The Twelfthman

Leyton Orient 1 - 1 Arsenal : Yet Another Replay

Arsenal started this FA Cup tie by making 10 changes to the team that beat Barca during the week, Song being the only player surviving the rotation policy. As if that was not enough, the team also fielded 18-year-old Ignasi Miquel from the reserve team to partner Squillaci in central defence.  

The 1st half started with Arsenal keeping most of the ball - as expected - but the team lacked that extra cutting edge in the final third of the pitch. The opening half wasn't as bad as the 1st leg Carling Cup tie with Ipswich, on the contrary, it was much better. Arsenal passed the ball well enough and did their best to exert themselves on the opposition. The Os on the other side of the pitch were content to soak in the (narrow) Arsenal pressure, since the gunners didn't try to stretch Leyton on the flanks, but were content with applying pressure through the middle.

With the gunners holding the ball most of the time, it was not surprising that they created most of the chances. Arsenal tried and tried to pry the Os open but the home team stayed resolute. Arshavin, Bendtner and Chamakh all had chances to shoot at goal. Of all three though, Chamakh had the best opportunity to put the gunners one up in the 34th minute when Gibbs crossed it low into the box, but the French striker side-footed the ball wide. On the flip-side, the most telling chance for Leyton Orient came in the 13th minute when Daniels blazed the ball over the bar, after a set-piece. 

After the break, Arsenal continued where they left off and were duly rewarded by a goal from Rosicky. (It's always refreshing to see him score, because he is such a good player that has been marginalized out of the first team due to injuries and competition for places within the team.) After that though, Leyton opened up more. They tested Alumunia in the 56th minute with a shot to make sure he wasn't napping in the goal, and also in the 69th minute with a curving shot that went wide of the post.

With the Os coming out more, Arsenal were able to create some more telling chances. Rosicky had a shot and header - each chance barely moments from each other - saved by the Leyton keeper Jamie Jones, after a nice cut-back from Arshavin. Arshavin almost put himself on the scoring sheet late on in the game, when he drove at the Leyton defence from the right flank and drilled his shot low towards the far post, but he was denied by the upright.

Leyton Orient did scare the gunners at the end of the game. In the 82th minute, substitute Tehoue broke down the right side and crossed the ball in for Revell to shoot at goal, but Squillaci deflected the ball out of the danger area with his head. Eventually though, Tehoue would level the game up in the 87th minute, after some bad defending from Gibbs & Miquel - who had a good showing but for the defensive lapse at the end of the game.

Final Thougts : All in all, Arsenal played well enough to beat Leyton Orient. The only thing really lacking from the gunners was the defence-splitting passes that are so characteristic of the Arsenal way. Most of the chances created were more like half-chances, and the clear chances that we got we didn't finish. Once the goal was in, Arsenal continued to play and hold the ball well - minus the two scary moments Leyton produced at the end. But Arsenal cannot depend on a one nil win - even if the statistics say that we've kept 6 clean sheets in 14 matches since the turn of the year - because of one fundamental fact, it's Arsenal - we don't shut out games. Positives? We saw the future of Arsenal in Ignasi Miquel, who looked comfortable beside Squillaci. Is he the reason Arsene didn't splash cash on a new centre half in January? Maybe. From this match, we can glean two points:
1. Arsene could have mixed it up at the end by adding substitutes to prod Leyton for their breaking point. However, problems tend to be clear and simple in retrospect, but the truth is that we'll never know.
2. If Arsene cannot depend on his "squad players" to put teams like these to the sword, the least they can do is get the "W". That should be the bare minimum for Arsenal squad players - just get the job done, so that we don't have to play unnecessary games like the replay of this match at the Emirates.

Newcastle 4-4 Arsenal : How to press the self-destruct button

Arsenal came out blazing - make that on fire - in the 1st half. Usually, the team likes to build up the play in the first 10 minutes of a match, but this time around, Arsenal clicked within the first minute with a coolly taken Walcott goal. By the 26th minute, Arsenal were four goals up thanks to a Djourou header and a double from Van Persie. To say that the 2nd half was a reverse in fortune for Arsenal would be stating it politely. Arsenal started well…and then the red card happened.

Was the tackle on Diaby by Barton bad? Yes. Did injury-plagued Diaby have every right to be angry about such a tackle? Yes. Should he have shown his distaste for the tackle so vehemently? No. As a professional footballer, players should (inherently) know that such displays are viewed negatively by referees. In today's game, players get red cards for sneezing at other players - it's that bad. Should the red card have determined the final result of the game so shockingly? No.

Yes, the red card was a bad idea. Playing with 10 men against a good Premier league side with 40+ minutes to go, is just not done. Losing a 4-goal lead, even with a man down, is deplorable…at best. Arsenal were a man down in the FA Cup tie with Huddersfield Town, but still showed enough steel and grit against a lesser side to win that game.

Unlike the FA Cup tie, once Arsenal went down, there was nothing to hold the team together. Fabregas came off the bench to pull the cup tie out of the fire, but that didn't happen today. Arsenal sat deep and let Newcastle toss the ball into the box; but with Djourou and Diaby gone, Arsenal didn't have the height advantage to defend crossed balls.

To make matters worse, Arsenal kept conceding fouls and gifting dead ball situations to Newcastle. Anybody who watches Newcastle will tell you this, Joey Barton + Dead Ball Situation (or crossing opportunity) = Bad Scenario (for opposing team). To show the aptness of this equation, let's examine all the goals. First penalty all started with a Barton corner, second goal came about from a Barton cross to Best, third goal (albeit a soft penalty) emerged from a Barton corner, and finally, the chance for the fourth goal was birthed from a Barton free-kick with Tiote finishing with a screamer (potential contender for goal of the season).

Arsenal played superbly in the 1st half. Period. Full stop. End of statement. Only the best teams in the world could have negated such an onslaught. The 2nd half was fraught with everything negative about Arsenal - lack of discipline, a team devoid of character and just plain bad defending. Arsenal lack a siege mentality, which in essence is this, the abiltiy to withstand unfavorable conditions and still come out on top, even if battered, bruised and bleeding. Anything positive? At least Arsenal took a point. (Why does that sound wrong on so many levels?) 

Final Thoughts : It is games like these that separates champions from contenders. Champions would have kept a clean sheet, mauled Newcastle to death in the second half, and added another scalp to their away record. Contenders on the other hand, find creative ways to butcher their hard work - remember the Spurs game at the Emirates this season? Today, Arsenal have etched themselves in Barclays Premier League history (for all the wrong reasons) by creating one of the greatest comeback games of the season - expect to see this match in the Premiership Greatest Matches DVD. Finally, the most important thing to take away from this match - and football in general - is that reality is stranger than fiction.      

Arsenal 3 - 0 Ipswich: Gunners' Comeback

Arsenal came back from a 1 - 0 defeat at Portman Road, to beat Ipswich at the Emirates and book their place at Wembley.

Arsenal played the 1st half well. Unlike the reverse fixture at Ipswich, the Gunners came into the game with lethal intent, rather than just intent. Ipswich on the other hand came to get the job done - they definitely asserted themselves defensively. Throughout the 1st half, Arsenal came close to putting the ball in the back of the net, but seemed to either hit the ball at the keeper/defender, the bar or to either side of the net.

Right off the bat, Ipswich shot at goal from the kick-off to test Szczesny. Apart from that and the collision with Sagna, he had a quiet half. The half was reminiscent of the Wigan game over the weekend, where Arsenal created chances, but couldn't finish well. Denilson deputized well for Song, while Wilshere provided some telling passes - which took some of the creative burden off Fabregas. Fabregas remained the creative dynamo in the middle of the park, and linked the play well with the front three of Van Persie, Arshavin & Bendtner. The defensive line also had a solid showing.

In the 2nd half though, Arsenal converted their chances and showed why football is more watched than Rugby. It didn't start all well though, Ipswich had a corner that had the Arsenal defenders scrambling at the ball. Even after that, the Gunners had a few bad passes in the opposing third. (Even Fabregas had some iffy touches.)

Eventually though, Bendtner put the home side ahead after taking down a fantastic cross-field ball from Wilshere and bending it in from the left wing. (A lot might be said about Bendtner, but everything about the goal said one thing - class.) Ipswich were definitely rattled by the goal because they had done well defensively throughout the game. Fast-forward 3 minutes to Koscieiny's goal - which is the first time in a while that Arsenal have converted a corner - and they were panicked. From then onwards, Ipswich tried to go forward, but Arsenal kept the ball well. In the end, Arsenal scored a third through Captain Cesc to effectively kill off the game.

At the end of the day, Arsenal might have put themselves in this precarious position, but the Gunners did a superb job of erasing the blight from the 1st leg. This time around, the team had more of cutting edge and did a good job of negating any Ipswich resistance.

Final thoughts : Nothing really, except Wembley here we come!



 

West Ham 0-3 Arsenal : Arsenal stroll through Upton Park

Arsenal bagged the three points yesterday in typical fashion. This win makes it the seventh away win for the Gunners this season. Their opponents West Ham, despite the mid-week win over Birmingham City, slumped to another loss - their eleventh of the campaign.

Mr. Wenger made 4 changes to the team that contrived the loss at Ipswich during the week. Nasri in for Arshavin, Van Persie for Bendtner, Song for Denilson and Clichy for Gibbs. On the other hand, West Ham were missing 3 of their regular starters - Piquionne (dental surgery), Obinna (suspension) and S. Parker (ankle).

Arsenal started the game well, the team created a lot of chances. (Maybe trying to make amends for the Carling Cup first-leg loss at Ipswich?) The introduction of Nasri and Van Persie definitely added creative depth to the side, while Song's addition gave the side a more rigid look. 

In the first half, Arsenal were at their flowing and creative best. At the start, Van Persie crossed it in to Fabregas at the far post but West Ham full-back Faubert cleared the ball before Fabregas could get purchase on it. For the first goal, Wilshere found Walcott on the right wing and the winger put a low cross into the box. Nasri dummied over the cross and Van Persie coolly tucked it into the net, despite the outstretched leg of his marker.

Arsenal continued to press, creating chance after chance. Walcott had a run at goal, after Fabregas found him from the Arsenal half, but Hammers' defender Tomkins got his leg on the ball before Walcott could settle. The resulting shot was saved by keeper R. Green.

West Ham on the other hand, had a tepid showing. Most of the chances created were gifted to them by the Arsenal defense. The first coming in the 10th minute. After Arsenal lost the ball in the opposing third, West Ham proceeded to attack the hole left by the forward run of Eboue. Thankfully, Hines' cross into the box was cleared by Clichy. On another occasion, Djourou's weak back pass to Szczesny was short, but the keeper blocked the initial shot from C. Cole while the rebound by Hines was shot into the stands. The best clear-cut chance for the Hammers came late in the half, when Sears crossed the ball into the box. C. Cole's diving header glanced off Djourou, before clearing the Arsenal goal and resulting in a corner.   

Apart from the chances gifted to West Ham and the wide header by C. Cole, the rest of the half was all Arsenal. Nasri and Wilshere combined at the top of the West Ham box, but the teenager lost control of the ball after wiggling through the West Ham defenders. Song's endeavor almost paid off when he drove into the heart of the West Ham defense, but his shot - from a Van Persie pass - was deflected to the keeper by defender Tomkins. Van Persie's shot hit the upright 30 minutes into the game, after being slipped through by Nasri. Eventually, all the pressure would pay off 5 minutes before the break. Arsenal went two up when Clichy gave an exquisite lobbed through-ball to Van Persie, after receiving a sliding tackle pass from Fabregas. Van Persie proceeded to drive towards goal and provide a nice cut-back for Walcott to pounce upon, after rounding W. Bridge (who had a torrid debut). Arsenal finished the half strong, with Djourou having his shot - after drifting upfield - saved by R. Green's face.

The second half was more of the same - continued Arsenal dominance. Straight from the kick-off, Fabregas shot past Green and the post. A minute later, Hammers' winger did have a (tame) shot at goal, but Szczesny collected easily. At this point, the Arsenal forwards were shooting on sight. Walcott, Van Persie and Nasri all had shots either on goal, deflected or off-target. The two points of note for West ham were the free kick by W. Bridge - which deflected off Van Persie - and the Sears cross, which nearly fooled Szczesny, that forced a save from the Polish keeper. In the end though, Arsenal did find the net in the second half. On the counter, Eboue fed Fabregas from the right-back position, and Fabregas passed the ball to Walcott on the right wing. Walcott drove into the box, drawing a sliding tackle from W. Bridge. However, W. Bridge got none of the ball, because Walcott nudged the ball away. Van Persie stepped up to take the penalty, and dispatched his third league goal of the season confidently - even with the keeper guessing the right way. The Gunners kept the pressure up till the very end, with Wilshere having a shot saved by Green off a quick corner.

Yesterday Arsenal were great. They passed well and created ample chances, which essentially put West Ham to the sword. The only blip that reduces the game to a "great" Arsenal performance - instead of a fantastic one - is the fact that when lesser teams play with a "have-your-way-with-us" attitude, Arsenal tend to switch off defensively. It is imperative that Arsenal eradicate the frailty at the back, because better teams like Barca (as they did at Camp Nou last year), Man U (as they did at the Emirates in 2009), Man City (when not playing defensively), Chelsea (when they're not going through a mid-life crisis), will not let such kamikaze-style defending go unpunished.

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