Something's been bothering me about my team lately, and the other day, it hit me: we've become Spurs.
Seriously, think about it for a second. All those things we liked to think separated us from them- trophies, professionalism, efficiency- all those distinctions have more or less disappeared. Now they're just two "attractive sides", both flakey as can be. I guess some would say champions league football is the remaining difference, but anyone who's gonna say that is not now under threat after the last two games needs to take off those rose-tinted glasses and get themselves down to Specsavers.
Alan Hansen is not a man I often find myself agreeing with, but I nodded my head watching MOTD when he stated that he'd never seen a team so susceptible to conceding while dominating a game. Similar points have been made elsewhere. United and chelsea, these are teams who win while playing badly. Arsenal often lose while playing well.
I stated my reservations after the Everton win and it gives me no satisfaction to say I think I've been proven right: this team lacks character. It's perhaps the single most difficult problem to remedy in a team. We've seen outlined already some decent tactical changes made to the side, that had appeared to lead to improvement. But every time the stakes are raised, these guys seem to shrink in stature. Perhaps it is as Myles Palmer often suggests, that these players have been overly-pampered by Wenger. Perhaps it is that they simply need to win something, anything, to start to build that character. I'm not optimistic. This is a team that Wenger has been building for some time- albeit having lost some crucial players at times- and a side that Mark Fucking Hughes has had together for all of a few weeks gave them the runaround.
There are players in the Arsenal team who have stalled worryingly in their development. That is a potentially fatal factor in the progress or otherwise of this football club. If Wenger can not, for another few years at least, spend money, then we are relying completely on his semi-mythic talent for nurturing players. If that has deserted him, we really are in trouble.
Gael clichy is certainly Exhibit A. I distinctly remember a game in his breakthrough season, 03/04, when celta Vigo's right winger at the time gave him an almighty roasting. It was one of those things where you just thought, that's fine, he'll iron out those defensive deficiencies in time. But you know what? It still looks like, and on a fairly regular basis, that same clichy is making the same elementary errors. Allied to this, there's his inability to provide any kind of service when he gets forward- much like Sagna. I don't know is it that they haven't got a target, because in 07/08, when Adebayor was on fire, I seem to remember them both providing some good crosses. Whatever, the bottom line is, those two look to have stoppede dead in their progress.
Then again, there's worse further up the pitch. I always thought Denilson was a nice, tidy footballer, but that seems to be where it ends. Fabregas was stifled by De Jong on Saturday, so the Brazilian simply HAD TO shoulder some creative responsibility- he failed again to do this. And if he hasn't got that in his locker, it's hard to see where his real strengths lie. Rosicky appeared for ther first time in a year and a half and straight way looked what he is- ten times the player Denilson is, Bendtner is, Diaby is... The latter two are out of place as the flanking strikers in a 4-3-3, so maybe it's a bit harsh to be judging them, but in Diaby's case, a man that lazy can't really have any position. He looks unwilling to ever accept any defensive responsibility, and that next to his pisspoor passing makes an absolute mockery of those Vieira comparisons that we often hear, and are encouraged by Wenger. What Wenger needs to do is give this guy a swift kick up the ass but I guess that's just not his style. But look at it this way- Arshavin is embarrassingly superior in ability to Diaby and when he plays the same position, he puts in a fucking shift. If one is the best players in the world has the humility and professionalism to chase back, you've got to question the attitude of a joker like Diaby. In summation, he can fuck right off. I mean that. I'd be happy to never see him play for Arsenal again. Give Wilshere a chance, for fuck's sake.
Also consigned to the bad books, probably forever, is a goalkeeper we have been saddled with by yet more lack of foresight from Wenger. A goalkeeper who just doesn't make saves, and throws in the odd clanger to boot. He has never, not once, had a sustained run of form in an Arsenal shirt, and it's an insult to the fans that we have to settle for this while Shay Given makes stop after stop for our direct rivals for 4th, and a fair few teams have TWO better keepers in their squad.
I'm finding it hard to be optimistic at the moment. It's been pointed out that we have a handy looking run of fixtures now. I don't think we can view any fixture as particularly handy now that our weaknesses have again been ruthlessly exposed- and by a city side who were missing Robinho and Tevez. Our squad is continually ravaged which means our reliance on shitbags like Diaby will continue. If we had the full squad available, it'd almost look formidable. If my aunt had bollocks she'd be my uncle. Expect more struggles.
I consciously ignore the Adebayor fuss because it would detract from the more worrying problems with the team. But just one footnote- he might not look so clever at the end of the season if his impending suspension derails city's charge. That I am forced to clutch already at such petty straws points to the continued decline in the power of Arsenal.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
city preview...
One feels that this will be the weekend when a clearer picture of the league begins to form. By Monday we should be able to draw some tentative early opinions on the teams at or near the top.
Arsenal go to man city. Firstly, it's a chance to bounce back quickly from the United defeat, although that now seems quite a while ago. Secondly, it provides an opportunity to put the newly moneyed city back in their box. And finally, a related point, we need to show Adebayor that while his move was certainly motivated by something green, it was not necessarily greener pastures. Significant stuff then.
We're missing Arhavin, which is certainly a blow, but Fabregas coming back should soften that. We definitely missed the Spanish magician at Old Trafford. And on the subject of Arshavin, I'd just like to point out some poor journalism. A guy talking on the usually brilliant Guardian podcast, an Arsenal fan whose name escapes me, mentioned Arshavin and the whole pod went into rapturous overpraise mode, someone saying that he's been the player of the season so far. Two quiet games, then another quiet one with an admittedly wonderful goal.. calm down lads. Of course it's ridiculous at this stage to even be talking that way, about best players and suchlike. Most have only played four league games.
Anyway.. I must say I'm a bit worried about this game. I really think it will set the tone for the rest of the season. Win, and we could start to feel justified in talking about a title tilt. Lose, and it could be a long campaign of papering over widening cracks, of fretting over our place in the top four slipping away, and the club quite possibly falling into an abyss of irrelevance. What an overblown phrase that was. Sorry.
And yes, some may say it's ridiculous to speak of ONE game, and so early in a season, having such significance. But I've already made my point about the fragile mentality of the Arsenal team. I'm aware that sport generally is largely a question of confidence, of momentum. But there are those that swiftly regain it after knocks, and those that too readily sink to wallowing in perceived injustice and other excuses. Arsenal under Wenger have too often fallen into the latter group and thus a good run can quickly turn into a wretched one- something in danger of happening in the event of a reverse against city.
If we win, on the other hand, the United game will no longer fester in the memory and there will be a feeling of momentum. The injury list will be a cause for optimism, in a perverse way- "look who we've got to come back!"- rather than an excuse for losses and a reason for the club's continued decline- "look who we're missing!".
It's going to be tough, no doubt about it. But their defence can surely be got at. We get the chance to torment the overrated Lescott again so soon after he allowed us such facile passage at Goodison. I'll stand for no torment of Kolo but would certainly appreciate one of his comical own goals. In front of their fragile-looking defence they have Barry. He's often got the runaround against better midfielders, as far as I've seen. It's time for Denilson and Song to stake a claim for the Better Than Barry group, otherwise we can forget about trophies.
Then, while there is a sense that we can get at city, they'll feel the same about us. They've a multitude of dangerous attacking players, especially Ireland, who Song must keep close tabs on. Wright-Phillips remains erratic but on a good day he will give clichy problems. Tevez is out but Robinho's a better player anyway (if sometimes a lot less commited) and he scored one of those great piss-taking lobs that everybody loves in the corresponding fixture last season.
Then there's Adebayor and much as he's been dismissed by Gooners, the guy is a danger, especially when a. motivated- face it, we've done that bit for him and b. on form, which he clearly is with 3 in 3 so far.
While people may continue to talk about the time it will take for city to gel, if they continue to grind out results as they have to this point then they will have a serious platform to build from if and when they do catch fire. And in fairness, it's not like Arsenal's frontline have looked altogether harmonious yet. Ya know what? I'd give Bendtner a go in the middle- 2 in 2 for Denmark in the international games- and play RVP from the right. can't see those two and Eduardo all starting, especially not away from home, so it could be Diaby or Eboue for the role as the other prong- apt where those two are concerned- of the strikeforce.
In Saturday's other eye-catching fixture, Manchester United will, with comical inevitability, end Spurs' wonderful start to the season. You read it here first. Well, no one actually reads this, but...
Arsenal go to man city. Firstly, it's a chance to bounce back quickly from the United defeat, although that now seems quite a while ago. Secondly, it provides an opportunity to put the newly moneyed city back in their box. And finally, a related point, we need to show Adebayor that while his move was certainly motivated by something green, it was not necessarily greener pastures. Significant stuff then.
We're missing Arhavin, which is certainly a blow, but Fabregas coming back should soften that. We definitely missed the Spanish magician at Old Trafford. And on the subject of Arshavin, I'd just like to point out some poor journalism. A guy talking on the usually brilliant Guardian podcast, an Arsenal fan whose name escapes me, mentioned Arshavin and the whole pod went into rapturous overpraise mode, someone saying that he's been the player of the season so far. Two quiet games, then another quiet one with an admittedly wonderful goal.. calm down lads. Of course it's ridiculous at this stage to even be talking that way, about best players and suchlike. Most have only played four league games.
Anyway.. I must say I'm a bit worried about this game. I really think it will set the tone for the rest of the season. Win, and we could start to feel justified in talking about a title tilt. Lose, and it could be a long campaign of papering over widening cracks, of fretting over our place in the top four slipping away, and the club quite possibly falling into an abyss of irrelevance. What an overblown phrase that was. Sorry.
And yes, some may say it's ridiculous to speak of ONE game, and so early in a season, having such significance. But I've already made my point about the fragile mentality of the Arsenal team. I'm aware that sport generally is largely a question of confidence, of momentum. But there are those that swiftly regain it after knocks, and those that too readily sink to wallowing in perceived injustice and other excuses. Arsenal under Wenger have too often fallen into the latter group and thus a good run can quickly turn into a wretched one- something in danger of happening in the event of a reverse against city.
If we win, on the other hand, the United game will no longer fester in the memory and there will be a feeling of momentum. The injury list will be a cause for optimism, in a perverse way- "look who we've got to come back!"- rather than an excuse for losses and a reason for the club's continued decline- "look who we're missing!".
It's going to be tough, no doubt about it. But their defence can surely be got at. We get the chance to torment the overrated Lescott again so soon after he allowed us such facile passage at Goodison. I'll stand for no torment of Kolo but would certainly appreciate one of his comical own goals. In front of their fragile-looking defence they have Barry. He's often got the runaround against better midfielders, as far as I've seen. It's time for Denilson and Song to stake a claim for the Better Than Barry group, otherwise we can forget about trophies.
Then, while there is a sense that we can get at city, they'll feel the same about us. They've a multitude of dangerous attacking players, especially Ireland, who Song must keep close tabs on. Wright-Phillips remains erratic but on a good day he will give clichy problems. Tevez is out but Robinho's a better player anyway (if sometimes a lot less commited) and he scored one of those great piss-taking lobs that everybody loves in the corresponding fixture last season.
Then there's Adebayor and much as he's been dismissed by Gooners, the guy is a danger, especially when a. motivated- face it, we've done that bit for him and b. on form, which he clearly is with 3 in 3 so far.
While people may continue to talk about the time it will take for city to gel, if they continue to grind out results as they have to this point then they will have a serious platform to build from if and when they do catch fire. And in fairness, it's not like Arsenal's frontline have looked altogether harmonious yet. Ya know what? I'd give Bendtner a go in the middle- 2 in 2 for Denmark in the international games- and play RVP from the right. can't see those two and Eduardo all starting, especially not away from home, so it could be Diaby or Eboue for the role as the other prong- apt where those two are concerned- of the strikeforce.
In Saturday's other eye-catching fixture, Manchester United will, with comical inevitability, end Spurs' wonderful start to the season. You read it here first. Well, no one actually reads this, but...
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Mourn the passing of another deadline
Alright, September is here, and since the sales of Toure and Adebayor we have signed precisely nobody. If you told me then that this would be the case, I would have been unsurprised, but exasperated. The fact that I'm not so annoyed now is due, I guess, to the first four results of the season. BUT, the feeling remains, and is heightened by the implosion against United, that those games could turn out the mother of all false dawns.
Firstly it's necessary to point out that ours is a squad that is terribly injury-prone. Think of our first-choice eleven- not many of the players therein have avoided fairly lengthy lay-offs at some point or another. While the squad is, superficially, a fairly large one and in certain areas appears to have a surfeit of quality, this is rendered an illusion by the injury situation. consider, say, that sort of half-striker position that many of our players seem best-suited to. Nasri- injured. Rosicky- just "returning" from injury but to all intents and purposes, perennially injured. Walcott- injured. Vela- injured. This situation leads us to having to play Eboue as part of a front three. I'm not saying Wenger should have signed yet another player of this type, I'm only illustrating the enormity of the injury situation. Rosicky, Nasri, Arshavin, Bendtner, Eduardo, Vela, Walcott, Wilshere- that's EIGHT players that should be in line to play one of those positions, if necessary, and we're still reduced to playing Eboue there (admittedly he was picked ahead of three of those, that's for another argument).
So if this is the case for the seemingly best-stocked position in the squad, then what of central midfield? Are we two more injuries away from seeing the naive and ineffective Ramsey commanding a starting role? Or will Wenger keep messing with Nasri when he comes back, shuffling him from one position to another? As if Bendtner or Eboue on the right of a front three, or RVP in the middle, don't constitute enough square pegs in round holes, why not another? And what happens when Song goes to the African Nations? Diaby gets another chance in the centre to show us why he's NOT the next Patrick Vieira, or even the next carlton Palmer? That's if he's not in the treatment room for that whole month.
And then what about centre-back? Gallas and Vermaelen look great but do we really expect not to be missing one or both for periods of the season? And what then? Senderos? We've been shamelessly trying to flog him all summer. Silvestre? Enough's been said about him elsewhere. Djourou? Injury-prone aswell (but he does have a reputation as a good prospect because, well... for no reason at all as far as I've seen).
And then we've a first choice keeper who wouldn't get into more than half the teams in the Premiership. His understudy handed chelsea an FA cup final place last season.
You'll hear Wenger talk of a huge squad but a squad's not huge if half of it is unavailable. chasing the game against United- Arshavin breaks down injured- is replaced by Aaron Ramsey. He's pulling the wool over everybody's eyes. People will say he's always right in these situations. What made him right not to replace Flamini last summer? Was it our horrendous first half of the season, losing to Hull and Stoke among others? No, it was our whoopdifuckingdoo fourth placed finish. We will NOT get away with the same loss of form this season.
OK, we've looked the second-best team in the league so far, but Saturday showed how just one or two inadequate players can derail our lofty hopes. Our squad has already taken on that familiar decimated look without the players even having got much action. The last two seasons, for me, have ended with questions to be asked over inactivity and bad decisions in the transfer market. It's getting tiresome and if this season ends in a similar fashion then the clamour against the manager will rightly louden. As I've said so often in the last two years, and so often in vain, I hope I'm wrong.
Firstly it's necessary to point out that ours is a squad that is terribly injury-prone. Think of our first-choice eleven- not many of the players therein have avoided fairly lengthy lay-offs at some point or another. While the squad is, superficially, a fairly large one and in certain areas appears to have a surfeit of quality, this is rendered an illusion by the injury situation. consider, say, that sort of half-striker position that many of our players seem best-suited to. Nasri- injured. Rosicky- just "returning" from injury but to all intents and purposes, perennially injured. Walcott- injured. Vela- injured. This situation leads us to having to play Eboue as part of a front three. I'm not saying Wenger should have signed yet another player of this type, I'm only illustrating the enormity of the injury situation. Rosicky, Nasri, Arshavin, Bendtner, Eduardo, Vela, Walcott, Wilshere- that's EIGHT players that should be in line to play one of those positions, if necessary, and we're still reduced to playing Eboue there (admittedly he was picked ahead of three of those, that's for another argument).
So if this is the case for the seemingly best-stocked position in the squad, then what of central midfield? Are we two more injuries away from seeing the naive and ineffective Ramsey commanding a starting role? Or will Wenger keep messing with Nasri when he comes back, shuffling him from one position to another? As if Bendtner or Eboue on the right of a front three, or RVP in the middle, don't constitute enough square pegs in round holes, why not another? And what happens when Song goes to the African Nations? Diaby gets another chance in the centre to show us why he's NOT the next Patrick Vieira, or even the next carlton Palmer? That's if he's not in the treatment room for that whole month.
And then what about centre-back? Gallas and Vermaelen look great but do we really expect not to be missing one or both for periods of the season? And what then? Senderos? We've been shamelessly trying to flog him all summer. Silvestre? Enough's been said about him elsewhere. Djourou? Injury-prone aswell (but he does have a reputation as a good prospect because, well... for no reason at all as far as I've seen).
And then we've a first choice keeper who wouldn't get into more than half the teams in the Premiership. His understudy handed chelsea an FA cup final place last season.
You'll hear Wenger talk of a huge squad but a squad's not huge if half of it is unavailable. chasing the game against United- Arshavin breaks down injured- is replaced by Aaron Ramsey. He's pulling the wool over everybody's eyes. People will say he's always right in these situations. What made him right not to replace Flamini last summer? Was it our horrendous first half of the season, losing to Hull and Stoke among others? No, it was our whoopdifuckingdoo fourth placed finish. We will NOT get away with the same loss of form this season.
OK, we've looked the second-best team in the league so far, but Saturday showed how just one or two inadequate players can derail our lofty hopes. Our squad has already taken on that familiar decimated look without the players even having got much action. The last two seasons, for me, have ended with questions to be asked over inactivity and bad decisions in the transfer market. It's getting tiresome and if this season ends in a similar fashion then the clamour against the manager will rightly louden. As I've said so often in the last two years, and so often in vain, I hope I'm wrong.
The shit hits the fans: some teams never change
In my last post I referred to an Arsenal- United encounter in 04/05 that was an important moment in a title-winning campaign for chelsea. Having viewed Saturday's game, one could be forgiven for thinking that history is repeating itself. The game was a tour de farce.
There's been ample moaning already from sickened gooners, myself included, and from our notoriously bitter manager, about the referee's performance, but that is something of an irrelevance. The question that Wenger and his team must privately pose is, HOW is such an off-colour United team allowed to escape that game with three points?
Forget the fact that Fletcher clattered through Arhavin in the area- the latter's goal came in the same passage of play. Forget that Rooney's knees were buckling before Almunia made contact with him- the keeper's stupidity was such that there was no choice for the ref except to award a penalty. It was Arsenal's continuously amazing STUPIDITY, and make no mistake, some of these guys are stupid, that gave the game away.
This was summed up best by Diaby's comical own-goal. In fairness, he had one of his best ever games, but is it really worth relying on players whose best games can involve literally gifting the opposition victory? Almunia deserves stick aswell, and Wenger deserves beating with a stick for lumping the team with this liability of a goalkeeper. The best goalies can be seen to be worth a lot of points in a season- Newcastle in the Premiership would be a much more distant memory if they hadn't had Shay Given, for instance- but this guy is LOSING us points. He doesn't make match-winning saves, and he also drops clangers. For a moment, after last season's first leg against United, I believed. I thought he'd finally made it. Then what? He ensures the tie is over with a wretched first ten minutes at the Grove. He's a joker. He showed it again on Saturday, as he had the weekend before against Portsmouth.
I've questioned the big-game character of the players here and I think this game showed I was justified. collectively, Arsenal were good to a point, but individual errors snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. United were wretched, there for the taking. But we gave them a shot of confidence in the shape of two gift-wrapped goals. After that, we were left with that familiar sight in a big game: no bouncebackability from Arsenal. If it was chelsea or Pool, there would have been a siege on United's goal, instead we got sporadic attacks with no real focal point. Probably shouldn't be too critical- we were missing Fabregas, Nari, Walcott, all first choice attacking players. The thing is, with United toothless and lacking fluidity, after Arshavin's wondergoal we should never have been left chasing it. We've looked more solid as a unit in midfield and attack, but the errors of one or two morons can undo a team's good work. Welcome to Arsenal, Vermaelen. No wonder Billy Gallas gets emotional sometimes. He used to be surrounded by pros at chelsea. contrast that with all the times at Arsenal that he's played a blinder and some idiot or another has contrived to render his performance meaningless. Fucking hell.
There SHOULD be optimism, because all in all, we looked superior to United, even without some important players. These must be worrying times for United fans, as Giggs, carrick and others looked rudderless. Again, I ask you, how did we lose that game? Last season, I would have been tempted to say the team lacks character. But now I think that does a disservice to a lot of the players. Most of them did their jobs well and were for an hour or so winning personal duels with their opponents. But it becomes more and more clear that people like Almunia and Diaby can't be carried.
As I've said before, Arsenal teams have had a habit of letting one poor result become a poor run of form. You know what? call it hyperbole, I call it the truth: Saturday September 12th, Manchester city away-one of the biggest games of Wenger's reign. The symbolism involved in ninety minutes of early season football couldn't get much more significant.
There's been ample moaning already from sickened gooners, myself included, and from our notoriously bitter manager, about the referee's performance, but that is something of an irrelevance. The question that Wenger and his team must privately pose is, HOW is such an off-colour United team allowed to escape that game with three points?
Forget the fact that Fletcher clattered through Arhavin in the area- the latter's goal came in the same passage of play. Forget that Rooney's knees were buckling before Almunia made contact with him- the keeper's stupidity was such that there was no choice for the ref except to award a penalty. It was Arsenal's continuously amazing STUPIDITY, and make no mistake, some of these guys are stupid, that gave the game away.
This was summed up best by Diaby's comical own-goal. In fairness, he had one of his best ever games, but is it really worth relying on players whose best games can involve literally gifting the opposition victory? Almunia deserves stick aswell, and Wenger deserves beating with a stick for lumping the team with this liability of a goalkeeper. The best goalies can be seen to be worth a lot of points in a season- Newcastle in the Premiership would be a much more distant memory if they hadn't had Shay Given, for instance- but this guy is LOSING us points. He doesn't make match-winning saves, and he also drops clangers. For a moment, after last season's first leg against United, I believed. I thought he'd finally made it. Then what? He ensures the tie is over with a wretched first ten minutes at the Grove. He's a joker. He showed it again on Saturday, as he had the weekend before against Portsmouth.
I've questioned the big-game character of the players here and I think this game showed I was justified. collectively, Arsenal were good to a point, but individual errors snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. United were wretched, there for the taking. But we gave them a shot of confidence in the shape of two gift-wrapped goals. After that, we were left with that familiar sight in a big game: no bouncebackability from Arsenal. If it was chelsea or Pool, there would have been a siege on United's goal, instead we got sporadic attacks with no real focal point. Probably shouldn't be too critical- we were missing Fabregas, Nari, Walcott, all first choice attacking players. The thing is, with United toothless and lacking fluidity, after Arshavin's wondergoal we should never have been left chasing it. We've looked more solid as a unit in midfield and attack, but the errors of one or two morons can undo a team's good work. Welcome to Arsenal, Vermaelen. No wonder Billy Gallas gets emotional sometimes. He used to be surrounded by pros at chelsea. contrast that with all the times at Arsenal that he's played a blinder and some idiot or another has contrived to render his performance meaningless. Fucking hell.
There SHOULD be optimism, because all in all, we looked superior to United, even without some important players. These must be worrying times for United fans, as Giggs, carrick and others looked rudderless. Again, I ask you, how did we lose that game? Last season, I would have been tempted to say the team lacks character. But now I think that does a disservice to a lot of the players. Most of them did their jobs well and were for an hour or so winning personal duels with their opponents. But it becomes more and more clear that people like Almunia and Diaby can't be carried.
As I've said before, Arsenal teams have had a habit of letting one poor result become a poor run of form. You know what? call it hyperbole, I call it the truth: Saturday September 12th, Manchester city away-one of the biggest games of Wenger's reign. The symbolism involved in ninety minutes of early season football couldn't get much more significant.
Friday, August 28, 2009
United Preview: Fabregas Out
Successful seasons are often born out of adversity, bitterness even, that fosters an "us against them" attitude. It happened, though I'm too young to remember it, in the title winning 90/91 season, when an almighty ruck involving pretty much every player on the pitch broke out at Old Trafford. Arsenal were docked points as a result, but proceeded to lose a single game on their way to winning the title. It happened, again at Old Trafford, in 03/04, when Ruud Van Nistelrooy paid for helping get Vieira sent off. After karma decreed he smash his last-gasp penalty against the bar, he was set upon by a bunch of rabid, vengeful, and most of all of delighted Arsenal players, most memorably Martin Keown. Hefty bans were handed out but battle lines had well and truly been drawn, and the censure from the powers that be only seemed to harden Arsenal's resolve. This time no games were lost on the way to the Premiership trophy.
Now, there is adversity and bitterness again, and what do we see looming on the horizon but another potentially definitive trip to Old Trafford. Pundits, even managers, will tell you that it's too early in the season for any game's outcome to be decisive, but I disagree when Arsenal are involved, and to an extent this United team aswell. Even the best Wenger sides have had a swaggering confidence that can, it seems, be easily undermined by one bad day. Again, an Old Trafford example is instructive. After the aforementioned unbeaten season, and with Arsenal, in my opinion, playing their best football in all of the Wenger era, the run went up in smoke on a fiery Sunday in Manchester. cold logic would have dictated that that game should not have shaped Arsenal's season- they were not outplayed but effectively cheated by a spineless performance from the habitually useless Mike Riley, and Rooney's dive in particular. But the bitterness was too much, and Arsenal embarked on a rotten run that saw the season fall apart. Mourinho's chelsea won the title that day.
This particular Arsenal team is playing with an undeniable swagger at the moment, but questions abound over their big-match character. Wenger likes to bang on about our unbeaten league run in the second half of last season, but it was ended by four chastening defeats, two each to chelsea and United, in which a chasm seemed to open up. There are demons to be exorcised this season, and if the process is to begin tomorrow, it will have to do so without Fabregas. It occurred to me the other day that while Henry was often said to carry Arsenal, a fair few impressive results were secured without him, most obviously against United at Old Trafford- in 2002 to win the title, the season after in the FA cup (though he did come on as a sub), early in 06/07 when Adebayor struck the winner. Fabregas seems to me a different story. It's not that he always stands out in big games- he was fairly anonymous in the FA cup semi against chelsea, for instance, as well as the poor showings against United in the champions league- but I worry about what his absence does, psychologically, to his teammates. For Song, Denilson and Diaby especially, this game is going to be a test of mettle.
But there is also a sense at the moment that there is not the fear factor regarding United that we usually take for granted. This is mostly due to Ronaldo's departure, and the attendant notion that with United's weaponry shorn of his cutting edge, their prosaic midfield is finally being shown up as incapable of really dominating games. If they lose to Arsenal, they will surely struggle with self-doubt, and Ferguson will have to call on all his semi-mythic resources to pick them up for another successful title tilt. Nani and Valencia, if selected, will be men to watch. Ferguson's return to 4-4-2 means that wingplay is paramount as it was to his dominant teams of the 90s. We've already seen this season that Rooney has added aerial prowess to his portfolio. Then again, I've a feeling that Arsenal's good performances, allied to memories of that champions league cakewalk last season, will convince Ferguson to shore up his midfield- carrick, Fletcher, Anderson- and play Rooney and probably Valencia, maybe Nani, either side of Berbatov. In the games mentioned United's midfield three destroyed Arsenal's; it was embarrassing.
As I said earlier, there is adversity and bitterness. No Fabregas means that Arsenal will be viewed as slight underdogs despite their more assured start to the season. And the talk of Eduardo receiving a two-match ban from UEFA for his dive has Wenger spitting venom. I know that I championed the cause of bans for divers but it is unfair to single out one man just because an outclassed and angry celtic got their knickers in a twist over something fairly inconsequential to the outcome of the tie. As Arseblog says, how can a yellow-card offence in a match become an automatic suspension afterwards? The rules have to be changed, and THEN enforced. And there have been so many more worthy scapegoats than Eduardo in the recent past. call me paranoid, but there are plenty of teams and individuals who you'd struggle to imagine receiving this kind of treatment. But if it brings the lads closer together and leads them to fight that little bit harder this season, a two match ban for Eduardo will be well worth it.
Now, there is adversity and bitterness again, and what do we see looming on the horizon but another potentially definitive trip to Old Trafford. Pundits, even managers, will tell you that it's too early in the season for any game's outcome to be decisive, but I disagree when Arsenal are involved, and to an extent this United team aswell. Even the best Wenger sides have had a swaggering confidence that can, it seems, be easily undermined by one bad day. Again, an Old Trafford example is instructive. After the aforementioned unbeaten season, and with Arsenal, in my opinion, playing their best football in all of the Wenger era, the run went up in smoke on a fiery Sunday in Manchester. cold logic would have dictated that that game should not have shaped Arsenal's season- they were not outplayed but effectively cheated by a spineless performance from the habitually useless Mike Riley, and Rooney's dive in particular. But the bitterness was too much, and Arsenal embarked on a rotten run that saw the season fall apart. Mourinho's chelsea won the title that day.
This particular Arsenal team is playing with an undeniable swagger at the moment, but questions abound over their big-match character. Wenger likes to bang on about our unbeaten league run in the second half of last season, but it was ended by four chastening defeats, two each to chelsea and United, in which a chasm seemed to open up. There are demons to be exorcised this season, and if the process is to begin tomorrow, it will have to do so without Fabregas. It occurred to me the other day that while Henry was often said to carry Arsenal, a fair few impressive results were secured without him, most obviously against United at Old Trafford- in 2002 to win the title, the season after in the FA cup (though he did come on as a sub), early in 06/07 when Adebayor struck the winner. Fabregas seems to me a different story. It's not that he always stands out in big games- he was fairly anonymous in the FA cup semi against chelsea, for instance, as well as the poor showings against United in the champions league- but I worry about what his absence does, psychologically, to his teammates. For Song, Denilson and Diaby especially, this game is going to be a test of mettle.
But there is also a sense at the moment that there is not the fear factor regarding United that we usually take for granted. This is mostly due to Ronaldo's departure, and the attendant notion that with United's weaponry shorn of his cutting edge, their prosaic midfield is finally being shown up as incapable of really dominating games. If they lose to Arsenal, they will surely struggle with self-doubt, and Ferguson will have to call on all his semi-mythic resources to pick them up for another successful title tilt. Nani and Valencia, if selected, will be men to watch. Ferguson's return to 4-4-2 means that wingplay is paramount as it was to his dominant teams of the 90s. We've already seen this season that Rooney has added aerial prowess to his portfolio. Then again, I've a feeling that Arsenal's good performances, allied to memories of that champions league cakewalk last season, will convince Ferguson to shore up his midfield- carrick, Fletcher, Anderson- and play Rooney and probably Valencia, maybe Nani, either side of Berbatov. In the games mentioned United's midfield three destroyed Arsenal's; it was embarrassing.
As I said earlier, there is adversity and bitterness. No Fabregas means that Arsenal will be viewed as slight underdogs despite their more assured start to the season. And the talk of Eduardo receiving a two-match ban from UEFA for his dive has Wenger spitting venom. I know that I championed the cause of bans for divers but it is unfair to single out one man just because an outclassed and angry celtic got their knickers in a twist over something fairly inconsequential to the outcome of the tie. As Arseblog says, how can a yellow-card offence in a match become an automatic suspension afterwards? The rules have to be changed, and THEN enforced. And there have been so many more worthy scapegoats than Eduardo in the recent past. call me paranoid, but there are plenty of teams and individuals who you'd struggle to imagine receiving this kind of treatment. But if it brings the lads closer together and leads them to fight that little bit harder this season, a two match ban for Eduardo will be well worth it.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
I Forgot the Match
Got a bit carried away there in my sweeping statements and forgot to talk about the actual match that was played. Eboue was really rather good, he got a nice goal as did sub Arshavin but these only came after Eduardo's penalty effectively killed the tie in the first half. This was the talking point, as he won said penalty with an outrageous dive. Too much has been said about it, in a way, because it should be pretty cut-and-dried- the guy cheated to win a penalty, we see it quite a lot and unfortunately it's part of football now. The supposition that it's a foreign blight on the pure English game is a myth- Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard have been two of the prime purveyors of swan dives in the Premiership. The foreigners may have been the innovators, but English players have not been above using these dark arts to their own advantage- if ya can't beat 'em... And yet this is continually glossed over by the xenophobic English press.
Sky Sports' coverage continues to push diplomacy to sickening levels. I had the misfortune to watch Andy Gray, Ruud Gullit and Sven Goren Eriksson fail to condemn the incident- not once, as far as I heard, did they even use the word "dive". Andy Gray trotted out the oft-heard bollocks about how there doesn't necessarily need to be contact for it to be a foul- there is the notion of intent. Fair enough Andy but when the keeper clearly withdraws his arms in an attempt to avoid contact with the player I think it's fair to say his intent was TO GET OUT OF THE FUKING WAY!!! can't these guys ever just call a spade a spade? Who are these guys scared of offending? Because their constant and deliberate inoffensiveness is starting to offend me!
As per usual, the voice of reason spoke in grumpy, gruff tones over on RTE, as the great man Johnny Giles said all that needed saying. Ban divers retrospectively for three games, then it will stop. Gilesy for president.
That said, as long as the grey areas of football's rules invite a bit of cheating, I'm quite happy for Arsenal players to gain an advantage. We need to be a bit more cuntish, I'm tired of this likeable loser stuff. Systematic cuntishness has been a part of the success of Manchester United, and chelsea since Mourinho. If ya can't beat 'em...
Sky Sports' coverage continues to push diplomacy to sickening levels. I had the misfortune to watch Andy Gray, Ruud Gullit and Sven Goren Eriksson fail to condemn the incident- not once, as far as I heard, did they even use the word "dive". Andy Gray trotted out the oft-heard bollocks about how there doesn't necessarily need to be contact for it to be a foul- there is the notion of intent. Fair enough Andy but when the keeper clearly withdraws his arms in an attempt to avoid contact with the player I think it's fair to say his intent was TO GET OUT OF THE FUKING WAY!!! can't these guys ever just call a spade a spade? Who are these guys scared of offending? Because their constant and deliberate inoffensiveness is starting to offend me!
As per usual, the voice of reason spoke in grumpy, gruff tones over on RTE, as the great man Johnny Giles said all that needed saying. Ban divers retrospectively for three games, then it will stop. Gilesy for president.
That said, as long as the grey areas of football's rules invite a bit of cheating, I'm quite happy for Arsenal players to gain an advantage. We need to be a bit more cuntish, I'm tired of this likeable loser stuff. Systematic cuntishness has been a part of the success of Manchester United, and chelsea since Mourinho. If ya can't beat 'em...
3-1, Job Done/ Tactical Musings
Before the second leg of the champions league qualifying tie, Arsene Wenger was full of talk about how this match was more significant than the impending domestic showdown with Man United. Bigger, yes. Harder, no, and hence a borderline complacent but ultimately justified team selection. With Fabregas already out, but a commanding lead from the first leg, Wenger saw fit to leave both Van Persie and Arshavin on the bench.
An early goal for celtic could have made this decision look foolish, but despite a more attacking line-up- McDonald and Fortune flanked by McGeady and Maloney- they were again toothless throughout.
The feeling I got was that what celtic needed was some of the undoubted steel they had in the recent past, especially under Martin O'Neill. They could play a bit, but their style was mostly somewhat agricultural, and this could upset teams in Europe who weren't used to push-and-rush football with added aerial bombardment. And even then, to describe that side in such terms is to do an injustice to the classy players they possessed. OK, that primarily means Henrik Larsson, but still... even the prosaic strengths of a Neil Lennon must set celtic fans yearning nostalgically when you consider their midfielders of today. What they have now, seemingly, is a team of inbetweeners with neither the tenacity nor the technique to trouble the elite.
Tony Mowbray is undertaking an admirable quest to get them playing the right way, but with the comparative lack of quality at the club, it's a long and difficult road ahead of him. No champions league revenue this year will worsen the struggle to attract the calibre of player we would have associated with celtic in the 90s and early part of this decade. As was the case with West Brom last season, a commitment to footballing aesthetics may win him some sympathy, but when it comes to the underdogs a win-at-all-costs attitude seems most effective in British football. This was proven again by the lack of threat celtic posed Arsenal. The only strong arm tactics employed by the Scots were the result of petualance, frustration or desperation rather than any pre-conceived plan to knock Arsenal out of their stride. In a battle of skill and cohesion over two legs, there could be only one winner. While you've got to admire Mowbray's idealism, it's the pragmatic underdogs who've most often troubled Wenger's Arsenal.
TALKING TAcTIcS
Most heartening on our side of it is the fact that Wenger seems to have regained some of the tactical bloodymindedness of old without compromising the flowing football. Arsenal, so far this season, are pressing high up the pitch, looking to win the ball early and it's paying handsome dividends. All of Wenger's succesful Arsenal sides have had a power in midfield that allowed them to do this. For all the talk of flowing football, our best teams were often as dangerous when YOU had the ball. How many goals came from a tackle followed by one or two forward passes and a finish? Quite a few.
After the sale of Vieira and the emergence of Fabregas as the main man, there was I think a conscious change in approach on Wenger's part. He covets the champions league of course but even in great years like 01/02 we had underachieved in it. I'll always remember that year, that we were absolutely flying in the league, but in amongst all the positive results, Deportivo came to Highbury, played us off the park and won 2-0. After that we lost to a poor Juve side and were out after that second group phase. While our mixture of power, pace and technique proved to be dominant that season in England, at times we were outplayed by European sides who knew how to keep the ball under pressure.
But with Fabregas becoming a central figure I think Wenger saw a chance to change tack a bit and build not only the team, but its overall style, around a central playmaker who could really dictate and dominate a game through, primarily, possession and mastery of the football. Vieira was, in Myles Palmer's words, a "warrior-technician", and embodied the type of stylish power-football that Wenger's early Arsenal teams played. But those sides never made much headway in Europe. Not to oversimplify, but it was only after Vieira left that Arsenal got past the Quarter Final stage, and it was the very next season, with Fabregas and Hleb, a new breed of Wenger player, at the heart of it. This emerging Arsenal style was less direct, more possession-orientated. Note also that while results have improved in Europe, we've most often fallen out of contention early in the league, where the more dynamic old Arsenal would be more suited to dealing with a lot of opponents.
The closest Wenger's got to striking a balance was 07/08. We came within a cunthair of winning the league, but injuries, bad luck and arguably a lack of big-game character proved costly, not only in the Premiership but in the champions league awell. Overall, though, we played some great stuff, and Flamini was vital to it. His partnership with Fabregas was perfectly complimentary, a huge improvement on Gilberto in two significant ways. Firstly, tempo- Flamini did things in a hurry on the ball, whereas with Gilberto and Fabregas in tandem, too many games the season before, particularly at home, had been played at a snail's pace that allowed a constant wall of ten or eleven in front of us to form and solidify. Secondly, the related point of winning the ball- whereas Gilberto, as his "invisible wall" nickname suggests, was most adept at nicking it and making interceptions in front of the back four, Flamini was a box-to-box terrier who got in opposition's faces as they so often did to us. In other words, a player like Flamini allowed Wenger to concoct a sort of fusion of early and latterday Wengerball philosophies, suggesting the possibility of simultaneous domestic and European success. While the masterful Fabregas had the ability to ensure midfield dominance of the ball, especially against less aggressive European sides, Flamini provided the steel and industry to supplement this, both upping the tempo of our passing and often winning the ball in areas that allowed Fabregas, Hleb and others the space in which to fully exploit the opposition.
The effectiveness of what I'm talking about was nowhere better exemplified than over the two legs of the tie against Milan. While it took a Fabregas potshot and a breakaway goal in the last ten minutes of the second leg to put the Gunners through, their dominance was complete over 180 minutes of football. Admittedly, Milan were having a poor time of it domestically, but the fact remains that they were European champions and had wonderful players at their disposal. Yet the way Flamini defused the threat of Kaka, and Fabregas prompted from midfield, was inspirational. A year earlier, Milan had destroyed Manchester United at the San Siro playing patient possession football that made a fatally passive United midfield look like schoolboys (that was probably the night Fergie decided to buy Owen Hargreaves). Yet here they were the ones who were outpassed. And it was the speed of Arsenal's passing that made the two games so thrilling despite the lack of goals until late on. I think that Flamini was the overriding factor in all this- in that glorious tie and in our sustained challenge over most of the season. He was, as far as I'm concerned, the most underappreciated Arsenal player that we've seen under Wenger, and the fans who dismiss him with that unimaginative "Flamoney" pun and say we don't miss him would do well to look at the shambles of last season and do some reflecting.
In any case, the optimism that 07/08 engendered was largely obliterated by the dual blows of the loss of Flamini and, ridiculously, Diarra, who should have been kept to replace the Flamster in the event of his departure. This was exacerbated by Wenger's infuriating refusal to replace in turn either of these players OR Gilberto who was also allowed leave. Anyone who went into last season expecting success needs their head examined. I don't care if we reach brilliance again, I'll never forgive Wenger for the way he allowed things to decay after a season that seemed to promise much. 08/09 was not even a transitional season. If 07/08 was a big step forward, this was a giant leap back. We lost the dynamism that Flamini and Lassana Diarra provided, and were left with unsuitable partners for Fabregas- Denilson, Diaby and the raw Song. For me, this ridiculous state of affairs was best summed up when Wenger lsot faith in these guys to the extent that he ended up playing Nasri in central midfield in the biggest game of the season, when United tonked us at the Emirates. What a shambles. If Villa had a bigger squad, I probably wouldn't be writing about a champions league qualifier right now.
But I am, and as mentioned, we've new cause for optimism. Hope is what being a football fan is all about, after all. While unwilling or unable to buy a player that could duplicate the impact of Flamini, or even one as physically imposing and technically adept as Vieira in his pomp (ok, not many of them actually exist), it's possible that this new 4-3-3 could be the solution. As I've mentioned before, two players alongside Fabregas in the central areas provides him with the support one feels he needs to play his best stuff. If neither Song nor, especially, Denilson have the game to do that alone, then playing them both seems a reasonable idea. In the games against Everton, celtic and Pompey we've played the high-tempo, pressing game that was conspicuous by its absence in the seasons either side of 07/08. As stated, I thought Flamini was vital to setting that tone before; he had the mobility and tenacity to negate the apparent weakness of not having a specialist holding midfielder. Now, the pressing is more of a collective thing that starts with the three man forward line but intensifies in the midfield axis of Fabregas, Denilson and Song. While I enjoy a bit of leisurely possession football as much as the next man, and it's amazing when it ends with a goal, as with Nasri's second against United in the league last season, there's probably nothing quite as thrilling as direct counter-attacking football. In 97/98, 01/02, 03/04, many a great move started with a tackle by Vieira around halfway and ended mere seconds later in the back of the net. The evidence so far this season suggests that Wenger's new 4-3-3 could see us replicate that explosive style of football, or at least fuse it with the pass-pass-pass style we've developed of late. Until chelsea decide to sell us Essien for 7 million, this may suffice. Man United at Old Trafford on Saturday will certainly tell us more.
An early goal for celtic could have made this decision look foolish, but despite a more attacking line-up- McDonald and Fortune flanked by McGeady and Maloney- they were again toothless throughout.
The feeling I got was that what celtic needed was some of the undoubted steel they had in the recent past, especially under Martin O'Neill. They could play a bit, but their style was mostly somewhat agricultural, and this could upset teams in Europe who weren't used to push-and-rush football with added aerial bombardment. And even then, to describe that side in such terms is to do an injustice to the classy players they possessed. OK, that primarily means Henrik Larsson, but still... even the prosaic strengths of a Neil Lennon must set celtic fans yearning nostalgically when you consider their midfielders of today. What they have now, seemingly, is a team of inbetweeners with neither the tenacity nor the technique to trouble the elite.
Tony Mowbray is undertaking an admirable quest to get them playing the right way, but with the comparative lack of quality at the club, it's a long and difficult road ahead of him. No champions league revenue this year will worsen the struggle to attract the calibre of player we would have associated with celtic in the 90s and early part of this decade. As was the case with West Brom last season, a commitment to footballing aesthetics may win him some sympathy, but when it comes to the underdogs a win-at-all-costs attitude seems most effective in British football. This was proven again by the lack of threat celtic posed Arsenal. The only strong arm tactics employed by the Scots were the result of petualance, frustration or desperation rather than any pre-conceived plan to knock Arsenal out of their stride. In a battle of skill and cohesion over two legs, there could be only one winner. While you've got to admire Mowbray's idealism, it's the pragmatic underdogs who've most often troubled Wenger's Arsenal.
TALKING TAcTIcS
Most heartening on our side of it is the fact that Wenger seems to have regained some of the tactical bloodymindedness of old without compromising the flowing football. Arsenal, so far this season, are pressing high up the pitch, looking to win the ball early and it's paying handsome dividends. All of Wenger's succesful Arsenal sides have had a power in midfield that allowed them to do this. For all the talk of flowing football, our best teams were often as dangerous when YOU had the ball. How many goals came from a tackle followed by one or two forward passes and a finish? Quite a few.
After the sale of Vieira and the emergence of Fabregas as the main man, there was I think a conscious change in approach on Wenger's part. He covets the champions league of course but even in great years like 01/02 we had underachieved in it. I'll always remember that year, that we were absolutely flying in the league, but in amongst all the positive results, Deportivo came to Highbury, played us off the park and won 2-0. After that we lost to a poor Juve side and were out after that second group phase. While our mixture of power, pace and technique proved to be dominant that season in England, at times we were outplayed by European sides who knew how to keep the ball under pressure.
But with Fabregas becoming a central figure I think Wenger saw a chance to change tack a bit and build not only the team, but its overall style, around a central playmaker who could really dictate and dominate a game through, primarily, possession and mastery of the football. Vieira was, in Myles Palmer's words, a "warrior-technician", and embodied the type of stylish power-football that Wenger's early Arsenal teams played. But those sides never made much headway in Europe. Not to oversimplify, but it was only after Vieira left that Arsenal got past the Quarter Final stage, and it was the very next season, with Fabregas and Hleb, a new breed of Wenger player, at the heart of it. This emerging Arsenal style was less direct, more possession-orientated. Note also that while results have improved in Europe, we've most often fallen out of contention early in the league, where the more dynamic old Arsenal would be more suited to dealing with a lot of opponents.
The closest Wenger's got to striking a balance was 07/08. We came within a cunthair of winning the league, but injuries, bad luck and arguably a lack of big-game character proved costly, not only in the Premiership but in the champions league awell. Overall, though, we played some great stuff, and Flamini was vital to it. His partnership with Fabregas was perfectly complimentary, a huge improvement on Gilberto in two significant ways. Firstly, tempo- Flamini did things in a hurry on the ball, whereas with Gilberto and Fabregas in tandem, too many games the season before, particularly at home, had been played at a snail's pace that allowed a constant wall of ten or eleven in front of us to form and solidify. Secondly, the related point of winning the ball- whereas Gilberto, as his "invisible wall" nickname suggests, was most adept at nicking it and making interceptions in front of the back four, Flamini was a box-to-box terrier who got in opposition's faces as they so often did to us. In other words, a player like Flamini allowed Wenger to concoct a sort of fusion of early and latterday Wengerball philosophies, suggesting the possibility of simultaneous domestic and European success. While the masterful Fabregas had the ability to ensure midfield dominance of the ball, especially against less aggressive European sides, Flamini provided the steel and industry to supplement this, both upping the tempo of our passing and often winning the ball in areas that allowed Fabregas, Hleb and others the space in which to fully exploit the opposition.
The effectiveness of what I'm talking about was nowhere better exemplified than over the two legs of the tie against Milan. While it took a Fabregas potshot and a breakaway goal in the last ten minutes of the second leg to put the Gunners through, their dominance was complete over 180 minutes of football. Admittedly, Milan were having a poor time of it domestically, but the fact remains that they were European champions and had wonderful players at their disposal. Yet the way Flamini defused the threat of Kaka, and Fabregas prompted from midfield, was inspirational. A year earlier, Milan had destroyed Manchester United at the San Siro playing patient possession football that made a fatally passive United midfield look like schoolboys (that was probably the night Fergie decided to buy Owen Hargreaves). Yet here they were the ones who were outpassed. And it was the speed of Arsenal's passing that made the two games so thrilling despite the lack of goals until late on. I think that Flamini was the overriding factor in all this- in that glorious tie and in our sustained challenge over most of the season. He was, as far as I'm concerned, the most underappreciated Arsenal player that we've seen under Wenger, and the fans who dismiss him with that unimaginative "Flamoney" pun and say we don't miss him would do well to look at the shambles of last season and do some reflecting.
In any case, the optimism that 07/08 engendered was largely obliterated by the dual blows of the loss of Flamini and, ridiculously, Diarra, who should have been kept to replace the Flamster in the event of his departure. This was exacerbated by Wenger's infuriating refusal to replace in turn either of these players OR Gilberto who was also allowed leave. Anyone who went into last season expecting success needs their head examined. I don't care if we reach brilliance again, I'll never forgive Wenger for the way he allowed things to decay after a season that seemed to promise much. 08/09 was not even a transitional season. If 07/08 was a big step forward, this was a giant leap back. We lost the dynamism that Flamini and Lassana Diarra provided, and were left with unsuitable partners for Fabregas- Denilson, Diaby and the raw Song. For me, this ridiculous state of affairs was best summed up when Wenger lsot faith in these guys to the extent that he ended up playing Nasri in central midfield in the biggest game of the season, when United tonked us at the Emirates. What a shambles. If Villa had a bigger squad, I probably wouldn't be writing about a champions league qualifier right now.
But I am, and as mentioned, we've new cause for optimism. Hope is what being a football fan is all about, after all. While unwilling or unable to buy a player that could duplicate the impact of Flamini, or even one as physically imposing and technically adept as Vieira in his pomp (ok, not many of them actually exist), it's possible that this new 4-3-3 could be the solution. As I've mentioned before, two players alongside Fabregas in the central areas provides him with the support one feels he needs to play his best stuff. If neither Song nor, especially, Denilson have the game to do that alone, then playing them both seems a reasonable idea. In the games against Everton, celtic and Pompey we've played the high-tempo, pressing game that was conspicuous by its absence in the seasons either side of 07/08. As stated, I thought Flamini was vital to setting that tone before; he had the mobility and tenacity to negate the apparent weakness of not having a specialist holding midfielder. Now, the pressing is more of a collective thing that starts with the three man forward line but intensifies in the midfield axis of Fabregas, Denilson and Song. While I enjoy a bit of leisurely possession football as much as the next man, and it's amazing when it ends with a goal, as with Nasri's second against United in the league last season, there's probably nothing quite as thrilling as direct counter-attacking football. In 97/98, 01/02, 03/04, many a great move started with a tackle by Vieira around halfway and ended mere seconds later in the back of the net. The evidence so far this season suggests that Wenger's new 4-3-3 could see us replicate that explosive style of football, or at least fuse it with the pass-pass-pass style we've developed of late. Until chelsea decide to sell us Essien for 7 million, this may suffice. Man United at Old Trafford on Saturday will certainly tell us more.
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