It's not easy being an Arsenal fan, as this press release from Wrigley will verify: http://www.wrigley.com/uk/press/news-details.aspx?id=1381
For those who haven't read it (most, I would assume), Wrigleys (the chewing gum manufacturer), in conjunction with some nondescript 'scientists', has compiled a league table of heart rates for fans of premier league teams. Suffice if to say that there is little or no scientific merit or credibilty in Wrigley's league table, but Arsenal's fans have been placed in second and if my heart rate last Sunday is anything to go by then this should come as no surprise (at least to me).
Arsenal had won their last four league games going into the match at Upton Park, as well as 3 in the Champions league and Carling Cup leading up to the game at Alkmaar. Of those seven games, I would suggest that in only one (4-0 against Wigan at the Emirates) did Arsenal look truly assured. Hubris, inexperience, a lack of confidence or a sense of entitlement have all been offered as potential reasons for this. Regardless, on the pitch it has meant that each game has been extremely hard work and rarely have Arsenal looked comfortable.
A game like the one on Sunday was almost inevitable. Arsenal went to East London to face a team languishing in the relegation zone, low on confidence and looking for a result to kick start their season. The Hammers started brightly and were making Arsenal work hard without creating any real chances when Arsenal were able to make good use of a rare spell of possesion. After a neat one-two, Sagna was given enough room to whip a delightful cross into the the 6 yard box (there's a first time for everything) and a miscommunication between keeper and defencer resulted in Robert Green palming the ball into the path of the onrushing Van Persie who stuck it away. The gunners had a foothold in the game, and capitalised from more sloppy defending when Gallas nodded in a corner ten minutes from the break.
Call me what you will, genius, cynic, or just canny observer of footballing trends, but in my (rapidly beating) heart I knew that even at 2-0 and with West Ham struggling to create anything, it would just take just one second, one slip, one lapse in concentration and they'd be back in contention. In the end they were given a boost in the most irritating way; Alessandro Diamanti, a regular diamond geezer (sorry), tried to bend a free kick around the wall, only to see Vito Mannone push the ball straight onto Carlton Cole's head, much like Green did with Van Persie's goal earlier. Suddenly Arsenal went from a team completely in control to a team very much on the back foot. West Ham were pushing forward in search of an equaliser, but were still struggling to carve out good opportunities. There was a decent penalty shout when Scott Parker went down in the box but it was waved away; not so when Song clumsily kicked Carlton Cole in the back of the ankle several minutes later, and Diamanti duly tucked the spot kick away, the flash git (sorry). Even when Parker was sent off for two bookable offenses with five minutes to go West Ham still looked more likely to grab a winner.
The signs were there against Blackburn, again against Birmingham and it became clear in Alkmaar that Arsenal cannot close out games out the moment. It's difficult to pin down a reason. The centreback partnership of Gallas and Vermaelen seems to get better every game. Song and Diaby look more and more confident shielding the back four, and the full backs look less jittery. Why then, does this team look constantly as though they are about to throw games away needlessly? Why are we shipping goals like never before? Canny as I may be, in all honesty I'm finding it difficult to explain. Maybe it is an issue of confidence or inexperience, but the problem seems to run deeper than that. With a tricky run of games coming up, including Spurs and Chelsea at home and Sunderland away let's hope Wenger gets to the bottom of this before I do, or a season that seemed to be trundling along nicely might just come off the rails. Or my heart might just explode, whichever comes first.
Tuesday 27 October 2009
Monday 19 October 2009
Birmingham. Famous for Birmingham City Football Club. And Aston Villa. And...well not a whole lot else (as far as I‘m aware), so the boys from the blue half of the city were no doubt keen to make an impression on the Emirates crowd by ending Arsenal's 100% home record. In the end though, the visitors were outclassed, and their new owner, the Hong Kong Billionaire Carson Yeung, will have been given a pretty clear idea just how much work will have to go into this team before they can truly play with the big boys.
Two goals, two minutes apart, another one five minutes from the end (with one Bowyer strike in between, just to keep things interesting) were enough to secure all three points. Arsenal’s goals were all well taken: the game was only fifteen minutes old when Van Persie controlled Alex Song’s pass and, turning his man he angled a sharp drive low into the far corner. Shortly after Eboué managed to release Rosicky down the wing who then squared the ball across the edge of the six yard area, and there was little else Diaby could do other than to smash the ball into the roof of the net. Arsenal’s third showed just why Wenger paid £16,000,000 for Arshavin. Just when Birmingham seemed to be threatening an equaliser, Mannone claimed a cross and rolled the ball to Fabregas who was able to turn and run into acres of space. Striding purposefully down the pitch he played the ball into Arshavin’s feet, just outside the area. The little Russian took full advantage of the room afforded him by the defenders, and nonchalantly rolled curled the ball into the far corner. Job done.
Not since Henry has Wenger has such a clinical finisher of counter attacking moves. The threat Arsenal used to carry from defending set pieces box was phenomenal. One minute they would be camped in their own box as the ball was lumped in, the next they’d be down the other end of the pitch finishing off another lightning quick move. It was football Blitzkrieg. Whilst this capability hadn’t been eroded entirely by the departure of players like Overmars, Anelka, Pires or Henry, there was no one that could be relied upon to take these sort of chances when they were presented with them. Arshavin can and will stick most chances away, and Arsenal can once again view the counter attack as another weapon in their…er….armoury.
Arsenal have set two records thus far this season: they have scored 27 goals after only 8 games, more than any other team in the history of the premier league at this stage. However, they have also conceded 11, the most conceded by an Arsenal team after this number of games. The two facts are probably not unrelated. Song and Diaby were both excellent in disrupting Birmingham’s flow, and at no point when Arsenal had 11 men behind the ball was there a cause for concern, because it became clear that wouldn’t be long before a pass was intercepted or a tackle made. It was when Arsenal did not have numbers back that doubts started to creep in, as the disinclination for tracking back shared by some Arsenal players was plain for all to see. Rosicky can be forgiven for not running the length of the pitch every time the ball is lost, his return from a prolonged absence was probably hastened by the loss of Walcott and Nasri, and his fitness might still be an issue; but Arshavin has no such excuse. Granted he’s not a teenager anymore, but 28 is the new 25. And given that he was playing down the left in front of the inexperienced Gibbs there was really no excuse. To be fair to the lad he made more of an effort as the game progressed, but it could have been a case of too little too late if Birmingham has taken their chances. As soon as Wenger reminds some of these players that the game doesn’t stop when the ball is with the other team, defensively we might look a little more assured.
On a lighter note, the beach ball that sunk Liverpool on the weekend ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Sur49i4QPo ) was part of the Liverpool FC beach set, and having been marked down from half price before the game it has probably been removed from the club shop all together to deter giddy Manchester United fans from littering the pitch with them at Anfield next weekend.
Edit: as predicted... http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/oct/20/liverpool-sunderland-premier-league
Two goals, two minutes apart, another one five minutes from the end (with one Bowyer strike in between, just to keep things interesting) were enough to secure all three points. Arsenal’s goals were all well taken: the game was only fifteen minutes old when Van Persie controlled Alex Song’s pass and, turning his man he angled a sharp drive low into the far corner. Shortly after Eboué managed to release Rosicky down the wing who then squared the ball across the edge of the six yard area, and there was little else Diaby could do other than to smash the ball into the roof of the net. Arsenal’s third showed just why Wenger paid £16,000,000 for Arshavin. Just when Birmingham seemed to be threatening an equaliser, Mannone claimed a cross and rolled the ball to Fabregas who was able to turn and run into acres of space. Striding purposefully down the pitch he played the ball into Arshavin’s feet, just outside the area. The little Russian took full advantage of the room afforded him by the defenders, and nonchalantly rolled curled the ball into the far corner. Job done.
Not since Henry has Wenger has such a clinical finisher of counter attacking moves. The threat Arsenal used to carry from defending set pieces box was phenomenal. One minute they would be camped in their own box as the ball was lumped in, the next they’d be down the other end of the pitch finishing off another lightning quick move. It was football Blitzkrieg. Whilst this capability hadn’t been eroded entirely by the departure of players like Overmars, Anelka, Pires or Henry, there was no one that could be relied upon to take these sort of chances when they were presented with them. Arshavin can and will stick most chances away, and Arsenal can once again view the counter attack as another weapon in their…er….armoury.
Arsenal have set two records thus far this season: they have scored 27 goals after only 8 games, more than any other team in the history of the premier league at this stage. However, they have also conceded 11, the most conceded by an Arsenal team after this number of games. The two facts are probably not unrelated. Song and Diaby were both excellent in disrupting Birmingham’s flow, and at no point when Arsenal had 11 men behind the ball was there a cause for concern, because it became clear that wouldn’t be long before a pass was intercepted or a tackle made. It was when Arsenal did not have numbers back that doubts started to creep in, as the disinclination for tracking back shared by some Arsenal players was plain for all to see. Rosicky can be forgiven for not running the length of the pitch every time the ball is lost, his return from a prolonged absence was probably hastened by the loss of Walcott and Nasri, and his fitness might still be an issue; but Arshavin has no such excuse. Granted he’s not a teenager anymore, but 28 is the new 25. And given that he was playing down the left in front of the inexperienced Gibbs there was really no excuse. To be fair to the lad he made more of an effort as the game progressed, but it could have been a case of too little too late if Birmingham has taken their chances. As soon as Wenger reminds some of these players that the game doesn’t stop when the ball is with the other team, defensively we might look a little more assured.
On a lighter note, the beach ball that sunk Liverpool on the weekend ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Sur49i4QPo ) was part of the Liverpool FC beach set, and having been marked down from half price before the game it has probably been removed from the club shop all together to deter giddy Manchester United fans from littering the pitch with them at Anfield next weekend.
Edit: as predicted... http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2009/oct/20/liverpool-sunderland-premier-league
Monday 5 October 2009
Monsieur, with this sublime attacking football you are really spoiling us.
Apologies in advance, miscalculations with train times have seen me miss the game and technological problems have ruined all prior attempts to write up this week's game. So here, for your viewing pleasure, is a cursory glance at last weekends match.
A bullish Blackburn team lead by Sam Allardyce came to the Emirates yesterday, and - on the weekend where Arsene Wenger celebrated becoming Arsenal's longest serving manager - they did everything in their power to cut short the celebrations. Instead they were forcibly ejected from the party with their tails between their legs, and Wenger was able to reflect on his thirteen years in charge with a great deal of pleasure after a breath-taking exhibition of football the way he wants it to be played.
Arsenal's peformance (at least going forward) exhibited the hallmarks of a classic Wenger team; quick, incisive passing, wonderful skill and clinical finishing were all on display, and the result was 6 sublime goals from 6 different scorers (Vermaelen, Van Persie, Arshavin, Fabregas, Walcott and Bendtner). Cesc Fabregas was unsurprisingly involved in 5 of them, scoring one and creating the other four. On scoring his goal he made a point of running over to the part of the stand where he almost certainly knew Thierry Henry to be (in North London to congratulate Wenger perhaps, or maybe just move into the newly completed Highbury complex) and practically kissed the badge right off his shirt. A real show of loyalty for a player routinely dogged by rumours about a transfer back to Barca, his boyhood team. It's a commonly held belief that Cesc will be on his way to sunny Spain at the end of this season, but if he's going to do that every week then it'll be much easier to convince ourselves that he has no intention of leaving (right up until he actually does it next summer).
The only sour note on an otherwise perfect afternoon was yet another exposition of Arsenal's defensive frailties. They may not seem so important on occasions like these, but if Arsenal truly believe they can win the title, the defence simply must stop shipping goals. Vermaelen's height (5ft11") isn't generally a factor when he throws himself into every aerial battle with such gusto, but when he's up against players 5 inches taller than him (Nzonzi, the scorer of Blackburn's first goal) it's going to cause problems. Still, if he's going to score a cracking 25 yard thunderbolt every time he's beaten in the air then fair play to him. (Don't make him angry. You wouldn't like him when he's angry). Clichy and Sagna look out of sorts too, and the only explanation I can come up with is that they're finding it difficult to adapt to adapt to Arsenal's new 4-3-3 formation. I’m confident that the great footballing sage that is Arsenal Wenger will take all these issues into account, and maybe against stiffer opposition we'll see Arsenal adopt a less attacking style. Well...stranger things have happened.
A bullish Blackburn team lead by Sam Allardyce came to the Emirates yesterday, and - on the weekend where Arsene Wenger celebrated becoming Arsenal's longest serving manager - they did everything in their power to cut short the celebrations. Instead they were forcibly ejected from the party with their tails between their legs, and Wenger was able to reflect on his thirteen years in charge with a great deal of pleasure after a breath-taking exhibition of football the way he wants it to be played.
Arsenal's peformance (at least going forward) exhibited the hallmarks of a classic Wenger team; quick, incisive passing, wonderful skill and clinical finishing were all on display, and the result was 6 sublime goals from 6 different scorers (Vermaelen, Van Persie, Arshavin, Fabregas, Walcott and Bendtner). Cesc Fabregas was unsurprisingly involved in 5 of them, scoring one and creating the other four. On scoring his goal he made a point of running over to the part of the stand where he almost certainly knew Thierry Henry to be (in North London to congratulate Wenger perhaps, or maybe just move into the newly completed Highbury complex) and practically kissed the badge right off his shirt. A real show of loyalty for a player routinely dogged by rumours about a transfer back to Barca, his boyhood team. It's a commonly held belief that Cesc will be on his way to sunny Spain at the end of this season, but if he's going to do that every week then it'll be much easier to convince ourselves that he has no intention of leaving (right up until he actually does it next summer).
The only sour note on an otherwise perfect afternoon was yet another exposition of Arsenal's defensive frailties. They may not seem so important on occasions like these, but if Arsenal truly believe they can win the title, the defence simply must stop shipping goals. Vermaelen's height (5ft11") isn't generally a factor when he throws himself into every aerial battle with such gusto, but when he's up against players 5 inches taller than him (Nzonzi, the scorer of Blackburn's first goal) it's going to cause problems. Still, if he's going to score a cracking 25 yard thunderbolt every time he's beaten in the air then fair play to him. (Don't make him angry. You wouldn't like him when he's angry). Clichy and Sagna look out of sorts too, and the only explanation I can come up with is that they're finding it difficult to adapt to adapt to Arsenal's new 4-3-3 formation. I’m confident that the great footballing sage that is Arsenal Wenger will take all these issues into account, and maybe against stiffer opposition we'll see Arsenal adopt a less attacking style. Well...stranger things have happened.
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