Matches | The Beautiful Groan - An Arsenal Blog

One Song, one Premiership winner, one Premiership qualifier

Nov 242011

Arsenal 2 (Van Persie 49, 86) Borussia Dortmund 1 (Kagawa 90)
(Champions League)

You should never get ahead of yourself in football. Sing the praises of a team too early, and they can fade away and make you seem foolish (see the pundits handing Chelsea the title after five games of last season). Similarly, write any top team off at your peril. Three months ago, we were ‘in a relegation battle’, having lost heavily at Old Trafford. Without Cesc and Nasri we had lost all creativity and our defence was falling apart. Wenger himself was under pressure, and the Kroenke regime was being written off before it had barely begun.

At least, that’s what the kneejerking story-busters told us.

Since the Blackburn defeat, we’ve won 11 out of 13, with the draw with Marseille and the derby defeat the only blips on that road. We’ve clambered our way back into contention for the Champions League spots (in fact, surely if Chelsea are still in the title race, we are too), and last night became the first Premiership side to reach the Champions League knockout stages, a feat that has now been achieved twelve years in succession. To top it off, Marseille’s defeat at home to Olympiakos means we top the group no matter what happens in our final game.

To put that into perspective, any of the other Premiership sides could realistically crash out after their final game. United are probably best placed, needing to avoid defeat in Basle, but having nearly lost to them at home, they won’t be taking things for granted. Chelsea lost again last night, and Valencia’s huge 7-0 thumping of Genk leaves them needing only a score draw or better at Stamford Bridge to knock Chelsea out. Man City, meanwhile, could beat Bayern Munich and still exit the competition. Are there enough TV channels available to show up to seven Premiership sides on Thursday nights?

That we avoided such drama was due to two factors – improved defensive stability, and the ability to strike at the right moments. Dortmund started brightly, pinning us back in the early stages, and perhaps earlier in the season they would have been allowed to fashion more clear cut chances. As it was, they had much of the ball without seriously testing Szczesny. At the other end, we weren’t faring much better – the closest we came was when Walcott ran clear from Ramsey’s through ball, but the keeper came out sharply to clear the danger.

By half time, however, we had assumed control of the ball, helped in part by Dortmund losing two players, including the dangerous Gotze. After the break, we pushed forward with more purpose, and when the opening goal came, the scorer was no surprise – once again, Van Persie was in the right place at the right time to power a header low into the corner. But the goal wasn’t really about him – it owed everything to the craft and surprisingly sublime skill from Alex Song, whose driven run towards the left corner flag ended with a jinking piece of skill to bamboozle a pair of defenders, before picking out the captain with a pinpoint cross.

Before the goal, Song had been excellent in his usual defensive shielding role, and immediately after providing the killer moment, he reverted to what he knows best. Dortmund had to step out, knowing defeat was disastrous to their hopes, and they came again, leaving more space at the back for Walcott and Gervinho to exploit. The former was threatening, but it was the latter who should have wrapped things up, showing a delightful piece of skill but dummying the keeper when through on goal, only to hesitate and allow the defender to get back and dispossess him. I maintain that he will turn into a very productive player for us, but right now his end product is very hit and miss. Or very hit, miss, miss and miss.

When we did finally seal the game, and qualification, it was an old school goal reminiscent of Bould and Adams. Like in those days, it was a corner, flicked on at the near post by a big centre half for the captain to tuck home at the far, but in the modern incarnation it was Vermaelen and Van Persie with the critical touches. With news filtering through that Marseille were behind, we knew we would be winning the group with a game to spare.

Some of the player relaxed, Song and Djourou combining to give Dortmund a sloppy consolation with virtually the last kick of the game. Vermaelen and Szczesny blew their lids, a great sight for anyone who still believes we don’t care about clean sheets. We do. It took a small gloss off what was an impressive defensive display, particularly from Song, who is unrecognisable from the player we happily saw leave for Charlton on loan in his laughing stock days. How times change.

So a tough Champions League group has been successfully navigated. The champions of Greece and Germany have been dispatched, along with the dangerous Marseille, and all without needing a result from the tricky trip to Olympiakos. Now, we can rest and rotate during the manic December period, safe in the knowledge that Barcelona cannot be waiting in the first knockout round.

While our kids get their run out in Greece, three other Premiership teams will attempt to avoid the ignominy of joining Stoke, Birmingham, Fulham and that shower down the road in Europe’s secondary competition. Pretty much every pundit expected that to be us.

I hope Wenger feels smug today. He deserves to.

Chelsea 3 Arsenal 5 – three days on, still feels as good

Arsenal News, Matches 6 Responses »

Nov 012011

Pinch, punch, first of the month and all that.

And pinching is something we’ve been doing a lot of since Saturday. Did we really go to Stamford Bridge and become the first side in the Premiership era (the twentieth year of it, no less) to score five times? Did we really come from behind twice at a ground that has caused us so much grief over the past five years? Did we really concede another late wonder goal but bounce back to win anyway? Have we really put in a run of eight wins in nine, after the doom and gloom around the club only a short while ago?

Best of all, did karma really hit John Terry so hard that his view of our winner was face down in the dirt?

While it is important to remember that it represented only three points, it was a truly extraordinary game, and the sort that gives players a remarkable amount of confidence. If they can score five at Stamford Bridge (and miss a bunch of other chances), then surely they can be dangerous anywhere? Whether it becomes a turning point remains to be seen, but it is the sort of epic affair we’ll be seeing for years to come. How many times have you turned Sky Sports Classics on, and watched Spurs 4 Arsenal 5? Add this one to the list.

Of course it wasn’t perfect – our defence was breached three times, and that could have doubled in the first five minutes, were Chelsea not so wasteful. But it would be churlish to focus on that after such an unexpected day, and it is telling when you read people speaking about the game in a purely negative light. Paul Parker, an awful writer at the best of times, and one who can never disguise his resentment of Arsenal, continued his internet trollish ways by focusing entirely on Arsenal’s defence, exactly one week after he said that United’s wasn’t that bad. The day they conceded six.

There is a reason I’m not linking to the article – it isn’t a serious piece of journalism, it is a classic case of trying to get hits by being outlandish, similar to when he wrote that Wenger should apologise for Shawcross because the Stoke player was ‘so upset’ after breaking Ramsey’s leg. There are times when intentions are painfully transparent. But it is true that positive assessment of Arsenal has been hard to come by – Match of the Day struggled as well, with Alan Hansen choosing to berate Chelsea and call it freakish, rather than dare give us any credit. Strangely, it was left to Gary Neville to provide the best analysis – impressive that a man who spent years in an intense rivalry with Arsenal is so willing to put it all aside in the name of sensible punditry. Many could learn from him.

The fact is that the positives enormously outweighed the negatives. As far as bad things to say, I can’t get much further than this:

In the first five minutes, we were all over the place.
Santos had a ‘mare in the first half.
Terry’s goal on the stroke of half time was poor.

Now compare that to the list of positives:

We created more chances than I can remember in years at Stamford Bridge.
Ramsey was superb in midfield, never better than his pass for our first.
Walcott had perhaps his best game in an Arsenal shirt. His goal was brilliant, but his pair of passes for the early misses by Gervinho and Van Persie were sensational. Cole could not handle him.
Van Persie scored a brilliant hattrick, the first by an away player at Chelsea since Kanu. That was a good day, too.
Koscielny was superb. One day the press might actually notice how good he has been.
Song controlled the midfield, and again showed his eye for a pass for Santos’ goal.
Speaking of the Brazilian, his second half was the complete opposite of his first – he was excellent.
We reacted to adversity well – twice behind, hit late on by a wonder strike, yet came back every time.
John Terry. Ha.

If anything, the team that has something to worry about is Chelsea. Three of the goals involved Cech being beaten at his near post, and Van Persie’s second saw him charge so far out to close the angle that he ended up outside his area. Nowhere have I seen this mentioned, despite thinking he was having an absolute nightmare at the time. Three years ago, I don’t think anyone would have questioned the assertion that he was amongst the best keepers in world football. Is that really still the case?

As for our reliance on one striker, at least we have a free scoring one. And for all the criticism of Chamakh, at least our misfiring forward didn’t cost us £50m.

I don’t want to focus on Chelsea, because they will put the day aside as a freak, and will probably bounce back just fine. The important thing is that we take this momentum forward, and prove our many many doubters wrong.

I might go and watch the highlights again. Why not, eh?

Blackburn 4-3 Arsenal: It seems Yazz was right all along

Matches 13 Responses »

Sep 182011

Blackburn 4 (Yakubu 25, 59, Song og 50, Koscielny og 68) Arsenal 3 (Gervinho 10, Arteta 34, Chamakh 85)
(Premiership)

I actually thought we had run out of inventive, hilarious for the rest of the league, ways of losing football matches. Call this Arsenal team what you want – they are a creative bunch.

The irony is that the day started well. Blackburn were busy holding a fan protest, something that rings a bell with many of our own, and we knew it would not take much to make them lose their belief. An early goal should have done the trick, and it duly arrived when Gervinho applied a neat finish to Song’s delightful through ball. The Ivorian had come under undue fire for a lack of end product (I say undue because he had played just four games before this, and in those set up a critical goal in Italy, amongst other chances), so it was good to see him open his account and seemingly set us on the path to another victory, against one of the few sides playing with less confidence than us.

Then came the first warning. After battering Blackburn in the early stages, they scored, Hoilett (their best player by a country mile) slipping in Yakubu, whose absurdly early effort caught Szczesny off guard. A wake up call, perhaps, and after a shaky five minutes we re-established control and regained the lead, with a fine move involving Song (again) and Ramsey, and ending with Arteta calmly sweeping into the roof of the net. That was it until half time, although the lead should have been doubled shortly before the break when Gervinho unwisely chose to shoot with Van Persie placed for a tap in. It was to be a costly mistake.

Blackburn went up a gear in the second half, although you could hardly call their performance testing. I tried to make the point on Twitter that they actually didn’t earn their way back into the game, rather we handed them goals on a silver platter, and the second equaliser illustrated the point perfectly. Arshavin was harshly judged to have committed a foul, presenting them with the sort of free kick from which they usually thrive. But rather than whipping in a dangerous ball, a pathetic chip came into the box, the likes of which rarely threaten pub footballers. But no-one cut it out, and the ball bounced off Song’s shins and dribbled into the net. It was abject in every way, and while Blackburn were fortunate to get the goal, we cannot claim to have been unlucky, so easy should it have been to clear the damn thing.

It soon got worse. Szczesny pulled off a superb save to keep the game level, but it only delayed the inevitable. When the goal came, Yakubu was clearly offside from Nzonzi’s shot, and that the linesman couldn’t see it given that the Nigerian had been standing stock still beyond the last defender for a few seconds is baffling, but although it was poor officiating, to blame to goal solely on the lack of a flag would be missing the point somewhat. The reality is that half of the defence had stepped up, two had stayed back, and both were behind Yakubu, unable to influence proceedings in any way. Had he been onside, the goal would have been as simple. It was exceptionally poor.

The fourth, when it came, was the sprout flavoured icing on the rotten cake, Olsson running half the length of the pitch before crossing to no-one. No-one, that is, except for Koscielny, who conspired to turn in our second own goal of the day and prompt language not heard in roughly three weeks. Self-destruction is an art form we have perfected in style, and for nineteen clubs in the league, it is terrific viewing.

The minutes ticked away, and on came Chamakh, hardly the most inspirational of potential rescuers, but the Moroccan proved us wrong, getting between two defenders to power home a superb header from Van Persie’s cross, and with five minutes to go we sensed another of our famed 4-4 draws. We should have got the point too, but first Mertesacker and then Chamakh missed glorious headed chances and the points were gone.

Despite the carnage, there were bright points, although they were heavily outweighed by the frailties that have derailed the start to what could be a very long season. Song was superb in the first half, Gervinho bright, Ramsey clever, and Arshavin showed flashes of the form that enthralled us in his first few months at the club. Chamakh also showed power and presence after coming on, traits long missed. And of course, we scored three good goals, which should have been enough to take all three points.

That it wasn’t was due to the embarrassment of the other end. Koscielny, so strong against Dortmund, continued his inconsistent tendencies with a shaky display, and Sagna had one of his worst games in an Arsenal shirt before coming off injured (which may be mitigation, in fairness). Santos was decent enough on an individual level, but his unfamiliarity with the rest of the defence was clear, with his positioning often being well away from the back line, while Mertesacker similarly struggled for position. We can only hope that with time and organisation, they will merge into a cohesive unit, but while time will be afforded, where will the organisation come from? Without Vermaelen, we lack that leadership at the back, and while the big German should add something in that regard, he can hardly give positioning instructions while still trying to find his own feet.

In front of them, Song’s second half was as poor as his first was superb, but the most distressing was the sight of poor Djourou, stuck at full back after Sagna’s withdrawal. Booked minutes after coming on after being easily turned, he looked like a novice for the rest of the match, and his one attempt at a cross (which went out for a goal kick less than half the distance between him and the post) was nothing short of humiliating. It is hard to believe that this is the same character who excelled for the first half of last season, so abject has he been since. At 24, he should be stepping up, but his career is drifting aimlessly, and no-one better symbolises our current malaise.

There is no doubt that there are serious problems with this Arsenal team. Personnel come and go, but we defend in the same disorganised, haphazard way. When you look at the individuals, their credentials all stack up, but as a unit something is seriously lacking, and while people can talk all they like about who should have been signed, it isn’t a matter of changing the names, but a case of changing the unity. Whenever you hit a brick wall in any walk of life, you should alter something, and perhaps calls for a new defensive coach are well founded. Shearer, Hansen and co can talk all they like about the need for Cahill and Samba, but the latter was shite today, frankly, and Cahill’s Bolton look every bit as defensively abject as us. We have the talent, but defend as individuals, and that never stands up in the long run.

That said, kindly stop the nonsense about us being in a relegation battle. I don’t take those suggestions any more seriously than I took similar assertions that Liverpool were locked in a battle to avoid the drop this time last year. Overreactionary dribble that should be left to the worst of the tabloids and the annoying pissed bloke in the pub who shouts above all others.

However, some sort of reassessment is in order. Make no mistake about it, we are in a battle for fourth, and we should be looking at the results of Liverpool and Spurs before caring about those of Chelsea, City and United. The most relevant match of Sunday’s programme will not be the big clash at Old Trafford, but the collision of our two major rivals for fourth at White Hart Lane. Sad but true.

The bare facts of the season so far are painful. Our goal difference is already 23 behind United, after a combined nine games, while having the worst defensive record in the division. But despite all of that, the fact remains that we have dropped 11 points, with 99 still to play for. You cannot throw in the towel after five games, and while a title challenge is surely out of the question, fourth is still perfectly attainable. That is now the aim, whether you like it or not.

Personally, I hate making that admission so early in the season. But we are where we are, and there is only one way to go from here. If you didn’t get that song reference from the title then congratulations. It was a crap song anyway.

Onward. Plenty of games in the next few weeks. They can’t all be this crap.

Man United 8-2 Arsenal – And to think it was four or five we feared

Arsenal News, Matches 10 Responses »

Aug 292011

I tried to write about the game in the immediate aftermath last night and got absolutely nowhere, but to be honest an extra 24 hours hasn’t made it make any more sense. You can be prepared for most things as a blogger – a close fought win, a thumping triumph, an unlucky defeat, a poor display, but now and then something extraordinary comes along and all of a sudden you’re lost for words.

Some days, the remarkable can be hugely enjoyable. The 7-0 triumph over Slavia Prague in 2007 was perhaps the most recent, such was the perfection of the display. But too often in the last couple of years, the freakish has been painful – losing a 4-2 lead to Spurs in injury time, failing to beat Liverpool despite a four goal Arshavin flurry, taking the lead in the 98th minute only to concede in the 102th, and then what we considered the nadir – blowing a four goal lead at Newcastle earlier in the year.

And then came yesterday. In fairness, the game itself arguably wasn’t the issue – it was the months that led up to it that laid the platform for the battering we all feared. I’ve never known so many nervous fans before a game, not because of a big occasion, but due to a feeling we all had that we could be in for an absolute hiding. Whatever we imagined, it was worse.

I’m not going to go through each of the individual goals – not only would that make the piece ridiculously long, but it seems churlish – no-one can take anything out of the game, not even the better performers (Szczesny was good, but conceding eight and having your goalkeeper play well is not a pleasant combination to consider). The problem was collective. Defensively we were an utter shambles, never more aptly demonstrated than Nani’s goal, one pass beating six defenders and leaving him with a ridiculous amount of time in the centre of the penalty area. Utterly crazy.

Yes, we were missing players, but so were they. To all those who bemoan the absences of Vermaelen and Sagna, undoubtedly our two most reliable defenders, you should consider that United were without their own prize central defensive pairing. The difference was they had reliable backup. When Danny Welbeck pulled his hamstring and was forced off, it was horribly ironic that the man who replaced him was Javier Hernandez, a superb striker bought for a pittance. Compare and contrast.

The facts are there for all to see. While Jenkinson was excellent in midweek, he is still incredibly raw, and we should only really be glimpsing him in the Carling Cup, purring at his promise. Instead, he is direct backup to both Sagna and Gibbs, a situation that means he will see a lot of action this season, too much in reality. Traore has been unrated within the club for a long time, and it said everything about our paucity of options that a man untrusted by his manager, and imminently moving to QPR, was thrust out there. Unsurprisingly, he looked like he didn’t care.

In the centre, Djourou continued his alarming decline, making the most basic of errors, and whilst Coquelin impressed in the holding role on debut, he is another who should be blooded in the first team in less exposed circumstances. Ironically, it was his substitution that acted as the catalyst for collapse – when Wenger took him off at 3-1, thrusting Oxlade-Chamberlain on (another debutant, it case you were counting), I feared the worst. Frankly, removing your defensive shield in front of a dysfunctional defence, no matter how raw, is suicidal, and without him we had nothing with which to repel to wave upon wave of United attack. It was depressing to watch.

Some are clinging to the silver lining that the result means the Arsenal hierarchy cannot ignore the problems any more. I’m not. Quite frankly, if the awareness wasn’t already there then we have even bigger problems – everyone else could see it long ago.

It is difficult to know how much can change in the next three days – in an ideal world we would get a central defender, a full back (preferably on the left), a creative central midfielder and a striker, all ready for first team action. That, combined with the return of a few players, would make our squad look competitive again. But not only is four signings remarkably unlikely, what damage has already been done, both for this season and the confidence of our young players? What of Jenkinson, a real talent, who was ruthlessly exposed and eventually sent off? What of Oxlade-Chamberlain, who ran around for half an hour, barely getting a touch, and seeing his side ship another five goals? What has it done to them?

Ten years ago, a 6-1 mauling at Old Trafford wrecked the career of the then-touted and now-maligned Igor Stepanovs. I would be surprised if this doesn’t have the same effect on someone.

But, we have to look forward. Roberto Martinez made a lot of sense on Match of the Day last night (yes, I put myself through it), talking about how clubs can recover from such a humiliation. And he should know – he sat in the dressing room after his Wigan side had shipped nine to Spurs a couple of years ago. He made the very good point that this is where you really learn about players – do they get angry and build something from nothing, ensuring that this is the rock bottom from which they climb? Or do they fall apart?

It can be mixed, but you learn nothing about players, or people, in the good times. You learn everything from situations like this. Let’s hope they react. Fast.

Newcastle 0 Arsenal 0 – a game of fools

Arsenal News, Matches 32 Responses »

Aug 132011

Football is back, but it is not football that many will be talking about after an opening game that left a sour taste in the mouths of many that witnessed it. In truth, that is partly because, from a purely football point of view, there wasn’t a lot to talk about – despite a huge amount of possession, particularly in the first half, we created little, and Tim Krul was rarely and never seriously tested. Plenty of excellent positions were found, but all too often an extra touch was taken or the final ball was wayward, and those chances came and went. At the other end, Newcastle were wholly unambitious.

It had the feel of a pre-season game, perhaps because both sides came in undercooked and unsure of their squads. Newcastle have sold, we are missing players that we are about to sell, and both clubs have moves still to make before the end of August. It showed on the pitch – neither bench was particularly strong (you could argue ours had talent, but not experience), and both sets of players looked rustier than the usual opening day fare.

That said, there were positives, particularly at the back, where Koscielny impressed alongside Vermaelen, Gibbs surged forward well, and Szczesny dominated his area superbly, especially from set pieces. That defensive solidity was important – had we crumbled under pressure at the end and conceded a soft goal, the pitchforks would be out. As it is, it isn’t a spectacular result, but it isn’t a bad one either – given the nature of our squad situation, a point and a clean sheet away from home is nothing to lambast, although I’m sure many will.

Of course, the football will not make the headlines – instead, two flashpoints will, out of which neither club, or anyone involved, came out particularly well. The first incident involved Song and Barton – Song, already on a yellow, was riled by a Barton challenge and appeared to quite deliberately bring his studs down on the back of his leg, a moment of sheer stupidity fortunately missed by Peter Walton. In the moment, I defended Song on Twitter as it appeared to be an accident on first viewing, but having seen the replays it is clear that he does look down at Barton before choosing where to place his foot.

It was the kind of stupidity we thought we had eradicated from the club once Eboue had been ousted, and I have little doubt that an FA charge will follow. The only thing that might save him is if the FA turn a blind eye to it, because of the actions of his victim later in the game.

With a quarter of an hour to go, Gervinho, who was having an excellent debut, turned in the box and was clipped by Tiote. There was contact, but my first reaction was that it was a dive. He certainly went down easily – one of those moments where you claim the spot kick if your player goes down, but feel hard done by if it is given against you. What followed was far worse – Barton decided on the vigilante approach and hauled our new signing up by his neck and throat, an action that would eventually earn him a yellow card. Any sympathy from the neutrals for a man seemingly unhappy about a fellow professional going down easily were quickly eradicated when Gervinho’s light bitch slap reaction saw Barton tumble back to earth clutching (the wrong side of) his face in apparent agony.

Repeatedly, Barton then claimed to be the victim of a powerful punch, which is somewhat ironic since he should know exactly what one of those is, having dished plenty out both on and away from the football field. If he thought that a punch, I would certainly hesitate to believe what sort of ‘tough unbringing’ he really had. Equally risible was the reaction of Steven Taylor, who hounded anyone who would listen with claims that, in fact, it was a swinging elbow that saw Barton so mortally wounded. You would have thought Walton would have smelt a rat at such wildly different accounts, but sadly not.

Incidentally, all credit to ESPN’s Rebecca Lowe, who pressed that very point home in an interview with Taylor after the game, in which the player claimed not to have seen the incident at all. Lowe refused to move on, pointing out that that was a strange claim to make by a man who had insinuated quite the opposite in the immediate aftermath. In doing so, she exposed Taylor quite brilliantly. Well played.

But, and this is a big but, for all the cretinous and blood boiling behaviour of Barton, you cannot defend what Gervinho did – he raised his hands, slapped his opponent, and in doing so gave Barton exactly what he wanted. Because for those who question why Barton does these things, there is your answer – he got a yellow card, and he incited his opponent into getting sent off. In short, he won. He is not embarrassed by his actions, and I question the logic of the masses who send him abuse on Twitter – can you not see that he likes to know he gets to people? You are playing into his hands, people.

No-one came out of the situation well. Barton and Taylor looked like manipulative weasels, Song and Gervinho naive, foolish and a touch spiteful, and the officials weak. Even the managers made me cringe – Wenger by claiming he would appeal the sending off, and Pardew for seeing no wrong in what his player had done.

My take on what should have happened? Song, Barton and Gervinho should all have seen red, and all for violent conduct – Song for the stamp, Gervinho for the slap, and Barton for lifting him off the ground by his neck. But as I’ve already said, Barton won the day, because he is almost certainly the only one of the trio who will not be missing next weekend’s games through suspension. The more this tactic works, the more he will persist with it – he did for Diaby six months ago, and he has done it again.

I will say this though – when Robbie Savage is calling you out after the game, and the nation is nodding in agreement, you have officially reached a new low.

So now Wenger has to plan for a testing fortnight without more players – Song and Gervinho are both likely to be missing for games against Liverpool and United, and with the squad already thinner than we would like, some careful rotation will have to occur for the Champions League tie. It is an unenviable situation, but one that is entirely our own doing thanks to the end of season collapse that helped create the ‘spend some fucking money‘ chant that echoed around the away end in the final moments of the game. For the record, while I think the away fans are superb and have the right to sing whatever they want, the timing was off – we were defending solidly, and were trying to see out a final push from a side with an extra man. Not helpful in that moment, no matter how resonant the sentiment.

Overall, I am a little disappointed by the result without seeing it as a disaster, but I’m worried about the next couple of weeks. For so many reasons, the next fortnight is enormously important.

Despite the turgid game, it is good to have football back. Next up, Udinese.