18/11/12 - reviewing the NLD.
Well, what a day that was yesterday, I am sure that all of you like me, have still got a great big smile on their face! It was a fantastic game, and I thought that Arsenal did really well indeed. Of course we had a bit of fortune in the game through Adebayor's ridiculous tackle, which was rightly ticked of for a red card, but even so you can only beat (or in this case dismantle), what is in front of you. It is a cliche I know, but the way in which Arsenal upped the tempo in their game, and really cranked up the pressure on Spurs, after the sending off, was very impressive in my opinion. But what did Arsenal do well? Why were they able to kill of Spurs as they did?
Firstly as those of you that have read my previous few tactical reviews will have seen, I have spoken a lot recently about the lack of penetration and efficiency in terms of our passing and attacking play. However yesterday this was certainly not the case. Our passing was excellent. The way we worked the space that the extra man allowed was excellent, and to be honest you could really see that we had an extra man because we used the space really well to our advantage. It is not always easy to play against 10 men, as the boss said afterwards, however not yesterday. Arsenal really worked the space well with good, effective, quick passes. Furthermore a couple of weeks ago at Old Trafford we hardly got any balls into the box at all, but in the game yesterday, and also against Fulham last week, we've really started to deliver balls into the box, and it is therefore no surprise that we have started to score some more goals. The ball of the game was certainly Theo's FANTASTIC stood up cross into the box, for Per's goal (his first ever goal for the club, what a time to get it by the way), it was a fantastic delivery, and Theo did really really well to get that ball into the box, because he was under pressure in the corner from Naughton. But the main point is that one of the reasons why we managed to kill of Spurs with 10 men, and to score 5 goals against them (AGAIN) is because we really used the ball very well. Our passing was penetrative, fast, and unlike some games this season it was not bogged down, limp, un-imaginative, and easy to stop. This was great!
Furthermore the space in Spurs' attack that Adebayor's sending off gave our Spanish maestro Santi Cazorla, even more space than he normally works into, and this was absolute fantastic for us. He is my. This allowed us to move Spurs around all over the place, and Santi was just brilliant. He is my MOTM for this week. Before the game I was slightly concerned to be honest, that Santi would not be sharp because he had only been back in the country for 24 hours at the time of kick off, so I was concerned, however I need not be concerned because he was absolutely key. The sending off certainly helped us in this regard, because it gave him more space up the pitch to hurt Spurs in that area. And it worked. For Giroud's goal his run and cross was brilliant. He showed such desire and determination to keep playing when fouled, which exactly what you want to see from a player in such a match. And the way in which he took his goal, which was throughly throughly deserved by the way, was fantastic. I am just so excited that he it at our club, he's been brilliant so far, and the combination that he is form with the other spanish maestro and Jack, is very exciting, and as the Sky Sports commentators said yesterday you wouldn't swap that midfield trio for many in the Premier league, that is for sure. Hope they continue to develop an understanding, and if they do, let me tell you, we will be in fantastic shape, because all three of them are fantastic players. But this was absolutely key for us yesterday, the way the space that Adebayor left was worked by the likes of Santi. This was a very good adaptation by the players to the situation, and it was of course very effective.
As I said Santi is my MOTM however to be honest, all the players were excellent yesterday. Mertesacker's goal was fantastically taken, and apart from Spurs' 1st goal where he lost Defoe, he did well. Kos seems to be back to his best he controlled the defence very well, and really tidied up at the back when he needed to. TV5 looked much better at LB as well, but of course when Gibbo is back he will move back to CB, but if Mer and Kos keep playing well, they'll be a decision to make for the boss in that regard. Theo was also excellent, Arteta and Jack too. Podolski scored and had a great assist, it was a very good all round performance. This was encouraging.
I hope this game gives the team a LOT of confidence to push on and move back up the league, however there is still a lot of improvement needed. The defence for their 1st goal was poor, the defensive shape disappeared, and defoe was allowed to run un-opposed. And for the 2nd goal we didn't press the ball very well at all, and the chimp punished us. Regardless of this, it was a very encouraging game and hope we can build on this!!!
UP THE ARSENAL
@Mr_arsenal_blog
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