Arsenal 1 – 0 Swansea: Substance over style – for now
242 comments September 11th, 2011
Mikel Arteta congratulates Andrey Arshavin
Match Report |Â Highlights |Â Arsene’s reaction
One senses it could all have been rather different. An early goal would have settled Arsenal nerves and shattered Swansea resolved. We should have had one, too: inside the first minute, an eager and energetic Mikel Arteta hassled his man off the ball and played in Aaron Ramsey, who slipped when put through on goal. Had he kept his feet and his composure, Arsenal might have gone on to record a resounding victory.
Doubtless some would still have complained. There has been much whining about how we failed to put a newly-promoted team to the sword, but I think that shows a lack of respect both for Swansea and our current predicament. Yesterday, all we needed was a win. After shifting eight goals in our last game, a clean sheet would have been nice too. We finsihed with both. To complain would be churlish and naive.
Arsenal started with two debutants. Per Mertesacker partnered Laurent Koscielny in front of Wojciech Szczesny, whilst Mikel Arteta formed a midfield trio with Aaron Ramsey and Emmanuel Frimpong. Gibbs and Sagna supported Arshavin and Walcott on the wings, and Robin van Persie led the line. The substitutes bench contained remaining new boys Park, Santos and Benayoun – Alex Chamberlain was unlucky to miss out after showing some fine form for the England U-21s.
Aside from Ramsey’s early chance, there were other opportunities – Arsenal were generally better in the first half than the second, and on-loan Spurs defender Caulker had to produce a brilliant goal-line clearance to deny Theo Walcott after he had been played in by Arshavin.
It was the Russian who got the goal, in bizarre circumstances. Michel Vorm, who had started his career in English football in fine form, collected a loose ball and went to throw it out to his midfielder. Just as he did so, the improbably named Angel Rangel wandered in to his path. The ball bounced off the defender, leaving the retreating Arshavin to pass the ball in to an abandoned goal. The goal was comical in circumstance but brilliant in execution: a left-footed opportunity from such a narrow angle left Andrey with plenty to do.
It was Arshavin’s first goal at the Emirates since the victory over Barcelona – and his best performance in a long-time. Although nominally playing from the left, he drifted inside to combine with Arteta and Van Persie and looked, for the hour he was on the field, our most dangerous attacker. The aftermath of the Barca game saw us embark on a dreadful run that has stretched across the summer – perhaps this strike can book-end that spell and start us off on a good foot once again.
The second half was tense – Swansea struck the bar with a free-kick, whilst RVP thrashed a fight-footed effort against the post. The Welsh side were playing with nothing to lose, whilst Arsenal’s psychological handbrake was firmly on. In the game’s dying moments, Danny Graham ought to have done better with a volley on the turn from six yards out. The full-time whistle was greeted a sigh of relief rather than a roar of approval.
But we got there. We have our first league win of the season, and the smallest of blocks on which to build. There’s a big week ahead with trips to Dortmund and Blackburn. Positive results then could change the complexion of our season for the better. Like Luke Chadwick after a dose of isotretinoin.
This was an unfamiliar-looking Arsenal team – one still learning to appreciate and take advantage of each other’s patterns of play. I thought Mikel Arteta made a seamless transition in to red-and-white, particularly in the first half, when we was certainly the general of an otherwise inexperienced midfield. How he’ll relish returning to the grand stage of the Champions League on Tuesday.
Per Mertesacker was steady if not spectacular. In the first-half Szczesny had to produce a fantastic stop after Graham beat the big German to a cross, but after that he seemed to settle. His distribution was intelligent, and some of his tackling immaculate. He’s not the quickest, but seems to have the positional awareness to prevent that being a problem.
Yossi Benayoun made it a hatrick of debuts with a thirty minute cameo as a replacement for Andrey Arshavin, and I thought he did really well (video highlights). He’s a dynamic, creative player who isn’t afraid to put in a defensive shift too.
There were aspects of our performance which concerned me, certainly. Emmanuel Frimpong showed that whilst he is undoubtedly promising, he has much to learn in when it comes to his use of the ball. Kieran Gibbs, too, looked unconvincing. Perhaps he was bemused by the comically small but effective Nathan Dyer, or suffering from a lack of support from Arshavin, but Swansea certainly had most joy down his flank.
All that said, come the final whistle, we had what we needed. Dortmund will be a far sterner test, but we’ll be far better prepared with a victory under our belts. Bring on the big boys.
