Nov 12
Arsenal stays top of the league with a convincing 3-1 win at Reading.
Mathieu Flamini first broke down the home team with a late first-half goal, then the Gunners took command in the second. Emmanuel Adebayor scored early in the half, had a goal incorrectly disallowed for offside a few minutes later, then Alex Hleb sealed the win with the 3rd in the 78th minute. Nicky Shorey got a consolation goal in the 87th minute for Reading.
Also of note, Cesc picked up a yellow card after Hleb’s goal, meaning he’ll miss the home match against Wigan due to an accumulation of yellow cards. Strategic or not, it’s not a bad game for Cesc to miss.
54 Responses to “Reading 1 - 3 Arsenal”
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November 12th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
think Cesc did it on purpose - picking u the yellow. better for him to miss the Wigan game at home than the away matches which are coming up.
and btw, let’s forget about the “formation”. 4-4-1, 4-4-2, 4-3-3, 4-5-1… what’s the “difference”. We are always going out to attack on all fronts anyway. it sure hell didn’t look like a 4-5-1 we played tonight. more like a 1-4-5!
November 12th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
it looked very much like a 4-5-1…..there IS a reason there are different formations named.
November 12th, 2007 at 6:13 pm
ok, 4-5-1… so what? We WON for God’s sake.
November 12th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
Hleb’s feet and dribbling ability are amazing! He does it all over the park, but did you see the little Cryuff turn that he did in front of Hahnemann’s goals with his left foot to his front? First he pulls it to his left and makes the keeper dive that way and then pulls of this masterclass Cryuff turn to put it back to his right foot. Its amazing he has the audacity to do that in that tight a situation. Guys like Ronaldo and Messi are also good dribblers, but they on their explosive acceleration after their feints, while Hleb is just pure ball control. Hleb MOTM again. For me, he and Cesc are neck and neck in MOTM awards
As for Cesc’s yellow, I think he was looking for one (cmon, that was obvious yellow as he was dragging back on his opponent until he got whistled), as missing Wigan at home is much better than missing the following away fixtures at Aston Villa, Newcastle and Middlesboro.
November 12th, 2007 at 6:35 pm
This year Hleb seems more like the player that I saw in all those Stuttgart highlight reels. I think someone on this site posted a link to his best moments from Germany when he joined Arsenal. But until this season, he didn’t look like that same player.
November 12th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
I’ve no problem with the 4-5-1 when the players are playing well. Adebayor is massively important in that formation, so are Hleb and Rosicky. 4-4-2 maybe gives the team more scope when they are not playing well and allow us to have a constant goal threat. We absolutely dominated tonight and the 4-5-1 probably played large part in that. With deep-lying attackers we pick up more loose balls in midfield than we would playing 4-4-2 so it’s hard to make a definitive conclusion either way.
I thought Rosicky was fairly poor as well offensively- obsessed with playing one touch football when he should hold the ball. However Rosicky at the 70% is still a class act and brings his own brand of oil to the machine. He is also very good defensively and is one of the best tacklers I’ve seen for an attacking player. His defensive composure and tenacity adds alot to the team.
The Flamster did well. Luckily his poor shielding of the ball was not exposed because Reading did not push up on us. It gave him time to think and spray it around quite nicely.
No one played great and there is still lots to work on and players I am not sure about, but considering how easy this game was that is very comforting. Diarra looked the bomb as well when he came on.
November 12th, 2007 at 6:41 pm
Cesc’s yellow card was was the high comedy moment of the season so far. Usually that award goes to Jens but with him on the bench, Fab stepped up. Cheers for making me laugh out loud during a match.
November 12th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
Hey Brendan or anyone else,
can you describe what Cesc did to get his card?
I still thought that Cesc’s imitation of Nani’s agony & ‘pain’ was hilarious, but did this incident today top that?
Thanks
November 12th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
Happy that Adebayor broke his scoring drought with a Henry-like goal. Should have two if not for the very poor lines man. That lines man ought to be banned from the next few EPL games. Helb was slightly off the pace in the first half but came on very strong in the second. Reading had Gunnarsson shadowing Helb and the ref should have shown Gunnarsson a yellow card in the first half for some of his challenges. Flamini showed why he is keeping Gilberto on the bench with an energetic display and breaking the stalemate just before half-time.
In the 2nd half, Reading was forced to abandon their 10 men defence scheme and came out searching for a goal. In truth they never really threaten Arsenal much from open play and from setpieces. At 3-0, the boys took their foot off the pedal and got sloppy. The goal which Arsenal conceded may come to haunt us at the end of the season and it started with Walcott losing possession to 2 Reading defenders at the edge of Reading’s box. I am still not convinced Walcott can play central striker - he was too easily pushed off the ball on two ocassions. He really needs to hit the gym to build up his upper body strength. Diarra is obviously a very talented player on the ball but I think he tends to take one too many touches when he receives the ball. It looks like he needs to beat one or two players before releasing the ball unlike Cesc or Flamini who will lay the ball off quickly. While Eboue provides defensive strength on Arsenal’s right side, he needs to work on his decision making. In a one-on-one against Reading’s keeper, he chose the wrong option of rounding the keeper and ended up injured on the billboard.
November 12th, 2007 at 6:55 pm
I immediately thought the same thing about the Fabregas yellow card. I was concerned when he picked up the fourth last week. Wenger had a little smile in the post match interview when asked about it. Clearly a a tactical yellow if there ever was such a thing. Misses Wigan and gets a rest after the international break. Perfect!
Fabregas was named MOTD.
Adebayor was class today. The linesman giveth (The Gallas goal) and they taketh away (Ade’s disallowed goal).
Almunia had little to do but he did that well.
Reading were fooled once (4-1) but Coppel was not going to be fooled twice with his team’s approach. No matter. Coppel didn’t bother to say thank you to Arsene for the ex-Arsenal players that got his butt in the Premiership.
Arsenal played a superb tidy game against an over-matched opponent. They were patient, they tried width, they tried long ball and Eboue had some wayward shots from outside the box. In the end it was the staple of Arsenal’s ‘arsenal’, the counter-attack. And it was another Arsenal MF to score as Flamini gets his first. A pleasant night out for a bit of training up at the Madejski Stadium. Appreciate it Reading.
November 12th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
good point ctpa about the counterattack. i think the current side starts to pick up a bit of this traditional weapon of us during the Henry/Vieira era.
the Adebayor rule out “goal” would probably have been our best goal tonight, had not because of a blind lineman.
a classic counter from Almunia all the way to Adebayor round the ‘keeper. Top stuff.
November 12th, 2007 at 7:10 pm
Fabregas yellow card came as he latched onto Fae’s arm while he was near the half-way line and hung on forever, begging the referee for the card.
Flamini was excellent today. He created the turnover that led to his goal.
Hleb’s goal was simply stunning and that has got to be the goal of weekend.
Adebayor’s goal was worthy of Henry it his prime. Fabregas under pressure in the box passes back to Adebayor who one times a curling ball into the bottom far corner.
November 12th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
Fabregas went for a little dancing with Fae in the middle of the park. He tried to grab the jersey and it slid through his fingers. But he grabbed his hand and spun him around a bit. It was not malicious or danger, just obvious and intentional. It looked as if he had a few words for the ref after just to make sure. Then you could see him smile as he jogged away.
November 12th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
Gunner4Life- I agree with your comment on Diarra. He is obviously good on the ball and can hold it and turn in very tight spaces but so far I havent seen much from him beyond that. Where’s his distribution? He’s always looking to get on the ball and hold it. I’m not saying he’s poor, but he hasnt showed enough on his ability to distribute the ball for me to say he deserves a place in the side. I guess we will learn more from future Carling Cup games, or in a few weeks when the fixture list really piles on top of each other.
Flamster is not as good on the ball and was caught in possession on a few key occasions against Liverpool, but today he had a fine game and passed the ball well. Sad to say, I think Gilberto’s time has passed at the club. For whatever Flamster’s faults, he runs around like crazy and gives you just a little extra push over Gilbo. Gilberto would have never found his way to the end of Hleb’s ball to open the scoring like Flamini did today. Its funny how Gilberto captains Brazil and Lehmann continues as Germany #1 while Flamini and Almunia can’t earn a cap.
November 12th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
I love Hleb, I’ve always loved him even when he was getting the undeserved crap over the past two seasons (the bandwagon jumpers know who they are). I probably even have a bit of a man-crush on him. That said, I think it would take quite a bit to beat Tim Cahill’s goal against Chelsea as goal of the weekend.
November 12th, 2007 at 7:58 pm
Cheers to Almunia today for his distribution. I think he started two of the counter attacks that brought goals and the disallowed Adebayor goal. In spite of his errors against ManU, he still looks to me as if he belongs as the first choice.
November 12th, 2007 at 8:04 pm
A few things,
Pundits have been saying that we should wait for the Arsenal blip. Tonight, I don’t think we were flowing the way we can, similar to the last few matches. Too many final passes were going astray and not enough chances created (especially in the first half). Against Liverpool and Utd, I put it down to the calibre of the opposition, against Slavia I put it down to the team we put out. Perhaps we are in the middle of our blip, perhaps we are not good enough.
Flamini showed tonight why he replaced Gilberto. He won the ball in midfield but instead of dropping back into the back four, he carried forward and ended up scoring. Meanwhile, where was Fabregas? Sitting back. So for the opposition, a lesson? If Gilberto is playing, you watch Fabregas 100% of the time. If Flamini is playing, sometimes you need to watch Flamini as well.
Top of the league again!!! Can’t wait for the international break to be over.
Welcome back Stag.
November 12th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
Forgot to say well done to Hleb on his goal (and the assist). Also great to see the change in Adebayor after the goal. Confidence is back!
Interesting piece about Gallas here.
http://arsenalreserves.wordpress.com/2007/11/12/gallas-treats-the-reserves/
November 12th, 2007 at 8:32 pm
Tale of 2 halves?
1st half ping ping ping but no pong (well not until Flamster made his critical contribution).
2nd half the game opened up and it gave us room to play our stuff.
I tend to agree with those who say we weren’t really on song tonight. Maybe our flow has been interrupted by L’pool, ManU and then SP. Our passing was often a fraction out, lacked the incisiveness that we have when we’re really slick. Still, way too good for Reading.
I’ll be pleased to see RvP return. He adds a little more of the unpredictable, and is a goal scorer.
In saying all this. This team has proved its maturity, even when they’re not in top gear or meet a frustrating opponent they find answers. Today it was Flamster. He unlocked Reading. Fantastic result, trading blows with ManU.
November 12th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
@dwinkler 15: what are you talking about?? hleb didnt get any “un”deserved crap….they were all rightly so. it is only this season he has started to really pick things up. or you are planning to rewrite history??
November 12th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
anyway, am really looking forward to van persie getting back. we will need him if we are gonna win anything this season.
rosicky and eboue should be sharing time while hleb should move to the left.
and i think its about time the bench is expanded from 5 to 7. that should give AW more tactical maneuverability.
November 12th, 2007 at 8:56 pm
The biggest difference between the first half and the second half was Adebayor. I know I’ve said it a million times but he’s a threat in the 4-5-1 only when he stays central. He’s a bit like Henry, as he frequently drifts wide or comes deep to get the ball. It’s fine when there’s another striker on the pitch but when he’s the only striker and vacates that space, we don’t have a “tip” on our sword. If we’re going to play a 4-5-1 it’s essential that our center forward stay central and pose a continual attacking threat. It was that way for Henry and it’s that way for Adebayor.
November 12th, 2007 at 9:03 pm
#15. You’re right. I saw that goal but my Arsenal bias cause me to ‘forget’ it. The Cahill bicycle goal was a brilliant goal that earned Everton a crucial draw.
Let’s be real about Hleb. Until this season, he had not replicated his CL form in the league. I will grant you that Henry had a negative effect on his game in the final third.
November 12th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
Sorry dwinkler I think your love for Hleb is distorting your memory. This season he has developed into a key part of the Arsenal Mk III machine - no doubt.
But prior to that he caused almost every person on this site to pull their hair out. Go back and read the threads.
I’m still hoping he gets a bit more comfortable with his shooting. If he doesn’t it will limit his game. At times he passes or looks to pass when the appropriate thing to do is shoot. It’s all to do with confidence. If he adds goals to his repitoire and maintains his consistency he will be a gem.
November 12th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
#16 and # 17 make great points. Almunia quickly and accurately distributes balls that Lehmann took 10 sec to put over the side line. Lehmann can now see the handwriting on the wall as he’ll even consider a January move to a second division German side. No longer so high and mighty.
ANR was the first one to point out to me what Flamini was bringing to the table. The offensive holding MF ala Essien. Perfectly in keeping with our ‘total’ football attack.
November 12th, 2007 at 9:29 pm
I still think we’re not direct enough sometimes. Against more organized opposition who decides to play 10-men behind the ball, we would have had a much more difficult win or may even have drawn this game.
Last year, oppositions knew that we would be trying to walk the ball into the net, so they park 10 players in the box. This year, we started shooting from outside the box and this created a problem for them as it drew their mid fielders out of the 10-men formation and gave our forwards and wing-play more room. In general we also just shot more this year and passed less in the final third.
Tonights game reminded me of the Arsenal of old (trying to walk the ball in) and eventually our quality and patience broke Reading’s strong hold. The only way to draw Reading out of their box was to score a goal and until the 44th minute the game resembled a practice match. Glad Flamini scored and changed Reading’s game plan.
Anyways, 3 points is 3 points and I’ll just take it one game at a time.
November 12th, 2007 at 10:01 pm
Any bets as to which position AW would buy in?
http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?thisNav=News&article=484160&lid=NewsHeadline&Title=Wenger+-+My+transfer+targets+for+January
November 12th, 2007 at 10:05 pm
Off Topic: Here’s a link to a 22yo Congolese striker :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcLcsYsdvSA we are going to give a 2 wk trial to according to his club (TP Mazembe). This beats the usual highlight reel of goals scored against crap opposition. His name is Tresor (Treasury) Mputu. Looks like he has been to the Joey Barton Football School for Dangerous Challenges that are ‘accidental’. Maybe we can refer him to Blackburn now that Savage is out injured. At 22yo, he is a bit ‘old’ for us. we’ll see.
November 12th, 2007 at 10:10 pm
#27
probably not CM
November 12th, 2007 at 10:47 pm
Brendan K: With Lehmann likely to head back to the Bundesliga, I think Wenger will go for an unknown for the 3rd string keeper. I doubt he will want to change the chemistry of the outfield team based on current performance/results. But things might change come the December fixture congestion.
November 12th, 2007 at 11:18 pm
Haven’t seen the game yet, but good to know that Flamini, Ade and Hleb are on the scoresheet.
November 12th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
I am with those who think that formations matter only as much as the players. There could be many reasons why 4-5-1 doesn’t work very well for us - Ade keeps drifting wide, midfielders don’t get into the box too often, Hleb comes deep to take the ball, etc.
We have played with a lone striker in many games this season. We have won all but Liverpool and ManU (note that we started 4-4-2 at Blackburn). Doesn’t it suggest that we have the quality to beat lower opposition with any kind of formation? Just a different perspective.
November 12th, 2007 at 11:32 pm
Good point Nipuna. I’m liking the patience this team exhibits. Even when they don’t see goals for their effort, they keep their composure and usually a goal comes. Once a goal comes it generally releases the handbrake, the opposition loosen, and we score more. Good stuff.
November 13th, 2007 at 12:08 am
Look, just because we don’t get a goal until the end of the first half it doesn’t mean we played badly. Reading decided (rightly) that going forward was stupid when Ade hit the post in minute 3. This Arsenal team doesn’t need to score Blitzkrieg style like the invincibles. If they do get the early goal, great, it forces the other team to open up. Plan B is to make the other team chase us, and that results in lots of late goals for us. And our players know it, which is why at the end of the game they believe they will get a goal. We have won quite a number of games this season by getting a late goal, so why is everyone moaning about all the possession in the first half? The opposition knows if they lose concentration at all, they will get punished. If they hold their concentration, then fine. They’ll be exhausted soon enough.
The invincibles didn’t have the belief that they would get the late goal. If they needed one in the last five minutes, they almost never got it. They whole team running around like headless chickens. It didn’t happen often (they were invincible, after all) but that is my lasting memory of the invincibles in European games.
The current Arsenal team can have that lightning start, but it is one of several ways they can win - sometimes it is shot from outside the box, a set piece (!!) or a rebound, and sometimes it is late. W almost always have the better play, and we almost always have more goals than the other team by the end. It’s nitpicking to complain just because all the goals don’t come directly from the better play.
November 13th, 2007 at 1:22 am
4-5-1, 4-4-2, 4-3-3, 4-1-4-1 .. blah blah .. is all valid Fred.. but it all goes out of the window when Arsenal play. The only difference is the directness in the player who comes on the pitch in a 4-4-2.
So for eg. If Hleb plays as a support striker he will not be as direct as say Dudu or NB or Theo because that is not HIS STYLE. Whereas the others look for goal more. Anyway hardly anyone just stay up top and wait to get hit by quality long balls. Hell even in a 4-5-1 Ade was dropping wide left and right leaving space for the midfield to run into.
Bottomline: Any formation is effective provided the team that play it understand how to make it work.
November 13th, 2007 at 1:24 am
Oh and Cesc did it on purpose .. he just hung on in front of the ref to make sure he got teh card.
@Nipuna: it was live on Star(1:30am) .. why’d u miss it?? Now I’m at work and fresh after 4 hours of Arsenal dreaming sleep
November 13th, 2007 at 1:30 am
Praise for Flamini on ArsenalAmerica from the usual suspects .. now I’ve seen it all
.. Yeah Diarra looked decent wen he came on..then again 10 minute cameos when the game is won is not teh best indication..I’ve seen Diaby run riot many times like that 
.. so he rocks too .. oh wait… 
November 13th, 2007 at 2:01 am
LDE, sometimes things conspire in a way that you end up not being able to see the game.
November 13th, 2007 at 2:01 am
Greg #34 “so why is everyone moaning about all the possession in the first half?”
…..between minute 3 when Ade missed and minute 44 when Flamini changed the game - we lacked a bit of menace. That’s all we’re saying.
The Times writer Martin Samuel summed up the game beautifully…….
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article2860074.ece
November 13th, 2007 at 2:17 am
@#38: I know I know…tell me about it
November 13th, 2007 at 2:21 am
Hi Folks,
Me too stayed awake till 3.30 A.M watching the match :D..and boy i had a tough time dragging myself to work today :). But at the end of the day Arsenal won..so that makes it bearable
Was a good match yesterday…even though there are some Wenger detractors here who felt that he should not have started with a 4-5-1. I think he got it right. In my opinion a Arsenal 4-5-1 is sometimes a more attacking formation compared to a 4-4-2. And additionally because without RVP we do look a little thin up front..and with reading trying their best to park their entire team in front of the goal..it would have blunted our attack..also this 4-5-1 gave us the option of launching wave after wave of attack (albeit without the finish) until Reading finally cracked.
ANd i’m pretty sure that if the Flamster had not scored in the first half..Wenger would have probably changed things around pretty early in the second half.
Ade looke good today…even though his first touch sill needs lots of work..but you just knew he was going to score today..had a number of chances at goal.
Hleb was my MOTM too..his ball control is simply amazing..a joy to watch him play…i partially agree with dwinkler about Hleb and the underserved crap bit :D..though not all of the criticism thrown his way was unjustified..i felt that too many people were getting on his back for petty reasons…..I started posting on this site to support Hleb last year…when i said that if you looked at a lot of the Arsenal goals last season..it was Hleb with the “indirect” assist if you can call it that..this season he’s gone up a gear..which is a great thing for the Gunners :)..now only for his shooting to improve a bit…and we’ve got some player
Now for the international break….good that we are going to the break on Top..going to be an interesting run of matches coming up.
Cheers
November 13th, 2007 at 2:51 am
Interesting to see Wenger talk about Jan transfer targets. He is usually tight lipped. Maybe he already has the move lined up.
I am pretty sure it is going to be a midfielder who can play wide. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Hoyte leave and Eboue become backup RB and RM.
Why I don’t think it will be a GK - it’s too risky to let Lehmann leave in Jan. If he does, who does Wenger buy? A new #1? That shuts the door on Almunia. A new #2? What if Almunia cracks. Signing a new GK makes sense in the summer.
November 13th, 2007 at 3:39 am
i dont think hoyte should go anywhere.
Song and Hoyte should be our 4th and 5th choice CBs respectively with Djorou as 3rd choice - and with Senderos out on loan or permanently in January (to Birmingham maybe).
Actually thinking of it now, we wont need any new CBs or rather AW will definitely not buy any new defenders this January. We have 5 CBs who can cover Toure (not counting Gilberto) and the games Toure is going to miss are not that difficult (on paper that is). Flamini, Traore, Sagna and Gallas can all cover for Clichy. Diarra, Eboue, Hoyte and Flamini can all cover for Sagna.
So all in all we are covered defensively.
Definitely AW wont buy another CM now would he? He is not that bad I presume. So it will all boil down to a new wide midfielder or a new striker - as he clearly only trusts RvP and Adebayor right now.
Maybe the new guy (if there is any) would be a winger/striker type or a young hleb/rosicky modelled type. Or a keeper. Or nobody.
November 13th, 2007 at 3:57 am
And here we go again on the Fred transfer merry-go-round special
.. Peace ..just kidding…
November 13th, 2007 at 4:15 am
what else is there to talk about??
our next match is 2 whole weeks away!! 
November 13th, 2007 at 5:42 am
We don’t necessarily need anyone in the transfer window. The squad is cluttered enough with people like Da Silva, Diaby and Diarra not getting a lot of games. If we do buy, the goalkeeper question is there but the only other thing would be a left-footed player who could play wide and/or up front. Wenger will probably buy another right-back.
November 13th, 2007 at 8:40 am
@ctpa, #28, the team that impressed me the most during the last AFCON was Congo. It was like LuaLua and ten of his little brothers. The only problem is why they were all so talented they were just little people.
I don’t remember if this kid played in the AFCON last January but Congo was definitely entertaining to watch. They had a team full of exciting players.
November 13th, 2007 at 8:53 am
of the “flow” thing, i think the main “difference” between our first half and second half performance was that GOAL Flamini scored.
the First half, Reading packed a two line defence on the edge of their penalty box, so we can very much forget about “flow”. Reading has a small pitch, so basically there was no room for us to break through.
And be note: our goal didn’t score via breaking up their packed defence, we scored through a counter attack from their corner in our own box.
Once we grabbed the first goal, it’s end of story. You know it’s like game over. When teams are forced to come out and actually PLAY FOOTBALL, we will destroy them.
The look of Steve Coppell when we pass the ball around in the 2nd half, and with Reading players hardly got a touch of the ball, tells the story - it felt like he’s almost wanting to pull the team out and let’s go home. It’s game over!!
November 13th, 2007 at 10:43 am
Still trying to work out if we were really good or Reading were really shit. Probably a mixture of both but I really wasn’t expecting it to be so damn easy. It was embarassing in the second half.
Wenger may have made his first statement last night in regards to Gilberto’s future. For the first time Diarra came on instead of him. Sounds cutthroat but I really Gilberto should probably leave now. He can’t be allowed to hamper Diarra’s development and apart from the odd brilliant interception in a passing lane, he adds very little to our side that Flamini and Diarra do not already bring. I would still like him to stay if we was prepared to but I can’t see him being third choice.
Just seen our December fixture list. Tough schedule. Confident we can deal with it though, especially with Van Persie back.
November 13th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
Brendan K-
Interesting topic… which position is AW looking for cover?
I’m sure most people would say upfront (Eduardo not even making the bench is a bad sign) or left winger, but perhaps a “dark horse” pick might be left back? I wouldn’t put a straight up money bet on that but with a little odds I’d go for that.
Clichy has been superb this season, but I think he has played every single game (except for the CC cup)… I like what I’ve seen from Traore in the preseason, but I heard he got into some disciplinary trouble at a recent game where he was caught in possession of brass knuckles or some sort of fighting instrument. I also notice he was absent from the last CC cup lineup so I am curious how we are looking at cover for Clichy. Remember that prior to this season Gael has been very injury prone so I shudder to think what could happen if Clichy were to go down.
November 13th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
You’re right Mazza, second half was embarrassing. I can imagine in 2 years time when the young players are more experienced and more clinical we will absolutely muller them. The amount of Arsenal counter attacks that broke down through bad first touch and lack of awareness was astonishing.
That’s why I still consider this team very much a work in progress and really enjoying what is being achieved so far.
November 13th, 2007 at 8:15 pm
Confessions of a Spoilt Gooner Pt II.
The last two years I would get the willies watching our wonderful, but infuriating team. One week it was all possession and beautifully crafted chances and no end product. Shots blazed over from four..three.. two yards. The next it was pure guts last-minute victories over the likes Man U. Then back to silly goals given away early on. Brutal avoidable goals given away in the last five minutes - PSV.
In short, this was a team I couldn’t rely on.
Weak against set pieces and rough tackles, over-elaborate against defensive visitors.
This season with every game, I feel this is a team discovering more and more of the range of qualities you need to be winners. Along with silky skills, they have shown guts, cunning, directness, bite, patience, flexibility, mental toughness.
They have also shown complacency and loss of concentration, but not for long and not enough to get really punished. The ideal balance - as we discuss week in, week out - is not there yet, but they definitely a team who won’t let you down.
So here’s the confession - having spent two years resenting my high hopes getting dashed, I’m now a totally spoilt fan who wants the perfect game every time. I know, it’s pure greed. I probably need us to hit a wall with some mediocre bunch of cloggers, and watch us revert to type, getting petulant and losing 1-0. At the same time, I really appreciate how this team keeps developing.
Reading was a great example of how this team has grown. We dealt with a park the bus/shy turtle opposition without getting frustrated. We worked a breakthrough goal, then wrapped it up with two counter-attacks before easing off and letting them get a late consolation prize.
In my head, we should have killed them 5 or 6-0, and probably would have if Ade had curled his 3min shot 6inches to the left, or Van P was back. I wish we could resume posing a threat from corners and set pieces to offer an alternative route.
November 13th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
Traore was caught with brass knuckles when he was in enemy territory-Sp**s I think. Like a lesson from the ‘birds and the bees’, you always need to have ‘protection’. No biggie when compared to a Barton or a Ferdinand but we are Arsenal you know.
DannyT: provides a reality check. Not for the first time has counter-attack broken down when we had numbers. It will come.
Wigan are looking forward to getting England striker Heskey returning for their game with us. Are you worried? I’m not worried. We of course are looking forward to getting RVP back. Wigan should be worried, very worried.
Ebbsfleet football club are being purchase by 53,000 supporters after an internet campaign raise the necessary funds at 35 pounds per supporter. Arsenal are obviously too big for this but its a thought as a way to combat a hostile takeover. We would have millions of supporters sign up for a piece of this action.
November 13th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
macmac123 #52
“I wish we could resume posing a threat from corners and set pieces to offer an alternative route.”
I think you hit the nail on the head. This was probably the missing ingredient against Reading in the 1st half. In other games this season we have varied our play and included a bit of menace at corners and set pieces. Against Reading we hardly won a corner in the 1st half (did we win one?) and our set pieces in dangerous positions (admittedly not many) looked pretty hopeless.
It’s that sense of varied play that has been so encouraging this season. Whilst we love the pass pass pass, pass pass - you need to keep the opposition guessing. Historically this is where ManU have been better than us (as much as it pains me to admit it).