Arsenal made it five straight home wins in all competitions after beating Sunderland at the Emirates yesterday, but the match told a different story.
Here are the five things I learnt from the Gunners yesterday:
1. 4-3-3 doesn’t work
For most of the game Arsenal were in control but did seem to have a hard time trying to break down Sunderland’s five man midfield. Another problem is that they began to really push us back when they had equalized, meaning we couldn’t break free from midfield because they always had two men more than us – when has five versus three ever been a good battle? They stopped us from playing our game for an extensive period of time, but on the bright side they couldn’t contain us at our best when we broke away. Our finishing in the final third is still a concern from our wide men Walcott and Gervinho, but Van Persie showed them how it’s done. It looked like we switched to a 4-5-1 formationa as the game wore on.
2. More cheering, better performances
Against Sunderland the team played better when the crowd were singing their hearts out and cheering the boys on, and for the first 25 minutes of the first half, Arsenal were in control but failed to capitalize on the excitement of the crowd that had inspired them so well at the beginning of the match. However, as soon as the opposition equalized, the crowd went quiet and the team fell apart, they didn’t look comfortable on the ball, made sloppy passes and began to sit back and soak the pressure that Sunderland piled on. As the match drew to a close the fans began to cheer again and the team began to play better and create more chances. Basically, the more the home fans cheer the better our boys play.
3. Finally, man marking!
I finally saw the team abandon their attempts at zonal marking and go for a man marking system. We did seem to be a little bit sloppy with it, but we did manage to use the system well enough to see off Sunderland’s threats, most of the time. Another thing I noticed was that the players were pressing the ball high up the field when their confidence was running high; this is something I’d like to see them do more often.
4. Arshavin back to his best
Arshavin was once again given a cameo role yesterday and during his short time on the field the Russian really showed his class – something we have really missed from the 30-year-old. The best part of his game was when he seamlessly eased past a crowd of Sunderland’s defenders in their box, but shot wide. His introduction also helped add some confidence and creativity to the team. If Arshavin keeps this up he could very well displace Walcott in no time at all.
5. RVP is simply irreplaceable
Van Persie once again showed how valuable an asset he is to Arsenal and why we can’t afford to let him go. He was brilliant on the ball, scored two wonderful goals and seemed to be the only player in a red shirt playing with confidence. If for some reason he is unavailable for the Gunners we will suffer in the goal department, as I do not see anyone in our current squad really hitting them like he does.
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Another thing we have learned – Walcott should never take a direct free kick. I cannot remember a single time he has hit the target in the last two years. Rvp is the man come on the gooners more performances like that just pure passion
start with gervinho and arsh on wednesday and bring theo as a sub in the second half.
his speed should make more of an impact when coming on later.
I really luv dis assessment. U are very right. Up arsenal
Arshavin was great…and so was Rosicky..
@max, im pretty sure he hit the target in pre season.
Szczesny
Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Santos
Rosicky, Coquelin, Ramsey
Oxlade-Chamberlain, van Persie, Arshavin
Subs: Mannone (no going to happen but Fabianski…), Djourou, Song, Arteta, Miyaichi, Walcott, Park
Song and van Persie are probably our most valuable outfild players we have available. Let’s not use them too much. van Persie needs to be protected a little bit and Park knows how to score. Either start with Park and let van Persie come on if we need him or start with van Persie and take him off around the hour. Let the Ox try himself again and if necessary bring on Walcott as an impact sub. Coquelin had a great outing in his last game and is ahead of Frimpong. Arshavin should be rewarded with a start.
Stop giving Walcott stick, he was a good player off the ball. The only player who wasn’t doing us any favours was Arteta, he has not added what i thought to us, that’s why we’re struggling upfront because he’s not running hard, he’s not creating.There should be a change of system, then you will see Theo thriving big time.
Arteta still has not fit in, and Gervinho is not as effective as Walcott or Arshavin…maybe he needs more time, but he is totally predictable with his runs.
That assessment is quite in order but our boys should begin to realise that every dead ball situation is a possible goal. Let them be scoring from that more often.