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Norwich 1 – 0 Arsenal: No Fluency, No Excuses, No Points

381 comments October 21st, 2012

Norwich 1 – 0 Arsenal (Holt 19)
Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction 

Arsenal were inexcusably poor.
People will talk about the significance of the international break, but it didn’t seem to trouble Chelsea, United or City.  This was comfortably our worst performance of the season.  Vito Mannone’s poor parry and Andre Santos’ bizarre positioning (single-handedly playing Holt onside) put us behind in the game, but at that stage there was still plenty of time to play ourselves back in to contention.  Sadly, we completely failed to do that.

It’s rare that you watch an Arsenal side and can say that they failed to create a single clear-cut chance.  Yesterday, however, our attacking play was as bad as I can remember.  We looked entirely devoid of ideas, and Norwich won’t have been able to believe their luck.  Around the 84th minute we finally managed to build some semblance of pressure, though an equaliser would have been far more than we deserved.

There’s a temptation to write this off as a ‘one-off’.
The performance was anomalous in its awfulness.  Even in the dreary 0-0 with Sunderland, we created a couple of chances that one could describe as decent.  Arsene’s relatively relaxed demeanour throughout suggested a man who had decided relatively early on that this was just ‘one of those days’.  I hope, for all our sakes, that he’s right.

Yesterday’s shambles was made even more painful by events at White Hart Lane.
Earlier in the afternoon I watched a Chelsea side play with all the flair and fluency that Arsene aspires to.  Their attacking play was superb: mobile, intelligent, and truly collective.  At the present time, the two sides are miles apart.

The weekend could have been a lot worse.
Yes: City, United and Chelsea all won.  That will happen a lot this season.  It doesn’t surprise me, and nor am I sure it’ll be particularly relevant to us for much longer.  We’re already ten points behind the leaders, and I find it hard to envisage this squad sustaining a title challenge.  The good news for Arsenal is that Spurs and Newcastle both failed to win.  At the present time, Everton are down to ten men and drawing with QPR.  I’d suggest that as the season wears on it will become clear that these are the teams we’re competing with, and the top three may pull away leaving us to fight it out to be ‘best of the rest’ and secure the final Champions League spot.

Spare a thought for young Serge Gnabry.
It wasn’t an ideal situation in which to make your debut, but desperation can occasionally be the father of opportunity.  With Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain joining Theo Walcott on the sidelines, Gnabry is likely to be involved with the first-team again next week.  He didn’t get much of a chance to show it yesterday, but he’s an enormous talent, and one we’ll see more of as the campaign goes on.

Arsenal face a real challenge to get things back on track in midweek.
Their opponents, Schalke, come in to the tie off the back of a 2-1 win away to Dortmund.  The Dutch pair of Affelay and Huntelaar are a real threat, and this promises to be far trickier than our usual group stage stroll.

Norwich Preview: It should be simple…

157 comments October 20th, 2012

It’s unusual that the most significant piece of team news concerns a player who may not even step foot on the field.  Nevertheless, the headlines and the terraces are united in their harmonious uttering of two glorious words: Jack’s back.

Jack Wilshere’s agent announced on twitter that after an absence of some 14 months, the midfielder has been included in the matchday squad for this evening’s trip to Norwich.  It’s unthinkable that he’ll start, and arguably unlikely he’ll even get off the bench for more than a cameo, but it’s a massive step.  After so long away from the matchday routine, just being involved will provide Jack with a huge boost.

I expect the team to line up as depicted on the right.  It’s possible that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain could be included ahead of either Ramsey or Gervinho, but I suspect his late return from international duty with England will count against him.

As the headline suggests, this should be an entirely winnable game.  Norwich have struggled to cope with mobile attacking forces like Chelsea & Liverpool, and sit towards the bottom of a slowly solidifying Premier League table.

However, Arsenal’s much-heralded defensive solidity seems to have evaporated a little in recent weeks.  We haven’t kept a clean sheet since the win at Anfield, and I can’t help but feel that the likes of Grant Holt could give us trouble is Norwich are prepared to play in a direct style.

As I write this, Spurs and Chelsea are drawing 1-1 at White Hart Lane.  Man City too face a tricky-looking game at West Brom.  Get it right, and this weekend could be a time to gain ground on our rivals.

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If you fancy a flutter on today’s game, you can check out my betting tips on the unibet website.

Wilshere & Giroud can kick this team on to another level

31 comments October 19th, 2012

When you last heard from me, I was cursing Olivier Giroud for what I saw as a costly late miss against Chelsea.  Since then, both he and Arsenal have been significantly rehabilitated.  The team bounced back with 3-1 wins over Olympiakos and West Ham, with Giroud grabbing an assist in each and a goal in the latter.

Perhaps I should go away more often.  I saw most of the Olympiacos game and highlights of the West Ham match.  The Champions League tie was typical of most Arsenal group stage games – we got ourselves in a bit of trouble with the usual defensive sloppiness, but pulled through thanks to our overwhelming attacking power.  The pace at which we attack is often too much for sides in Europe.  It tends to be at the back that we undo ourselves – see Milan last year for the perfect example.

West Ham was a real test – Carroll and Nolan are handle for any side, particularly one as aerially vulnerable as ours – but we got the breaks and continued to play our football.  Santi Cazorla was, of course, instrumental.  His thumping third goal was great, but the turn, spin and pass inside his own half to set Giroud away to set up Theo’s crucial strike was in some ways even more impressive.  We were reassured also by the return of Per Mertesacker, although a worrying trend is developing in our defence.

It was well publicised that in Arsenal’s first three games of the season they kept three clean sheets.  Steve Bould was declared as a defensive deity, and all was as rosy as a bank account named by Harry Redknapp at the back.  Well, since then, Arsenal have conceded at least a goal in each of the following seven games – many of which have been from crosses.

The lesson there, I suppose, is that we should not in such a hurry to judge performances.  The same lesson could be applied to Olivier Giroud, who is showing some encouraging form.  Against Olympiacos he was used as an impact substitute, and was desperately unlucky not to score with two good efforts, although he did head on expertly for Aaron Ramsey to chip home.  Against West Ham, he started as much for defensive reasons as offensive ones, but grabbed a real strikers goal, playing a one-two with Lukas Podolski before toeing the German’s cross home.  It’s clear he’s feeling a lot better about things, and he continued his momentum with a crucial headed equaliser for France against Spain in midweek.  What’s important now is that he gets a run of games – as impressed as I’ve been with Gervinho’s efforts upfront, having a genuine centre-forward would improve this team immeasurably.

I feel the same about Jack Wilshere.  I know we’re supposed to be cautious and protective, but I just know how much he’ll be able to add to the side.  He’s tantalisingly close now, and whilst this weekend has come soon I wouldn’t be surprised to see him on the bench for next Saturday’s game against QPR before starting in the Carling Cup at Reading.

Things are looking up.  We have several very winnable games before the next ‘season-defining’ clash with Man United at Old Trafford.  It’s a good time to be back.  For me, Olivier, and Jack.