September 27, 2007 I Know What You Did Last Summer (& West Ham Preview)
So another few days into the season and still the Arsenal train shows no sign of coming off the tracks. The hugely impressive result and performance against Newcastle in the cup during the week shows that the policy of playing youth and reserve team players for this particular competition may well result in another final day appearance.
It really is a testament to Wenger’s vision that the club from top to bottom level have adopted his footballing philosophy to such an extent that watching the reserves is almost exactly like watching the first team. I haven’t seen the U12s play yet but I suspect that they look and play just like mini-versions of the first choice eleven.
There were some positives to last season but I think overall it we would have to put it down as a disappointment and perhaps the biggest problem we had last year was with our complete inability to actually put the ball into the back of the net, which is really what football is all about. We all shared the immense frustration that the players were obviously feeling and too many games (particularly at home) were a case of points lost.
The simple truth was that teams figured out how to play against us. I can picture the away team dressing room ten minutes before kick-off. “Let them have the ball, let them have it in wide positions, let them have it outside the box and just pull everyone back into our penalty area. They can’t shoot and they cant cross so as long as we pack the box they will have no room to play in.” This basic tactic made for some depressing games but it was effective and we dropped a lot of points at home last season as a result, 15 to be exact. It is maybe understandable to drop a point or two at home to the likes of Chelsea, United or Liverpool (of which we only did against Chelsea) but loosing or drawing against the likes of Villa, Portsmouth or this weeks opponents West Ham is what really cost us any chance of silverware.
However, it seems that over the summer Wenger has worked his magic once again and now we have adopted a shoot-on-sight policy. What is most impressive is that it is not just one of two players who are now willing to have a crack but almost the whole team. It was great to see Eboue test Given (what a keeper – would love to have him at Arsenal) on more than one occasion and Denilson’s goal (from outside the box) was as well struck a shot as you will see this season. Rosicky, VanP, Ade, Cesc, Flamini and even Hleb (Hleb for God’s sake!) have all shown that they are willing to try their luck from distance.
Defenders cannot back off Lampard or Gerrard when they have the ball because they know that once they get to 25-30 yards a shot on goal is coming. Taking away the backing off option means that defenders have to come towards the ball, this opens space behind for the attackers to run into and it changes the whole negative game plan that opposition teams have used in the past.
It is also worth noting that we now have players who can cross and combined with guys who can actually head the ball. Robin and Ade are tall and ok in the air. Bendtner took his headed goal very impressively on Tuesday but a special note for our new Croatian striker.
Eduardo (despite looking five foot nothing) has a leap on him a gazelle would be proud of and also seems to have that ability to find a bit of space in the box. Gary Lineker was a lazy player, he seemed to do nothing for the whole game but then the goalie would drop the bar or it would come back off the post or a cross would come in and he’d be standing there, unmarked and before you can say “how did he get free of his marker?” it’s in the net.
Lineker scored countless goals in the top league in both England and Spain. Now all those goals can’t have been as a result of bad marking as the only common variable in them is Gary himself. Good strikers find space, some do it by skill (VanP), others through pace (Henry) and others do it by subtle movement. We haven’t seen a lot of Eduardo but from what he’s shown us so far I think he is a striker very much in the Lineker mould when in the box. What Eduardo has shown in his international games is that he can also score outside it. I know he hasn’t yet opened his league account but this guy is a real find and regardless of if we got him for £8m or £10m he will prove to be a real bargain.
The summer months spent at shooting and crossing/heading practice are really reaping the dividends!
So West Ham next, the team that had a 100% record against us last season. They’ve started fairly well and I never really felt that there was any risk to them getting sucked into a relegation battle like last season. They have a good core group of players and with Parker now back in the team I’d expect them to be a little more solid in the middle of the park.
It will be strange to see Freddie playing against us but I don’t think he is anywhere near the player that he once was and we did well to sell him and get his massive wages off the books. Whether he plays on the left or the right wing I’d expect Sagna and Clichy to have little trouble dealing with his runs. The charming Lee Bowyer may also feature in the middle of the park. Watching the Premiership Years on Sky there the other night you’d wonder what happened to the player that stared for Leeds a few years back? He was a real talent but regardless of if it was caused by the player going off the rails or just peaking too early he doesn’t offer that much now and Cesc and Flamini have shown that they are more than capable of dealing with the “style” of play that Lee now uses.
Up front I’ve always liked Ashton, he’s an honest and hardworking player with a good deal of skill for such a big man. He is also quite handy in the air so Kolo and Big Phil would want to have there homework done on him for this game. He is just back from a long term injury but scored late during the week and has already opened his league account so he is certainly worth watching.
At the back another loveable character in Neil in their top defender. Having gone to West Ham to “win things” (as opposed to say Liverpool) he has shown that he is a good player and himself and Upson were looking a fair pairing from what I’d seen. However, neither of them are lightening quick (Upson may even be injured?) so we can work on that.
A big plus in our favour is that two of their key players (Ashton and Parker) are just back from injury and may not be as match fit as they would like, they also both played almost the full 90 during the week where as we almost gave the first 11 (bar Big Phil) the week off. This freshness will stand to us and I can see us moving up a gear in the last twenty to win the game.
I’d expect we’ll start with Almunia, Sagna, Kolo, Big Phil, Clichy, Cesc, The Flamster, Diaby and any of Eboue, Hleb or Theo on the right with Robin and Ade up front.
It will be tight at the start but I think that our class in midfield as well as our superior fitness will tell and we’ll run out comfortable winners.
I’m on a bit of a roll with the predictions this season and I’m going to go for another Gunner victory.
So another few days into the season and still the Arsenal train shows no sign of coming off the tracks. The hugely impressive result and performance...
