Arsenal roll on, no sympathy for Cahill
WIGAN 0 ARSENAL 4
I WATCHED this via a dodgy feed, on a poor screen in an orrible pub from a bad angle.
But from what I could see, it was obvious enough that we slipped back into our pre-Fulham form very easily.
In terms of what we learned that we didn’t already know, well, Theo’s form showed continued improvement. The defence again looked largely solid and experienced. And Arteta now has three goals in eleven league games, which for a guy playing fairly deep is no bad return.
As someone who has never bought the argument that our current team is too reliant on RVP for goals, I was hardly surprised to see three other players chip in. Equally, it does concern me how Chamakh and Park would deputise.
And other than that I can’t say too much more, though I do want to touch on the Gary Cahill sending-off in the Spurs v Bolton game because much as I’m no fan of seeing a decision go Tottenham’s way I’ve great sympathy for Martin Attwell and none for the whingers of Bolton.
The point is that Gary Cahill very deliberately fouled Scott Parker and the reason he did that was because he figured that 98% of the time he’d get away with conceding a free-kick and a yellow card, neither of which realistically constitute any punishment whatsoever and on the plus side he would have denied Spurs, if not a clear goalscoring chance, then certainly a decent goalscoring chance (it is worth noting that for the covering defender to cut off Parker’s run he’d have left another attacker completely free in the middle).
But the point is that football’s rules gave Gary Cahill very, very good reason to essentially cheat. Because that is what it is. Just because we’re not in the habit of calling it that, it doesn’t change the facts.
And so I’ve every sympathy for the referee who feels a yellow and free-kick is inappropriate punishment, just as I’ve every sympathy for the referee who feels a penalty and a red card is unduly harsh punishment when a genuine attempt to win the ball (which Cahill’s wasn’t), results in a foul inside the box.
The answer is to end the absurdity of using red cards to punish positional offences. It makes no sense. Imagine it had been the last minute and Spurs had been 1-0 down. I doubt Harry Redknapp would have been quite so generous towards Bolton then had he only got a free-kick and Bolton had lost a man for 30 seconds.
How do you sort it out? You start giving penalties for certain fouls outside the box. Yes, the referee would have to use their discretion, but referees use their discretion the whole time. And I’d also say that certain fouls in the box but not that near goal could instead warrant a free-kick.
Immediately, the incentive to defenders to do a Cahill outside the box or attackers to go to ground very cheaply inside the box is gone. And attacking teams get proper compensation (ie a penalty) where it is due.
Red cards could be reserved for serious foul play and also where any attempt to stop a decent goalscoring chance is patently deliberate.
On that premise, I reckon Cahill was a bit lucky!
What I liked about the Wigan game was that :
a) we seemed to move the ball much more quickly than in some of the previous away games and as a result cut them open time and time again
b) We now have players up top who all work their socks off. I would love to see some stats about the distance covered by Walcott, Gervinho and Ramsay. All three seem to put in the yards game after game and it makes such a difference having the team defend from the front. I know some gooners seem to be dissapointed by Gervinho but for me, overall, he has been really good. You can guarantee that if he continues putting in the same kind of performances but also scores a coupel of goals and makesa couple more assists there will be no doubters as to his value to the team.
I would also love to see some stats about how many of Theo’s assists for RVP have been when RVP runs towards the near post and then checks when 8 or 10 yards out, knowing that Theo will always look up at just the right moment to see him and play it deeper rather than across the 6 yard box, thus giving RVP the couple of yards of space he needs to get his shot away. It a tactic that is so hard to defend against because the defender cannot afford to not cover the near post.
I see were you are coming from re the red card but as the law stands it was a ludicrous sending off. If one of our players had been sent off for that I would have been fuming. Christ, I was pissed off when Song got his yellow against Wigan for just standing his ground like a basketball player.
I agree that changing the laws to give the ref the option of awarding a pen when certain types of foul are committed outside the box would improve the game immensely. It would certainly reduce the number of professional fouls committed outside the box. Also agree that refs should have more discretion about automatic sending offs which invariably spoil games.
I’ve never understood why so many Gooners wanted Cahill. They think the only reason I didn’t want him is that he’s English and I’m not. Turns out, the reason I don’t want him is that he’s simply not good enough for Arsenal. Now we have another reason: If we HAD gotten him, he’d be treated by the referees and the English media as if he were a dirty player all the time, and not as a “stout-hearted, doggedly determined English centre-half.” Did that FA Cup Semi against Stoke, of all teams, not burst his myth? What time is it? “Five past Cahill!”
I think we beat Wigan and only drew against Fulham because we upped the pace against Wigan and were one-paced and lethargic against Fulham.
Whenever we show urgency against teams that come and out and play (credit to Wigan for that) we invariably win or deserve to. When we play it sideways for 75 minutes with no urgency against teams that park the bus we invariably draw and don’t deserve anything else. The only time we look like we might take anything from games like Fulham is in the last ten minutes or so when we start to show a bit of energy.
A little rationality lifts the qultaiy of the debate here. Thanks for contributing!
A simple and intiellgnet point, well made. Thanks!
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