Having been unable to watch yesterday’s game live, I’ve just caught up thanks to the extended highlights available on Sky’s Football First service. They obviously had a few technical difficulties with the broadcast, as they kept running a ticker along the bottom apologising for the fact that co-commentator Trevor Francis was inaudible. Honestly, Sky – when it comes to silencing Trevor, no apologies are neccessary.
This was a match in which we appeared to play well for all of five minutes – those minutes came immediately after we took the lead against the run of play. Manuel Almunia had already tipped an own-goal-bound Vermaelen header on to the bar when Cesc Fabregas waltzed ricocheted his way through the Burnley defence before knocking home his tenth goal of the season. It’s an outstanding haul – carry on at this rate and he’ll end the season with twenty or so, which would be phenomenal.
The greatest threat to that achievement is, as usual, injury. After a promising spell in which Arshavin hit the post and Cesc volleyed wide, the captain picked up a hamstring injury which forced him to hobble off before half-time. He’ll now miss Saturday’s game with Hull, and one fears a few more after that.
By that point it was 1-1. Andre Bikey’s miscontrol in the penalty area drew a lunge from Vermaelen that was a clear foul, and a penalty was awarded. Graham Alexander simply doesn’t miss, and the sides went it at half-time level.
After that Burnley looked the more likely victor. Chris Eagles struck a post and a potential winner was controversially disallowed for offside. In that instance, Manuel Almunia inexplicably allowed a cross to slip through his hands, gifting the opposing striker an easy tap in.
Almunia’s form is a real worry. His confidence is shot, as evidenced by poor decision-making and erratic, inefficient distribution. Many will be hoping we sign a keeper in January, but I can tell you now: we won’t. Lukasz Fabianski is seen as the future number one, and will be given the opportunity to earn a first-team place before we so much as glance at the chequebook.
We didn’t offer much of an attacking threat in the second half. Eduardo was brought on but at the moment Arshavin looks a far better option through the middle. The fact that Van Persie and Bendtner are out and still the Croatian can’t make the team speaks volumes for how rusty he is at the moment.
Theo Walcott is another suffering from lack of form, again due to his failure to put together a decent run of games. Hopefully the pitch-time he is getting at the moment will see him enter the new year with renewed vigour.
It’s two points dropped, but the alternative way of looking at it is to say that we’ve picked up four points from two games in which we have not played well.
This week is congested, but there’s no point moaning about the fixture list: with respect, we’re playing Burnley and Hull. Let’s get on with it and win on Saturday.
I write today’s blog from a stronghold in the North of England. I’m currently in York, but have spent the best part of two days in Manchester, sharing a hotel with the West Ham United squad – and, bizarrely, briefly sharing a public toilet with ex-Real Madrid full-back Julien Faubert. (Nothing happened. Honest.)
That’s behind me now, and I’ll soon be returning to N1. Somewhat irritatingly, however, I’ll be swapping location with an Arsenal team who head up to Burnley in search of three points to keep the heat on their rivals.
Some quick team news: Armand Traore and Denilson both picked up knocks at Anfield and will miss out. I’d expect their replacements to be Abou Diaby and Mikael Silvestre. Eduardo and Aaron Ramsey are also close to attaining starting berths, though the former may have to continue on the bench due to the form of Andrey Arshavin, whose brief stint as a striker has brought him two goals in two games. The Russian looked set to miss tonight’s game with a foot injury, but has recovered:
“On Monday, he was out of the game, the next day he is in. It’s as miraculous as that, I don’t know if he has a miraculous healing process at home. He is a tough boy, always wants to play and that says a lot about his spirit and determination. I’ve not met many with his pain threshold. I’ve had a few – the Nigel Winterburns, Bouldy, Dixon, Keown – tough boys. Andrey is a hard boy, especially for a forward.”
Whilst Arshavin can sometimes appear to be a little economical with his effort, his professionalism cannot be questioned. Also, having not seen a video clip of that quote, I find it both impossible and hilarious to imagine Arsene saying “Bouldy”. But there you go.
Tonight won’t be easy. Let’s not forget that an admittedly weakened side conspired to lose here last season – and the likes of United have already fallen at Turf Moor this year.
We’ll need to be somewhere near our best to come away with a victory. Come On You Reds.
Arsene Wenger’s dressing room presence is usually one of almost zen-like calm. Adversity is met with the placid reiteration of a distinct philosophy. Whatever circumstance Arsenal find themselves in, the mantra remains the same: if we play our own game, we will triumph. Yesterday afternoon, that ideology was placed under threat by an insipid first-half performance which ignored and undermined all the values Arsene has taught his team.
It is when irked that the manager reaps the advantage of having so often kept his powder dry: when his temper is disturbed, it is all the more explosive. Whilst Arsene was coy about the contents of his team-talk, skipper Cesc Fabregas was very honest about the events that took place inside the away dressing room at half-time:
“The boss screamed at us. I’ve never seen him like that before. He was really disappointed in the first half and said we didn’t deserve to wear the Arsenal shirt if we played like that. And I think he was right.”
The effect that Wenger’s outburst had on his team speaks volumes about both the players’ respect for the manager, and his ability to pick the appropriate moment to unleash what I believe is technically called a ‘bollocking’.
Arsenal were lucky to go in at half-time just 1-0 down. Fernando Torres had spurned a very presentable chance from a lightening counter-attack, and Steven Gerrard had been denied a clear penalty when blocked off by William Gallas. Karma, perhaps.
When Liverpool did take the lead it was due to another error from Manuel Almunia, who is having a torrid season. Fabio Aurelio’s free-kick was too high for Lucas, but the Brazilian’s presence obviously threw the ‘keeper, who instead of simply catching the ball palmed it gently to the feet of Dirt Kuyt, who prodded in an opener. I’ve long been a fan and defender of Almunia but his increasing unreliability, particularly on crosses, is making that difficult.
Liverpool had been first to every 50-50, with Javier Mascherano leading the fight. An injury to the holding midfielder, as well as Arsene’s fury, seemed to turn the tide: when Arsenal came out for the second half, they looked a different team.
Alex Song and Denilson, sloppy and one-paced in the first half, were the defensive pillars of a vastly improved midfield display. Thomas Vermaelen held things together at the back and would ultimately be named man of the match, but it was our improved efforts in the final third that made the difference. In the first half, we simply hadn’t looked like scoring. In the second, the front three of Walcott, Nasri and Arshavin buzzed into life, with Cesc Fabregas supplying the ammunition.
All four players combined for our equaliser. Arshavin collected the ball with his back to goal before turning it into Cesc’s path. The Catalan creator played an instantaneous pass out to Nasri on the right, whilst Walcott burst in to the middle. Nasri’s cross was aimed towards the number 14, but took two deflections on the way, finally trickling in to the net off a wrong-footed Glen Johnson.
If Johnson looked a little confused by our first goal, our second had him seeing stars. The England-right back failed to control another Nasri cross from the right, and up popped Andrey Arshavin, taking one touch inside Johnson before launching an unstoppable effort than cannoned in off the post. Arsene revealed after the game that Arshavin has barely trained this week due to an injury to that foot – if it’d been healthy, he probably would have broken the frame of the goal.
It was a goal fit to win the game, and the Russian’s eighth in sixteen starts this season. Whilst his performances can often contain elements of both the sublime and the ridiculous, there is no-one else in our squad capable of producing such exhilarating (and, crucially, match-winning) contributions. Anfield must be sick of the sight of him.
Just a fortnight after we were being written out of the title race, the hacks are furiously revising their scripts. What the turnaround in our fortunes shows is that it is too early to write any of the big sides off – with, of course, the exception of a flailing Liverpool. The side we beat yesterday are not a patch on the Liverpool of last season, and will struggle to qualify for the Champions League.
We, on the other hand, ought to be revitalised by this victory. We’ve shown we can come from behind and win on one of England’s greatest stages, which makes a nice change from our usual habit of taking the lead and then chucking it away. In midweek we face Burnley. Win there and hopes will rise yet further.
There is a long, long way to go. Yesterday ensures that, at least for a while, it’s going to remain interesting.
I’m twenty-four hours late in providing you my thoughts on the game, but I’m quite glad of it. It’s allowed me a bit of time to look at two young players, Carlos Vela and Theo Walcott, and what I believe they might be able to offer the team in the absence of Robin van Persie.
Vela and Walcott are becoming increasingly important to the squad, especially with the bad news that Nicklas Bendtner will be out till January. However, Vela has failed to impress in a recent run of games, whilst Walcott was making only his second start of the season on Wednesday night due to persistent injury problems.
Both players were criticised by fans after failing to make the most of opportunities carved out for them by man of the match Aaron Ramsey. Despite their tender ages, our threadbare squad is currently reliant on them to provide attacking threat. Are they able to step up to the plate?
It strikes me that Vela and Walcott are quite different cases. Whilst the latter is an established member of the first-team squad, the Mexican has only a handful of appearances under his belt. One thing is clear: Vela is not yet ready to regularly make a positive impact at the highest level of club competition. His upper-body strength needs serious improvement, and at the moment his confidence in front of goal is unusually low. However, Vela has something that Walcott doesn’t: outstanding technique.
I don’t doubt that Carlos Vela will have a top football career. Perhaps he’ll never adapt to English football and will have to move to La Liga to make the grade, but he will be a star, just as he has been at every youth level in his progression. Arsene Wenger clearly concurs, signing the striker up to a long-term deal just yesterday. Even if he doesn’t make it with us, he isn’t going anywhere cheaply.
Walcott has the physical attributes Vela desires. He is all pace and power, but sometimes lacking in the finesse of his South American team-mate. His performance on Wednesday night was rusty at his best, and with six months unti the World Cup squad is announced it’s fair to say that he’s fallen some way behind his closest rival, Tottenham’s Aaron Lennon.
Whilst the summer is doubtless in the back of Theo’s mind, the only way he can improve his chances of being on the plane are with his performances at club level. He needs to put together a consistent run of games without injury to find his touch and form. You can’t help but feel that the 4-3-3 system was in part devised to accommodate him on the right-wing. With several of his competitors for the position out injured (Bendtner, Rosicky, Eboue), he has a golden opportunity to claim the spot as his own.
Back to Wednesday night, then – a solid enough performance with one mistake by debutant Kyle Bartley costing us the crucial goal. We’ll now face one of Bayern Munich, Stuttgart, Porto, Inter Milan, Lyon, AC Milan, and CSKA Moscow in the next round. I’d like it to be Stuttgart and a reunion with the properly mental Jens Lehmann.
Finally today, Alisher Usmanov has bought some shares. Let’s face it: I’m not interested, you’re not interested – nobody is interested. These “share-buying” stories are so bloody dull. All these point somethings of a % changing hands. I’m losing interest in the whole bally thing.
