Mr Arsenal Blog's tactics weekly. 

27/10/12 - reviewing the QPR match.

Well that was frustrating, but what matters is that we have won the game, and take three points from this match, moving us up to fourth in the table (for today at least). It was absolutely fantastic to see Jack Wilshere back in the team from the off today because (as I said in my article about him this week) we have missed him so much in the last year or so, and it's brilliant to have him back in our side, and hopefully he will make a difference to our form for the rest of the season. Was of course also great to have Bac back in the side as well, he is also a quality player. But in terms of the game itself as I said it was very frustrating, and for the most part it was a very slow game, lacking in quality. There were flashes of the talent that made Jack such a big hit in his first season with the club during his time on the pitch, but apart from that it was largely non-eventful. But why was this? This is what I will discuss now in this feature.

It is difficult to discuss anything other than what I discussed after the Norwich match and what we saw against Schalke in mid-week to be honest, other than the fact that we got a win this time rather than nothing. However as I said once again we were far too slow in our attack and despite the fact that we actually had more chances than last week, which you would expect from a home match, we still are not creating enough clear cut chances to score goals. We only really started to look dangerous towards the end of the match, after QPR were down to 10 men, which is a concern! The main reason for this was once again the lack of penetration in our passes, the lack of proper movement in the attacking 3rd, and the lack of quality balls into the box. I think this could be partly down again to what looks like a tired Santi Cazorla, who seems to be lacking the same guile and creativity that we saw earlier in the season which is worrying, but I am hoping that we can give him a bit of rest in the week so that he is back to his energetic best against United next weekend. I think we are also struggling without a proper winger on the field, which is why I was very pleased to see Theo (sign da ting) come on the pitch in the 2nd half, as I hoped we could finally see some proper wing play, and get some balls into the box. However it was actually Arshavin who put the best ball into the box of the match, which led to our goal. It was a a lovely floated ball, into a dangerous area, and was something that we certainly missed throughout the match, up to that point. Furthermore once again it was a concern to see us caught out down the left hand side defensively on a number of occasions. Andre Santos has had a shocking week, and in the first half especially he looked extremely vulnerable to the QPR attackers. I really hope that this is something which is worked on enormously on the training ground this week, as we absolutely cannot afford to go to Old Trafford being so vulnerable on one side of the pitch, because they will quite simply work it to their advantage with ease. I hope this improves!

But the main talking point from this game, and rightly so, was the return of Jack Wilshere to our team. Because it was a largely un-eventful game it is difficult to discuss much else other than the fact that this incredible talent was once again showing us what he can do, at The Home of Football, for the first time in nearly 18 months. His ability on the ball is just fantastic, and it's absolute fantastic that we can now have him in our side. The way he covers the ground with his dribbling, the way he just strokes the ball round the park, just makes him such a top talent. He is without a doubt the only English player that would look at home a Spanish national side. His technical ability is just outstanding. What I also love about him, as I said in my article about him, is his grit and physicality that he brings to the game for us. And this was once again evident in the game against QPR. He is never afraid to put his body on the line to win the ball back, or to hold on the ball for his side. This is fantastic, because at times we really lack "bite" in our midfield, and now with Jack back in the side I think we really have this.

On to the man of the match for this match. It is quite a difficult call for this game, because not much real quality was showed overall, however I am going to give the man of the match award to Arshavin, simply because he came off the bench, seemed hungry to change some perceptions, played a fantastic ball for the winning (and only) goal, and also tracked back and fought well for the ball when we were holding on at the end, which is not something he has been renowned for!!! I hope we can now see him come back to what he is capable of doing, and what he showed in the early times of his Arsenal career, and not the lethargic, care free performances we saw at times last season. On the whole I thought he was impressive off the bench yesterday, he has taken a lot of flack, so I think it was impressive!!!

Next it's Reading in the cup, then to Old Trafford next week, where hopefully we can show RVP what a stupid move he made!

COYG

@Mr_arsenal_blog