Archive for November, 2006
November 23rd, 2006
“If I had to choose two players it would be him and Lionel Messi, because I saw what he could do at Barcelona. For me they are the two best players I have seen at 16 to 17.”
It’s glowing praise from a guy who was himself turning in incredible performances at that age. It seems that whatever Cesc has seen in training from young Theo, he likes, with last night being the proof of the pudding:
“He is the best player of that age playing in the Premiership, definitely. When Theo comes on for the last 15 or 20 minutes you can see he can do something. He’s so quick, so powerful and showed that once again this evening. For the third goal I thought he had gone too far but he put it perfectly on Baptista’s head.”
It’s interesting that he picks up on Walcott’s “power”. Arsene Wenger himself has noted that he expects the teenager to mature into a stocky, “Sylvain Wiltord” shape, hence his reluctance to move for Carlos Tevez.
As long as he proves more consistent at something other than running round in circles than Sylvain did, we could be onto a winner…
November 22nd, 2006
I was preparing my “falling behind then coming back to 1-1” template as early as the fourth minute, when Rafael van der Vaart curled a brilliant opener with his supposedly weaker right-foot. On a night when Arsenal were desperate for a win, it was exactly what they didn’t need.
If there was anything positive about conceding the goal, it was that it came so early on: there was plenty of time for us to get back into the game. But apart from a couple of inspirational Kolo Toure runs and an Aleksandre Hleb shot that crashed against the bar, we were struggling to break the Germans down, and at half-time it remained 0-1.
At the interval, Arsene made a significant tactical change. Philippe Senderos had, as expected, replaced the injured William Gallas, but not many expected Freddie Ljungberg to play. As it happened, Gilberto wasn’t available for selection, so Ljungberg was part of a five man midfield. At half-time, five became four, with Robin van Persie moving up alongside Henry.
It wasn’t long until the switch payed off. Just seven minutes after the break, a subtle turn and pass from Cesc Fabregas slipped van Persie in, and he became the second left-footed Dutchman to net with his supposed “swinger” after he slipped the ball in at the near post.
Arsene Wenger, it seemed, had turned into Midas. In the course of the game Arsene made three substitutions, bringing of van Persie, Ljungberg, and Hleb for Adebayor, Walcott, and Baptista. Between them, these three helped create the two goals that completed Arsenal’s impressive come-back.
In the 83rd minute, the impressive Walcott slipped in Emmanuel Eboué whose driven cross-shot cannoned in off the goalkeeper. A bit lucky? Yes. But I can’t have been the only one reminded of Belletti’s almost identical strike in the Champions League Final – these things do come around…
And the icing on the cake came when a brilliant one-two between Walcott and Adebayor led to the teenager crossing to the back post for Baptista to power home a header and net his first Arsenal goal. The Brazilian’s relief was palpable.
And relief is the best word to describe the emotions surrounding last night’s second half. As Arsene puts it:
“It will convince my players not to make an obsession of conceding the first goal and thinking ‘oh, here we go again’. Once you know you can come back and win the game it makes a big difference. I was quite confident because I saw that the team refused to lose the game, you know, and I see a lot of character in the side, even in the first half.”
The other major talking point was the performance of Theo Walcott, who produced a dazzling display on the right-wing. Consistency can’t be expected of someone of 17 years old, but it’s clear Walcott can make an occasional impact against tired defences. Wenger says:
“When Theo came on he gave us a little more power and pace and that made a big difference. Theo at the moment is in the kind of mental state where he believes he can affect the game when he comes on. I involve him a lot. He has played a few games already and I am watching him closely and he will soon get another start. We play so many games now that his time will come again. I feel he learns from being in a team which is under such pressure to win the game.”
The performance wasn’t brilliant, the crossing of Eboué and Clichy was most terrible, and Thierry got himself suspended for the crucial final game away to Porto. But we now know that a draw there will be enough to get us qualified. What’s more, this was hilarious.
It won’t go unnoticed that our improved second half came in a 4-4-2 formation, which gave us a lot more options in and around the box. I think part of the problem is that we’ve missed Tomas Rosicky in the 4-5-1: he is someone who is willing to run beyond Henry and into the box. Until we have that, perhaps we’re best to go two up top, especially at home.
November 21st, 2006
The main thing you need to know is: William Gallas is out, and for a few weeks. Philippe Senderos will come in for only his third appearance of the season.
Elsewhere, Robin van Persie and Gilberto are both back, from foot and family problems respectively. Freddie Ljungberg, too, could be on the bench. I’d expect him to be joined by Julio Baptista, with Mathieu Flamini continuing alongside Gilberto and Cesc.
It’s fairly simple: tonight, a win is a must. Not an absolute must – qualification is still possible without it – but a must nonetheless.
I’m missing the game, but thanks to the wonders of Sky Plus will be watching it on an hour’s delay. Thankyou, Sky Plus. For so much.
November 18th, 2006
And so here we are again. Arseblogger used to have a template he would pull out when the fans proclamed that we were “doooomed”. I’m thinking of getting one for games in which we fall behind then struggle to break down teams at home. Oh, and where lots of people shout “shoooooot”.
The first mistake was probably resting Thierry Henry. The 4-1-4-1 formation is dependent on mobile, technical footballers. Today, with Flamini, Baptista, and Adebayor in for the likes of Ljungberg, Rosicky, and Henry, we were always going to suffer.
Baptista was making his first start, and he looked well off the pace. If he performs like that week-in week-out, we’ll have to send him back to Madrid as faulty goods. About halfway down the BBC’s match report you get an indication of his display today. Perhaps in time he’ll come good.
When Newcastle took the lead, I laughed. There was something horribly inevitable about it. In the 29th minute, a Newcastle counter-attack saw Martins and Dyer up against Clichy and Eboue. However, once Martins had got the better of the Frenchman, Eboue stood off Dyer allowing him to turn and curl the ball into the far corner.
Half-time saw Henry replace the injured van Persie, and Adebayor switch out to the left wing. Eventually, Theo Walcott too was introduced for the plodding Baptista. However, as against Everton, it was a stunning 70th minute set-piece that was required; Henry curling a wonderful strike into the near top-corner.
So, arguably the best player in Europe helped us get out of jail. Again. Arsene said:
“Newcastle played and defended well but We did not score in the first 20 minutes and gave a soft goal away. Then we created lots of opportunities and gave a great performance but we cannot give goals away the way we did. This side has great potential but we are still a bit young in some areas of our game and you could see that today.”
Someone on a forum I’m a member of described this side as “the most frustrating team the world has ever seen”. I can’t see it catching on as a chant, but you’d have to say he’s probably right.
It’s silly to say “we’re out of the title race”. At this stage of the season, there isn’t a title race. You just have to take each game at a time. Especially with this side, where consecutive results seem to bear no correlation whatsoever. All together now:
AND IT’S ARSENAL;
ARSENAL FC!
WE’RE BY FAR THE MOST FRUSTRATING TEAM
THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN!
November 18th, 2006
With Freddie Ljungberg out due to cheese poisoning and Gilberto on compassionate leave, Julio Baptista could be in line for his first Arsenal start tomorrow.
Although Ljungberg has recovered from his cheese-related incident, Arsene says:
“He has not played one minute at a competitive level for five weeks and he was out this week again. He has not even practiced a lot – that is the only reason for him to not play.”
Whereas regarding Baptista, he has this to say:
“Bapista has been able to work extremely hard in the last four or five weeks. Contrary to Freddie who was a little bit in and out, Baptista was at a consistent practice level and he looks sharp. I don’t know if I will start him or not, but he is in the squad.”
My potential team on the right seems him starting, though he might bring in Adebayor and shift to a 4-4-2, or push Hleb inside with Walcott playing from the flank. So far in his Arsenal career, La Bestia has managed a mere 53 minutes: a start today would certainly go some way towards redressing that tiny figure.
There is some talk of resting Thierry, but I can’t see Arsene doing that. I think he probably talked about it merely to highlight his anger at Domench playing him for a full 90 minutes midweek. Another Frenchman, Mathieu Flamini, will certainly start after his goalscoring heroics against Liverpool last week.
You may have noticed there was a post or two missing this week. That was in protest against the incredibly boring International week.
We’ve drawn a lot of games like today’s this season, and if we’re serious about the title, that needs to stop. Hopefully The Beast will help blow Newcastle all the way back to the North-East.
Next Posts
Previous Posts
