Written by Mean Lean
on
Monday, 24 January 2011 12:34
Have these eleven players together, produced an average performance so far this season? I am not so sure that they have. Wigan can count themselves very fortunate not to have been utterly embarrassed at the Emirates on Saturday afternoon. Arsenal really should have over taken Tottenham as the team to have inflicted the most amount of pain over Wigan in the Premier League.
Martinez has his goalkeeper, Al-Habsi to thank for a sensational display in between the sticks. Someone needs to check his urine and blood after such a performance, I am of course joking but that is how good he played.
I wonder what was said after the Manchester United performance at Old Trafford? I wouldn't be at all surprised if the players and the manager had a clear the air talk and a few home truths were addressed because since then the team has changed it's approach.
We are now pressing far harder and higher up the pitch than we have done since the beginning of last season and it was since the United game that Wenger switched Walcott for Arshavin into the starting eleven. We are trying to win games from the very beginning when we got into the habit or intentionally starting slowly only to step up the pace late on in games.
We set out after Wigan from the very first whistle, Van Persie, Nasri and Cesc were all denied a goal from either great goalkeeping or last ditch defending until Alex Song strode forward and saw the run of Van Persie across the penalty area, his slipped pass was weighted to perfection and that allowed Van Persie to cock back his hammer of a left foot to blast past Al-Habsi.
Arsenal 1 Al-Habsi 0.
I thought the flood gates would burst open from that point but it just wasn't to be. Al-Habsi continued to frustrate the Arsenal forward line.
Cesc almost scored a goal that would have been contender for goal of the season. Taking a pass inside the penalty area, flicking it into space, jinking inside and then flicking the ball through Caldwell's legs, just as he was about to pull the trigger along came another Wigan defender at the last moment to kick the ball away for a corner.
Cesc's game is based on his vision and his execution of his passing, we often forget about the ability and technical quality that Cesc has in his boots. It brought me back to a reserve game all those years ago when Cesc set up a goal against Tottenham after a wonderful mazy run.
I think if Cesc is to take his game even further then perhaps bits of individual brilliance to open up teams when the pass is not on is what he needs to develop and produce in games. Zidane had it, Messi has it and I don't see any reason why Cesc cannot add it, even if it isn't the main part of his game.
Robin played Theo Walcott clean through on goal with only the keeper to beat but he chose the wrong option by squaring to Cesc who was not in a better position, Cesc still would have had a good chance of scoring had Walcott's cut back had of been in the correct position. It was behind Cesc and the time it took Cesc to adjust his body, a Wigan defender was on hand to stop the shot.
It is something Theo needs to work on, I can think of a few occasions when Theo's cut back has not been in the right area. Bendtner's goal at Barcelona was one. The more he plays the better he will become at finding the correct areas for his team mates.
I couldn't believe that we were going into half time with only a one goal advantage, we had absolutely battered them from pillar to post and had played extremely well but our one goal made me feel much safer I must say. For once I didn't feel that our missed chances could cost us, we were playing too well and Wigan had to come out at some point to rescue the game.
They started much better in the second half and had their first real spell of pressure without really causing us many problems.
It was quite incredible how Wojciech Szczesny had so little to do for the whole 90 minutes, I wonder if a goalkeeper has had less to do in Premier League history.
We wrestled back control of the game and finally grabbed the second goal. Robin pulled off his man with his arm raised, Cesc received a quick free kick from Alex Song and floated an inch perfect pass into the path of Van Persie to knock in a first time volley past the keeper from close range. A great direct goal that involved skill, technique and accuracy.
I tweeted the question, would Robin finally claim his first Arsenal hat-trick?
When Caldwell tripped Cesc in the penalty area and was sent back to the dressing room, I thought Robin would finally claim his first treble. Robin does not miss from the spot. Oh dear.
Many have said that they thought Robin was too nervous about it being for the hat-trick, I think it was the opposite. I thought Robin wanted to do it in style. I have seen him blast it into that right top hand corner before and I think he went for it again and got his technique wrong.
If he was unsure of himself then he would have rolled his shot low into a corner. He must have thought his chance had gone when he shifted the ball onto his left from the edge of the 'D' and his curling shot struck the base of the post.
He really has to end this love affair with the woodwork. He has hit the post of crossbar more times than Wayne Rooney has scored Premier League goals this season and that is since his come back from injury. I suppose that is not too difficult, Bacary Sagna has scored more goals from open play than Rooney. That is a statistic that I love immensely.
With Chamakh waiting to come on, on the side of the pitch, Robin must have thought that it would not be his day but Cesc swivelled and produced an expert chipped pass into the path of Theo. How he saw that I just do not know. I found it difficult to see Theo's run from the wide picture of the camera, so how Cesc spotted it is beyond me. Robin owe's his treble to Walcott who ran in, held off his man and allowed his team mate to slam the ball into the near post with his right foot.
You could see in the celebration how much it meant to him, a talent that has almost been wasted over the years.
We have seen how games have improved players and helped them develop and grow. How many hat-tricks would Van Persie have scored if he had an average injury record? How good would he have become?
It is absolutely no coincidence that since his return to form and fitness that we have looked so devastating going forward. We have praised the offensive, defensive work if you like, of Chamakh but Robin runs him very close.
He doesn't just bring goals, he brings combinations, he brings intelligent movement and he makes Theo Walcott, Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri into even better players. The fluidity of position switching between Walcott and Van Persie has been wonderful and that potential is very exciting.
Cesc Fabregas and Van Persie were replaced and I wondered why Cesc looked so frustrated on the bench, whilst Nasri and Van Persie were giggling and smiling in front of him. It became much clearer when he spoke of his frustration for not scoring on twitter that evening.
Cesc strikes me as a massive critic of his own game, even though we won the game comfortably and his passing was majestic, he was furious with himself for not putting away chances. This time last season he had scored tons of goals and he has not been able to come close to that this season, mainly due to an injury interrupted campaign.
He probably had more chances than anyone else in our team, so he is getting into the right positions. Once he starts scoring as well then we will really be a team to fear.
A word on our defence, it was our fourth Premier League clean sheet in a row and the unit is looking far more secure. I am going to blow my own trumpet a little here. Whilst not conceding to Wigan, Birmingham and West Ham is nothing to get overly excited about, there is a sense of security defensively. I have stuck up for our defenders this season whilst we have been a bit of a joke to the likes of the Sunday Supplement and the Guardian Podcast.
I have said from the start that man for man, we are not worse than any of the top defensive sides in this league and that Koscielny is a great player. He hasn't proved that to everyone so far but for me, he is one of the best of his kind that I have ever seen.
My issue with our team leaking goals was nothing to do with the four or five individuals (including goalkeeper) it was a lack of team defending and organisation. Something changed at Old Trafford, although we did not show what we were capable of going forward, we looked secure and defensively solid.
Now that Nasri is protecting Clichy as most full backs have and the team is working from the front all the way to the back we are looking very tough to break down. I think we have conceded the least amounts of shots or chances in the last few weeks than any other side in the division.
Gael Clichy has been absolutely outstanding in the last few months and hasn't put one foot wrong. All his positives have been coming out, his high energy, his intercepting and combination play with Nasri and the central midfielders without any errors. At the moment he is back to his 2007/08 form and that pleases me greatly.
As long as we continue to defend from the front then I do not envisage any problems for our first choice defence. Manchester United are being lauded as a superb defensive side yet they have conceded only a few goals less with still a game more to play. That tells you that perhaps we are not as bad defensively as portrayed.
Next to the Emirates comes an Ipswich town side who will be hoping to cling on for dear life to a one goal lead. Unless their goalkeeper catches the Al-Habsitis then I think we should be ok.
Szczesny (7)
Sagna (7.5)
Koscielny (7.5)
Djourou (7.5)
Clichy (8)
Song (8)
Wilshere (8)
Cesc (8.5)
Walcott (7.5)
Van Persie (9)
Nasri (7)
Please note that ratings are only my interpretations of the game and that others will have differing opinions
Arsenal News 24/7
. I think we must appreciate the work our midfielders have been doing so far! Cesc Nasri Song and jacko have really impressed me so far too. Just cant wait til the Barca match now. am keeping my fingers and toes and even my balls crossed to have all of them fit and raring to go!
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