High-pressing Arsenal claim derby points

Results

Date	Time	C	Opponent	F	A	R	S
02 Dec	12:45 PM	P	Tottenham Hotspur (H)	3	0	Win

It was a penalty. Chimbonda body-checked Rosicky way before Chimbonda he got his toes to the ball. TV replays only showed the legs where there was small contact but by then the foul was committed and Rosicky was on his way down.

Rosicky has missed some clear chances before this game and clearly wanted to take the penalty instead of the shot. When things happen quickly in the penalty box, referees have little chance of getting it absolutely right. The bigger teams benefit more from this than smaller teams.

Nobody was sent off for giving away a penalty during this weekend – even goalkeepers who were clearly the last man. I think this is a good development from referees. If you give a penalty, don't send somebody off especially since a descent percentage of penalties are usually wrong. If you don't give a penalty (if the foul is the last man outside the box) then you can send someone off.

Ronaldo dived blatantly against Middlesbrough and got a penalty that even he wasn't expecting. At high speed it looked like a penalty but it was a shameful dive. Middlesbrough did not play Manchester United like they did Arsenal. They were open and looking to go forward instead of packing the box. I wonder what would happen if teams play Chelsea and Manchester United the way they play Arsenal.

Tottenham, Liverpool, Reading and Manchester United who played open against Arsenal got nothing. It's no surprise that other teams learn not to do the same. I guess the big teams do it out of pride, they don't want to be seen as defensive against a rival. But Chelsea will not care. Mourinho is too practical – he will want the points first.

Arsenal did themselves a huge favour by pressing high up the pitch. Fabregas has been protected in the past by playing five in midfield. This worked brilliantly last season but with new players this season, it has proved difficult so Arsenal played four against Spurs and compensated by having Adebayor, van Persie, Ljungberg and Rosicky pressing high and winning the ball.

I was very pleased watching that. It forced Tottenham to rush everything at the back and thus never delivered good balls forward or lost them at the back. It is an efficient way of protecting our back four as well.

Rosicky is a high energy player who is good at pressing and Ljungberg may be going down instead of up but his physical attributes are still very useful in a high pressing game.

Robin van Persie is cool. He has really got his head down and focused on doing his job. He is even quieter on the pitch but his work rate and support play has more than doubled since last year.

I am really happy to see him getting regular games as a full first team member. I believe that by this time next year, he will be the hottest striker in the Premiership. It will be worth waiting for. There are many examples of players who have taken their time to grow and become awesome. Louis Saha is a great example and I bet on van Persie to be better than the lot of them by the end of the season.

Adebayor must be quite a hassle for defenders. Again another player that is good for high pressing games. Adebayor not at all threatening, he is more annoying to defenders than scary.

His decision making and speed of thought with picking the right pass is still average. But his hassle factor is good for the team. He jumps for every ball and runs off the ball and chases defenders. He creates an environment for defenders to make mistakes although he is not that lethal himself when he actually has the ball. He has scored and that can only make him better and more confident.

Lehmann is so scary that even his own players apologise immediately if they bump into him while defending a corner. Eboue got away with a few more lapses of concentration because the balls delivered to Aaron Lennon were poor.

I noticed Touré giving him a talk on several occasions and when he got angry after a challenge on him for longer than he should have, Touré seemed to be telling him to calm down and get on with it. Aaron Lennon is lightning fast – he must be the fastest player in the Premiership. Whenever Eboue or Rosicky accelerate, I feel a sense of excitement as if something is going to happen. It reminds me of the feeling I had when Overmars or Píres were at their peak.

Gilberto did well to out-psych Robinson on the second penalty – like everything he does, Gilberto does it simply.

The fight between Djourou and Senderos for third place in central defence is not a foregone conclusion. Senderos is a classic defender and had the upper hand but while Senderos was out, Djourou got a large number of games under his belt and cemented his place in the squad.

Djourou is a former midfielder so he has some advantages over Senderos. His interception play is better when he is out of the box and he marks like a midfielder – which is better when a striker is running. Senderos is better in defensive positioning but he is not so good with mobile strikers. It will be interesting to see how it develops.

Lastly, I firmly believe that Clichy can be better than Ashley Cole. He's quick, disciplined and very athletic. He pays attention to his defensive duties and attacks well with creativity. What really turned Ashley Cole from just a talent (as Clichy is now) to a world-class player was an inspiring and steady partner. Píres made Ashley Cole. Clichy needs a solid permanent partner to build a good footballing relationship with.

I am convinced that United will lose games. I am sure Chelsea will draw games. United have plugged their dependence on Saha and Rooney by getting Larsson for 3 months.

Larsson is a great striker who can play in a skilful team or a long ball team but there are other weaknesses in the Manchester United team. Right now, United are winning games because of confidence more than anything else. Chelsea are winning because they have a great squad. If any of them screw up, I am hoping we can build on our run to make sure we're there to take advantage.

User Comments

Gooner Bob

Posted on 5 Dec, 2006 at 02:34 PM - Reply

Was it a good Arsenal performance against a shit team. We will only know in the next two games both Porto and Chelski will show how good we really are. I would not like to rely on Adebeyor to lead the line in tough aways games against the likes of Terry.

Rombosia

Posted on 5 Dec, 2006 at 01:19 AM - Reply

I said it before, I'll say it again. We have no problem with the big teams, or proud teams, that come out to play. Our troubles are with the lesser teams. This is a great team, with lots of promise. I still have an issue with people like FastFoot. Why do we keep comparing our players with the exes? Rosicky will NEVER be Pires. He is different, let him play his game. We keep moaning as if this team is a disaster. By the end of the season, am sure we'll be having a group of people capable of emulating the un-beaten side. Am sure they'll do it for many years to come. As a unit.

Still, this season, I feel more comfortable with Djourou, not Senderos. He has become calm while Senderos is still edgy. MAy be after a few games, he'll be better.

Goonersss

Posted on 4 Dec, 2006 at 07:12 PM - Reply

Come on man give Freddie some credit he played superbly! He got abck to defend many times and even contibuted quite alot on the right in attack. Made quite a few openings even after they subbed that useless RB at half time. He may be getting old but he has that positional sense, he's experienced, can pass and run well like the rest and im sure given a few more games in a row he can only improve. Overall good performance from Arsenal. I think they looked more energetic and ran more this game. They closed down the ball and prevented them from picking out accurate passes to Lennon. Hope they have the fitness to continue this display against porto.

pedro

Posted on 4 Dec, 2006 at 07:00 PM - Reply

This isnt a dig at a sp*rs player, but aaron lennon isnt the quickest player in the prem......im a sprinter myself, an the illusion you tend to get with smaller sprinters, cause of leg stride, is that, the are quicker than taller guys...having said that, its veru piossible that he's the quickest over, say 15 yards, coz hes got a very explosive start, like freddie, but anything over 25 yards, any of thierry, theo, many eboue, clichy, toure or gallas would have him...do you remember the sprint to the line that he and gael had on saturday over about 20 yards...clichy won that..........up the arse!

ASkergonan

Posted on 4 Dec, 2006 at 05:49 PM - Reply

This isn't an article? Its just semi-coherent rambling. Try to write with a particular argument in mind, not just stream of consciousness.

AC

Posted on 4 Dec, 2006 at 04:02 PM - Reply

Somebody help me out because I must have missed why Kolo is suspended. I looked at the stats and he wasn't yellow carded. What's the deal. I need to know.

Donovan Smikle d.smikle@yahoo.com

Posted on 4 Dec, 2006 at 02:12 PM - Reply

In case you have not noticed Arsenal does not have a problem with the more established teams, so i would not get too happy or relaxed to see Arsenal beat Tottenham, Chelsea etc. when i get most afraid is against teams like Blackburn, Bolton, Middlesbrough as Wenger says teams that refuse to play. We need to devise a strategy for these teams are its gonna be same old story week in week out. Arsenal is the best team in England its time for them to adapt some new tactics in order to show their true talents

rodnot71

Posted on 4 Dec, 2006 at 02:09 PM - Reply

i really like reading your articles Joel. you always hit the nail on its head.

when teams play open football against us, it will be very difficult for them, but one thing astonish me most.
why? we are still a young and inexperience team, so why do they defend like that? why for example when they play man u or chelsea its different?

GallasSD

Posted on 4 Dec, 2006 at 12:54 PM - Reply

Great match! Good performances and they looked like a team. We got lucky with the penalties but considering a couple of their players should've been sent off, we deserved them.

Lehman - I'm less concerned about him being scary as I am him doing his job. The great old man is slipping. We didn't concede yesterday but too many easy balls are getting past him. We need a new keeper.

Richard

Posted on 4 Dec, 2006 at 12:03 PM - Reply

I can't believe you think that was actually a penalty! Both werent penalties and you are very optimistic over how well arsenal are going to do this season. Yes man united and chelsea will slip up its just we will certainly slip up as well. Third place this season and then either first next season or the one after.

g

Posted on 4 Dec, 2006 at 11:07 AM - Reply

not to get carried away im afraid,.always good to beat the spuds but our troubles are far from over.

zu

Posted on 4 Dec, 2006 at 09:38 AM - Reply

very optimistic that. but i would rather live a day like a foolhardy gunners fan then an entire lifetime thinking we dont have it.

AC

Posted on 4 Dec, 2006 at 08:35 AM - Reply

Adebayor! I'm excited for this guy. Hasn't been the best finisher but he deserves credit for the way he played.

I like Djourou. I think back to the beginning of the season when he was playing and I thought back then that he showed a lot of promise. I feel comfortable when he plays in the back. I haven't felt that way about Senderos. I could be wrong and maybe Senderos is a better defender, but I just feel better with Djourou. Of course, all this changes when Gallas gets back.

Gooner

Posted on 4 Dec, 2006 at 07:09 AM - Reply

Good to see Arsenal winning again but I'm not sure that Chelsea and Man Utd are going to lose many games and that Arsenal is effectively out of the first place race

Frank

Posted on 4 Dec, 2006 at 06:07 AM - Reply

Excellent article. Kolo, Gilberto, Cesc and Robin were really talking to each other and organising throughout the game. Great to watch. If we can continue to play as a team for the rest of the season the squad will really begin to realise its potential.

FastFoot

Posted on 4 Dec, 2006 at 05:44 AM - Reply

Rosicky is too casual with the ball, losing it too often. And he has lots to learn about defending. Remember Pires. Hardly ever lost possession. Let's hope it is due to some injury.

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