Match Report | Match highlights | Wenger’s thoughts | Credits: Sky Sports
Brief one today, apologies.
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Good God, was that touch and go… After what had happened last week, it was very obvious Arsenal needed a win. Aside from the near-guarantee that Chelsea would march on with little fuss, we were in real danger with losing touch with even Liverpool and Manchester City. Wins for all of them, including us, means that we continue to remain in fourth, but it at least entails we haven’t slipped up in the first of six very winnable Premier League games.
Our approach play was perplexing… With Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain injuring himself at the Etihad and Theo Walcott following (rapidly becoming a tradition, this) Olivier Giroud made his first Premier League start for Arsenal since the last day of last season. At times I felt he was understandably rusty, but a huge chunk of that was down to how ridiculously we were trying to score.
Despite having one of the best target men and headers of the ball in the league, the decision to repetitively cut-back the ball from potentially crossing positions was baffling. Giroud is one of the best in the air, yet we eliminated his singularly most useful output with a pedestrian, on-foot tactic. What makes this strategy all the more puzzling is that we tend to cross the ball far too many times when Alexis Sanchez is our lone front man. If this is the instruction from the touchline, I simply cannot understand it.
In addition, what today also showed was the flip side of Wengerball. It’s a beautiful thing to watch when it comes off, but teams are slowly beginning to understand how easily it can be negated. Put ten men behind the ball and Arsenal are toothless. West Brom were not nearly at the races yesterday – they were sloppy in defence yet for the most part, we let them get away with it.
It’s telling that it took a cross from deep and a rugby header to finally break the opposition down, instead of pretty yet pointless tiki-taka. If we want to achieve something worth achieving, it’s essential we explore alternative options to this one-trick-pony philosophy.
What’s with the same substitutions? Substitute Francis Coquelin for a forward if we need a goal, and get Alex Iwobi off regardless of the scoreline, both rarely before the 69th minute. This holds some logic in itself, but is starting to look like a broken tape recorder than the result of intricate planning. It is this monotony that does not give Lucas Perez enough game time, or hold Mesut Ozil accountable.
Substitutions are meant to be reactive in context to the game, not planned before the game. It’s getting harder and harder to legislate that Arsene Wenger is not being negligent nor frivolous while shuffling the pack.
Olivier Giroud deserves more playing time… Like him or not, Giroud has been a trusted lieutenant for the past 3-4 years. After a rather patchy season, he has overcome a lot of his limitations to be a useful squad player, if not a vital cog. He’s not perfect, certainly, but his freshness and relative finesse in front of goal is something we could use.
Walcott is injured, Oxlade-Chamberlain is injured, and it wouldn’t be surprising if Ozil and Alexis pick up knocks sometime soon. Giroud (and by extension, Perez) are fresh legs that can help us get through a hectic New Year schedule.
Let’s not blow Ben Foster out of proportion… I’ve had it with the notion that any goalkeeper who faces Arsenal suddenly gains some magical voodoo power that makes him the best in the world for 90 minutes. I know some say it jokingly, but there are a fair few who take it seriously, and this nonsense line of thought needs to be stopped before it gets mainstream.
To think that if goalkeepers play well against Arsenal, that must mean that some surreal jinx is unfolding between the posts is absolute balderdash. The same kinds of people would probably put injury problems down to the Band-Aid Gods and would embrace ignorance and promote inaction.
It’s a problem with our finishing, nothing else. Aaron Ramsey – who otherwise had a neat cameo as a substitute – typified that when at 1-0 up, he shot the ball straight at Foster’s legs. We have a trend of making goalkeepers look good because our finishing is not up to snuff. Shoot into corners more often, and we can even make Manuel Neuer look terrible.
-Santi [Follow me on Twitter @ArsenalBlogz ]
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