The Hard Work Starts Now
Mar 9th, 2008 by 'holic
The little voices in my head are at war again. ‘Third draw in a row against a side we should beat’ says the first. ‘So what, it’s still in our hands and that is one early St Totteringhams Day’, says the other.
It is astonishing that a side that has lost just one league game has such a fragile hold on the top spot. The reason is days like today. Let’s say straight away full marks to Wigan. Happy to sit back and soak it up for forty-five minutes they worked out we could not hurt them, showed far more ambition in the second-half, and were deserving of their point.
Tactically it was disappointing to see us play the two big men up front, but then play neither with width, nor look to loft the ball to give them something to fight for. Moaning about the allotment that passes for a pitch at the JJB doesn’t cut the mustard either. We knew full well what the surface was like long before an expensive boot was planted there.
In the end the couple of chances that fell our way were comfortably dealt with by Chris Kirkland, and in fairness we never really looked like conceding a goal. The performance of the back four was the positive to take from the day, along with the willingness of Nicklas Bendtner to work his socks off in and around Adebayor.
The negatives were all to do with a disjointed midfield. It would be unfair to criticise individuals given they were the only players fit to start. Clearly Arsene Wenger didn’t think the situation, or the surroundings, would be conducive to blood another of the youngsters.
Because of the last three league results we will almost certainly need to earn points from the visits to Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge. Serious title challengers will do just that, and I still believe we are capable of finishing top of the pile. With Robin van Persie and Kolo Toure returning from the bench at Wigan we have options available that have not been there in recent weeks.
Starting next Saturday, against Middlesbrough, the only team to beat us so far, we need to start a new run of form. Nine games stand between us and whatever destiny has in store. With all due respect to St Totteringham, the important opponents have still to be overcome.
18 Responses to “The Hard Work Starts Now”
I think you’ve struck the right balance as usual ‘holic. It is disappointing to draw but the shortage of fit players and being forced to break up the Fab/Flam combo in the middle did not help at all. There are still plenty of games to play and all of the top 3 look like they could drop points. The return of RVP, Toure and hopefully soon Rosicky will help so it’s no time to throw in the towel yet.
Nail on head ‘holic. I’ll say what you won’t. Hleb and Gilberto were horrible today. But normal service will be resumed next week.
After nthe magnificent 2-0 at the San Siro, a deflatory draw. Who says the Chels or Manyoo won’t drop more points, especially against us. Middlesbrough are gonna get their asses wooped for last time, I might even have a punt on that cos I’m confident of a home win.
I must congratulate Senderos, he has surpassed Kolo Toure, he is a far superior tackler, and results with Senderos have been better defensively. I rate Kolo more than Gallas, so three top class centre forwards is an absolute luxury.
Traroe needs to be replaced, Clichy will always beat him hands down. Hoyte will be happy to stay and so will Eboue, I doubt Arsene will be looking to sell either of them. Gilberto is at the end of his Arsenal days. I’m sure Wenger knows exactly who he’s looking for in summer now, he’s probably had them scouted for about 2 or more years.
Will Gilberto go to Serie A or will he join another Premier League club. Or will he reach the end of his Arsenal contract and go back to Brazil?
Middlesbrough at the Emirates is a massive game for us, it’s a must win for the title, and it is possible to win all 9 games, and I don’t think the Chels or Manyoo will win 9 on the spin, they will lose points.
We are the Arsenal.Throwing in the towel is something we dont do.
We have won in Milan and Madrid.Going to Chavski and Sevenoaks(North) should hold no fears for us.
United Fan just passing. Good summary, agree this is going to come down to the head-to-head between the top 5. You’ve got to play all 4 we’ve got to play 3. Both can’t lose sight of Chelsea who have closed the gap and are playing dull but effective football in the league.
Any consolation to you we’ll be playing on that pitch last game of the season. In fairness to Wigan the weather is a little wetter and colder up north….
This game has brought back memories of Henry. He was the type of player in his heyday who we could call upon to get a goal in grinding conditions. It is in these marginal games where we need a dependable guy to change the situation for the better. For that sacrifice we now have a better team, but we need a new Mr. dependable where if no-one else can, he can. Adebayor is not that yet. We could have done with a fully fit Henry today.
finestcuts, I think RVP could be that player, but it was not likely to be today as that was his first time on the pitch for a long time. Once he gets match fit, if we’re not too far off the top he can make the difference.
This was just the opportunity for Gilberto to show what he is made of, but the ‘Invisible Wall’ is now just invisible I am afraid.
His non-effort threw more responsibility on Flamini who was expected to get forward more, but still had to get back for defensive duties that Gilberto should have covered.
This led to an imbalance in midfield and sadly I hope the penny has dropped with Wenger at last that the Brazilian is a spent force now.
Well said. I know we had injuries but for a man renowned for statistics surely it’s blatantly obvious that we are not as good when Gilberto plays. To play him in those conditions was ridiculous. Is Denilson fit? Gilberto lazy, sloppy style always seems to set the tone. He even had Hleb looking like a gobshite today. It was very frustrating after the performance on Tuesday and although we have a lot to be positive about I just think we need to develop a clinical streak.
Check the stats, Adebayor, and Wenger’s insistence on playing him every single minute, will be the end of our title challenge. The growing number of offsides, broken plays, and poor passing is obvious to the viewer. Why not pull him off instead of Bendtner and let the Dane have a go with van Persie at his side. And why do all but Wenger see Gilberto’s lackadaisical play? Why is such a quality manager as Wenger so stubborn when faced with the facts?
I am not in a panic mode yet, but have been holding my breath for the past few weeks because of our up and down performances.
I am an avid Arsene fan, period. However, Arsene must take the blames for this draw (loss for me of 2 points) squarely on his wide shoulders for two major reasons:
1. Gilberto has looked totally out of place as a defensive midfielder for the entire season. Not just today, not just yesterday, but I repeat, the entire season. His few decent performances have come when utilized as one of two defensive mid fielders in a defensive 4-5-1 formation when we are protecting a lead or at CB. He continually slows the attack down gives up stupid free kicks in dangerous areas and his passing has been atrocious.
2. Bendtner and Ade when paired as starting strikers in a 4-4-2 have never had a good game the entire season. Their only decent showings have been in a 4-3-3 when teamed with another slick striker like an Eduardo/Walcott/Hleib late in a game when we are trying to come from behind.
It makes me wonder whether Arsene and his other “Professional†and very well paid coaches I might add, study game film and look at statistics. If so, they must certainly have noted what I and millions of other Gunners fans have seen this season. If they have, why in hells name they keep going back to a dry well where no water has existed.
We easily could have fielded and attacking 4-4-1-1 as we did against Milan with Hleib dropping behind Ade, Flamini, Fabregas and any other combination of Denilson, Diaby, Song or Toure comprising the mid field quartet. This would have provided us with more thrust in attack on a mud patch which was affectionately termed a field. Bendtner and RVP would have been available as options late in the game even if we needed to go 4-3-3 in order to snatch a late score and Gilberto could have been used as as CB off the bench in case of injury.
It is often said that we fans are fickle and change with the winds from day to day. However, I have been preaching this gospel of tactical mismanagement for the past three months.
Why have we been persisting with Gilberto as DMF and striker pairing of Ade and Bendtner? If anyone has a rationalization for this please respond.
Man! we are missing eduardo
CaribKid, perhaps others should also ‘study game film and look at statistics’. This was the first game that Adebayor and Bendtner have started together in the league. Denilson and Diaby were out injured and Song only on the bench because he is only just recovering from injury. We didn’t have the options you are suggesting.
Keep the faith gooners – i know its easy to be all doom and gloom but we need to believe in them. After all they have shown character in the past.
Adebayor let himself and his teammates down yesterday. He has a lot of flaws to his game we know that, but the one thing that i always admired about Ade was his work rate. Yesterday for the first time he didn’t put in his usual shift. With his hit and miss finishing and poor first touch he needs that extra edge to his game. Ade’s problem is his decision making, he just doesn’t have a football brain.(how many of us were screaming for a lob when he had that chance in the second half). And if your not sharp upstairs then you have to work hard. Players like Dennis Bergkamp, Robert Pires or even dare i say Teddy sheringham Can get away without running. Unfortuanately Ade you can’t your not that good. I’m expecting much more effort from him against m’boro.
fabregas was outstanding
flamini the usual steady performance
sagna superb
clichy a fair performance
gallas,senderos,almunia-clean sheat-what else can u say
hleb & adebayor were disappointing- not at all on target
gilberto made our team look a 10 man side yesterday
bendtner well- didnt play at all as a striker yesterday despite a couple of good passes in the midfield- i still feel he isnt good enough to start a game but still should be categorised as an “impact player”
RVP- good to see him back
Toure – sorry where was he playing?
Wenger – 2 points dropped & made his job a bit more difficult
brilliant piece holic,i like the way u have analysed both sides of the spectrum,and not jus had blind faith.
there is no doubt we have to get sumn from those games now and i feel we can when we play the big teams we are good,and we do pull out performances all we need is to have those boys fit and this thing is still in our hands no doubt.
manUre and Chavies will drop points i dont doubt that the tems in the prem dont jus roll over no more and rightly so for Wigan they got their jus deserves,middlesborough onwards is where the final stretch and boys we have a chance we can do this…
Well said. Gooners have forgotten that we are still top, and that when the final whistle blew on Sunday, it ushered a in very early St Totteringham’s Day 2008.