Arsenal Grab 3 Points from the Jaws of Defeat

Good result at Norwich. That said, we looked pretty toothless until the penalty, and the final result flattered us. Gervinho was back to his indifferent worst. And for 80 minutes we had no pace, no penetration and little creativity.

On the bright side, the “soft” penalty decision has brought all the Spurs hypocrites out into the open. Here is a Gary Lineker tweet: “Hugely controversial decision at The Emirates. Linesman gives a dubious penalty from afar following a corner that never was. Arteta 1-1.” Erm what was the controversy exactl? Sure the corner decision was wrong. But what was dubious about the penalty. (Here, by the way, is the incident in question.)

Kamara clearly has a handful of Giroud’s shirt in the penalty box. That is a foul, hence a clear penalty. Oh perhaps Lineker thinks it is controversial and dubious because the linesman did his job well, saw the shirt pull, and signaled to the referee it was a penalty. Or maybe Lineker thinks it controversial because the referee, having been informed by the linesman about a shirt-pull that he could not see, acted properly, and gave the penalty. Or maybe Lineker just thinks that any penalty given to Arsenal is controversial. So much for BBC impartiality. Unlike Lineker, who is either biased or stupid, or both, Proud Fan at the Spurs Unofficial Supporter’s site makes the correct judgement: “In my opinion it was a stupid foul, not like Giroud would have scored from there, no doubt Arsenal got lucky but pulling someone’s shirt from behind is a foul all day long. They got lucky because a stupid foul got them in the game when they looked like they had no hope not because they got a penalty, the penalty was a penalty imo. I agree it was never a corner though but then in the lead up to Norwich’s goal Kamara clearly fouls Ramsey and the Snodgrass trip was also not clear cut. But I think Norwich got what they deserved, they played with 3 DM’s. I have no sympathy for them.” Spot on. I couldn’t help in indulging a little Schadenfreude, when all of a sudden a team who were set up for a draw, or at best to nick a goal from a set piece, and who set about systematically wasting time as soon as they had scored, found themselves behind with too little time to equalize. It turned out that they had been wasting their own time (as well as ours, of course). Funny that. But then things can change quickly in football.

A top three spot is now within our grasp. However, we should not count our chickens. Everton away will be a hard game. If we win that and win a Fulham, I’ll be very happy, but a bit surprised. And even if we secure Champions League qualification again, that is no grounds for complacency. It is not a trophy. We are miles behind the top two teams. We are not even competing for the trophies at present. We are several top class players short of a competitive Premiership and Champion’s League team. As Wenger once said himself, and somtimes appears to have forgotten: “It is not about having lots of money in the Bank, but the best team on the pitch.” Or then again, for Gazidis Korenke, Hill-Wood, and everyone else with an equity stake in the Arsenal PLC, maybe it is.

Wenger Justifiably Upset at Story fabricated by the Sun.

Phil Thomas hit an all time low with his story today in The Sun. “ARSENAL are preparing to offer Arsene Wenger a two-year contract extension.” He made the story up. Why? Because he wanted to heap pressure on the Arsenal Manager, who is under pressure this season more than ever before. Arsenal fans should be wary of these press orchestrated campaigns to oust their manager. They would never have done such a thing to ‘Arry, or to Fergy, or Moyes. Maybe the football writers for the rags are Tottenham supporters. Anyway, I for one hope the tabloid press do not succeed in unsettling Wenger or getting him sacked. They have far too much influence these days, and they do not exercise it for the good. Not that I’m happy with Arsenal’s present position in the League, or with what I think was the bad, purely financially based decision to sell RVP, last season. That said, I believe that with relatively small changes – or rather improvements – Arsenal can be challenging for the Premiership next season. A season out of the Champions League might not harm us too much either. It would focus the minds of everyone at the club on what it takes to get sustained success at this level. Anyway, the message for Phil Thomas of the Sun, Neil Ashton of the Mail and the idiot, Adrian Durham at Talk Sport from all true Arsenal supporters is that we are not as stupid as you think we are, and, to be fair, we’re not as stupid as you are either. Fortunately, neither is Mr. Wenger.

Arsenal 5 Spurs 2: It’s deja vu all over again!

Last season, our 5 – 2 home win against spurs sent us on a run that saw us eventually finish 3rd, and occupy the financially all important Champions League place. Last year, however, we had a relatively settled side and a fit and on form RVP. What can we conclude from today’s 5 -2 victory? First to the match.

Tottenham started the stronger, had a goal disallowed, and scored soon afterwards. Mertesacker and Koscielny were at fault, and defoe ran through behind the defence. Although the keeper blocked his shot, Adebayor was first to the rebound. Adebayor celebrated predictably in front the Arsenal fans. (That’s ok by the way. It adds to the theatre.) Then, on 18 minutes he lost his head and went in for a two-footed, studs-up challenge on Carzola. That tackle made him for the next 70 minutes into the most hated person in North London. Howard Webb, after some reflection, produced a red card. After the sending off Spurs were reeling and disorganized. Arsenal by contrast finally started playing and pressed home their one man advantage. That was good to see. After Mertesacker headed home from Walcott’s excellent cross, Arsenal surged forward. Podolski scored from tight situation, via a deflection, into the corner. Scrappy, yes. But the point is that he stayed strong when challenged in the box, and got a shot off. The third goal in injury time was swept home by Giroud, beating Gallas to the ball, from a cross by Carzola, which he was allowed courtesy of a great decision by Howard Webb to let him play on after being fouled on the edge of the box.

AVB reorganized at half time, substituting the two full-backs for Dawson and Dempsey, and lining up his team in an attacking 3-4-2 formation. Spurs played excellently for the first 15 minutes and had Arsenal on the back foot. Against the run of play, though, Arsenal scored on the break, with Carzola firing home at the end of a sweeping move involving Walcott and Podolski. That said, even at 4-1 up Arsenal did not look comfortable and Spurs were playing well. Spurs’ second goal was well-deserved, hammered home by Bale through Koscielny’s legs, from the edge of the area. Arsenal fans looked on anxiously. Spurs should have scored a third, when Bale ran free down the right and fired a shot to the far post when he probably should have crossed to the onrushing Defoe. Finally, Arsenal started playing properly, given the situation. Instead of trying to rush the ball up to their three strikers, as if they were two goals behind, they slowed the game down and passed and kept possession, making their opponents chase the ball. This worked well, Spurs tired, and eventually Walcott wrapped up proceedings with an unerring finish.

Now what has this match showed us? Well what it does not show is that we are odds on to make the top three or four. We are still fragile in defence. We do not have a first class left back to cover for Gibbs. Vermaelen is a good player, but a makeshift full back. Even though BFG and LK are our best pairing at center half, they are both capable of making serious errors. If you look at the game overall, the 5-2 scoreline was flattering to Arsenal. Last year, in the second half, and towards the end of the first half, we simply overran Spurs, who capitulated. This match was different. Arsenal, with 11 men, pressed home their advantage, scoring 3 when Spurs were lacking in organisation. In the second half we played poorly for the most part, but scored two good breakaway goals. Effectively Arsenal controlled the game only for two periods, in the last 15 minutes of the first half, and in the last 10 minutes of the second. These were crucial periods. And Arsenal were efficient, and made the most of their chances. But Spurs played well, and never capitulated. That attitude augurs well for them this season. If Levy and the Spurs fans hold their nerve and don’t sack AVB, they will eventually rise up the table.

Overall, then it’s a mixed picture. It is good to see Sczesny, back but he is by no means back to his best. He needs a run of games. The defence still have a lot of work to do. We are weak at left back and not exactly solid in the centre. More positively, Giroud is coming into his own. Walcott is beginning to form a partnership with him. If only Walcott could cross well consistently. (Still at least he consistently puts in a good delivery at least 50% of the time.) Given the depth of our squad, we cannot afford to lose him in January, even if he can walk away for nothing in the Summer. Arsenal lack pace, when Walcott is not playing. We can sometimes look cumbersome in midfield. To get the best out of Giroud, we will need pacey players who run the flanks and cross well. At the moment Walcott does that much better than Oxlade-Chamberlain or Gervinho aka ‘Boney M’.

On the positive side, also, our attack is getting better. Giroud now has 7 goals and looks confident. Podolski is effective. Carzola is a little genius, far and away our best player at the moment, although Wilshire is nearly back to his best, and we look a lot more dangerous when he is on the field. Walcott, however, is our top scorer. So, if we are to even hope to finish above the likes of Spurs and Everton or WBA, we need to sign a top quality left back, to keep Walcott, and to work hard at the defensive side of our game. It is by no means a given that this year we will, as we always have before, scramble into the top four places. And we are way way behind the top three teams. It is not just that we are already out of the Championship race; we were really never in it. Ivan Gazidis’ mantra, wait for financial fair play regulation to come in, and then we will be competitive, smells strongly of jam tomorrow. But all true Arsenal fans want jam now, or at least next season. If we do manage to steal into fourth place behind Chelsea and the two Manchester clubs, this year also, it will be deja vu all over again, again.

Arsenal Defeat to Manchester United

What is there to say? We were terrible again: ineffective, sluggish, predictable, poor in possession and not great without the ball. Everyone knew that Man U would attack us doen the right flank to expose Santos, and lo and behold they did. True the goal was gifted to RVP by Vermaelen, but still. The curious thing is why Wenger never employs tactics against the opposition. Why not play Walcott up front when we know that United’s centre backs are immobile and can be susceptible against pace? Why not drop Wilshire back, as soon as it is obvious that Rooney has been given the task of preventing Carzola from distributing the ball? It is as if he is confident that Arsenal is good enough to beat other teams by playing their own game well. Well, they clearly are not. The only way to defeat a better team is with tactics.

I’m starting to think that 16 years of always getting into the Champions League places has made Arsenal FC – or at least its directors – complacent. The Champions League is where the money is. And Arsenal have managed to come at least 4th while continuing to sell their best players to their nearest rivals, which makes them stronger and us weaker. Face it, the £25 Million we gained from selling RVP will pale into insignificance if we drop into the tier of 5th to 8th placed also rans in the premiership, which is what we are looking like so far this season.

Meanwhile Walcott and Arshavin look like our best attacking options and cannot get a start. Carzola and Podolski’s form has dipped. Giroud has not yet found his feet. We now have no pace to speak of in the team. Wilshire is going to need time to readjust, and was off the pace.

Arsenal’s Defeat to Norwich

It was depressing to see how badly Arsenal played against Norwich. For all our possession we never looked like scoring. We were out competed and continually snuffed out down the centre, and no danger was coming from the flanks. Gervinho was wayward, wasteful and – as Aristotle put it once – as vulnerable as an isolated piece at draughts. (Politics 1253a6-7) he typified our lack of cohersion. Predictably, whenever a ball was crossed, a Norwich head or boot would get there first.

What does this show? It shows that we can still get bullied out of our rhythm, by opponents willing to sacrifice possession, fight aggressively for the ball and launch swift counterattacks. This has been a consistent failing over the last few seasons, and though we have made progress in this regard, we have not ironed out the fault.

Even if we get crosses in to the box, we rarely score from them. So Hughton was right to concede the flanks, crowd the midfield, and instruct his players to press, to break up Arsenal’s passing down the centre – along the Arteta, Carzola axis. Arsenal offer no danger from set pieces so Norwich could compete with impunity in centrefield and, when necessary, foul.

As for the Norwich goal it came from three minor errors. The defence was too slow to close down the initial shot; Mannone got down well but deflected the ball towards the goal rather than holding it or pushing it away; and finally Mertesacker was too slow to the rebound.

But the real worry was not that we conceded again – the defence still is a work in progress – but that we never looked like creating any chances of our own. Without van Persie, last year’s et out of jail free card, we lacked the guile, the composure and the power to break through a resolute defence.

Finally, our changes from the bench also indicated a threadbare squad. Neither Oxlade-Chamberlain nor Gnabry have the skill, composure and experience to turn a game. Not yet anyway. I for one, would rather have seen Walcott – had he been fit – and Bendtner – had he not been on loan – come on. Inconsistent as they both are, they both have in the past, and so can turn games that are getting away from us.

Let’s hope that we have a stronger squad and a better result against Schalke. It will be interesting to see how our defence copes against Klaas Jan-Huntelaar in midweek. Here’s hoping.

5 things learnt from Arsenal versus Man city at the Etihad

1. Arsenal controlled the game, had many more chances than City and made then look ordinary with the ball. They played on the counter attack like an away side.

2. Unfortunately most of them fell to Gervinho, who is skillful, and unselfish, but lacks the killer instinct (and composure) in front of goal. He is not the answer to the problem of replacing RvP.

3. Our zonal defence is good, but there is still work to do. Poldi was asleep, and Mannone was impetuous in dealing with the city corner from which there goal resulted.

4. Carzola is a gem. And Jenkinson is getting better every game he plays.

5. Koscielny is a more than able deputy for Vermaelen. This augurs well for our defence this season.