4-2-3-1 & Emmanuel Baddynomore
2 comments April 5th, 2009
Arsenal 2Â – 0 Man City (Emmanuel Adebayor 8, 49)
Highlights here; Arsene’s reaction here
The sun is shining, club football is back, and Arsenal won. Today. my friends, feels like a good day. Yesterday’s game witnessed the return of three key players, the rejuvenation of last year’s top goalscorer, and the armband finally being restored to its rightful owner. And, what’s more, it marked the deployment of a new and very exciting formation.
4-2-3-1 has been used most prominently this season by Liverpool. The key to the system is the positioning of two holding midfielders allowing another central player the freedom to join up with the lone striker and wingers. At Anfield, this means Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano holding with Steven Gerrard playing in the hole. Yesterday at the Emirates, Denilson and Song took charge of the defensive duties, with Cesc Fabregas granted license to attack. Theo Walcott and Andrey Arshavin patrolled the flanks, with Emmanuel Adebayor spear-heading the frontline.
It was a system that proved very effective – you can see why Benitez favours the formation, as the packed defensive guadrangle of two centre-backs and two holding midfielders provide a lot of security. Looking forward, the five midfield players give potential for keep-ball and controlling the game. The key to the turning the system from a preventative one into something that carries attacking potency is a front-man who can lead the line on his own.
Emmanuel Adebayor is, at this stage, our only realistic candidate for the job. Unfortunately, for much of this season he’s looked out-of-sorts: his scoring ratio hasn’t matched last season’s, and nor has his work-rate. Yesterday, after a seven week absence, the Adebayor of old returned. Perhaps it’s just a fleeting glimpse, and he’ll soon return to his lacksadaisical ways – it’d be foolish to hail his return to form after just one game. Nevertheless, the signs are good: with Eduardo now fit, Arshavin having arrived, and Bendtner upping his game, a little competition might be just what Ade needs.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I had forgotten just how good Cesc Fabregas is. He provided the assists for both Adebayor’s goals, which arrived at the start of each half. The first was a free-kick to the far post, where the unmarked Adebayor planted a header past Shay Given. The second was a sumptuous clipped pass which dropped over Richard Dunne for Adebayor to bring the ball under control, take it around Shay Given, and tap in the goal which killed the game. The creative potential of the little Catalan is such a boost to the side, as are his continual denials of interest in a move away.
In the first half City provided some threat on the counter, with Micah Richards and Gelson Fernandes culpable of missing a couple of very presentable opportunities. But in the second half we were completely dominant. It’s amazing how a squad of City’s combined ability cosistently fail to turn up for away matches.Â
Since losing to City up in Manchester, we have now gone seventeen league games unbeaten.  That’s a great achievement, especially considering our dreadful form in the first portion of the season, where we lost about one in three games. Players like Song and Eboue have made real strides forward in recent months, and watching the side boss the game yesterday it was remarkable to consider our improvement even since Christmas.Â
We’ll be seriously tested in the next month, with games against the likes of Liverpool, United, Chelsea, and Villarreal. But we’re coming into form at the right time in the season. We must take momentum from our league form and inject it into our pursuit of a cup.
Next up, it’s Villarreal on Tuesday. I expect we’ll see the same system, and I’m hoping for a similar performance. The Spanish side will be without arguably their best player, Santi Cazorla, who broke his leg this weekend. I fly to Barcelona tomorrow. Very exciting.
