Arsenal pull it all together and deliver

Results

Date	Time	C	Opponent	F	A	R	S
12 Nov	4:00 PM	P	Liverpool (H)	3	0	Win

Arsenal played like a true total footballing side – two goals from open play assisted by a midfielder and then an attacker and finished by a midfielder and a central defender.

Liverpool were the perfect fixture after all that had been going on for Arsenal with results on the pitch and issues off the pitch. It had to be a big game to produce the right response. On this day, Arsenal took their style, the lessons of being physically strong, the lessons from high pressing and total commitment; put it all together and delivered.

Someone must have had a word with Henry because he played like a proper team player. Henry is very funny; God only knows what goes on in his head. He would chase back, win the ball and will be so pleased with himself that he forgets to look up and set-up players to continue the advantage that he just created. But it should not overshadow the fact that Henry played like everyone expects him to and how he is capable of.

Wenger should tell the players that the level of commitment they showed was not extraordinary, it is what is expected!

Hleb is a very important player for Arsenal and he is enjoying having Eboué back. Fabregas is an amazing player. Fabregas is by far the best player of his age anywhere in the world. Fabregas is better than Rooney, Messi or Ronaldo in my view.

Cesc doesn't just play football, he thinks football. He creates rhythms, tempo and momentum. I keep having to remind myself how young he is especially when he does something silly like making faces at another player or tackling out of frustration.

Marco van Basten changed his system to accommodate van Persie. Coaches that work with van Persie think very highly of him and so does Wenger. That's why Arsenal's only scoring striker – Adebayor – was on the bench. van Persie is showing a lot of maturity right now. He was immense against Liverpool. He still needs to think about his passing decisions but I'm really liking van Persie at the moment. van Persie is also improving in his work rate and defensive support.

It's so good to have Clichy and Eboué back. Clichy can be as good as Ashley and I hope he can be better. With both full backs, we don't have the painful width problem that we have been experiencing. Flamini is a hard worker who likes to get forward. In the Carling Cup he was one of the most influential players in attacking situations and he was willing to get into the box several times. Flamini also has the same attitude as Freddie. They chase players down and you can never quite beat them. Once you think you have, they get up and get on your case straight away and never give up.

I described Liverpool a few weeks ago as "inefficient". They have improved and I noticed that one great thing about Liverpool is that they play the best off-the-ball football in the Premiership. They have good mobility, cover angles very well without having people physically there. Their problem is that they don't keep the same discipline when they have the ball.

It is clear that we need the work rate and high pressing to keep this momentum going. So Henry will have to continue playing like this and everyone has to keep this attitude up. If Arsenal slow down again then things will turn bad again very quickly. This must not be another false start.

Mourinho says Drogba is the best striker on the planet right now. He is right! Henry doesn't have to look far to see how a Premiership striker has to be in order to survive and score as many goals as he managed last season.

The Premiership has changed in the past 2 years. Defenders are not rubbish anymore, they have basic skills and discipline – they don't make mistakes as often, you have to hassle them into a making a mistake. van Persie knows already and Henry showed that he can do the things that the fans expect from him.

I believe Chelsea and especially Manchester United are still beatable in the league and it will happen again soon. I think we still have a chance. I can't wait for Wenger to break his silence – in a sense, the team has done much of the work on the pitch – he doesn't have to say much now.

User Comments

Ashburton Babe

Posted on 14 Nov, 2006 at 12:26 PM - Reply

Although I agree Drogba seems on fire at the moment, when you look at the Premiership stats only: Drogba: P12 G8, Henry: P10 G5. So he's only 3 behind him with 2 less games played. I think we all panic far too early. Come the end of the season he'll be banging them in for us, no problem. :o)

cruzito

Posted on 14 Nov, 2006 at 09:30 AM - Reply

Definately much better form the captain. He look more confident on the ball. Gallas seemed secure in CB role aswell.

Badrax

Posted on 14 Nov, 2006 at 08:40 AM - Reply

I just want to say I enjoy reading your articles a lot. Having watched this match twice( I watch all arsenal matches twice), I actually found this the least enjoyable of all the matches arsenal have played at the Emirates this season. I lost count of many times Flamini lost the ball in the match and as usual Hleb got many passes wrong but his dribbling is just amazing. Having said that only Flamini in the midflied could have got that goal. Fabregas or hleb or even Rosicky would not have scored the first goal, just getting into the right position and bundling the ball home. Maybe Freddie used to get those sort of goals but I still feel that Wenger has to play with 2 out and out strikers, preferably Adebayour who can score some scrappy goals and makes good runs because none of our midfielders are natural goalscores.

ScarlettATL

Posted on 14 Nov, 2006 at 12:17 AM - Reply

Good Article... one can sense that you were relieved of a bit of aggravation with our Gunners. I especially liked your comments about Liverpool's off the ball play. I noticed that too. It was also clear what Adebayor brings to the team despite his blown goal - MOVEMENT. At several moments during the match Arsenal (on offense) seemed locked in position with very little movement to loosen up the attack. There were a lot of bad passes and it seemed that Liverpool might beat us in positioning.

Donovan Smikle

Posted on 13 Nov, 2006 at 05:14 PM - Reply

This win was not typical Arsenal. I dont think Liverpool played bad I just think it was an uncharacteristic gutsy, grinded-out win from Arsenal. The last time i said we needed to a little bit more than classy and we showed a little more desire. I think thats what we need to do to be successfull in the now more competetive premiership.

Being a Gunner

Posted on 13 Nov, 2006 at 01:18 PM - Reply

Sweet three points! To be the champion you have to beat your rivals - title rivals. Arsenal have done it against Man Utd & Liverpool, with return game to be played of course. Next up Chelsea!

Donaldo

Posted on 13 Nov, 2006 at 11:28 AM - Reply

Drogba may be the top scorer but a world class striker do me a favour.He is not even the best striker at Chelsea. Arsenal fans are so fickle Henry has a couple of poor games and he is finished.If Wenger was given the choice do you honestly think he would choose Drogba over Henry. The one thing Drogba is the best in the world at it is DIVING !!!!!!!!

Aussie fan

Posted on 13 Nov, 2006 at 11:26 AM - Reply

Did anyone notice, how unbelievable the skills of the Arsenal is? Every single player have the technique on ball and in my opinion is why we will do better against the Bigger clubs than say the Boltons West Hams who play British style games.
Our hardest games will always be against these Mid Table teams. My gut feeling tells me we will beat Chelsea to make it 3/3 against the big clubs.
I Believe its got to do with, the amount of overseas players we have playing in these clubs. Where as the mid table teams rely alot on their Britsh players who are hard nosed warriors.
But if they try to match these clubs for skills and technique they will get murdered

Rombosia

Posted on 13 Nov, 2006 at 11:14 AM - Reply

Well, we worked hard. We were not pretty for some periods of the game, but U need the results. Av seen us play far better than we did yesterday na lose, so it evens out.

Henry worked hard yesterday, but not efficient. I still think what Wenger needs to do is switch the positions of Henry n RVP. Let Henry go back to the left n RVP to the center but slightly to the right. I insist that RVP be given the chance to cut back n shoot. ALso, Henry needs to run at those defenders from the left. That central attack role, just like with France, is making him look bad!

All the same, I hope we can build from this. Though I expected us to win. Our problem is not with the big teams, coz they come to play n win, so they open up better for our game. Our problems r with the lesser teams that sit back n defend. We have to find a solution for those.

Frank

Posted on 13 Nov, 2006 at 10:34 AM - Reply

Excellent article. I think you have it spot on. I am not sure whether the Arsenal system requires a Drogba. It looks like we are heading towards becoming a total footballing side - and the goals can come from anywhere. Of course we have a defence, midfield, attack formation but with their pace and skill many of the players can play anywhere. We are not quite there yet and I daresay we will come off the rails from time to time...but when it works it is awe-inspiring.

lc

Posted on 13 Nov, 2006 at 10:24 AM - Reply

Good post! Nothing more to add.

Tony Montana

Posted on 13 Nov, 2006 at 10:00 AM - Reply

Good article with an interesting aspect on Premiership defenders and Liverpool's off the ball movement. To say, however, that Fabregas is better than Rooney is a bit of a stretch in my opinion. They play in different positions anyway.

g

Posted on 13 Nov, 2006 at 09:28 AM - Reply

Beautiful article. Please keep up the good work.

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