Arsenal
Is point seven the New Nil? Cazorla Is Poetry in Motion
Pure Gold
By Boris Mellor
October 7 2012
Arsenal had West Ham cornered from the very start of this match, and by the end of the game had 16 corners, but were still 1 nil down after 40 minutes. West Ham scored against the run of play, poor defending by the right hand midfield and defence gave them an open goal to shoot at.True it was a tight angle, but the keeper had no chance as Diame smashed it into the far top on 21 minutes. He received a yellow for his celebration. Five minutes later the scorer was very lucky not to be sent off after a nasty foul on Arteta. The only logic for not giving him yellow was that he already had one. Later Gervinho got a yellow for far less.
Wenger was very irate at Dowd, but I think it worked out better for Arsenal as a ten man West Ham may have been harder to break down. Arsenal continued to be profligate with chances, after all three isn’t massive when you have had 14 shots on target and six off, the Hammers had seven shots, and only three of those were on target.
With half time looming it really looked as if the Gunners would keep on wasting chances. However on 41 minutes the dam burst, a superb cross by Podolski saw Giroud stretch and poke the ball in. A goal of simplicity, beauty and skill. The assist and the finish complemented each other like a fine Port and Stilton (just put that in for my more wealthy readers on the board). All the fuss about Giroud not scoring, it turned out he got his first goal a match earlier than Henry did on arriving at Arsenal.
So half time was even stevens (Ive put that one in for my readers who would rather stand at matches and remember the magic sponge and bucket of cold water. Enough clichés Ed.), and the teams had played the first half at a hectic pace. You could see that Arsenal were tired as the game recommenced, and West Ham did step up their game to go for the winner. It’s always a fatal mistake to attack Arsenal too hard, which is why most teams don’t.
Tactics
It has been said that Wenger thinks tactics are little peppermints in a small plastic transparent box, but today his substitutions were excellent. Firstly he took off Gibbs, allegedly for a thigh strain, but he had a pained look on his face as he watched Gibbs sky yet another perfect pass from Cazorla. But the more decisive substitution was Walcott for the fumbling Gervinho who was doing his best impression of Adebayor. Finally he put on Koscielny for Podolski and had a back three with two out and out wing backs.
When Wenger subs you at 61 minutes he is telling you something, and at the same time Walcott was able to tell Wenger something. After only 16 minutes he scored a superb goal from a Henryesque position. Moving in from the wing to the edge of the area and confidently passing past the keeper. You could hear the air go out of Allardyce’s Bombardiers.
Cazorla Wonderland
Only six minutes after Theo scored Cazorla chalked up the third goal, what a superb goal, its up there with Bergkamp, Henry and Pires. The way he bent it into the top corner was incredible, and he knew where it was going. There was no way back for West Ham, and for most of their fans it was the way out they were looking for as the claret seats emptied.
Afterwards Walcott described Cazorla as “our conductor”, and Theo should know as he is an author. Martin Keown described him as poetry in motion. I have to say I enjoy watching fully developed footballers play, so much better than inconsistent youth, yes there is a place for the latter, but all things in moderation; the balance has to be right. The team were unperturbed by the antics of Carroll and Nolan, and never gave up playing for each other. Most of the team, apart from two or three, are battle hardened pros. Watching Arteta and Cazorla back each other up is fantastic, they never stop working for each other and the team.
Cazorla is far more than the sum total of his statistics, the number of assists and goals scored. He is the fulcrum that the whole team spin around. He reaches deep into defence to pass the ball to the next best placed player.
As West Ham pressed Arsenal back it was Cazorla who intercepted the ball and passed it to Giroud who passed to Walcott, the genuine assist to the assist, not the mock version of Hleb. Also he creates far more chances than his strikers take advantage of. In time Podolski, Giroud and Walcott will put away far more of his passes. In particular Giroud failed to put away a carefully weighted ball from the Spanish master in the penalty area.
Is One the new nil?
Arsenal went three games without conceding this season, if they had kept a clean sheet against Southampton it would have been a new club record. Instead the Gunners have conceded in every game since, including 2 against Chelsea, both from set pieces. Considering that the keeper has been Mannone for many of the games only conceding five goals seems a decent achievement. Many Gooners, including this one, believe that the team is benefiting from Bould’s coaching, but it may be far too early to judge that. Also years of poor defending will not be overcome overnight, so to expect too many clean sheets may prove to be unrealistic. Also even top class keepers find the modern ball unpredictable, and it has to be said that Wenger’s keepers are not the most experienced.
Of course there is also the matter of who makes up the defence, this year the crowd favour the BFG (Mertesacker) and Vermaelen, last year they preferred Koscielny and Vermaelen. Well the team has now conceded with the BFG playing, but is yet to lose when he is in the team. He is not the perfect defender, but he gives the team a stability. Koscielny and the Verminator are too similar, so the sum is less than the parts.
But whatever the personnel Arsenal are keeping up with the top teams at the moment in terms of goals conceded. Goals conceded on 7 games so far are: Chelsea four, Man City 8, Man Utd 9! So the Gunners five is pretty respectable.
This weekend 34 goals were conceded by 20 teams, an average of 1.7 goals per team, so Arsenal conceded .7 less than the average, nearly a whole goal. Even Chelsea conceded at home to Norwich, for the whole season so far the Gunners have conceded an average of .7 whilst the two Manchesters have conceded just over a goal a game. Only Chelsea come out on top with .6 a game.
If Arsenal could keep up its present defensive record the final tally of goals conceded would be 26, a big improvement on the last two years and with it a higher league placing. There is a long way to go, but 1, or rather .7, could prove to be the new zero. One to point seven to the Arsenal would make an interesting new song, as long as the team ends up scoring more goals than the opposition. In sum it is unlike that the return of Bould will see a return to the old one nil to the Arsenal, but hopefully it will see a noticeable improvement.
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Stumbleupon07/10/2012 18:48
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012:10:20:22:40:57 by Padre Pio.
But just to prove a point....
Sauternes desert wine is a better match for Stilton!
I'll come back to critique the rest later!
"Port and Sauternes are often paired with Stilton, but other, more unexpected matches are worth trying. Javier Guerras, a consultant at Zachys, in Scarsdale, didn’t skip a beat when asked for a recommendation. “With Stilton, you need a wine with a big personality,” he said, cradling a 2001 Bodegas Muga reserve Rioja ($39.99). The Spanish red was beautifully balanced, with just a hint of oak and very ripe fruit. The wine and cheese showed an instant affinity. It was like a rare blind date that leads to fireworks."
"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.
*Signing Ozil is a signing Bergkamp type moment for Arsenal. It changes things utterly.*
What is Wenger's win % and is it regressing?
"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.
"Everyone has a plan 'till they get punched in the mouth."- Mike Tyson
"A club is a union between players, supporters and directors". - Wenger.
Arsene wenger has done an absolutely masterful job within the constraints he has... Every single year, he has outperformed our spending every single year he has been manager. It is extraordinary. -Gazides.
Quote:DotComrade
Nice write up. I enjoyed that. I'm totally on the Santi Cazorla Bandwagon. On a side note, I wonder how Sahin is doing...
he is doing really well, why do you ask
What's the world coming to.
Theodore roosevelt - In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.
"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.
Got to say, as much as having Bouldy coaching the defense has probably made a difference. I think the fact we have 4 fully fit cbs to choose from has made just as much difference. Well, that and having actual full backs who are fully fit and actually ready for the EPL.
Remember Vermaelen got injured (was it) the game before the drubbing at old trafford. By the time he came back, we had no fb's. So he was played out of position, and had some shockers. Plus we were down the creek, so he was pushing forwards to help our attack. We needed the points.
All in all, our strongest back 4 last year never got enough games together.
Jenks was brand new, second hand. Not ready to play such high pressure games, but we were up $hit creek. So, again, he was struggling with the pressure (esp' as a gooner, he wanted to impress more than anyone I'd reckon).
This year, he's playing with a more experienced back line, and he's reaping the rewards. Well, when Meatlocker plays.
Good read altogether though. Keep up the good work Padre.
As for the sauternes remark, just pointing out there are some worldly poor people too (i worked for oddbins for 4 years, love a bit of wine/cheese pairing)!
The Port and Stilton joke was a joke at Hill Wood and the other etonians.
"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.
"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.
Quote:Padre Pio
Hleb was the assist to the assist to the assist, and he was terrified of shooting.
no, i'm sure he was the assist to the assist and terrified of shooting. lol
Theodore roosevelt - In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.
But just to prove a point....
Sauternes desert wine is a better match for Stilton!
Desert wine eh? Is it Saharan or Atacaman?
"When we had to suffer the team is a lion because they suffer together." 4 July 2020 at Wolverhampton Wanderers
Arteta on his team's first away victory at a club above them in the Premiership since September 2015 at Leicester.
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