Arsenal 6 - 1 Coventry: Arsenal Love Six!

Arsenal 6 - 1 Coventry Match Report & Pictures

Is it just me or do Arsenal love six? I really really love six. When you have six, it means you are shagging somebody and we really shagged Coventry last night. Before that, we shagged Southampton six as well. I definitely am enjoying having six every week. If we can shag Chelsea six times this weekend, that will really feel good. Oh yeah.

There was no coverage of the game on TV last night, Supersport electing to show Mancies United and Liverpool instead of the Arsenal game. I don't understand how this entire TV broadcasting thing works, but I fail to see why and how Mancies United games are covered all the time ahead of Arsenal games.

There are times when electricity supply is interrupted (by local power authority) for scheduled maintenance but it miraculously returns just before Mancies United kick-off. When Arsenal plays and there is such a scheduled power cut, you can bet there will be no power until the power guys damn well finish whatever it is they are working on- long after the Arsenal game has finished... Now, make of that what you will.

So, back to Arsenal. I have not watched the game, just seen highlights of the goals this morning on Sky Sports News. The first goal was an Olivier Giroud chip over the keeper 5 minutes before half time.

The second goal was a swerving shot by Ox-Chamberlain. It had something of a Christiano Ronaldo thingy about it. I wish he takes those shots from outside the box more often. He is definitely capable of scoring a few over the course of the season, So too Cazorla and Podolski, Except for ... ahem... African Brother Gervinho (ABG), who is more likely to hit the Directors' Box than the goal... ahem...

Andrey Arshavin scored a brilliant goal after being put through by Olivier Giroud, who had earlier missed a penalty after a delay by some attention seeking pitch-invader. The security guy who tried to slide-tackle him made an arse of himself I thought because he missed! How do you slide tackle a target that is running way ahead and away from you? Huh!

But you know what would really be embarrassing for a pitch invader? Ignoring him completely. Like you let him run onto the pitch, and instead of the crowd cheering him on, they keep absolutely quiet and the security don't chase him. They just calmly walk towards him and handcuff him  before calmly walking off the pitch again. That would embarrass any streaker I think.

Walcott scored two goals, his first (in the 74th minute) a trade mark low shot from the right past the keeper. His second in the 90th minute a slalom run from the left and cutting inside before firing at the far post. It was reminiscent of Henry/Pires back in the days... aah the merry old gone days. And Theo apparently won't sign a new deal because he want's to play as an out and out striker for Arsenal. Huh! He may score a good goal now and then but I don't think he is ready to play there yet. He can definitely do a job there in a 4-4-2 formation, which Arsenal don't play often anyway. But his best position is coming from wide and running infield. I wonder why he doesn't know that? If he genuinely doesn't know that, then he simply want's to play as a striker as a glory hunter. We all know the strikers get all the nice girls. Just ask Rooney and Balotelli...

Coventry scored via a cross from our left wing but they had hardly finished celebrating their consolation goal when they had to pick the ball from their own net after a headed goal by Ignasi Miquel.

I understand in the first half Arsenal were a bit poo, but hey, we had great six in the end and I can't complain. We face Reading in round 4 of the Capital One Cup. If we are serious, as we were last night, then we should pass that Challenge.

Until then, COYG!

Manchester City 1 - 1 Arsenal: 2 Points Gained

                                                       

Match Report - Pictures

Whenever you come close to winning a match and the other team equalises with a few minutes to go before the end of the match, it feels like a loss. Equally for a team coming from behind, gaining a point feels like a victory. For Arsenal, yesterday's draw felt like 2 points gained from Manchester City.

Arsenal went with a 5-man midfield of Arteta, Diaby, Ramsey, Cazorla and African Brother Gervinho (ABG), with Podolski as the striker, although for most times, African Brother Gervinho (ABG) was playing as the striker with Podolski dropping deep as usual. I thought this was a good starting line-up; we needed to be solid defensively by doing what we do best and that meant dominating possession of the ball.

In defence, Koscielny came in for the flu-ridden Captain Vermaelen. But such is the strength of our central defence that any of the 3 can play together in the two slots with the same high quality.

I got a little bit the jitters, in the second half when fatigue started to creep into our team and Manchester City started to dominate the game. Gaps started appearing in our midfield, Diaby started dribbling and getting caught in possession... a repeat of the Montpellier game almost.

Arsenal started the game the better side. Our passing and movement was crisp and honestly sublime at times.  we were running triangles around Manchester City and they were failing to get anywhere near the ball. Aaron Ramsey particularly impressed me with his energy. He was all over the place, particularly when Diaby and Cazorla started to tire. He seemed to be carrying the midfield at some point in the second half. A real workhorse that boy is.

In the 16th minute, Ramsey played a great forward ball between the City defenders to African Brother Gervinho (ABG). All African Brother Gervinho (ABG) had to do was slow the ball down, pick a spot and place it there. That should have been 1-0 in favour of Arsenal. But his touch was too heavy and he instead passed it to Joe Hart in the City goal. Somebody needs to pull African Brother Gervinho (ABG) aside and say to him, "African Brother Gervinho (ABG), at this level of the game and in these big games, you must take your chances or your team will be punished! There can be no margin for waste!"

We continued to probe and threaten the City Goal, until and against the run of play, we conceded a needless corner through Kieran Gibbs just before half time. Our Zonal marking system failed us on this occassion, but I thought it was one of those lucky ones for City. The ball on this occassion  landed between Podolski and Koscielny's heads and hit the head of Kompany, ending up high in the corner of our goal, at the juction of bar and post, such that Mikel Arteta who was covering that post could not defend it. Just one of those really.

After the break, the fatigue that I raised concern about during the midweek champions league game at Montpellier started creeping in. City moved Yaya Toure and Silva into the centre of the park and they started to dominate possession of the ball, closed us down quicker and forced our play even narrower.

Abou Diaby started to do his thing and thankfully, the boss replaced him with Theo Walcott in the 70th Minute. Olivier Giroud also came on for Lucas Podolski who was having a quiet game, as far as attacking play goes. Arsenal continued to huff and puff without real vernom. Walcott did nothing to support his alleged demand of £100K+ wage a week. Giroud did not do much but his presence up-field allowed us to slowly start gaining territorial advantage and push City back.

In the 82nd minute, the game came to life. Santi Cazorla found some space outside the City box and let fly. A few inches wider and that would have been a goal. Joe Hart saved but from the resulting corner, Manchester City's organisation let them down. the ball was not cleared and fell to the feet of Koscielny. He poked it into the net empatically.

A couple of minutes later, Manchester City had a corner at our end of the pitch. The ball was not cleared, instead Koscielny passed it to Aguero who missed the target from about 4 yards out.

A few minutes later, Gervinho had another chance to become a hero and win the match. He received a pass from the left, danced infield and then, instead of keeping calm and picking a spot (again!), he swung wildly at the ball, missing the goal by several kilometres! I thought African Brother Gervinho (ABG) is an embarassment to Africa at that particular moment...

I wish the two chances that fell to African Brother Gervinho (ABG) had fallen to Podolski. There would have been two similar outcomes in both circumstances: 2 goals. But hey...

Afterwards, you could see which of the two managers was happier. Arsene Wenger said;

"I am pleased because [a point] was the minimum we deserved today. I am pleased also with the quality of our performance and our spirit. Also a bit frustrated because I feel there was room to do more. We had early chances and very late chances, especially African Brother Gervinho (ABG) at the edge of the box where he missed the target. But overall I hope this will reinforce our belief and confidence and reassure us about our potential in this league.

Don Mannone also did himself no harm. I thought he had a very decent performance. He has been blamed for the goal, but I don't think there was any way of him reaching it. Had he stayed on the line, there was no way of him saving it either. It is just one of those corners you have to accept was perfect for Manchester City, unlucky for Arsenal.

I cannot decide between Per Metersacker and Aaron Ramsey who my Man of The Match is. Metersacker was making crucial blocks and interceptions with a swing of his hip and a flick of his leg. His reading of the game is good.

Aaron Ramsey on the other hand is the type of midfielder you want and need for this kind of game. Faced with powerful midfielders in the mould of Yaya Toure, Ramsey is no lightweight when it comes to burning energy. My word, but this boy has got quite an engine in him. He was full of running, passing, marking intercepting and making things happen when the likes of Diaby were getting tired.

Overall, I'll take a point. That was a very solid performance by Arsenal. The team is looking solid defensively but equally potent in attack. Let's just see if we shall last the course of the season.

Onwards march the Arsenal!!

Montpellier 1-2 Arsenal: Phew!

                                                     Montpellier 1-2 Arsenal Report - Pictures

Apologies for going AWOL the past week, Afrogunner was away from the blogosphere due to technical reasons.

Last night Arsenal won against the current French League 1 Champions, Montpellier in France. There had been rumours to the effect that players would be rotated for this game. I had my doubts about those rumours and they turned out to be false. Football is all about momentum and to go into the first game of the Champions League, away from home, with a much changed Arsenal side would have been madness.

We saw from the weekend how changing goal keepers for the sake of maintaining the pecking order can sometimes backfire. Szeczesny, our number 1 keeper gifted a goal to Southampton. On current form, I think perhaps Don Vito Mannone should remain in goal. Apart from the penalty, Don Mannone has not conceded any goals so far this season, looks sharp and confident and it begs the question; what does a keeper have to do to get more game time? I think it's high time we started rotating goal keepers just like we do with infield players, especially when you have very good keepers (on current form) like we have at Arsenal... yeah dream on Afrogunner...

Coquelin, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Szeczesny were replaced by Diaby, Giroud and Mannone respectively from last weekend's starting Lineup. Arsenal, I must say looked very tired by the beginning of the second half. Cazorla had a stinker of a game, by his high standards. He gave the ball away several times, got caught in possession on a few occassions and general was frustrated with his own performance. Diaby, confirmed what I said about his lack of defensive discipline early in the second half. There he was dribbling in our penalty box, slipped and fell under pressure and it was thanks to Montpellier's way-ward finishing that they did not equalise.

The game started fairly well for Arsenal. Montpellier looked sharp and lively in the opening 10 minutes. Diaby received a yellow card just 30 seconds after kick-off for a clumsy challenge. Arsenal were just starting to find their rhythm in the 9th minute when against the run of play, Montpellier were awarded a soft penalty after a challenge by Vermaelen on the edge of our box. Belhanda stepped up and did a Pirlo. 1-0 to Montpellier. The penalty was so slow that I thought I was watching in slow motion. I thought Don Mannone should have reacted quicker and got up to save it. But there you go.

Montpellier's lead lasted only about 6 minutes. Arsenal stepped up a gear and their combination play leading up to the equaliser was just sumptous. Giroud played the through ball to Podolski and from 11 yards? on Podolski's left foot?  with only the keeper to beat? there could only be one outcome! He slid the ball neatly past the on-rushing keeper to make it 1-1. I was still celebrating the first goal when Gervinho ran onto a through ball 2 minutes later. he bundled into a Montpellier defender, but the ball bounced into the path of Jenkinson who fizzed in a low, hard cross accross the face of the Montpellier goal. Gervinho wouldn't miss from 2 yards out. 1-2 in favour of Arsenal.

At this point I thought we would go on to to shag Montpellier for 6, but Arsenal seemed content to just play it safe. Half time arrived with Arsenal in the lead and I thught we would go on to score more so I opened my bottle of wine and laid back to enjoy what was to come. It never did.

Arsenal came back looking as if they had tied lead bars to their boots. They looked completely exhausted. The passing was nowhere, the organisation was a joke and individuals started making the kind of errors that have seen Arsenal fail to win anything in the past few years. Diaby was the chief culprit. First, he decided to go on a dribbling spree in our box, facing our keeper. we were nearly punished after he slipped and lost the ball. A few minutes later he did the same thing just outside our box and was caught in possession. I started to get annoyed.

But then the same Diaby picked up the ball from just outside our box, ran through the entire Montpellier team and laid it off for Cazorla on the left flank to shoot at goal. Had Cazorla kept the ball low, he would have scored. But he was having an off night. Montpellier then started to pile wave after wave of attack while Arsenal just held on. Oliver Giroud had no joy on the night. There was simply no service to him all night.

Montpellier struck the bar, had a point-blank shot saved by Don Mannone, a penalty appeal ignored and several other shots saved. I was crapping myself throughout the second half.

In the 75th minute, Ramsey was brought on for the French International striker who left the pitch to a round of applause from his the Montpellier fans. I liked that. Respect. Arsenal seemd a little bit more stable and kept the ball slightly better. But we were really looking like crap and worryingly very tired. In the 90th minute, Podolski and Cazorla were replaced by Walcott and Coquelin respectively to see out the game.

Thamkfully, Montpellier sold their most prolific striker to us. A better team would have punished us last night. Just ask Manchester City.

But, onwards march the Arsenal. 3 points in the bag and now we look forward to Manchester City. I hope we are fresh for that game because they will punish us if we are not.

Onwards march the Arsenal!!

Arsenal vs Southampton: A Quickie

Boss, do we lack a little bit the sharpness?

The real football returns tomorrow with Arsenal facing Southampton at the Emirates.

Southampton are the team we bought Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from. They were promoted back into the Barclays English Premier League, 7 years after they fell from the top league of English football. Beyond that, I have not bothered to do my homework on them, but they are a team which actually plays football.

We all know what Hull City did to us at the Emirates a couple of years ago, and if lessons have not been learned, we shall lose 2 or even three points.

The players are back from playing for their countries and it would seem that from the team that played at Liverpool, only Diaby is doubtful for tomorrow. I say let him rest. There is no point risking him for a game which, on paper, we should win. This is the chance to tap into the depth in the squad to help us win the match.

I am interested in seeing our tactical approach for this game, particularly our attacking play. I have said before what or where I think we are struggling. Let us see if there is work being done in training.

Enjoy the game wherever you watch it and join me on twitter: @the_afrogunner.

Till tomorrow folks.

COYG!

Serenity After The Storm: Thoughts On Liverpool

I could not bring myself to update this blog after the victory at Anfield against Liverpool on Sunday afternoon. I decided to read what other bloggers had to say; I have also spent a considerable amount of time reading comments on other blogs. I must  say that it is quite interesting to read fan's reactions. You learn quite a lot about your team but more importantly about how fans blow like feathers in the wind. I am guilty of the same crime.

I will not waste time talking about what we didn't do in the transfer window, but I'll mention it for the thousandth time: This squad is a couple of players away from winning the League.

I sincerely hope that I am proved wrong. But please indulge me.

The New Arsenal Midfield

Arsenal favour a 1-2 midfield (4-1-2-2-1 team formation) We went to Liverpool and in the opening exchanges, Liverpool looked the better side. At least in as far as team cohesion goes. We slowly began to find our way into the game and our midfield began to assert themselves on the game. Diaby, was rightly voted man of the match afterwards. There is no doubt that a fit Diaby is a very good midfielder. Who still remembers the Carling Cup Semi-Final at Wembley against Chelsea when Diaby got injured after kicking the lights out of John Terry? There is no doubting Diaby's talent, only his fitness.

Mikel Arteta is a very good midfielder. I see a lot of similarities between Arteta and that brilliant little Catalan cunt called Xavi of Barcelona. I have questioned Arteta's ability in the past when the team was not playing well. He doesn't score many goals but his greatest strength is his ability to keep the ball. Arteta very rarely gives the ball away to opponents or gets caught in possession. It is this ability that has lead Arsene Wenger to deploy him in a deeper midfield role. He is our "continuity" player.

Arsenal rarely comes out of a match with less than 50% of ball possession. Our ball-retention as a team is bettered only by Barcelona. For this reason, a player like Arteta can thrive in a deep midfield role because for the most part, his defensive duty is to keep the ball for the team. The trouble only starts when the team loses the ball and Arteta has to tackle. On two occasions against Liverpool, Arteta was beaten for pace and had to foul a Liverpool player to stop their attacks. To his credit, he did put in some decent tackles to win the ball as well.

Santi Cazorla is probably the best attacking midfielder we have had since Cesc Fabregas. I suspect he is better than Fabregas because he is quicker, a good dribbler and is two-footed. Only time will prove me wrong. His movement and distribution so far has been brilliant and he scored a well deserved goal which will boost his confidence even further.

However, I can't help feeling that once again, Arsenal and Arsene Wenger have wasted an opportunity to truly make this midfield the best in the League. Something just doesn't feel complete about it. I feel we lack a traditional DM workhorse in there who will allow Arteta and Cazorla to really thrive and float all over the pitch. Make no mistake, Arteta is a better off playing higher up the pitch closer to Cazorla. His ball retention,  passing and shooting ability would complement Cazorla's movement, passing and eye for a shot at goal.

Now, if Arteta were to move further up, Diaby would not fit into the deeper roll. He is defensively naive and tends to make risky dribbling decisions that get him caught. According to some bloggers, Diaby is a "Driver", like Wilshere. He is good running with the ball and beating opponents. But he cannot do a strictly disciplined role of a DM. In a deeper position, Diaby is a liability.

Equally, against better attacking and faster teams, Arteta will be exposed in that holding role. In such games Arsenal would need to switch their midfield to 2-1 (4-2-1-3 team formation). I am not sure that Diaby would be suited to that formation for long spells during a game. In such games, we would need to bring in a more defensively-minded player like Coquelin or Frimpong, two youngsters who might prove too inexperienced for the big occassion.

The other player we have are Ramsey, Wilshere and Rosicky. Of these, Perhaps Ramsey could do that job but honestly, all of them are attacking players and 66% of these three are injury prone.

I liked Song, but I thought Arsenal's decision to let him go to Barcelona would lead to a more disciplined holding player coming in. I am disappointed we didn't make a signing in there and I suspect we shall get exposed in that area as the season goes. Perhaps better defensive coaching will prove me wrong. I hope so.

The Arsenal Attack

I am very pleased for Lucas Podolski. He scored that all-important first goal that gets a player's confidence up and running. His performances on the left of our attack have been outstanding, sticking it to Gervinho and Arshavin. He works his socks off and when we do not have the ball, you are sure to find him in the left-back position. His movement for the first goal demonstrates his value to the team. He had dropped deep into left midfield when Steven Gerard gave the ball away to Thomas Vermaelen. Vermaelen passed to Podolski, who  passed to Cazorla further up the pitch, ran all the way into the Liverpool box to score. Brilliant.

Olivier Giroud has not scored so far but I am pleased with the movement off the ball. It is only a matter of time before he starts scoring. He is definitely an intelligent striker. You could see his runs and movement were causing problems for the Liverpool defence.

Where I am concerned is our failure to break down defensively-minded teams in the mould of Stoke City and Sunderland. Many more teams will play a "Park-the -train" game against us, especially at the Emirates. Arsenal are stubborn and perhaps naive in their attacking philosophy. We only play "one" way. I opined before that we need a traditional winger who can just ping in a cross or a shot across the face of the opposition goal. This is one area I feel we have not improved. It is why we have failed to get the best out of a player like Marouane Chamakh or even Bendtner.

Unless Olivier Giroud can run at people with the ball, I suspect he may not have a very happy time playing at the top of our attack all the time, especially in tight games. The lack of directness in attack will see us drop more points against the (for lack of a better word) lower teams who sit back and park the train.

The Arsenal Defence

Much has been said about the influence of Steve Bould but nothing has been said about Neil Banfield. Surely he too must take some credit the defensive record thus far? Surely Arsene Wenger too must take credit for the defensive work thus far?

I think that our defensive woes have always been a problem of application and not personnel. There was a time when Djourou was our best Defender.... Aah Djourou... Anyway, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Djourou, Gibbs, Santos, Sagna and Jenkinson is not an average defence. You would expect them to match any attack thrown at them in this League.

Therefore, for us to celebrate our 3 clean sheets so far this season might be a bit premature. Looking at the opponents we have faced thus far, I think we are on par. We should wait until we go 6 games without conceding before we start lauding the praises of Steve Bould Neil Banfield.

My frustration with this team is failure to deliver at the business end of the season. But maybe this season will be different. I also hope that we shall buy a couple of players in January because we need them. Theo is leaving.

Until then, I shall continue to enjoy the performance at Liverpool and cheer the team on.

COYG!!!