In some ways, Arsenal looked better last night than on Saturday
ARSENAL 0 MARSEILLE 0
FROM GOODPLAYA AT THE EMIRATES
STRANGE as it may sound, I think I’m happier with this performance than the one we saw at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Why? Because up against tricky opposition we kept our defensive discipline and we kept a clean sheet. Yes, we didn’t tear through the Marseille defence like we did the Chelsea one. But I don’t think that’s such a big deal. Crucially, we defended decently.
The first half was as an absorbing Champions League tie in which both sides went for goals. After the break I felt we struggled to put our passes together and Marseille were, particularly in the latter stages, the stronger side.
We were struggling but there is a big difference between being lazy and being tired. We’ve all seen laziness all too recently. But last night just looked like tiredness to me. We were still chasing, still keeping our shape and still doing most of the simple things but we couldn’t string many decent moves together.
There was, of course, that glorious RVP chance that he should never have chipped but by and large you felt it was a question of whether we could keep them at bay in the latter stages. And keep them at bay we did, meaning we secured an important point and perhaps more importantly, denied them of two.
It means a draw in our next game against Dortmund at home will take us through and all in all that’s no bad position to be in.
As I said, this was a fairly mature performance. Vermaelen looked very fresh and everyone else kind of did their jobs pretty well too, even if Park up front looked a markedly inferior option to RVP up front.
I haven’t got time to write more but equally I’m not sure there is a great deal more to say. This was not a bad point. We got most of the basics right. That’s a good thing.
Our defence is looking more solid. I think the defending in midfield has a lot to do with that as well. I don’t get some gooners that don’t rate Song. If he plays his disciplined role screening in front of the back 4 I think he is one of the best 3-4 defensive midfielders around. I have watched him in the last 6 months snuff out players like Rooney and Mata for literally the whole game.
Even last year when we had Cesc and Nasri we still fell short. Rightly a lot of people focussed on the defence but I know I am not alone in feeling we lack one more world class striker. AW seems to like attacking tricky midfielders and I feel he floods our squad with too many of these players. Outside of RVP you could only say that Park and Chamakh are strikers and the question is are they good enough at the highest level. All the others are these hybrid attacking midfielders who could be considered wingers/wing-forwards/number 10′s. We have Arshavin, Walcott, Gervinho and the younger Oxlade-Chamberlain and Myachi and still it looks like he wants more of these players with links to Hazard, Goetze, Gorcouff e.t.c. I don’t know how he will fit all these players in and will any of these types of players become another 20+ a season goal-scorer that I feel we need in addition to RVP. A world class goal-scorer, Like Benzema, Aguero or Falcao, will normally cost arounnd £30m and I think in January we should bust a gut to get Tevez. I am sure that if you can get him on a reasonable transfer fee some extra money could be passed over to City to pay off some of his contract and then his wages could be re-negotiated to fit into our structure and not upset our system. Tevez at Arsenal with RVP could be the one player we need that would mean the difference between silverware or nothing, and I bet if we got him in January it wouldn’t be long before RVP signed up.
@GoonerB – was entirely in agreement with you right up until you mentioned Tevez. as a player he’s top quality, and would be a great addition, but as a human being he’s a dick, and far too money-motivated to accept that big a cut in his salary. Benzema on the other hand….
@Goodplaya – i know what you’re saying re the defence, but i was mostly worried about our ability to create chances against the top sides without Cesc & Nasri, so for me the Chelsea game was far more satisfying. anyone can defend well if they really want to….probably.
Goodplaya, fair comment.
8 points from 2 away games and 2 home games is a good position to be in. So, we didn;t win last night but the win in Marseille made that less imperative than usual in the case og a Big Cup home game.
We were solid at the back and Song covered a lot of ground and seems whatever anyone else says he is a very good defensive midfielder. He is diligent at covering and on mor etha none occasion last night he fileld in in wide positions when space appeared at fullback. OM pressed very hard all over the pitch and they seemed to target song in particular as someone who, if they could nick the ball off him, would be in a postiion to launch a swift and dangerous counter attack. considering the pressure they put him under he was excellent. TV, looked very sharp. He dose everything you want from a CB- attacks the aerial ball, times tackles really well, passes accurately, organises and barks ommands at his team mates and covers the ground very quickly. What an asset
one of the reasons why i read this blog is because you convey the truth in a unique way..your position on last nights game is like comparing 2 boxers the first who despite getting knocked down 4-5 times in the course of a fight eventually won via a big right hand that floored his opponent or a second boxer who cautiously fought,kept his fists up and won on points…one excitng the other not so much…for me this result also means our heads will be kept firmly on the ground..had we won again last night by any margin,few may begin to get complacent..and forget that we are only just finding our feet..im happy with the result, i feel it will ensure the WBA game wont be toyed with..nothng has been achieved yet until we are 1-4 on the EPL table,in the Carlng cup final and UCL knockoutstages….(err..we acheived that last season by january didnt we? gulp)
very pleasing to see our defence slowly coming together gaining confidence. Jenkinson looks to be a top right back in a few years, if gibbs can sort his injury problems out we’ll have the two best full backs around. verminator is class, & kos and mertasacker are getting better by the game. szseney will be the best keeper in the world, in jan i hope to bring in cahill,and get sagna back. Then we mighht just have the best defence in the country.
I too agree with all of what you said. I rewatched the highlights of
the game against chelsea. The defence was very bad save Kos. It is obvious that Santos is not a left back. Arteta and Song rocked though. Vermaelen was genius.