It was great to be back…
Watching proper competitive football at the Emirates for the first time in 19 long weeks since Arsenal beat Wolves 1-0 back in early April thanks to Nicklas Bendtner’s late, late header. Sure, I’d seen Man City and Fulham and Celtic in the meantime but frankly they really may as well not have existed. You need to be fearing dropping points and it was great to wake up yesterday with that concern hanging over me.
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| It has seen all the drama and the making of LEGENDS ! |
Pre-game…
We got the return of the North Bank, Clock End and west and east stands. It’s a welcome move – though getting the “we’re the North Bank” and “we’re the Clock End” songs going in a stadium where the two are significantly further away from each other than they previously were may not be easy.This Arsenal side…
Going forward this Arsenal side had a very good balance of creativity (Rosicky, Arshavin), pace (Theo) and height (Chamakh). We always look at our most balanced when all those three attributes are present and it was when either pace or height were lacking last season that we sometimes looked one dimensional.
The good thing about Chamakh…
Is that unlike one or two recent Arsenal strikers, he has clearly never been under the illusion that he is technically the world’s most gifted player. The upshot is that he has no qualms lowering himself to such meanial tasks as say, closing the ball down and running the line. He did that well. Yes, he missed a couple of chances, but he was in the right places. And he nodded one in at the end, despite the oil slick on his head.
The amazing this about Blackpool was…
Their complete lack of physicality. While we should be celebrating a team not trying to kick Arsenal off the pitch, two fouls from the visitors in 90 minutes does speak of a job not properly done frankly. By contrast, we committed a far more healthy nine. And it wasn’t just their approach to us: there were times too where they would stop expecting a foul to be given their way when really there was little hope of that happening.
Theo…
Was undoubtedly given the time and space that he thrives in. But equally Theo has often been given that time and space and delivered a lot less than yesterday. All three of his finishes were excellent and by and large his crossing was much improved too. The great thing about having Chamakh in the team is that there can be no excuse for poor crossing and Theo, Sagna and even Clichy all upped their game in that regard.
One defensive wall of ours…
Featured Theo, Wilshere and Arshavin. Which is all very well when Samir Nasri is taking the free-kick in training but perhaps a little short otherwise.
Talking of Wilshere…
It struck me that in getting played in central midfield by both Bolton last season and us now, he is perhaps getting the bit of a footballing education that Joe Cole missed out on at West Ham. By that I mean by being played so deep he is learning a lot about when you release the ball, when you hold it, when you do something flash and when you don’t. I really hope he keeps his place in the side and with no slight intended at Denilson, it would be a great shame if the Brazilian slotted in straight ahead of Wilshere once fit.
Look at the boots on the sending off incident…
and you will see it was definitely Chamakh who got the touch on the ball. I also think that the part of the foul that took Chamakh down was probably just inside the box. So a penalty was the right call and obviously a red had to follow under the rules. My feelings on this are quite clear: if the ref thinks a defender has in any way deliberately tried to foul the attacker then send him off by all means, but in incidences such as these (where I think the challenge was genuine), surely a penalty suffices?
And why not, if the ref judges an incident to be a clear goalscoring chance, let him give a penalty irrespective of whether the incident was in the box? Then the cards can properly be used to judge intent. The retort is always: “you will get different refs making very different calls on whether a foul outside the box should be a penalty and so it wouldn’t work”. But the point is that they already make such a call when determining whether the same incidents warrant a red card or not.
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| Arsenal clock at North stand at Highbury |
On which note…
Without the red card I think it would have ended up around 5-1 rather than 6-0.The emphatic nature of this victory…
Must not cloud the fact that we still need more players at the back and a new goalkeeper. I’m not saying for a second that if we get them we will be shoe-ins for the title, but the point is I just can’t see us doing it without them. More defenders simply because you need four proper central defenders at least and a new keeper because over 38 games I think Almunia and Fabianski will lose us points we can’t afford to lose.
On which note…
The Gallas transfer is only annoying because we seem so adept at losing defenders and so inept at signing them. That a guy we signed from Chelsea has gone to Spurs matters little to me. I realised over the summer that despite being one of his bigger defenders during his spell at the Emirates, he really meant very little to me emotionally.
Player ratings…
Almunia (6.5) had very little to do, Sagna (7.5) attacked well and was full of running, Clichy (7) equally so, Vermaelen (7) very comfortable and Song (6.5) fine but obviously less at home at the back and occasionally positionally suspect.
Diaby (7) got one or two groans mainly because this being Arsenal someone has to. But overall he was fine and took his goal well, Wilshere (7) was very efficient on the ball and saved the fancy stuff for the right parts of the pitch. Rosicky (7.5) was very bright before the break and will be pleased to get 90 minutes, Andrei (7) set-up the first, scored the second and generally had the look of a brow beaten minimum wage worker.
Theo (9) fails to get top marks only because of the level of opposition, while Chamakh (7) looks an ideal fit for what we need. A year ago I thought his arrival unnecessary. In hindsight I was wrong: with Bendtner and RVP missing for key games, his presence would have avoided the sorry sight of Eduardo or Arshavin toiling away on their own up front and may just have got us a few vital points.
RVP (6) and Cesc (6.5) were feeling their way back into action and Carlos Vela (6.5) came on for a kick about and was destined to score a fantastic goal until he had to use his right foot.
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| The Famous ARSENAL clock is back @ EMIRATES and so is the good times ! |
Final thought…
Blackburn away next week is our first real test: losing at Liverpool would have been no disaster, winning yesterday was obligitary and expected. But Ewood Park is the first of what I’d term our “swing” fixtures.
