For the fourth time this season, Ramsey finishes very neatly
WEST HAM UNITED 1
ARSENAL 2
ARSENE Wenger often talks about sending out a team to win the game when resting a few first teamers in the domestic cup competitions.
Against West Ham I think he did. There was logic in giving the squad players (Fabianski, Silvestre, Wilshere, Merida and Vela) a run out and sense too in giving some of the regulars of recent weeks a breather ahead of two league games in four days.
Crucial – and this hasn’t always been the case in the Carling Cup – was that if there were not obvious replacements available, the first teamer played. Hence Gallas, Vermaelen and Sagna all starting. Equally, in the league cup we rarely see heavyweight back-up on the bench as we did with Nasri and Diaby yesterday. That was crucial.
We started poorly. In fact our first 65 minutes weren’t a lot to shout about. To me the run of the Upton Park pitch looked less true than TV pictures would initially suggest and I’ve long been of the opinion that we never look brilliantly equipped to play on surfaces less than perfect.
Silvestre was getting exposed, Merida started decently but then couldn’t put a pass together and Jack Wilshere never found his rhythm. Further up the field, Eduardo was unsure of touch and Vela at times unsure of anything, despite the odd decent moment.
Their goal came on the stroke of half-time and any blame should lie with the defenders who played the attacker on, rather than Fabianski who did his best and was a little unlucky.
We then saw the kind of chasing and harrying from some West Ham players that suggested this could be their day but in front of a spookily less than full Upton Park (I can’t really ever remember that happening previously), you sensed the home team were a side whose confidence was brittle.
And when Arsene did the bleedingly obvious and replaced Wilshere and Merida with Nasri and Diaby, things began to change. After one impressive double save by Green he could do little to stop a left footed shot whipped across him from 10 yards.
For the fourth time this season we were applauding Aaron Ramsey for an impressive finish. Some people bemoan his habit of sometimes giving the ball away but for me it’s the flip side to his ability to fashion great things from apparently not that much at crucial moments. As I’ve said before, when you’re chasing a game, there is always the possibility something might happen with him and that’s something that will serve him well.
Revitalised, the second arrived four minutes later. Vela had already claimed one assist when flicking neatly into Ramsey’s path and now he had a second. A delicious outswinging cross and Eduardo did (and Arshavin for that matter) specialise in – namely making the keeper look a little slow to react. A thumping header in front of the excellent away support and the fourth round beckoned.
The commentators reckoned it hard on West Ham but really at 1-0 down this was a game where whatever we got would be what we deserved. Fail to score and we could have no complaints but haul it back and you have to take your hat off to the team.
I’m going to abbreviate the player ratings today as I’m off back to work in a minute (ye hay!). Fabianski (7) could do nothing on the goal and pulled off one good save, Silvestre (6) was ok going forward but ropey at the back. Gallas (6.5) and Vermaelen (6.5) did what needed to be done, as did Sagna (6.5) who battled despite things not always going his way.
Merida (6) started well but then had a bit of a nightmare, Song (7) provided much needed stability and Ramsey (7.5) much needed spark. Wilshere (6) struggled and after giving the ball away once near our goal learned seconds later that at this level trying to then take everyone on in a similar position a few seconds later can be a mistake. Eduardo (7) has taken absurd amounts of criticism of late. Sure, his confidence has looked a little down, but we’re knocking in the goals at the moment and if he’d been getting them someone else wouldn’t and people would probably be on that person’s back. If you think the 7 is generous then I’d remind you what he is there to do. Vela gets his (7) for coming good when needed.
Diaby in particular (7.5) and Nasri (7) looked class acts when they came on.
We always seem to do things the hard way so it was no surprise we frustrated for most of the game and then won it briliantly towards the end. Diaby (and Nasri) came on and helped change the game. Is Diaby finally finding his consistancy? – thats 4 good games in a row now by my reckoning – he really has so much potential. As for Song, absolutely awsome and such a shame he is away for a month.
Yes, it was the introduction of Diaby and Nasri that changed the game, but in my mind, that was mainly because it gave Song the support he needed to start pulling the strings further up the pitch, as opposed to covering for the sadly abysmal Wilshere and Merida. It was Song who from the central, Fabregas position 20-25 yards out orchestrated both the Diaby near-post chance and the two goals that followed. Much as we’re relieved that Gallas and Vermaelen have stayed injury-free and ever-present this season, we really would not be where we are now if the same wasn’t true of Song. Whenever people talk about his transformation this season, I think it’s true in terms of the consistency of his performances for us, but we shouldn’t forget he’s played like this consistently for Cameroon over recent years, and he did it consistently during his loan spell with Charlton in 2007, so maybe the difference this season is just knowing he’s the main man and playing like it. Incredible to think he’s not 23 until April, and I think we should be ready for the fact that if he carries on playing like this in the Champions League and has a good World Cup, we’ll be getting bids of £20 milion for him from Madrid and Milan by mid-July. Who’d have thought that at the start of the season?
@St Paul Davis on Song: I think you’re right.
A well-deserved win. We would have lost this one last year.
Song’s making a lot of top flight defensive midfielders (Mascherano, Mikel, Carrick etc) look very ordinary this season.
Whilst I wouldnt agree that he was so great at Charlton (The ref in one game ordering his manager to sub him before he was sent off for generally scything people down clumsily), Alex has now become the real midfield bedrock of the side.
Its funny that the same dodgy feeling you’d get in your gut if you saw him on the teamsheet has now become the feeling you’ll get for the next month without him.
Big props also to Diaby, we were wrong Shaft, so wrong. He’s rapidly turning into the genuine article and when he came on last night I honestly thought to myself we were gonna win from that point on.
If that does’nt show the extent of his recent transformation, I don’t know what does.
The difference between Merida/Wilshere and Diaby/Nasri was that the latter two coped beter with West Ham’s excellent pressing game because they needed less time on the ball to do their stuff. The gulf in class is more to do with ability to do the same technical stuff in half the time. Hopefully that will come with experience.
Up to this time of the season, i vote Song as player of the year.
The transformations of Song and Diaby just go to show that, in general, we should trust Arsene. He does make mistakes (who doesn’t?) but if he sees something in a player then there’s a pretty good chance that it will come out eventually. It should also be a cautionary tale for the (minority) of boo boys. Song (away at Fulham two seasons ago), Diaby and Eboue have all been slaughtered from the terraces and in blogs but have been proven to be quality players. By the same token, the fact that Wilshere and Merida were next to useless yesterday doesn’t mean they won’t be great players for us in the future.
Interestingly, the lads at charltonlife.com have got a message board going on Song on the back of yesterday’s game, and they’re all saying how much they rated him and would have stayed up that season if he’d been with them all year. He was 18 when he went to them, the same age as Wilshere and a year younger than Merida, but on the strength of yesterday’s performances, neither of them would get into a Premiership side fighting relegation. I don’t say that with any pleasure but they just didn’t look up to it. In defence of Wilshere, he received the ball with his back to goal most of the game, and – like Walcott – that clearly isn’t his strength. I’m afraid Merida doesn’t have that defence, and when (Fabregas aside – he’s allowed one weakness)you keep hitting the first man on successive corners, that’s unfortunately a question of ability – you can’t just blame the West Ham pressing game.
Agree with Rocky Lives,
Wilshere was not in the game at all yesterday and I’m sure Wenger’s is just going to keep on trying him in the cup games, which he should. We can all see Wishere has something special. Wilshere will only get better.
But if you think back to when Arsene was blooding Song into the team, because he had a few bad games, the crowd got onto his back. I don’t see those same people getting on the back of Wishere.
Arsene Knows. He sees these players everyday in training.. have some fiath.
P.s Denilson will come good.
Both Wilshire and Merida had a decent game – they worked hard. That is all you can ask from them two. Wilshire had quite few good momenst on the right side. So did Merida. If players around him, Song & Ramsey, were playing good, then they would’ve had a good game. But they were off their game in 1st half due to inexperience shown by Merida and WIlshire.
->P.s Denilson will come good.
Can’t believe he still has his doubters! He is good. He has shown it on a consistent basis even before Song did!
Really pleased with the win at Upton Park. AW has now stated that he’s looking to win silverware this season, but I’m a little concerned that we’ll be fighting on too many fronts and fail on all three. I think the mancs will benefit from their exit.
For me Song has become one of my favourite players. Although I wasnt his biggest critic I didnt think he was that great but if you just look at how he plays every week youll see an awesome player. He has great close control, is strong pyhysically, and is very defensively aware now.
I read somewhere that he said he was trying to emulate Makelele and credit to him to come back from being public enemy number 1 to an irreplaceable player in our squad.
By the way Its time for writers such as the ANR to eat their words now in regards to Diaby and Song.
Denilson seems to be the weakest in the central midfield combo of Cesc, Song, Diaby and Denilson. He’s the one more likely to be replaced by Ramsey.
His weaknesses are:
Lack of pace
Lack of strength-often pushed over
Poor passing range- only backwards and sideways
Virtually no trickery.
I think Denilson can prove people wrong like the way Song and Diaby have recently have. I think a confident and in form Denilson is an asset to the team. I do think that his passing ability is much better then what we are seeing from him now and he has that busy-ness about him which I like. He is really a hybrid of a playmaker and a defensive minded player and I just think we’re not seeing the best of him as hes still a young lad. In a few years I think hell be very very good.
i agree that we would have lost this one last year. We are an awful lot better this time round. It would be nice if Arsene could buy a midfielder and defender in the window, because it would be a real shame if vermaelen gallas and song are overused and tire at the business end of the season. Otherwise I think we have a really good chance this year. Man U look a bit short of quality being honest and are over-reliant on rooney and giggs. chelsea are not perfect and will hopefully tire as the season goes on as their ages will count against them.
Unfortunately the ref set the tone for the game very early by letting WHU players get away with tackling from behind and kicking chunks out of us but particularly merida, vela, eduardo and Jack. The others played through but it effected Jack and Merida. I thought the 1st half was 50/50 and we won the 2nd half quite convincingly.
Yesterday was my 1st trip to upton park, All they only sing is bubbles, time and time again. change the tune. I thought we’re the one’s who’s only got one (SONG)
Nobody likes a told you so ramshit, but again, what’s your view on ramsey’s goal and man of the match performance again?
The private jet was genius from wenger, fergie sent ratboy neville to show him around there training ground.
Can’t argue that the subs changed the game but didn’t anyone else notice how more effective we were when Eddie went central and Carlos Vela wide left.
Big up’s to Fabianski. Cracking save at the beginning of t he second half. If it didn’t look too clever at one down how would we have got back then. Came when he needed to on the crosses and set pieces and, in my view, pretty much got everything right. Currently inspires more confidence than Manuel.