ARSENAL 3 SPURS 0
GREETINGS from North London.
It’s pouring down outside, my head is hurting, but nonetheless, what a beautiful day it is.
Just when you thought we had squeezed every last little bit of joy from the north London derby fixture, along came yesterday.
This was magnificent to behold: Spurs (from whom there had been a bit too much chat in the week) humbled as Arsene notched up an incredible perfect decade without defeat to our nearest rivals.
On the premise that losing these games is a painful experience (which trust me it is) then I think everyone should raise a glass to Arsene for sparing us such pain for so long. To put it into some context, United have lost five times in the league to City in that same period.
Last night on Twitter I called for a statue in recognition of Arsene’s achievement half way between our ground and theirs. According to Google Maps, the turning into Berkeley Road on the Seven Sisters Road is exactly the half way point and so there I propose it should go.
So, yesterday. Arsene plumped for Bendtner on the right wing. I thought it the wrong call at the time but actually until he went off he was our best player.
The atmosphere, I should say, was very decent indeed, despite the 12.45 kick-off.
I’ll make no bones about it: with Spurs swamping the midfield, we were somewhat turgid for 42 minutes. Indeed, I’d even go so far as to say Tottenham looked in some senses, the better side.
For our part Diaby was having one of those days. The fans who got on his back were hardly helping matters. Equally, he was very frustrating: not for me so much when he lost the ball, but more the way he seemed to spend most of the first half ambling passively while Spurs passed around us.
This is what Harry Redknapp thought of that first half:
“On 42 minutes I felt the crowd were getting onto them, they weren’t creating anything worth talking about, and I felt very comfortable. I’m looking up at the clock with three minutes to half time and thinking we’ve done our job. I could see us certainly getting a big result.”
The half way spot where the statue should go
That, frankly, is a rather selective version of events. Chance wise there had been one and it had fallen to us when Gomes saved smartly from Cesc. They had played some nice patterns but created sod all concrete. Manuel Almunia, who returned after family tragedy, didn’t have a save to make, which was fortunate because his handling looked iffy.
Spurs had put together a few decent passes but by and large their only tactic seemed to be to hoof it in Crouch’s direction and play off his knock-downs. Yes, they were missing their pace in Lennon and Defoe, but we were missing Walcott and really I thought they’d have a bit more ambition.
They did have one 40 yard Bentley volley. Sitting at the side of the pitch, I can’t tell you the sense of relief I felt when the first fans behind the goal cheered because they realised it was drifting harmlessly wide.
And then Harry’s fatal mistake was exposed: sitting at the Emirates feeling very comfortable. How can you sit there feeling comfortable playing a side who have knocked an average of four goals a game at home this season?
We’re chock full of players who can score from nothing and sure enough, we did.
Harry can bemoan slack marking at the throw in that allowed the excellent Sagna to swing in a cross and he can ask whether Gomes might have saved it, but there can be no doubting the way RVP got ahead of the deified Ledley King to turn it viciously towards goal with his right chocolate leg.
Great stuff and seconds later the Emirates was going absolutely crazy as Cesc exploited a sloppy ball from kick-off, slalomed his way through and finished magnificently for one of the great derby day goals.
Classic Arsenal.
After the break, I really thought we were excellent. Not least because at 2-0 you actually looked at it and thought in one sense for the next 25 minutes or so we needed a goal more than they did because come the 70 mark they’d probably settle for 2-0 and we’d feel a tad twitchy given recent events and last year’s game.
But we played it perfectly: rock solid in defence and midfield but still creating chances for Diaby and Eduardo. Almunia saved from a Bentley free-kick and then it was three. It was great refereeing from Clattenburg to allow play to carry on and when Sagna crossed, they screwed it up and RVP tapped home.
Clattenburg really was very good I thought. Yes, Bentley was lucky early on, but by and large the ref read the game perfectly and realised that getting card happy would probably only make a clean game dirtier.
It’s funny because even after 88 minutes of last year’s game I said to the people I was with that I wasn’t at all comfortable. Yesterday, was a completely different story. The back four were rock, rock solid. Sure, Crouch was winning headers, but our positioning was excellent and helped by the excellent Song and Cesc and even Diaby, Spurs really didn’t get a sniff.
With a birthday to mark too, the celebrations went on long and late and got to the stage of drunkenly trying to recall every Spurs v Arsenal result since 1988. By and large we did.
Arsene Wenger, I thank you. My head is hurting less now.
Ratings
Almunia 6.5
Early on his handling looked off and his kicking short but late on he seemed more confident and the save from Bentley will do him no harm at all.
Sagna 8
Set-up two goals and bombed forward at will. His crossing has improved of late too. As ever, very, very tight in defence.
Vermaelen 8
Won an ungodly number of headers and was throwing himself at everything. With him there, we look so much more assured.
Gallas 7.5
Positionally very alert for the knock-downs that often followed one of their countless balls in Crouch's direction.
Clichy 8
Early on was nipping in to win the ball and set us on the attack. Kept Bentley almost completely quiet for 90 minutes in no small part because Bentley would get the ball 30 yards from his own goal line and find Clichy on his back that far up the field.
Song 8
In a team as attacking as ours, Song's role is not an easy one. Really came into the game in the second half, positionally excellent, flying into the tackles and relieving the pressure.
Diaby 6
Poor in the first half if we're honest. Whereas Bendtner was always looking for the ball and was actively chasing, despite playing a more defensive role Diaby was doing neither. Improved as the game wore on. Some of you will say the 6 is generous, but I'm in a good mood so sod it.
Cesc 8.5
Started brightly I thought, seeing a lot of the ball and looking very incisive. Then when Spurs got on top he gave a couple of passes away. But took his goal beautifully and was dominant in the second half.
Bendtner 7.5
Probably the brightest of all our players in the opening half hour. Much improved when in possession of the ball, holding well and spreading it cleverly.
Arshavin 7
Beautiful anticipation and movement at times but probably didn't have his all time greatest game.
van Persie 8.5
Brilliant for the opening goal and there in the right place for the second. Really led the line well, harrying, holding, linking, everything. Making a mockery of those who said he couldn't play this position.
Eduardo 6.5
Paid to take chances, he spurned one great opportunity and another very decent one. But in fairness he'd played 90 minutes on Wednesday night and probably hadn't expected to play another 60 just two and a half days later.
Eboué 7
His current popularity is semi cult, semi serious. Not that it stopped one typically extravagant fall late on. But far improved on the Eboue of a year ago.
Ramsey 6.5
Slotted in nicely enough but couldn't find a fourth when released late on.
Do you know if there will be a DVD release of this game??
Nah – we’re not Spurs!
What a game! Wenger has not only made North London life easier for us in the last ten years but has done it in style. I will never forget celebrating the first goal with strangers in the seats around me whilst watching Cesc scampering through the centre of their defence and unbelievably firing home a second! The gulf in class between the two sides was never more obvious than yesterday. A statue to Wengers achievement should be erected immediately.
What is more impressive about Van Persie’s form is that all of his goals are proper strikers goals. I don’t think he has scored a freek-kick or a penalty yet. Has He? All his goals has come from open play. Like you, I would give all the credit to Van Persie and Sagna for the goals. They were smart. We just had to be smart in the game and we were.
IMO, Van Persie has been the most consistent player of the season. If he hasn’t scored then he has made an assist. 7 goals and 4 or 5 assists! That is brilliant!
Diaby was awful in the first half – I think – the occasion got to him. He was scared to make any mistakes. I was praying that Wenger will bring Nasri or Ramsey in place of him after half-time. But in the second half, he did all simple stuff correctly. Fought for the ball and won. And he was always there with Song winning the second ball. If he was left footed player then he would’ve scored that chance.
It was good to see Wenger scolding off the team when we were winning 3-0 – just to get his point across about being a bit defensive!
Shame Bendtner got injured! He was getting in a decent form.
Spurs have released a DVD of the game…..
http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/2510/newzombiehalloweenposte.jpg
let us win trophy dis season,den a statue will be erected on his achievement.
am i the only one who found fabregas’ goal truly awesome? he did what noone expected, passed through 3 opponents and finished perfectly! had the goal been scored by steven gerrard, everyone would be talking about it…
and we were the 4th game at motd…
let’s vote cesc player of the month. there is stiff competition but he deserves it.
sagna’s deliver in the box has massively improved. defense was perfect! i was very happy with almunia in goal, now things make sense!
am really happy today.
First of all, fantastic result for the lads. They really deserved a result yesterday, a very good solid team performance.
I can see why Wenger plays Diaby after our defensive self destruction problems. He offers a real physical presence that players like Nasri and Ramsey unfortunately do not. What winds me up though, is that for someone as tall and strong as him, his heading is terrible. That chance that came off his shoulder was a prime example, but the poor defensive heading worries me more.
I have to comment on Arshavin though. What is going on with him lately? When he joined, it was refreshing to see a player who would try to take players on and get a shot off, but lately it feels a little bit half arsed and almost a waste on many occasions. I get the impression that his heart isn’t in it to be honest. I really hope that’s just the way he is, but I’ve not seen too much of what I saw last season when he basically single handedly hauled the team into 4th spot.
classic!!
diaby ???? & arshavin (RATING OF 6 IS TOO GENEROUS. I think his heart ia at Barca) being replace by either Nasri, Rosicky, Walcott, Bendtner, Vela, Merida, Arsenal will be more clinical with 11 playing players instead of 9)
arshavin is like that, has always been like that. sometimes brilliant, but sometimes does not do much. at anfield last year, he had barely touched the ball before the 1st goal.
this heart-at-barcelona thing is utter nonsense.
we should be happy we don’t depend on him as much as we did last year. i’m sure we’ll still be praising him many times this season.
Oh Eduardo missed three simple chances cos his heart was somewhere else (!) Arshavin worked harder than he had worked in United game. He had three half-decent chances in the first half. I was actually happy that he didn’t take any of those chances cos if he had then it would’ve been a bad omen – it could’ve prompted our self-destructive soul to take the charge of the game. :-D
Anyway, Arshavin had a very decent game. And his heart was in the right place.
A good match report, YW.
This was a great response by the lads to the misplaced hype coming from the spuds supporting media. As for twitchy and Keane the less said the better.
Thought the team played within themselves but were always in control. Imo. the back five in conjunction with the excellent Song were immense and totally nullified the Tots ‘lump it up to the lump’ tactic.
During the second half we completley dominated and should have bagged a hatful but perhaps thats just being picky.
The only downer for me is the lack of support shown towards some of our own players on a great day like yesterday. Why the hating on Diaby ?
We should know by now that Arsene rates him highly and is a good judge. Diaby is clearly lacking in confidence and as supporters we should encourage and get behind him when things not going well. If we don’t we will crucify a young player and probably undermine the team as a whole. Now that would be a massive own goal!
Arsenal forever
Sagna´s best game since….April, I think!
Anyone think Eduardo’s reluctance to take it round the keeper for the missed chance is a sign that all the bullshit he received following the Celtic game is still on his mind?
I think he just thought he had the angle but didn’t. It happens.
And as for the comments re Arshavin, give it a break.
A whole decade without losing to the scum. that was cescual when fabregas made it 2-0. Keano what’s the score? Shame super nik came off, why do we keep getting these injuries.Bendtner was superb before, but im not one of those who have knocked him ,and some still continue to do. Now is not the time for all that shit anyway, just want say a big thanks to A.W. for going ten years unbeaten against our skanky neighbours.
Also we were on motd towards the end again. pompey v wigan were before us. When will we be on itv 1 aswell, itv seem to only show man-ure and liverpoo. they seem to have something against us.
Diaby is horrible in big games. As soon as the pace of the game goes up it passes him by. He started playing well when we were 2-0 up and the energy levels dropped. He’s a languid player good in languid games.
I’m so looking forward to Ramsey or Wilshere or somebody stepping it up enough to take his place. Though in fact, with Nasri fit, I would happily predict a midfield three of Song, Cesc and Nasri which would be strangely reminiscent of Barça’s Yaya, Xavi and Iniesta.
bernardinho – is that really your name?
No, I thought Fabregas’ goal was exceptional for a professional football game. Even at 22 years old, yes 22, Fabregas is one of the greatest players, if not the greatest, ever (and that includes Henri) to have worn our famous red and white. Just imagine what Arsene was thinking when he saw those videos of Cesc at 16. Arsene knows!
Diaby – get rid replace with Ramsey, Arshavin – lazy
I don’t like diaby scapegoating but he was certainly poor the first half. I noticed that he moved out wide for a bit early in the second half to give us a tall outlet a la bendtner and it allowed him to catch up to the pace of the game.
Wenger and his players understand the crowd dynamics and they’ll know there’s always one person the crowd is likely to get on if they’re not doing well. I’m sure arsene has spoken with diaby about it. Really, at the end of the day it’s diaby’s job (literally) to win the crowd over but I do wish we could be more encouraging when a player is struggling
Spot on Bill !
I was kidding ‘playa
Diaby – horrible first half but much improved second half. Having said that, Rosicky, Nasri, and Ramsey should all be ahead of him in the pecking order to play in the middle 3 alongside Cesc and Song.
Song – What a star – so much improved and does exactly what he’s there to do: stops opposition in their tracks and is the outball when we’re stuck on the wings going forward to start play again.
Arshavin – I’ve read a few negative comments about his performance yesterday. He wasn’t at his awesome best but is key to our quick passing and movement. He also keeps the ball so well and I remember at least 2 surging runs…head down…quick…keeping the ball…charging through the oppo defence. He’s brilliant and will continue to make himself a legend for the club!
Cesc/RVP – Key players at the top of their game; absolutely vital they keep it up if we’re going to challenge for trophies on all fronts.
Vermaelen – How impressive has he been? AW said a couple of years ago that we were consistently conceding goals to long balls over the top. This guy does what Toure rarely did: gets himself in position early and gets a strong header in.
At 2:14pm YW should read GP, apologies to the host.
Good review GOODPLAYA… your analysis of the game and player ratings were spot on.
Come to think of it, the derbies of areas such as Merseyside and Manchester have not recently presented a DECADE, yes a decade, of unbeaten runs against the opposition in the League. This is really a huge achievement for the manager and the players that have graced the pitch in the recent decade, their display of grit and belief should be an example to all. Credit should really be given to Arsene for his consistent development of the team over the years. It’s looking really positive in terms of trophy chances this year, and that is not mentioning the beautiful football we are playing!
Couple of things about yesterday’s game: Sagna’s crossing was brilliant. He seemed to whip them in beautifully and if he continues like this we’ll get a lot of joy down that right hand side. Now, if we could get Clichy to cross… ;-)
Almunia, for me, looked pretty assured except on one take where he dropped the ball. Otherwise he handled it well, didn’t do crazy things and seemed more like he’d settled down (if that make sense). I hope the extended break has done him good. He’s our most experienced goalie and we need him if we are to stay in the title hunt.
Diaby’s a two-way player and vitally important to the team. Song and the back form the defense of the team and Cesc and the front three the attack. Diaby has tactical responsibility to both. In defense, he has to make up numbers when the team is defending or vulnerable, and break up play. In attack, he has to make up numbers, be a link between defense and attack and participate in build up attack. His movement as an offensive player is as good as anyone on the team. His finishing (both as a passer and shooter) is poor at the present. I’d chalk it up to a combination of youth, lack of confidence, and not being as good at it as a pure attacker. His tactical awareness is excellent right now which, I’m guessing, the coaches have hammered into him in an effort to tighten up the team’s defenses. He also has great stamina and has been able to maintain his health to get a run in the team. I’d expect him to make “the leap” after the next international break, much like Song last year after he got a run of games.
To me, the only other players on the team capable of potentially filling this spot are Denilson and Nasri. Denilson isn’t the physical presence of Diaby, but is as tactically aware, has stamina and can do the job well. The only problem with him is that he’s still a month away, at best, from fitness. Nasri is a little more questionable because he’s never been asked to observe this kind of tactical discipline and isn’t the physical presence of either Diaby or Denilson. Plus, he’s probably not at a fitness level to do the duties for a full game against top competition. I think, though, that in the right game against a team that isn’t much threat physically or in the air, that Nasri’s a great option.
Ramsay isn’t physically ready for a Premier League run in the team at this position.
Bill Fweng agree with both of you.
Wenger puts Diaby in the game because he thinks he will come good. I think he shows flashes of brilliance and gradually getting the rest of his game their (including ignoring the groaners!).
GP – the tackle on Eduardo looked pretty dire. What was your opinion?
I know advantage was played but surely a second yellow should have been waved. I like the free flowing way that Clatenburg referred and the way he talked to the players ……but still.
all the best Dave
Good point about the ref. We all gave him a bit if stick for letting Bentley and Ekotto off with poor tackles and dissent but, in truth, we’ve all seen games (particularly derbies) turn into a card fest. Like you I thought he should have booked Ekotto for the tackle on Eddie but it all turnd out all right and the suds can’t even blame the ref.
On Diaby I’m not sure the 4-3-3 allows him a role. He’s not dynamic enough in midfield when its just him and Cesc (with Alex Song behind) – granted he got no protection or support from Andrey. Improved in the second half when he sat a little deeper and picked his moments to come forward. Good supporting run and position and unlucky when his goalbound shot was blocked.
Great points The Rookie – many supporters fail to see the reason why Arsene chooses the players for the positions but that ‘transition’ role is key to our game and Diaby is learning it fast. He is having to reign in his natural attacking instinct and develop the defensive side of his game. I think he’s doing well under the circumstances. He will develop quicker and become more effective the more games he plays. It would also help if the crowd lay off the groaning when he makes the odd mistake.mistake
Another injury,never mind,gibbs to fill in and stake a world cup place. Do spurs still think they have a better squad than us ? On the radio they keep moaning about how they had defoe,lennon,modric,and woodgate out. When we had no rosicky,nasri,walcott,djourou, and bendtner came off in the 1st half. Better sqaud my arse!
Re: Diaby bashing
Tonight’s game was wonderful by Diaby, so I think it is a great opportunity to point out the difference between that and a derby game. This was a slow-paced, languid, take-your-time game where Diaby is at his best. He was well-placed in defense and excellent in attack as well. Compare this with Tottenham and Man United where he was horrible. He improved in the second half against Tottenham because the pace went out of the game with the two goals.
Wenger plays Eboue in place of Sagna in games like this (AZ Alkmaar) because he knows what to expect from the opponents. I would personnaly play Diaby in exactly the same games as he plays Eboue at right back: games where you are superior to the opponent and know they will simply sit back and defend. I would not play him at this point in time against teams like Man United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Man City or Tottenham because the pace of the game does not suit him. I would personnaly play Nasri, Fabregas and Song as the midfield three in big games, as I feel they would be best suited to these occasions.
This is not Diaby bashing, it is simply recognising what players are good at and exploiting their talents to the fullest instead of asking them to do what they are not capable of. If he develops further, then play him in those big games, but right now he is not there yet.