Let’s not get carried away

By 1970’s Gooner

This wasn’t a total performance as many pundits or even Robin Van Persie will have us believe. And I am not saying this just to be a killjoy or to sound different from all the other eulogizing journalists or blogs dedicated to Arsenal.

Yes it was a very good performance against a neat and skillful Sevilla side who were taught a lesson, as many teams who step up a league, usually are.

They paid the penalty of coming to the Emirates and playing in their usual attacking style.

This allowed a lot of space for the Arsenal creative players to roam in and display their undoubted skills. And when these skills are complimented with a shoot on target policy then danger looms.

But until Fabregas scored his deflected goal it was Sevilla who were the more attractive and forceful side (you can watch the goals by clicking on the Video window).

Ramos’s decision to rest their most important midfielder, Keita, so that another colleague could mark the “unmarkable” Fabregas deprived Sevilla the thrust they so badly needed from midfield.

It also curtailed the support to their main strikers. What is the use of playing in an offensive formation if you deprive the forwards of their supply line?

This was not really a complete performance by Arsenal although it gave promise that this feat is not far from becoming a reality!

A complete performance is when all the parts of the team function perfectly in their individual roles but also as a unit. And there were some individual performances that needed improving.

Senderos was still an accident waiting to happen and it almost happened on three occasions.

The most notable one was when he miskicked a clearance from a low cross from the right allowing the ball to run across the goal in front of Almunia. Only good fortune saved the day as the opposing forward missed his kick as well.

His positioning was again suspect. He lost his man, Kanoute, twice. His shot was saved on the one occasion and on the other he narrowly missed the header.

In attack Adebayor, who admittedly is improving in leaps and bounds with every game, still has to improve his ball skills and control. He also has to add finishing (in a consistent manner) to his other attributes of strength, forcefulness and aerial ability.

His position in the team is becoming very pivotal as his aerial strength and his ability to fend off defenders brings another dimension that was lacking before.

RVP apart from his goal was not his usual penetrative self. Also his link up play with Adebayor still needs to be honed further.

I am not nit picking; I am just trying to bring everyone back to earth.

When Gallas returns and the front two start getting it together then yes we will see a complete performance!

Now an area of Arsenal’s play I was really excited about was their defensive collectiveness. And by this I mean that the desire, positioning and defensive approach when the ball was lost was evident in all eleven players.

It was not just confined to the players at the back or the defensive midfielders. This was especially true of the excellent wide players, Hleb and Rosicky, who were not only creative going forward but doubled up pretty quickly at the back to defend against the Sevilla wing players.

It was also noticeable in Van Persie and Adebayor who were always tracking back to hurry and hassle the Sevilla midfielders often winning the ball.

The whole team played as unit. This is something that was very evident during the “untouchables” season.

Now, let’s not get carried away.


Selection dilemmas for Wenger

Fabregas is a more effective player than Scholes. The statistical analysis backs it up

Watch three of the Arsenal stars dance in the Emirates car park

This is a video which shows that the Arsenal players are not only enjoying themselves on the pitch.

Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Adebayor and Emmanuel Eboue seem to really get it together in the Emirates car park in front of a few bewildered lucky fans and a very posh BMW ( I think) sports car. I wonder to whom it belongs!

What Arsene Wenger has been telling the world for a long time seems to be very true. This team has unity, spirit and togetherness!

Let's hope they can reproduce it on the pitch next game against Spurs.

Click on the video screen and watch it at the top of the page.

Who should partner Robin Van Persie?

By 1970’s Gooner

For regular visitors to this site my views have been made clear. Robin Van Persie is not really a centre forward in the sense that he is not a strong physical front target man.

He is better deployed behind or next to a strong centre forward and not as a lone
striker.

I also believe that Wenger needs to sign another experienced forward. This is for both football and practical reasons.

Football reasons

The current squad consists of four forward players. Eduardo may be a goal scorer but he is not a front target man.

In a way his style of play is more like Robin’s. Playing them together will not necessarily offer them the environment they seek to score their goals.

Adebayor is a target man and so is Bendtner. Adebayor will do a good job but goals do not come that easily to him and Bendtner is not yet trusted by Wenger to start games.

Another aspect to take into account is the relative lack of experience in this area.

Robin Van Persie and Adebayor are only 23 and 22 respectively. The addition of Eduardo to the squad (aged 24) does not of course do much to increase the average age.

The practical reasons are equally important

Account has also to be taken of injury, suspensions, loss of form and the Africa Cup of Nations.

Remember what happened last season when injuries to Henry and Van Persie in particular deprived the team of its two most lethal forwards? RVP was also close to getting a second yellow card against Blackburn.

Taking into account that Adebayor will be away at the Africa Cup of Nations for about a month then it becomes obvious that the squad will lose serious depth.

Now if a premiership experienced forward with goal scoring ability was recruited (there is talk of Anelka again) then it suddenly gives a very attractive outlook indeed to this Arsenal team.

But assuming that Wenger does not recruit anyone else who should partner RVP?

To my mind it’s a straight race between Adebayor and Bendtner. Barring availability constraints I would opt for Bendtner because he is stronger and more physical than Adebayor.

In this way he provides a different option to Arsenal’s intricate but often predictable style of play. But this is my own biased view if you like!

As you may be aware, for the last week we run a poll on this site on this very question: Who should partner RVP?

In total 734 votes were cast. They would have been many more because the number of visits to the site during that period reached new heights but Google’s new poll facility kept breaking down!

The results are interesting. The player who played most in that position so far, Hleb, received the least votes with only 11%.

Obviously most of you do not think that he will be able to hold on to that position when other players get fit, as indeed was the case for the game against Blackburn.

Most votes went to Eduardo with 45%. Obviously a lot of Arsenal fans are pinning their hopes on the new recruit, trusting Wenger in his judgment.

This is so even if Eduardo did not really feature much during the pre-season and the early stages of the campaign.

The more surprising result is the close number of votes between Adebayor (23%) and Bendtner (21%). It seems that there is a lot more trust being placed on the young lad by the fans than Wenger is prepared to show.

If Wenger does not get the cheque book out then he may well find himself having to trust young Bendtner sooner than he thinks.


Who should partner RVP? Poll results:

Eduardo Da Silva 45%
Emmanuel Adebayor 23%
Nicklas Bendtner 21%
Alexander Hleb 11%

Total votes cast: 734

Thanks for your support, comments and votes!

Lehmann’s clanger hides Wenger’s and Arsenal’s sins

Bendtner should start every game. It makes more tactical sense