Early in the game at West
Brom, it looked like Arsenal would dominate the proceedings, passing the ball around
and pushing forward at will. But a funny thing happened on the way to victory –
West Brom maintained their defense discipline and formation throughout, made it
hard for Arsenal to press forward and were excellent on the counter. Arsenal
thus found itself in a halftime hole for the first time all season (1-0), after
Claudio Yacob headed in a cross from the impressive Morgan Amalfitano in the 42nd
minute. It could easily have been a two goal deficit, as Anelka went just wide
from the left side with only Szczesny to beat.
After several missed
opportunities, it was the unlikely Jack Wilshere to the rescue in the 63rd
minute, sending a powerful volley in off a Rosicky pass outside the box. Ozil
started the counter, laying it off to Giroud who passed it on to Rosicky on the
wing. It was the first goal for Wilshere since 2010 and covered over a rather
poor performance in the first half, where he gave the ball away 8 times and overcommitted
on a challenge that left Arsenal short at the back. Wilshere continues to show
great promise, but his tendency to dribble into multiple defenders or fall too
easily looking for free kicks (and a penalty on 76 minutes), makes him a
liability often leading to counterattacks by opponents. In the end, given the
number of chances West Brom accumulated, it was a good away point and kept
Arsenal in first place, though now tied with Liverpool on points and ahead on
goals scored. A few short thoughts on the game …
1. Giroud: the
striker has improved dramatically this season, particularly with his holdup
play. This was evident throughout the contest, with many attacking moves
cutting through him. But he still needs to finish his chances, scorning three
that could have given Arsenal the early lead or finished the comeback. The most
glaring was in the 76th minute, when a beautiful long pass from
Wilshere left him one on one with goalkeeper Boaz Myhill. But a heavy touch and
attempt to round the GK failed and the opportunity was lost.
2. Ozil/Ramsey/Flamini/Wilshere:
why change a winning formula? That might be the question Wenger is asking
himself after the shift he made in the midfield, dropping two points
unnecessarily. Wenger pushed the hottest player in the EPL, Ramsey, to the
right, limiting his effectiveness, while lining Arteta and Flamini up next to
each other, arguably slowing down the attack from the back. This is not to take
away from West Brom, but it appears Arteta and Flamini with Wilshere in front
allowed too many counters to emerge and limited our offensive prowess. Ozil was
great yet again, to me, but he needs someone to push the game forward. I
thought that began to emerge when Rosicky replaced Ramsey, but it was only able
to create the equalizer. I believe our best formation at present is Flamini and
Ramsey further back, Ozil further forward with Cazorla on the left and Walcott
on the right (upon their return) in a 4-2-3-1. Wilshere will get time, but he
really needs to improve his game and stop flopping around.
3. Bendtner’s Return:
Nicholas Bendtner made his EPL return in a late game cameo and performed
adequately, showing he could serve as the backup until the January window. His
holdup play is above-average and he can certainly score goals (around 50 in 120
if I remember correctly at Arsenal).
We
now have a couple of weeks off while England and many clubs on the edge of
qualifying struggle to make next summer’s World Cup in Brazil. Gunners Wilshere
and Gibbs are called up for the crunch clashes against Montenegro and Poland
and one hopes no new injury troubles emerge. COYG and good luck to England!
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