he does not play for either Barcelona or Real Madrid. Not yet, anyway. I wouldn’t be surprised if Arsenal were eventually tested by a bid from one of the La Liga giants. Cazorla is a rare gem, and the twin powers of Spanish football know it.

Regardless of what happens down the line, I’m determined to enjoy him while I can. If you love football, you love Santi.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s form is on an upwards curvature at last…
Until recently his season had been full of frustration. His potential is undoubted, but we’ve only seen flashes of his ability during this campaign. However, after an ebullient performance for England against San Marino, this cameo was full of the powerful running and energetic effervescence which built Chamberlain’s reputation as one of the brightest young talents in European football.

The table…
…is a little misleading, due to our game in hand. Currently, Chelsea are just two points ahead, with Spurs a further three in-front.  However, our North London rivals have played a game more.

It’s incredibly close, and all we can do is continue to win our games and hope for more slip-ups from Tottenham and Chelsea. Both clubs are competing on more than one front, while Arsenal are have the advantage of a single and solitary focus. We know what we need to do. Yesterday was certainly a step in the right direction.

Arsenal 5 – 1 West Ham: Fat Sam, Grand-Slammed

182 comments January 24th, 2013

Arsenal 5 – 1 West Ham
Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction

This was a match that Arsenal desperately needed to win. To do so in such style was a huge bonus.

Arsene Wenger will have beedn particularly please by the fact that his trio of summer signings – Santi Cazorla, Lukas Podolski and Olivier Giroud – were at the heart of dismantling the Hammers. Podolski in particular had his most effective game in an Arsenal shirt, racking up a goal and three assists.

I’m a huge fan of the German winger. Although he can go quiet when deprived of service, he is ruthlessly efficient given the opportunity. His goal was a display of the incredible power he has in his left boot, while the three assists showed how effective he can be supplying ammunition from the flank. How Guy Demel must have wished he was still an Arsenal player as he saw Podolski tear at him time after time in that devastating period at the start of the second half.

I call him a winger quite deliberately. Podolski is the best finisher at the club, and there are understandable calls to play him as a central striker. Personally, I think he offers us more from the left. His work-rate is far better than commonly perceived, and his crossing is superb: he now has 10 assists to go with his 11 goals.

Podolski isn’t a flair player. He’s a machine. He finds space, and crosses or shoots. If he shoots, he doesn’t much around with side-foot or swerve: he hits the ball as clean and true as anyone I’ve seen in an Arsenal shirt.

It was he who got Arsenal back in to the game after going behind on, unsurprisingly, a set piece. Olivier Giroud headed a corner away, but Jack Collison was unmarked on the edge of the area and able to volley back in. Crucially, Podolski’s wonder-strike had us level before half-time, and when we came out for the second period we seemed hell-bent on putting West Ham to the sword.

First Arsenal produced a set piece routine of their own, as Olivier Giroud volleyed home from a corner after some clever screening work by Mertesacker. Then Podolski played what is becoming a trade-mark one two with Giroud before squaring to Santi Cazorla to back-heel home. The Spaniard celebrated with such humility that from the crowd I initially thought it had been an own goal. I shouldn’t have doubted him, as the replays confirmed an exquisite flick.

A minute later Podolski was in again, this time playing a ball across the penalty area which Theo Walcott side-footed home with real assuredness. He is now on 16 goals for the season, and it looks increasingly likely that this will be the season when he breaks the 20-goal mark for the first time.

The final goal was another beauty: Jack Wilshere split the defence with a beautiful pass to Podolski, and Olivier Giroud got in front of his man to meet the German’s cross and turn the ball home with the inside of his heel. The contest was over, and the game understandably petered out.

Arsenal need the three points for their league position. What’s more, they needed the injection of confidence the scoreline provides. The six month adaptation period for Podolski, Giroud and Cazorla is now over, and Arsenal need them to produce performances like this on a consistent basis if we’re to claw back Tottenham’s lead.

It wasn’t a perfect evening. The injury to young Dan Potts put a dampener on proceedings, while the introduction of Andre Santos to the front three in place of a tiring Podolski was a startling reminder of the shallowness of our squad.

However, we should grasp a rare opportunity to be positive. Our defence recovered from a shaky start to look relatively secure, Aaron Ramsey excelled in an unfamiliar defensive midfield role, and our attacking game was far more cohesive and clinical than in recent weeks.

Plus, we made Sam Allardyce miserable. You can’t ask for much more than that.

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Further reading: Player Ratings for Bleacher Report

Arsenal 2 – 0 WBA: Divers are already retrospectively punished

704 comments December 9th, 2012

Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction

Divers are already retrospectively punished…
Yes, Santi dived.  Yes, it was ugly.  And no, I don’t want it happening again.  That said, you won’t hear me lambasting him for it.  There are two reasons: the first is that we’re so desperate for points at the moment that I’ll take them however we can get them.  The second is that, unlike the majority of pundits, I don’t find diving to be the great corrupting evil of our game.  In fact, I’d far sooner see a player dive than commit a dangerous two-footed tackle.  It seems an odd quirk of our culture and its latent obsession with a neanderthal interpretation of masculinity that we’re more accepting of physical violence than a bit of cunning.  Fundamentally, I believe players are entitled to leap out of the way of a tackle.  There is no obligation to take the hit and get hurt.

That, I suspect, is exactly what Cazorla was attempting: to anticipate contact and exaggerate it to guarantee the decision.  Rather embarrassingly for him, the contact never came, and his subsequent leap and tumble can only ever be called a dive.  In an ideal world, the ref spots it and hands Cazorla a yellow card.  Unfortunately, the referee in this case was having a ninety minutes littered with incompetence, and made a poor decision.  You have to feel for West Brom, but few clubs are whiter-than-white here.  The Baggies themselves tried to win a penalty after a laughable dive from Markus Rosenberg.

There is outcry about the lack of retrospective punishment for divers.  I’m not sure I agree.  One need only have watched the second half to see the FA’s unspoken judiciary system in place.  Cazorla dribbled between four tackles, before being clearly fouled on the edge of the box: no free-kick.  This punishment can last longer than just one game – simply ask Gareth Bale, who has been booked twice recently for ‘dives’ when any other player would have won a free-kick.  In this age of television replays, the reputation earned becomes the punishment.  Santi will be lucky to win another penalty this season.

This was a much better Arsenal display…
We ought to have scored at least four goals, and looked relatively comfortable at the back too.  The midfield of Cazorla, Wilshere and Arteta looked so much better for a rest, and the latter showed just what a ballsy character he is with two no-nonsense penalties.  The English pair of Wilshere and Oxlade-Chamberlain had their best games of the season.  I’m sure I’m not alone in hoping that Chamberlain can put together a run of form to allay some of the concerns about Theo Walcott’s inevitable departure.

I occasionally wonder just what the other players make of Gervinho…
The Ivorian had one of his better games on Saturday.  He was energetic, hard-working and covered huge areas of the pitch.  However, his decision-making, final ball and finishing will always leave a lot to be desired.  In fact, the most reliable thing about Gervinho is that I will be complaining about him after the game.  When he missed from six yards out, Lukas Podolski, who was warming up on the sidelines, held his face in his hands for a good five seconds.  Little did he know he’d trump Gervinho with an even more outrageous miss after coming on as a substitute.

Olivier Giroud needs a goal again…
The Frenchman was desperate to take the second penalty, and not at all happy about Mikel Arteta asserting his authority and taking the kick himself.  When Arteta scored, Giroud turned and trudged back to the centre-circle as the rest of the team celebrated.  It was a little stroppy, and the mark of a player who is starting to feel the pressure again after failing to score in his last five appearances.

Arsenal are now just two points off fourth spot…
…whilst Chelsea’s mini blip means we’re only five points off third.  We’re in the fortunate position of being in direct competition with teams which are as flawed as our own.  If we can get it together, Champions League qualification is still very much within our grasp.

That said, it was painful seeing RVP clinch the Manchester derby…
That’s what football ought to be about.  Those glorious moments when you pinch victory in a table-topping clash thanks to your star player.  We had a player like that.  We sold him.  Still, look at that bank balance.  Lovely.

WBA Preview: Shift over, Santi

89 comments December 8th, 2012

You hear the phrase ‘must-win’ brandished as an epithet to every other Premier League game.  Today, for Arsenal, it feels appropriate.  Should we fail to beat West Brom, the consequences will be catastrophic.  Not as far as the Premier League table goes: there’s plenty of time for us to catch the Baggies, as well as the other teams chasing Champions League Qualification.  The damage to the trust between fans and manager, however, could be hugely significant.  Last week, the atmosphere shifted from tense to toxic.  I dread to think where it goes from here.

West Brom come with a strong squad.  Their only key player missing is Scott Carson BEN FOSTER (thanks for the copious corrections in the comments), and unfortunately for Gooners everywhere, his place won’t be taken by Martin Fulop.  The man who made the last day of 2011/12 hilarious for all the right reasons now plays for Asteras Tripoli in the Greek Super League, but we’ll never forget him, and shall raise a glass in his honour on every St. Totteringham’s Day.

Arsenal are without both Lukas Podolski and Theo Walcott, as well as the expected absentees Bacary Sagna and Laurent Koscielny.  Carl Jenkinson will continue at right back, with Mertesacker and Vermaelen in the middle, but it’s ahead of that where things become more interesting.  We can be fairly certain that Mikel Arteta and Jack Wilshere will anchor the midfield.  Santi Cazorla has started every Premier League game this season, and on each occasion it has been in the central playmaking role.  I wonder, however, whether the absence of our first-choice wingers and the renewed availability of Tomas Rosicky will see Arsene bring the Czech in to the centre and shift Santi wide.  We shall see, but I don’t think a change in role would do the Spaniard any harm – he may even find himself a bit liberated.  Olivier Giroud is guaranteed to play at centre-forward, and I’d then go for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain over Gervinho on the flank, for the simple reason that The Ox is a better crosser of the ball, and that suits Giroud down to the ground.

Arsenal will take comfort from the fact that West Brom have lost their last two matches, but know that the Baggies have beaten Chelsea, Liverpool and Everton already this season.  Swansea showed that sides no longer come to the Emirates playing with fear; they come to score goals and win.  Arsenal will need to be vastly improved to win this one.  And marks my words, Arenal need to.  It’s a must-win.

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.