Arsenal 2 – 0 Sunderland: The formation has changed again
Add comment February 21st, 2010
Arsenal 2 – 0 Sunderland (Bendtner 27, Fabregas pen 90)
Highlights | Arsene’s reaction
Three points was crucial after United slipped up.
Yesterday was one of the days in which United probably had to drop points if we’re to have any chance of overtaking them. Realistically speaking, Chelsea were always likely to win at Molineux, but yesterday’s round of Premier League fixtures keeps us within six points of the leaders, and within just two of United. The suggestion that we’re by any means “out of it” looks unduly pessimistic.
That said, it ought to have been easier.
We had 17 attempts at goal, 10 of which were on target. Better finishing would have seen us three or four goals to the good by half-time, but without the class of Arshavin and Rosicky we lacked a cutting edge. At the back, the partnership of Vermaelen and Silvestre was split too easily, and Manuel Almunia twice made important saves from one-on-ones to help maintain the one goal lead we held for a full hour.
Emmanuel Eboue is definitively a right-back.
It’s oughtn’t be surprising, therefore, that when played as a right-back he is more impressive. His real ability is attacking the opposing full-back from deep, and getting to the byline with his balance and quick feet. In games such as yesterday, when there is less onus on the full-backs to defend, selecting him over Bacary Sagna can give us another dimension going forward.
Theo Walcott has started out on the long road back to form.
He wasn’t half as good as this Times article suggests, but the young winger is certainly going in the right direction. On a couple of occasions his pace embarrassed George McCartney, and whilst the final product was lacking, that could come with composure and confidence. He’s still miles away from the form he was showing in 2008, but there were signs of the that spark slowly returning.
Samir Nasri looked a £13m player.
Sharp turns, pace, skillful dribbling and incisive passing: this was the Samir Nasri who impressed us so much when he first arrived from Marseille. His withdrawal for Tomas Rosicky was met with bemusement; it can only have been due to exhaustion. This was Nasri’s best performance in months – possibly of the season.
The formation has changed… again.
Since the defeat to United, we’ve been watching a new iteration of 4-3-3. At the start of the season, Song played in the holding role, with Fabregas and one other (most often Diaby) ahead. After we were so cruelly exposed by United’s counter-attacks, Arsene has changed it. Now, two players sit deeper. On Wednesday it was Denilson and Diaby; yesterday it was Song and Ramsey, with Cesc alone given license to roam ahead. It’s still a 4-3-3, but the pedantic among you might call it a 4-2-3-1. In a period where points are all that matters, it could prove to be more efficient.
Stoke next week is a huge game now.
It’s a weekend on which United don’t play at all, and Chelsea face a test in the form of Roberto Mancini’s Man City. We’ve been defeated on both recent trips to the Britannia – it’s a ground on which all sorts of clichés about this teams frailties have been held up to be true. Overcome that, and people will start to take our challenge seriously again.
And another thing…
As some of you might know, The Observer relaunches this weekend, and as part of that I’m helping them out with a project called The Observer Conversation – each week we’ll speak to different people with an opinion on whatever that week’s topic happens to be, and make a film about it. Unsurprisingly, the opinionated internet dictators more commonly known as ‘bloggers’ will feature heavily.
The first one was all about the health of English football. I am the invisible man asking the questions in the following film:
I think we ought to be proud that almost all the contributors to the above film singled Arsenal out as a viable and successful alternative model. When you look at the mess at the likes of Portsmouth, Liverpool – even United – then it puts the club’s achievements into rather flattering perspective.
Check out the paper today for more – including a soundbite from an Arsenal representative: the venerable arseblogger.
