It is very rare that Arsenal teams, at least in recent years are found wanting in their attacking play. It is also equally worrying that Arsenal seem to have lost their ability to dominate ball possession like they used to. Yes we still tend to average 54-55 percent possession, but I want the days when we had 60- 70 percent ball possession at the end of 90 monutes of football.
I suspect that the two things (reduction in ball possession and striking potency) are linked. It follows that the more of the ball you have, the more questions you can ask of the opposition. Equally, the less questions you allow them to ask you....
The recent loss to Swansea was a case in point. I noticed how for significant periods, Swansea out-passed us on our home turf. We could not (and generally we do not these days) get the ball quickly by pushing up as a team and putting pressure on the man with the ball. When we do have the ball, we don't seem to know how to wreck havoc, or as some would say, we lack ideas in attack.
Tomas Rosicky, one of many players whom I love seems to be the solution to our current woes. He is a brilliant mover of the ball and seems to speed things up in the side. I was glad when he scored the in the Champions League match against Olympiacos in midweek. It was really a meaningless game to me, win or lose, but it will do him the world of good... until he has another injury....
Why do I think it was meaningless? Finishing top in your group does not guarantee you an easy fixture in the next round of the Champions League. If you are in this competition and still hoping for the so-called easy draws, then you probably don't deserve to be in this class of clubs. And besides, Arsenal are no push-overs themselves. Other teams will want to avoid Arsenal too. It's all about psychology really. I don't fear anybody. No. Not even Barcelona. Why? Well, because I know we'll get knocked out anyway so why fear what you know?
But Rosicky cannot be the only solution to our current woes. I always maintain that we have as good a squad as Manchester City in this league, in as far as player for player ability is concerned. I mean, take a look at this: Szecsny, Sagna, Koscielny, Metersacker, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Santos, Arteta, Wilshere, Cazorla, Diaby, Ramsey, Walcott, Gervinho, Podolski, Giroud, Djourou, Oxlade-Chamberlain... This is not a squad to laugh about.
Where we differ with Manchester City and others is in application and organisation. Currently our form has been so poor that we are afraid to even do the basics- which is to keep the ball. Worse still, our lack of tactical organisations means that teams know how we are going to line up and how we are going to play.
Our build up from the back is so poor because teams put two strikers up against our central defenders, forcing errors and hurried clearances up field. Equally, our attack is suffering because, apart from Theo, we lack genuine pace and directness in our attack. Think back to the days of Pires, Henry and Lyungberg and compare Podolski, Giroud and Theo/Chamberlain.
Be that as it may, I still believe we have enough talent in this squad to turn our fortunes around. But most importantly, the boss needs to buy some attacking players in January. Until then, he must use what he has to fix this situation.
Let us see what happens in the coming weeks.
COYG!!
I suspect that the two things (reduction in ball possession and striking potency) are linked. It follows that the more of the ball you have, the more questions you can ask of the opposition. Equally, the less questions you allow them to ask you....
The recent loss to Swansea was a case in point. I noticed how for significant periods, Swansea out-passed us on our home turf. We could not (and generally we do not these days) get the ball quickly by pushing up as a team and putting pressure on the man with the ball. When we do have the ball, we don't seem to know how to wreck havoc, or as some would say, we lack ideas in attack.
Tomas Rosicky, one of many players whom I love seems to be the solution to our current woes. He is a brilliant mover of the ball and seems to speed things up in the side. I was glad when he scored the in the Champions League match against Olympiacos in midweek. It was really a meaningless game to me, win or lose, but it will do him the world of good... until he has another injury....
Why do I think it was meaningless? Finishing top in your group does not guarantee you an easy fixture in the next round of the Champions League. If you are in this competition and still hoping for the so-called easy draws, then you probably don't deserve to be in this class of clubs. And besides, Arsenal are no push-overs themselves. Other teams will want to avoid Arsenal too. It's all about psychology really. I don't fear anybody. No. Not even Barcelona. Why? Well, because I know we'll get knocked out anyway so why fear what you know?
But Rosicky cannot be the only solution to our current woes. I always maintain that we have as good a squad as Manchester City in this league, in as far as player for player ability is concerned. I mean, take a look at this: Szecsny, Sagna, Koscielny, Metersacker, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Santos, Arteta, Wilshere, Cazorla, Diaby, Ramsey, Walcott, Gervinho, Podolski, Giroud, Djourou, Oxlade-Chamberlain... This is not a squad to laugh about.
Where we differ with Manchester City and others is in application and organisation. Currently our form has been so poor that we are afraid to even do the basics- which is to keep the ball. Worse still, our lack of tactical organisations means that teams know how we are going to line up and how we are going to play.
Our build up from the back is so poor because teams put two strikers up against our central defenders, forcing errors and hurried clearances up field. Equally, our attack is suffering because, apart from Theo, we lack genuine pace and directness in our attack. Think back to the days of Pires, Henry and Lyungberg and compare Podolski, Giroud and Theo/Chamberlain.
Be that as it may, I still believe we have enough talent in this squad to turn our fortunes around. But most importantly, the boss needs to buy some attacking players in January. Until then, he must use what he has to fix this situation.
Let us see what happens in the coming weeks.
COYG!!
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