Written by Joel Che on Monday, October 6, 2008

Past Results

Date	Time	C	Opponent	F	A	R	S
04 Oct	3:00 PM	P	Sunderland (A)	1	1	Draw

I didn't see Francesc Fabregas' goal. I left after the Sunderland goal. But I thought Arsenal might score so I kept my mobile phone on and kept checking. Had Arsenal lost, the punters would have been, rightly, asking the question this morning whether a team can win the league after losing 3 matches – especially given that Arsenal has had an easier start and the statistics of the previous years don't favour more than two losses per season for the title.

About the game itself, Arsène Wenger's take was this: "I like to think usually the team that takes the initiative should be rewarded, but it is not always like that in football."

True but more importantly, Arsenal should be ready for that by now. We have seen this now for five seasons, it should not surprise us.

Roy Keane's take was this: "We played Arsenal a number of times last year, we played Chelsea, we played United - we played United here and went 4-4-2 and we lost 4-0, and it could have been seven."

Also true. Roy Keane was right to pick his team for a draw or to minimize the chances of a confidence depleting thumping. Sunderland would not have deserved a win the same way Hull City did.

Since I'm a Gooner I have to wonder what we should have done to win. Wenger has been experimenting with an away team since the start of the season. It is clear that Wenger should not play Samir Nasri and Theo Walcott at the same time away from home in a 4-4-2 formation so he has been working with 5 midfielders with Alex Song, Denilson, Fabregas and Theo Walcott plus 1.

In Kiev it was Emmanuel Eboué. In Bolton it was also Eboué as the fifth man but it didn't work all that good until Arsenal scored. What really worked for Arsenal in that game was that although Bolton were compact, they were adventurous and allowed Emmanuel Adebayor time to take long balls.

Against Sunderland, the fifth man was Robin van Persie. Having him there is like wanting to have your cake and eat it. You can't want to play 5 in midfield but want to have 2 strikers. It is not easy to make it work unless you have a true winger / striker like Eduardo or Carlos Vela.

At half-time, it was pretty clear. Adebayor could not take long balls because Sunderland were extremely compact. If a team is compact and playing 5 in midfield and if your big boys can get the space to out-jump and out-muscle then you need different kinds of players up front. You need movement players. Cute players who can find the variation in small spaces to create chances in a packed defence.

At half-time, it was pretty clear that van Persie, Adebayor and Fabregas as a half-striker were not going to give Arsenal the cutting edge against a 10 man defence. For one thing, the two variations that Arsenal have (thankfully) added to their game this season – crosses and long balls were not working.

Bacary Sagna's crosses met with Adebayor surrounded by 4 defenders and a short Fabregas who was standing way outside the box and RvP way out on the left wing. Fabregas was too far forward to launch earlier long balls to Adebayor but when Kolo Touré or Denilson did, he was surrounded by three players.

Good news then that Wenger has learned to substitute earlier. Nicklas Bendtner and Vela are much better in movement. Nasri is also good in tight spaces but his vision is still extremely poor compared to just about any other player at Arsenal right now. I keep repeating myself that Vela has the most fantastic movement that I have seen at Arsenal for 12 years in the final third – better than Freddie Ljungberg at his best. Above all, Vela can take the ball in tight areas and so can Bendtner.

Bendtner came on and Arsenal changed instantly. He started a move that ended with an assist that RvP should have scored. I really wanted Vela to come in but instead Sunderland scored and I left.

My verdict on the Sunderland game is as follows. First we should know by now how these games work and not complain about teams putting 10men behind the ball. Like Roy Keane rightly put it: "The bottom line for any of these top teams, they will tell you, part of the game is breaking down the opposition."

Second, we should always try to score in the first 30 minutes because we rarely lose when we score first and early. It's almost worth throwing everything at a game early against a mid to low table opponent because you don't want 0-0 at 70 mins even 60 minutes. Most Premiership teams are good enough to score one goal against anybody.

Third, if a team is playing tight and compact let's start with mobile, movement players. Fourth, If we want to play 5 in midfield let really play 5 players in midfield not try to have our cake and eat it by playing a striker there. Lastly, if we are playing low-table teams away who play 5 in midfield should we really do that same? Should we not play a strong midfield quartet instead? They will only have one up front anyway so why go negative too and disrupt our natural balance.

Arsenal had the easiest start of the top four. Manchester United looked like they had lost their way. Right now after 7 games Arsenal are a notable distance behind and United whom we all agreed were in danger of being left out could go above Arsenal with their game in hand. It's definitely not over but it is difficult not to start asking the question now – can Chelsea be caught? They have played big opponents with a significant absentees.

Can we afford to keep Bendtner on the bench?

User Comments

26

maori gooner

Posted on 9 Oct, 2008 at 10:22 PM - Reply

There are a number of people complaining about our defence, in particular Gallas and Toure and defensive midfielder position. What people don't realise is that if we loss 1-0 or 2-1 should we be blaming the defence? No, because we ahould be scoring more goals! We will always concede, even the so called lowly teams have the ability to sneak a goal past even the topsides. But the amount of chances we create that are not finished is staggering. That game against hull we should have scored at least 2 more, and against Sunderland our finishing needed to be way more clinical. That is not the fault of Gallas, Toure and Denilson. The sooner Bendter is starting the better, maybe it will take an injury to Van persie to realise this.

25

goonnneeerss

Posted on 9 Oct, 2008 at 09:14 AM - Reply

Patrick if we win the carling cup and the fa cup ITS THE DOUBLE and if we win those 2 on the back of a 4 year trophy dry spell then im fine with it !

24

goonnneeerss

Posted on 9 Oct, 2008 at 09:13 AM - Reply

David , WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT HOW IS ADE THE WORST STRIKER WAS HE THE WORST STRIKER WHEN HE CAME SECOND TO RONALDO SCORING 30+ GOALS LAST SEASON NOOO I BET U LAPPED IT UP.

Now i hate fans like you and it is fans like you that is making him the way he is doubting him booing him from the stands im a 3+year season ticket holder and i despise fans that boo adebayor it infuriates me so much to see it.

To proove my point you know this season when ade scores he seems to have the need to kiss the badge face our fans our loyal fans and say YES I AM A GOONER all that stuff in the summer was confusion and not helped by the press and you booing him only makes his striking ability low PLEASE I WILL ASK ALL FANS THAT DO NOT LIKE ADEBAYOR KEEP IT TO YOURSELF THE MAN DOES NOT NEED IT WHEN HE IS TRYING TO WIN TROPHIES FOR US,HIMSELF AND THE CLUB!

23

goonnneeerss

Posted on 9 Oct, 2008 at 09:05 AM - Reply

Daymee,Just a reply to your idea of starting young theo and Bendtner in the league I dont see why or how it would work.

Theo is starting in the line-up quite reguarly but no-body can work with Nicolas im sorry i cant rate him it takes 5 passes for him to even shoot inside the box and he always has to be right in front of goal when he does shoot im sorry i think he is one of the small minority of dodgy buys that Wenger has not managed to realise YET! So starting him in the league would not work i guarantee you that!

22

Rosicky Fan

Posted on 8 Oct, 2008 at 08:41 AM - Reply

u left 5 mins before time?
and u call urself a gooner?
this blog has lost quite a bit of credibility i'm afraid :S

21

GunnerSG

Posted on 8 Oct, 2008 at 04:42 AM - Reply

Wenger has admitted that the team is learning or yet to learn to break down the opposition through creativity, accurate and incisive passing. I also have the opinion he is mixing the team up a bit to find out which combination of players enables the team to score more goals, freely. I am very impressed with the way Arsenal are mixing their game up, through long balls and crosses. Its still very early in the season, lets see how far this team can go.

20

Krishna, Hanwell

Posted on 7 Oct, 2008 at 06:39 PM - Reply

I always love the way Arsene's way of playing football. It is very attractive to watch. He is genius in finding the talents and developing them.
But there are some holes the way he plays our team. We used to have players like keown, great Adams, Dixon, Winterburn who were typical defenders but now we have great footballers but not defenders, that's why we seems to concede stupid goals especially from setpieces. When other team play with ten man behind, we seems to struggle. I believe everyone knows the reason, our team just love to pass the ball, but they don't have direct approach. Sometimes depending on opposition we need to play direct passing (3-4 passes)football to break them down. Sometimes we need to score from outside the penalty area. One last point we definately need very good and strong holding midfielder which will allow other players play the way Arsene want.

19

Tivhemen

Posted on 7 Oct, 2008 at 02:03 PM - Reply

Yeah,i believe Vela Has d best movement in arsenal 4 d past twelve years. he should be properly used against very dfensive minded teams like hull city.

18

daymee

Posted on 7 Oct, 2008 at 11:08 AM - Reply

It is time to wield the axe I'd say.
Arsenal need to start playing Bendtner and Walcott from the start of games. From pre-season you could see that those 2 have an understanding.
Adebayor and Van Persie will both benefit from sitting on the bench. Let Vela and Bendtner start games now and see the difference that makes.

Unfortunately the manager has some players he considers undroppable and Adebayor is one of those. If Adebayor starts then he needs to be playing Bendtner. Bendtner is the master of link up play at Arsenal and it does not make sense how you bench a player in form. Bendtner scores lots of goals in pre-season, so why bench him, even against Sheffield Utd, he got 2. Bendtner is the man in form with Walcott. Those 2 need a run of games and if RvP and AdeB have to sit it out on the bench then so be it!

17

laban

Posted on 7 Oct, 2008 at 08:38 AM - Reply

How much cheaper are those 85min tickets, and from where do you buy them?

16

matt in USA

Posted on 7 Oct, 2008 at 01:11 AM - Reply

good write up, agree with your comments. An interesting dilemma: van persie, adabayor, eduardo...can we field three strikers at once? It might net the early goal you call for. Would make for good viewing anyway.

15

Patrick

Posted on 6 Oct, 2008 at 11:14 PM - Reply

Sorry, but it looks like the best we can hope for this season is the FA Cup or Carling Cup. I don't see how we can continue to drop points against these teams and stay in the title race. We need to get rid of Gallas, give him the chop. Sorry to say it, but its true. He's a poor captain, and downright awful at keeping the defence together for set pieces. We need a new center-back (give Silvestre his chance) and we need a true DM the way Vieira or even Flamini was. We can keep lying to ourselves saying that we have the quality, but we lacked sharpness, and all that rubbish, but at the end of the day Song, Denilson, and Gallas are just not good enough. Isn't Gallas almost 36? Even for a CB, that's too old.

14

maxi

Posted on 6 Oct, 2008 at 09:51 PM - Reply

U shouldnt criticize RVP in this.

13

maxi

Posted on 6 Oct, 2008 at 09:44 PM - Reply

Melvin how good of u to state the short but precise thing to do. We need a change every gooner can belief in.

12

sean

Posted on 6 Oct, 2008 at 06:54 PM - Reply

exactly my question.

11

GoonerSam

Posted on 6 Oct, 2008 at 04:37 PM - Reply

I'm a lifelong Arsenal supporter and I'm deeply distressed that at this early stage in the season, our team has already dropped so many points. I can't decide where exactly the problems are - with Wenger, the team or (most likley), a combination of the two. I agree with many of the comments already posted here. I don't think Adebayor and RvP are consistent or clinical enough. My preferred starting forward pair would be Bendtner/Vela with Nasri behind. Sorry - there is something about Adebayor's atitude I don't like - he didnt celebrate when Cesc equalised against Sunderland. That's just one example. Overall, I don't think we, as a team are good enough. I think Almunia is very good but the defence is very fragile. I think Gallas and Toure have lost it. Midfield is too unsure of itself, not heavyweight enough. Cesc is outstanding but he lacks a partnering player of sufficient ability and authority as himself. Denilson - not yet the required calibre, but perhaps in time. I could go on but I won't, makes me too upset. I sometimes wonder whether Wenger really wants to win anything. Maybe he only cares about the Champons League and once he wins that he'll leave?

10

kotazo11

Posted on 6 Oct, 2008 at 03:57 PM - Reply

bendtner is agood players when it come to ball control , the speed and skill needed to create pontetion possesion for adebayor to score a goal.what's arsenal need is just to strength the strike power & incourage the player to play real whats need but not looking at the team history , that's what they a doing know . namlyf 4shoo

9

Eddie McGinty

Posted on 6 Oct, 2008 at 01:21 PM - Reply

Why didn't you stay to the end to support the the team, especially away from home. Terrible person.

8

ASIM-786

Posted on 6 Oct, 2008 at 12:48 PM - Reply

From my point of view we lack long rang striks
and other point to b noted is that the physicality of robin van parsi he looks like just shiwing here and there he must behave like a man but there is no dout he is a good player and most of our goals are coming through him
adabayour still not in his best form lacking finish which is definetly causing us alot
nasri is agood player got good physic tough gay
can get pass through defenders

i will go with both nasri and walcot starting at home and away aswell because
problem is not in midfield its our forward line which is not working they are lacking finish

we need a striker like ibrahimavic and totti physicaly strong and can produce un expected goal from any were at any time
or we need a winger like C Ronaldo
at least nai must b in our team if he comes we can definatly produc good results

its not over yet we can still produce good results
and inshAllah we will be intop two untill in jan
the transfer window reopens and our first taget must b to get nani in our team at least or any other good winger

7

shema-inno

Posted on 6 Oct, 2008 at 12:17 PM - Reply

You are right my friend, we can not afford to keep Bendtner and Carlos Vela or Nasri on the bench, because there are two players who can make everything happen. At the moment i don't want to see arsenal losing again, especiall against low teams cause they should had been at the top of the table. But i believe that Chelsea gonna slip as also as Liverpool so we can go to the top.

6

nicholas forson, ghana

Posted on 6 Oct, 2008 at 11:28 AM - Reply

we need someone like essien, de rossi, gattuso, or even muntari to partner cesc in the middle of the park. i remember when denilson scored, fans were making so much noise about him but now we can see the importance of signing stephen appiah. no one can tell me his quality is way down lower than the above mentioned player but he deifinitely matured, skilled and better enough than denilson, song or diaby. he can lead too, which is very important......

5

David

Posted on 6 Oct, 2008 at 11:20 AM - Reply

Totally agreed. Adebayor is by far the worst striker in the big four. How come Wenger has never seen the chances Ade had wasted and started to do something about it? Torres and Anelka would be even happier if they were given so many chances in each game. Like I always said even when Ade scored 24 goals last year, that he is why we couldn't and won't win the league. Bendtner's first touch is way better. Why, why can't Wenger just start Vela and Bendtner against Hull and Sunderland, especially after a superb play against Sheff Utd?

4

melvinh

Posted on 6 Oct, 2008 at 10:37 AM - Reply

Another season drifting away. I feel it is time the proffesor moved on but who would replace him? Tony aint ready yet, who? Maybe its time for the prof to change, the game has moved on.

3

Gunner 4 life

Posted on 6 Oct, 2008 at 10:16 AM - Reply

Great article! I realy think the Bendtner/Vela partnership can do wonders for us, i dont know why AW wont give them a chance. In the Carling Cup third round, the Bendtner/Vela partnership produced 5 goals! If thats not enough reason to keep the partnership in the starting line up, i dont know what is!

On Eduardo, we need more players like him! I think we started to lose form after his injury last season. We also need someone that can score from outside the box like Rosicky, we cant keep trying to run the ball over the goal line when there are 10 opposition defenders in the box! Its vertually impossible.

2

Amir

Posted on 6 Oct, 2008 at 10:11 AM - Reply

Well, yes. Our tactics worry me though. For me, its Song or Denilson- not both. Were we playing 4-3-3, 4-5-1 or hoping to somehow play both? Adebayor is cutting an increasingly disinterested figure.

When the game needs chasing (this has happened a few times now), Wenger brings makes it 4 strikers with Bentdner and Vela on the pitch. I'm not sure thats how you 'break teams down', perhaps some midfield mobility (Nasri should have been first on, without doubt) first, rather than hoping that strikers = goals.

We have had, on paper, the easy run so far, and we have not made the most of it.

1

Iain

Posted on 6 Oct, 2008 at 09:13 AM - Reply

Can we afford not to buy some new quality players - oh - too late!

Writer Profile

User Comments

• Got something to say?
• Read comments

Advertisement