Archive for November 1st, 2007

Sheff Utd 0 – 3 Arsenal: Brazilian Trio See Arsenal Through

Add comment November 1st, 2007

Three goals made in Brazil and three outstanding performances from Brazilian-born players.  This might’ve been a weakened Arsenal side, but it still included a World Cup Winner, the Brazil U-20 Captain, and Croatia’s best player.

The gap in class was almost embarrassing.  As much as I despise Neil Warnock, his motivational powers at least made Sheffield United a difficult prospect to face.  Indeed, around a year ago they beat us in the same fixture.

Under Bryan Robon, and languishing in the depths of the Championship, United were a shadow of their former selves, chasing Arsenal’s shadows whilst, on the rare occasion they obtained the ball, passing with all the accuracy of a team of partially-sighted players who’ve been blindfolded for good measure.  Is that PC?  Probably not.

An early goal killed any semblance of a contest.  Alexandre Song’s pass found Nicklas Bendtner, whose sweeping ball was blasted home by Eduardo da Silva within seconds.  After taking the ball in his stride, he unleashed a zipping drive into the near top corner.  An absolutely cracking strike.

If Eduardo’s first was all about power, the second was about precision.  A neat run to latch onto a long ball from Kieran Gibbs, then the same two-touch instant finish: one piece of immaculate control, and then a sidefoot past a wrong-footed goalkeeper.  The Crozillian doesn’t really miss.

It was great to see a player finishing with such confidence.  I don’t think Myles Palmer is wrong to compare him to a young Robbie Fowler: his self-assuredness in front of goal is of the Ian Wright calibre.  If he can adapt to the rigours of the Premier League then we may have a fearsome goalscorer in our ranks.

Denilson later added a third with a deflected strike from range for his second goal in as many rounds.  The young(er) pretender to Cesc’s throne probed all night with some excellent passing in the centre of the park.

He was ably supported by Gilberto, who turned in a very professional display, often dropping back as an auxillary centre-half to help out an inexperienced defence.

The big surprise of the night was that the captain’s armband was handed to Fabianski in just his second Arsenal game.  Although Arsene managed to give a rather muddled explanation of his decision, whichever way you look at it it’s a snub for Gilberto and you’d have to be very naieve not to realise there’s something going on behind the scenes between the manager and last season’s skipper.  As and when I hear anything I’ll do my best to let you know.

Fabianski looked a little nervy under high balls but made a couple of decent saves, whilst a back four (who were arguably all playing out of position) never looked troubled.  Alex Song continued his good form at centre-back with Justin Hoyte cool alongside him, whilst Gibbs made a solid debut in an unfamiliar left-back role.  On the right, Lassana Diarra was outstanding, demonstrating on more than one occasion a surprising degree of speed and power to complement his obvious qualities of technique and intelligence.  More playing time for this young man, please.

Denilson and Gilberto were flanked by Theo Walcott and Abou Diaby.  Walcott was his usual industrious self and could’ve caused real havoc in the first half if his final ball had been better, but Diaby looked careless and lacksadaisical.  With competition from the likes of Diarra and Denilson, the next six months could be very important for the lanky midfielder.  He might need to do more than raise his game – he may need to change it altogether.

Bendtner was a constant menace without ever really looking like scoring, but there’s no doubt the star of this night was our number nine, Eduardo.

The matchwinner might be justified in wondering whether or not he’s played himself into the team to face Manchester United on Saturday.  Only time will tell.


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