Beautiful, beautiful,
beautiful! This was the best game Arsenal has played in some time, a display of
excellent possession football, creativity, pressing and then sitting back and
absorbing pressure. The final score was actually a disservice to the dominance
the Gunners displayed throughout, starting with a first half that has to be one
of the best displays in Europe this season. Arsenal got on the board early,
with an eighth minute majestic finish from Ozil after a great cutback from
Ramsey in the box. But the play was started by Olivier Giroud, who must be
reading my blog (just kidding), as his hold-up play was excellent in this game
after a rather paltry display against Swansea. Giroud goes for the more
aggressive approach to stopping the ball and starting the attack and when it
works, it is something to see. The second goal was Ozil at his exceptional
best, getting down the right hand edge of the box, after Arsenal’s pressing led
to dispossession and then slotted across for an easy, but impressive Giroud
finish. From there, Arsenal continued to control possession (70 percent in the
first half) and regularly push forward with purpose and finesse. The
understanding between Ramsey and Ozil is something to behold, and this also appears
to be developing with Giroud.
It was also great to see
Rosicky back in the fold and he provides something that Wilshere does not,
driving forward runs with pinpoint passes and a higher tempo approach. Wilshere
came on in the second half and had some nice passes, but his passes around the
box were again wanting and I still wonder if this is a better team when he is
on the bench. A great save by Reina around the 60th minute kept the
tally to 2-0, but Arsenal could easily have scored five but for fatigue and a
more organized defensive scheme in the second half. The contest overall showed
a team with more balance, more physical strength, better play on free kicks
(came close twice off of Ozil FKs) and a more organized defensive approach with
more pressing outside the final third that constantly dispossessed Napoli or
broke up their flow. Some thoughts on the game …
1. Luck may be the
residue of design, but some questionable decisions by Wenger over the past few
seasons are starting to bear fruit. Forced to replace some of his stars, Wenger
went for more physical midfielder who play on both sides of the pitch. Sure we
miss Fabergas and Nasri, but neither were terribly impressive going back. That
cannot be said of Ramsey, who Wenger stuck with when everyone including me was
calling for his head. And Arteta has shown that he can push back into a more
defensive position very effectively. Wenger went out and got Mertesacker when
many thought he was too slow for the EPL, and he has now become one of the best
in the league. Wenger stuck with Koscielny through some tough times last season
and he too has supplanted our team captain for our best center back pair in
many years. Wenger pushed Sagna to stay after his form dropped and he suffered
through two leg breaks and he has returned to his old self, pushing forward on
the right side with purpose throughout the game. He recognized the ascendancy
of Gibbs’ game and allowed him to develop even as the more stable Monreal sat
in the wings. And he picked up a striker few were impressed with in Giroud, and
one many thought didn’t fit the Arsenal model, but has transformed him into a
more complete player who is contributing across the pitch. And he picked up
ex-player Flamini on a free – which could be the most important piece of
business if Arsenal do go on to win a trophy. But the real masterstroke was
keeping under wraps his pursuit of Ozil, who has brought belief, class and
confidence to everyone on the team. Watching them pass the ball around the
pitch and burst forward with speed and creativity was truly something to see
and since the “sack Wenger” din grew last March, Arsenal have gone on to lose
but one match. Impressive stuff for Wenger on the 17th anniversary
of his first game with the North London outfit.
2. There is more to
come: it is hard to believe that these performances have occurred without
Podolski, Ox (who looked great until his injury) and, more recently, Walcott.
As I’ve argued in recent weeks, Arsenal suddenly have depth everywhere except
at the striker position. And even there, we do have Bendtner, who looked more
than adequate against West Brom in the Capital One Cup. Ramsey appeared to take
a knock toward the end of the first half and never looked the same after,
before finally being subbed out, but with him, Ozil and Rosicky moving the ball
around, Arsenal looked sublime. Add Ox, Podolski running down the left, Walcott
down the right and/or Cazorla and his creativity and you have a team that is
multidimensional and hard to defend. It is certainly early, as Wenger warned us
a day ago, but this very well could be the year we finally end the drought. And
by the way, to return to item #1, Walcott has been a substantially better
player since Wenger dropped him to the bench and made him wrangle to get that
new contract.
3. Ditching the
deadwood was a great idea: One of the problems Arsenal faced last year was
players on the bench who generally made the team worse, and starters who
brought the team down. Gervinho has talent but his poor decision-making and
finishing seemed to bring the whole team down at times, in addition to costing
us a great chance at the Capital One Cup. Arshavin is a creative genius, but is
terrible defensively and apt to make awful mistakes, including his pathetic
mistake that cost us points against Manchester United in one of RVPs final
games. I’m not sure the rest are even worth mentioning, but freeing up the
wages and getting these negative presences away from the Emirates has seemed to
lift the spirits of everyone else. Ozil has a lot to do with it, but looking
around at quality players on the bench certainly breeds confidence as well.
Sunday
we head to West Brom and a victory there heading into the next International
Break would certainly send a notice to the rest of the league – Arsenal are a
team to contend with in the title race and Europe.
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