Once again it is that time of the month (no, not that time of the month) when I ought to post on the blog if only to keep my place in the first page that the readers see when they come in their hordes for their regular football fix after growing tired of the scientific mumbojumbo that is ZM and pseudcentre that is runofplay. Three narzy articles about ex-epl leagues complete with acres of space occupying cartoons pushing my concise yet punchy posts down the page - it's time I wrote some drivel hard-hitting analysis to retain any sort of claim to be a co-author on this blog.
Well, well. It was a game Wenger described as "want-win" rather than a "must-win" and only he knows what he meant, but looks like whatever he wanted to convey, he conveyed properly to the team. Right from kickoff it looked like there was only one team on the field that wanted to win, and it did. Manu's win against QPR only added to the pressure that City were already under and they duly collapsed. Arsenal dominated throughout the game but for a small spell after the second half, were completely on top both in terms of possession and chances created (man city 0 shots on target) and thoroughly deserved the victory. The score, the goals, the lineup and what actually happened during the game can be easily looked up from anywhere else on the web. Instead you will be now treated to some choice observations that originated in my brain and happen to be five in number (thus giving me the idea for a new series that will be abandoned midway):
1. Szcz needs to improve his distribution. His shot blocking is good, his command over corners is good, his quickness to come off his line is cautiously bold but his distribution is godwaful. He has started to try these Valdesesque (that's a tough name to esqueify - a word made of two suffixes!) playing out from the back short passes to Verm/Kos but they are so misdirected and/or lacking in weight that they are easily intercepted by the opponent's striker. Once or twice Szcz's passes went straight to Aguero - thankfully game reader Kos was around to clean up.
2. Sagna's superb ability to win headers is something that the team has been missing when he was out. I am liking the good use that has been put to in the new routine of goalkick to Sagna if only to keep possession of the ball when it is our goalkick. More often than not, Sagna is able to flick it in the path of Walcott who can immediately create a good attacking chance with his run behind the back four. But that would mean not first-touching it right out of play.
3. I bemoaned Song's inefficient something-good-comes-out-of-it to spectacular-over-the-defence-chips ratio in his QPR game, but he compensated for his wasteful flamboyance against QPR with his measured passing against Man City. His over the top ball, when it came, was perfect and went straight to RVP who directed it towards goal with a header that beat Joe Hart but couldn't beat the woodwork. This is what Song has to do more often. Move up into space against teams whose midfield back away and defence don't press up and make opportunistic passes with a greater chance of something good coming out of it, not blindly gamble away sitting in the centre of the park.
4. With Gibbs out for at least a couple of games due to groin-fatigue (not making this up), the left back duties fall to Santos at a crucial time. Santos is by nature a more attacking player than Gibbs and is often quick to get into very high-up positions. While his touch is good and he has a good presence on the ball, his defensive abilities leave a lot to be desired. The first thing he did after coming on against City was to be caught slow footed by Balotelli, hauling him down blatantly conceding a free kick on the edge of the D. He is far slower than Gibbs, but what he lacks in pace he should more than compensate by his sense of positioning and attacking contribution. It remains to be seen how he will cope against the wingers of Wolves and Wigan.
5. The merits of taking the occasional shot from outside D was in ample display when Arteta sweetly struck the ball into the net after Pizzaro boy failed to deliver for Man City (see what I did there?). It is all nice and cute to say you will pass the ball into the goal but when the rubber hits the road and push comes to shove and cliche comes to cliche it is better to let loose a rasping shot to see what it might create. Especially when there is less than ten minutes on the clock and you bloody well want to win the game. It's a want-win game, remember?
Right, this should keep me going for another three posts at least, unless Narz's next post is a graphic novella eating up hectares of precious blogspace.
No comments:
Post a Comment