Manchester City 1-0 Arsenal: SHOOT!!!
Two matches in a row now, we’ve kept a lion’s share of possession, played some pretty passing football outside the opponent’s penalty area, have conceded a goal to go behind and have looked completely lost when it comes to doing what wins you football matches: putting the ball in the bloody net.
Just a point from our first two games, possible the worst start to a league season we’ve had for over a decade. On paper, things aren’t looking good at all. However, there are a number of things that need to be considered while answering the question “What the bloody hell is wrong with us?”
Yesterday, against a determined City side, all that was good about us shone through and fans were also treated to a generous helping of what’s seriously rubbish about us. I’ll analyze this with respect to each unit in our team, starting with…
The Defence: Though I’d love to have William Gallas join our ranks to partner Kolo Toure, to be honest, we don’t really have a problem in central defence. Two games in a row now, Johann Djourou hasn’t just looked like a good partner for Kolo, he’s looked like a composed, balanced center-half minus the nervous twitch of Phillippe Senderos. Kolo was very good as well, and together they held their nerve on many occasions when City countered with Corradi, Dickov and Co.
Our real problem right now are our fullbacks. I don’t agree with most Arsenal fans who’re singling Justin Hoyte for criticism on yesterday’s defeat. His immature reaction to the crossfield ball that was headed for Trevor Sinclair was an accident waiting to happen and is a function of his lack of experience (Sunderland hardly counts as a high-quality learning experience) and quite frankly, a lack of basic awareness and skill required to play fullback. He’s a half-decent centerback with good acceleration who can do a great job for a Championship side, but I don’t think he has enough to make it at Arsenal. I speak for many fans here who’d like to see Matty Flamini fill in at leftback while Gael Clichy is recovered.
Manu Eboue had an off-day yesterday. He went forward with intent, only to mess up the final ball (some of which were cringe-worthy). He often left his rightback slot exposed, and his overlapping game was non-existent/ineffective for most parts of the match.
I don’t have any doubts that Eboue can improve and following a good kick up the arse, get back to the kind of form that proved so destructive for other teams in Europe and the league (in the latter half, at least). However, leftback is becoming a real problem and Justin Hoyte was being taken for a ride by Trevor Sinclair, which is a sorry state of affairs, really.
Midfield: Gilberto put in a performance of the highest quality, his best this season. Did exactly what he was supposed to do, broke down City attacks, covered for defenders (made up for Hoyte’s mistakes time and again) and distributed well. Cesc tried to do as much as he could, but considering the lack of form being displayed by our frontline yesterday, most of his enterprising runs came to nothing.
Alex Hleb continued his infuriating habit of playing in the center of the park instead of staying out right, providing width like a proper winger should. I know Wenger encourages wingers to cut in and provide a goal threat a la Freddie and Pires, but Hleb’s allergic to shooting and he should be cutting in at the final third, not after receiving a short pass from the bloody rightback! His lack of discipline is costing us a problem as we fail to stretch teams with width.
Tommy Rosicky (pronounced Ro-zit-ski) had a quiet debut, but distributed the ball well and got into a few threatening positions. Could’ve done more in a situation where he ended up one-on-one with a defender and then just the keeper to beat. But he can hardly be faulted for anything yesterday as it was his first match in the Premiership and he looked off-colour because of the groin injury he picked up in Croatia.
And finally, our Strikers: Wenger has a huge mental obstacle to sort out as far as the strikers are concerned. We’re not short on personnel in that department, not at all. Henry, van Persie, Adebayor, Walcott (and possibly Bendtner coming back in January, he can’t stop scoring for Brum) is a pretty appreciable line-up with players who’ve shown a ruthless streak in front of goal. However, why the f**k won’t they shoot?!
Thierry Henry is visibly not fit, then why is he being played? Yesterday, at least three balls broke to him which, if fit, he’d have chased and converted. A one-on-one with Nicky Weaver saw him smack the ball straight at the keeper. If this is his condition, why play him? If his condition doesn’t improve much, then rest him for Boro and play Adebayor and van Persie up front. The Dutchman put in another hard-working performance yesterday, hitting the post, some direct play and blaspheming by actually trying to shoot.
Adebayor was a logical substitution but the timing of it baffled me. Why bring him on so late when the strikers are visibly short of form? Why not give him at least half an hour so he could do something for us. A prolonged spell for him yesterday could’ve seen him cause Dunne and Distin (who I thought were brilliant, both of them) serious problems with his physical play.
Theo Walcott came on late into the match and showed even more sparks of his talent with good buildup play and some direct running at their rightback. He also shocked sad Arsenal fans by shooting outside the box! Gasp! Horror!
The Officials: Uraiah Rennee is an absolutely rubbish referee, who has little clue of what’s going on around him. While this is a justified criticism of the officials, I must clarify that I am in no way taking anything away from Manchester City who got their tactics spot on and fully deserved their victory as compared to our wasteful evening out in Manchester.
First, Rennee failed to book Dabo and Barton for some cynical challenges. Both deserved a yellow each before the break. It was even more frustrating when we ended up getting a card for a similiar challenge. The Hoyte/Sinclair incident was a clear penalty, no questioning that. But if that contact merits a penalty, then why was Richard Dunne’s foul on Cesc Fabregas not a penalty? Or his shove at Robin van Persie? Jordan’s obstruction on Cesc should also have given us a freekick but the referee played on and the ball was in our net on the other end in a minute.
The linesman in the first half on the end we were attacking was either blind or completely unaware of what offside actually means. On three occasions he flagged Henry to be off when replays showed him to be level in one situation, and a yard onside on the other two.
Overall , the match was one we’d have won on any other day with some clinical finishing and a half fit strike force. That is the kind of cutting edge that has seen United climb to the top of the table with a 100% record in their opening trio of matches. They don’t play the kind of slick-passing football that we, or Barcelona, put out. But they play with momentum and they play to their strengths, and even if chances are few, they take them and that’s what football is about, really.
We don’t have a crisis situation, we’re keeping good possession and getting the ball into dangerous positions. We just need to do something about wasting possession and taking our chances, and maybe sometimes trying to make our own luck by taking a shot outside the box and not trying to dance the ball into the net.
A lot of Arsenal fans claimed yesterday that the season is as good as over, but it is early days. There is a lot to play for and realistically, we should shake off this drought soon enough.
We still ain’t winning the league though. Bleh.
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I can understand your frustration and I share that too but it is not about taking more shots from outside the box.
We get in as many shots as Chelsea and Man Utd and they seem to be managing OK. There are two issues though (1) the quality of the finishing and (2) getting the strikers to make the right runs and to take up the right positions. All our front players seem to like playing outside the box and too few will actually get on to the six-yard line, where most of the goals will come from. Players make good runs down the wings, down the inside forward channels but there is never anybody to put the ball to in the middle of the box, so it gets passed out again. It’s not the fault of the players with the ball; it’s the fault of those who should be getting into positions to receive it.
I agree with everything ou have said here. most of the important problems you highlighted comes down to wenger. dont get me I love wenger and I think he is the best manager in the league but this season he has made some bad decisions.
we can all see Hoyte is not premiership class let alone Arsenal class, but I dont blame Hoyte, I blame Wenger for playing him after several poor games from the player.
the lack of width, again is down to the manager not buying wingers. we cant expect Hleb to go wide right when thats not what he does.
I agree that you’re suffering from Henry’s lack of fitness.
However, I noticed a slight lack of out-and-out pace during the world cup that saw him caught by average defenders quite a few times.
I think there’s a chance Henry has started hitting his downslope, as with most other forwards who hit 29-30… he’s finding it that little bit harder to get the extra yard and might suffer this season. Hopefully he’ll get back to fitness for the sake of Arsenal, as they look limited without him on form.
gazzap, Hleb’s had some brilliant games for us where he’s stayed out right, interchanging with Eboue.
Victoria Crescit, our final ball is absolute rubbish and we need to work on that more so that we translate the fancy stuff outside the box into goals.
Soupdragon2, Henry will soon be turned into a Riquelme-type playmaker. He’s obviously going to lose pace as he grows older, but he’s still got a genius footballing brain and it will be deployed to its max I hope.
I’d agree, but in that role you tend to find wider, stronger players. Henry doesn’t like getting roughed up, and second strikers/pure attacking midfielders tend to end up getting knocked and knocked, then produce the magic one of the few times when the defenders over-commit and leave space. (Kaka, Lampard, Gerrard, Riquelme, Bergkamp, Ronaldinho, Zola etc.)
Henry doesn’t tend to operate in the middle, he always finds his space down the flanks where it’s not congested, which is a fantastic talent in itself.
I don’t think you’ll see Wenger resort to using him in that role. I could see Fabregas adapting to a more advanced role if Diaby ends up being the midfield general. Henry will be used as an out and out striker (or a withdrawn left winger) until his contract runs out.
Van Persie will be the direct replacement at centre forward eventually. Rosicky may seem a bit shy with contact at the moment, but he’ll get used to the prem.
We never hassle the opposing goalkeeper on corners as other teams do to us. It was obvious yesterday. City players were in the 6 yard box getting in Jen’s face while we stood on the line waiting for the kick.
Well, I blame Wenger for this, how on earth can a side like Arsenal sign Rosicky and no-one else? We need at least two defenders. Also, we need a new Bergkamp, else we’re in trouble.
Fair play to this report coz the arse were, man for man, superior. My blue-shirted heroes however, were committed. And terryhenry left his shooting boots at home. But, on penalties: Dickov was held in the first half, a blatent penalty and until referees stop this tugging by cheating defenders (Carvalho at Chelski is the tops), the game is going backwards! Your claims - b*ll*x, never in a million years.
That MC won is all due to Arsenal trying to play fancy football outside the box. Wake up. This is the year 2006 and not repeat 2003-2004.Teams have figure out how to stifle the gunners but yet AW is sticking to the same game plan.I know these are early days but with MU 8 pts ahead AW wiil have a mt to climb if we keep on drawing or losing matches which Arsenal shd have won.
Hahahahaha - Come on City!!!
As a Chelsea Fan it is now becoming clear. This season is only between the ManUre and us. LFC will up there but looks like this is just another re-building year for the Arse!!
See ya next Season you gooners!!!
Chelsea fans have ESP, I see.
Things become clear to them after two/three matches while the rest of us country bumpkins wait for at least ten games for the season to shape up.
No, we’re just not deluded self preservationalists like most Arsenal fans. When you don’t win it’s because your team’s young. When you do win, it means more because you do it with ‘attractive’ football.
If beauty in football terms is now determined by how many short passes you can string together before missing a shot, then I will happily concede that Arsenal play more attractive football than any other club in the premiership.
The only reason you USED to play attractive football was due to the fact that you had the best striker in the world in Thierry Henry, and the build up play of Dennis Bergkamp.
“We are in transition” is just a poor excuse for your clubs inability to afford new quality players due to a ludicrously long-term business plan.
Does Wenger’s job description include “Propagandist”?
His interviews are purile nonsense, and any manager who claims ‘my team are in transition’ when his team should be doing better is usually battered by the press.
He’s probably given extra personal funds (via this decidedly dodgy offshore account used to fund the club’s top earners) to keep the short term facade of “attractive football” present as a cloak for the lack of genuine quality in the side. Let’s face it, Wenger would have left for a bigger club unless he was getting some kind of financial compensation for staying aboard your sinking ship.
I\’ve hit a bitter nerve apparently.
If we have a \”ludicrously long-term\” business plan that supposedly inhibits our transfer activity, then…err..by definition we ARE in a transition period, no?
Extra personal funds? dodgy offshore account? Oh dear.
And if he\’s a rubbish manager who\’s caused the ship to sink, then why would big clubs want him?
The sneaky, evil financial compensation that Wenger is getting = Wages.
Also, if you think that we don\’t play attractive football, that\’s fine. Few other neutrals agree with your view, especially considering the kind of football we played in Europe, bar the away leg at Villarreal. I have rarely read reviews calling a 4-5-1 sexy football, but that\’s what we got last season.
Arsenal are a team in transition, yes.
They lack the final ball, yes.
They’re missing Pires, Ljunberg, Viera, Bergkamp.
They’ll be back - van Persie is outrageously talented but prone to making mistakes.
Arsenal also have injuries (Senderos, Lauren, Clichy) and wantaway players (Cole, Reyes) to deal with. It’s not all rosy at Ashburton Grove - they’ve got a pretty bad start, and to top it off both Lehmann and Wenger are going to leave in a couple of years.
Rocky - when is Wenger leaving?
2008.
To be replaced by Paul le Guen (who built the awesome Lyon side that Houllier’s trying hard to dismantle right now, currently at Rangers). Le Guen’s contract expires in Summer, 2008 and he is very good friends with Arsene Wenger and David Dein.
You heard it here first.
Jens is leaving in one year, not two. End of this season. He’s going to retire in a couple of years, but would “like to” play his final season in Germany. Don’t know if that will happen, but I think it’s safe to assume this is his final season in England.
“I’ve hit a bitter nerve apparently.
If we have a �ludicrously long-term� business plan that supposedly inhibits our transfer activity, then…err..by definition we ARE in a transition period, no?
Extra personal funds? dodgy offshore account? Oh dear.
And if he’s a rubbish manager who’s caused the ship to sink, then why would big clubs want him?
The sneaky, evil financial compensation that Wenger is getting = Wages.
Also, if you think that we don’t play attractive football, that’s fine. Few other neutrals agree with your view, especially considering the kind of football we played in Europe, bar the away leg at Villarreal. I have rarely read reviews calling a 4-5-1 sexy football, but that\’s what we got last season. ”
I didn’t say you weren’t in a transitional financial period. I said it’s an excuse for poor on field performance.
And it’s not ’supposedly’ having an impact on your transfer market activity. It IS.
Now, I don’t think any other side in the country is so blindly enamoured with their manager to allow him 6 or 7 years to re-build after they had been so prolific in the past.
Investigations into the extra funds made available for the top earners at Arsenal produced inconclusive evidence… Arsenal were taking advantage of financial loopholes to entice big players with reduced tax on their wages. It might not be illegal, but it’s a bit dodgy and the FA going public about it would have been in order to give them a kick up the arse to get them in line with all the other clubs.
I never said he’s a rubbish manager, I think he’s one of the top managers in Europe. I was inferring that the reason he is staying might be something to do with the unusual business practices Arsenal have been involved in.
Would you stay at a club that has told you “you won’t have any money to spend on players?” Only if you could convince the public that you could function with youngsters and had some kind of compensation for the problematic situation the chairmen or directors have put you in.
I don’t think he’s particularly scrupulous, and judging by the current situation, I would not put it past someone like David Dein (FAconflictofinterestmuch?) to use these naughty offshore accounts to put a load of extra money into Wenger’s account to stop him leaving, so that the fans don’t lose faith in the team.
It’s just conjecture, but everyone seems happy to scrutinise Abramovich and make assumptions about his business practices so I think public allegations made against Arsenal should be brought up at every possible opportunity. You know, just to keep things fair.
Wenger’s wages are well deserved. He works hard with what he’s got and fools everyone into thinking that Arsenal are in some way on a higher moral and technical plane than any other club. (I’m sure he’s the one who introduced the theory that Arsenal are still better than Chelsea because they play more attractive football.)
It’s a basic game plan, ‘If you can’t beat them, undermine them constantly.’
Arsenal played attractive football 3 years ago. Watching them struggle against the lower sides and scraping into a Champions League spot because their rivals went down with a mysterious illness did not reflect the side’s apparent grace and grandeur. They did well in Europe, but that’s because they considered it more important than the domestic league and picked away at the big teams to get draws and low scoring wins (just like Liverpool did).
I know it doesn’t really matter that I think your team is an overhyped mess. I just don’t like seeing people brainwashed by the Wenger-propaganda machine.
It pumps out nuggets:
They lose to Man City and draw with Villa, and Wenger is optimistic? Only for the cameras I promise you.
I haven’t been convinced since Viera left. Despite the fact that it was the best time to sell him, they would have put up a better fight in the premiership if they still had him. This is my point, they don’t want to compete in the premiership at the moment, they’re happy to keep claiming they’re one of the great attacking teams in world football when they’re losing against lower table teams and grinding out results in Europe.
Now really, forget all the stupid observations Wenger’s made about the quality of the football being more important than results. Forget the support they have had from the press and tell me you are really happy with the state of your team.
If I were an Arsenal fan, I’d be so pissed off that Dein and Wenger have committed to a business plan that means I have to watch players like Almunia, Flamini, Hoyte and Djourou flopping around the pitch every weekend.
f tIhey cared about football, or Arsenal’s fans, they’d be committed to bringing you good football as well as trying to secure their financial futures.
Complaining about Chelsea might get you the public’s support, but it won’t keep the boat afloat forever.
Liverpool know that, they’ve been shrewd within reason. Their goading of Chelsea has gained them the public’s support, but they’ve also been looking to build a team with the potential to overturn Chelsea.
As i mentioned before, the youngsters Chelsea have will turn out to be better players than the youngsters at Arsenal, and will have better experienced players around them.
Their plan for the future involves what? Being second again? Sounds like a really bright future for your club.