As I’m sure you can imagine, I receive quite a lot of emails asking me to promote various bits and bobs on the site. Most of them end up in the Trash folder of my email inbox – most of the messages are so full of marketing-speak as to be almost unintelligible to any mere mortal like myself. However, yesterday one arrived that I did give a second glance. It was from the folks over at ArsenalTVOnline. They’re keen to spread the word that their coverage of Arsenal v Fulham on Saturday (featuring full commentary on the game, the first post-match interviews, live video post-match discussion, and the chance to have your say throughout the show) will be totally free. Entirely open to anyone who wants to use it.
That in itself would, I suppose, be of some interest, but of potentially far greater long-term benefit to you lot is the fact that they’ve offered one Gunnerblog reader a free six month subscription to ArsenalTVOnline. I myself am a subscriber, and find it pretty handy/entertaining, so I’d suggest it’s something worth winning.
All you have to do is email a couple of lines of feedback on Saturday’s show to atvo@gunnerblog.com. All those who do will be entered into a draw, and someone will win that prize worth £23.94.
YES THAT’S RIGHT. £23.94.
Seriously though, it’s a useful thing to have, if only for the footage of Arsene’s press conferences. Or if you ever want to know with whom Johan Djourou shared his first kiss.
I know I said I’d be talking about the defence today, but considering how pushed for time I am this week, I think I’ll amalgamate that into tomorrow’s Fulham preview.
No time for a proper blog today, but having had this video brought to my atention by a couple of people yesterday it’s increasingly hard to believe that Totti got away with it:
That can only have been born out of his frustration at just how poor his performance was.
More tomorrow, when I’ll be trying to work out just how or why we’ve managed to stop conceding goals. Presumably, I will either fail, or declare that it’s down to one of coincidence or magic.
Arsenal 1 -Â 0 Roma (Van Persie 37 (pen)) Highlights here; Arsene’s reaction here
You may log on to the blog this morning feeling a little strange. Do not be alarmed: that feeling is satisfaction, and it’s happening to you because Arsenal played well last night.
Don’t be alarmed. Don’t assume the site has been hacked. Don’t rub your eyes in an attempt to assert whether or not you are still dreaming. Arsenal played well, scored, and won. Of course, it’s not a night that was without negative elements. But for a couple of paragraphs or so, let’s indulge ourselves.
Our dominance was down to two things – an intelligent selection and formation on Arsene’s part, and Roma’s brittle confidence. The Italians have lost on every previous visit to this country, and have shown a tendency to collapse under pressure – witness their 7-1 defeat at Old Trafford last year. If our finishing had been a little better, we could have hit something approaching that scoreline last night…
The team were set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Denilson and Diaby holding, Eboue on the right and Nicklas Bendtner in an unfamiliar role on the left, with Samir Nasri floating centrally behind Robin van Persie. It was a creative and effective response to the obvious lack of creativity in the middle of the park we displayed on Saturday. Bendtner and Eboue worked hard, though lacked a little in guile, and Nasri and Van Persie were a constant nuisance to Roma’s backline. Diaby, meanwhile, looked like he was playing a different sport to the one Song usually seems to be playing – he was efficient, powerful, quick, and dangerous. Alongside him, Denilson was free to stick to the basics – get it and give. He got it and he gave it and then he went and got it again. Playing a more creative player like Nasri ahead of him frees Denilson to perform the ‘water-carrier’ role he is patently suited to.
Roma couldn’t cope with our passing and movement, and on top of that their big players really didn’t perform at all. Julio Baptista displayed the cumbersome form he showed for much of his time at Arsenal, whilst Francesco Totti played as he has done every single time I’ve seen him play – terribly. This is apparently one of the world’s great players, but I feel like I have some kind of jinx over him whereby I will only ever see him play poorly. The same could be said of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the Inter Milan striker. Maybe it’s something to do with Italian football. Or being massively overrated. It’s one of the two.
I suppose the most disappointing thing about the game is that we failed to score from open play. However, we did at least create chances, with Nicklas Bendtner particularly guilty of spurning them. In the second half, he managed to lift a shot over the crossbar from a maximum of eight yards. Kaba Diawara would have admired the ineptitude.
Emmanuel Eboue was also sent clear on goal, and was offered redemption on a plate. Needless to say, he missed. When we did score, it was a penalty by Robin van Persie that was equally definite in its award and execution.
Other down-sides were needless bookings for Nasri and Toure (the latter for joining Gallas in being late for the start of the second-half), and a customary niggle for Diaby. But it’s really not worth dwelling on those. For me, last night’s result and what it does for our chances or progressing to the next round or otherwise are less important than the quality of performance we produced. The players were “up for itâ€. I can’t remember the last time I came away from a game with that impression.
What we need to do now is take that into the game against Fulham. Every Premier League game is vital now. Last night’s entertaining spectacle was a microcosm of the glamour and excitement that the Champions League brings. I would be sad to lose that, but far sadder about the other footballing consequences of failing to qualify.
For today, at least, I’m proud of the players. It’s nice to feel that again. Till tomorrow.
I’m finding it hard to get motivated for this game. Don’t get me wrong, I’m looking forward to it – but not necessarily for the right reasons.
I’m looking forward to it because it represents a distraction from our traumatic league campaign. Perhaps our best chance in the match is if the players feel similarly – one need only look at the liberated nature of our display in the 4-0 thrashing of Cardiff as evidence of the squad’s willingness to escape the difficulty they encounter in the Premier League.
I’m looking at it as a game that will entertain me this evening. But it feels more like a prestigious friendly than a chance to progress in the highest profile club competition in Europe. And I’d guess there are two principle reasons for that.
The first is that I am not confident about our chances. Our failure to break down sides with defences far less sturdy than Roma’s doesn’t bode well, whilst I am particularly wary of their Serbian striker Mirko Vucinic, who is capable of Eduardo-esque efficiency in front of goal. How we will miss the Croatian tonight. The point is, I suppose, that I’m finding it hard to get excited about the Champions League because at this stage we look a million miles off competing for it at the sharp end.
The other fact is that it isn’t our priority at the moment. Granted, we’re two games away from a quarter-final, but the nature of our league position is that each domestic game is taking on the significance of a cup final. Perhaps the reason to take interest in this game is that if our domestic form continues in the shoddy manner it has recently played out, winning this big-eared cup might just be our best(/only) shot of qualifying for it next year. Though at the moment that feels like trying to kill two great eagles with a pebble.
Arsene Wenger’s latest comments about his team’s potential have done little to raise my spirits. It’s all very well talking about how good Nasri, Fabregas, Diaby & Co might be in three of four years time, but failing to qualify for the Champions League would a) make it difficult to keep some of those players, and b) deny them all the exposure to top-level European competition they patently need.
If Arsenal win convincingly tonight, you just know I’ll be the first to claim that “Arsenal are back”, suggest Alex Song is “just misunderstood”, and that the title is not a foregone conclusion. I’m not expecting that to happen, but I still hope it will. Come on Gunners. Cheer me up.
Arsenal 0 – 0 Sunderland Highlights here; Arsene’s reaction here
One a weekend when Aston Villa suffered a potentially morale-sapping defeat to Chelsea, we had the perfect opportunity to seize some initiative and close the gap to just four points. All we had to do was beat Sunderland at home – and with the greatest of respect to the Mackems, it’s not the toughest task for a club that would claim to be part of the league’s elite. But as you all now know, we failed.
There are many reasons we failed to win. They are linked to the reasons we failed to beat West Ham and Tottenham. Three consecutive 0-0 draws in the league is almost unheard of under Arsene, and is a damning indictment of the failings of this Arsenal side.
To me it was clear that the real problem on Saturday lay in central midfield. Denilson and Song were afforded plenty of space by Sunderland, partly because the opposition quickly realised that neither player had the technique nor the vision to make anything of the possession they were granted. I went onto The Guardian’s chalkboard facility and made a diagram of Denilson’s passing patterns: there was only one pass into the final third, and it was unsuccessful. The rest of the passes were shown by short etched marks across the pitch – short, often little more than five yards, and always, without fail, sideways.
I was going to post it here. But then I remembered an image I’ve been meaning to use for a while – it’s a poll from Arsenal.com. Enjoy:
Zero percent of Arsenal fans want to see the pairing of Song and Denilson starting games. And yet they are, on a regular basis. Granted, that’s down to Cesc’s injury, but we knew about that before the January Transfer Window opened. And even with Cesc, I am absolutely convinced that neither of those players represent genuine long-term options. Unless of course, we’re happy with the UEFA Cup – or possibly worse.
And if things continue at this rate, that is where we will end up. We are not only relying on Villa or Chelsea to have a poor run of results, but on ourselves finding form that looks a million miles away at the moment. People will point to the forthcoming return of the likes of Fabregas, but I can’t help but feel that by then it may be too late. Three points from the last nine is a fairly pitiful return at the time of the season when every game represents an opportunity to close in on that vital Champions League spot. We ought to be throwing caution to the wind. Instead, we’re throwing the advantage to Villa.
The one positive was the debut of Andrey Arshavin, who (whilst clearly lacking in fitness) fired off a couple of cracking shots and delivered one excellent cross for Nicklas Bendtner. He played from the right, but often swapped positions with both Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie. Perhaps the most encouraging thing about his debut was the experience he displayed: after moves broke down, he would talk to the likes of Van Persie and Bendtner about the runs he wanted them to make; similarly, when Manuel Almunia picked up the ball, Arshavin would point to where he thought the ball ought to be distributed. He has a bit of personality about him – something we really lack. All of that said, he is absolutely tiny – I genuinely thought he was the mascot when he waddled out of the tunnel.
That’s it from me today. It’s Roma tomorrow, and that is starting to look like a very daunting tie. Preview tomorrow morning.
