Top of the morning to yall
Arsenal’s season roared to life yesterday with a hard fought
but thoroughly deserved 2-0 victory over Liverpool at Anfield. A fantastic
performance that ensured not only three points but also we scored our first goals
of the season and extend our defensive record to 270mins of EPL footy without
conceding a goal.
With both teams chasing their first wins of the season, it
was surely not going to be a game where the home side would sit deep, soak up
pressure and attempt to hit us on the break. I expected an open free flowing
game and that's exactly what we got. After the inactivity of the transfer
deadline day and the ensuing madness that followed on the various social media
and Arsenal discussion forums, the onus was on the team to prove the manager
right again for having faith in them and that he did not make a mistake for
standing by them in the face of adversity both from within and outside the
Arsenal community. Some even went as far as saying the club lacked ambition. I could
not help but laugh at that one. A company that is valued at almost $2billion
lacks ambition? Those people have got to be clowns and if you are still
bothered by a lack of a signing in the defensive midfield position, I recommend
this piece from Dave Seager in 1nildown2oneup.netinildown2oneup.net. Am sure most people will
have a change of heart.
Back to the game and I was glad to see The Ox start in place
of Gervinho while Carl Jenkinson kept his place at right back despite Kozza’s
return to fitness. The game started brightly and Liverpool created the earlier
chances with Suarez and Raheem sterling impressing but the defensive quartet of
Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Vermaelen and Gibbs produced yet again another brilliant
performance at the back. Before the match, there was talk of how well we would
cope with a significantly better opponent from our first two opponents and if
we would be able to cope with them. Steve Bould’s impact as assistant manager
continues to shine out. At this stage last season, Arsenal had conceded 10
goals and were reeling from the shock 8-2 humiliation at Old Trafford.
Jenkinson had his hands full against the impressive Sterling
though he was well assisted by The Ox while Mertesacker, Vermaelen and Gibbs were
very solid and the level of concentration was exceptional. One of the many
positives of Arsenal’s season so far is the defensive awareness of the wingers.
As mentioned earlier, The Ox was on hand to lend a helping hand to Jenkinson at
right back just as Podolski has been doing with Gibbs. The two in fact seem to
be developing a good understanding with each other on the left side of the
pitch. The manager seems to be unsure who to play in the right wing as the
three games so far has seen three different players in that position
The midfield trio were excellent. Diaby, Arteta and Cazorla combined
excellently. Mikel Arteta was again solid at the DMF position. His covering of
the defence, work rate, passing and tackling was excellent. He had a 100%
success rate in his tackles and made 97successful passes in the game. Abou Diaby showed why Arsene Wenger has so
much faith in him despite so much pressure to sign another creative midfielder.
Wenger said about Diaby:
You can see it is massive for us because he is a tremendous football player. He has absolutely everything you want in midfield. He hasn't played for a year but he had a good pre-season where we had him 45 minutes every three days and now he looks in good shape. There is more to come from him but what he has shown today is very good.
I also believe there is more to come from him but the
concern is keeping him fit for the whole season and if he can perform on that
level on a consistent basis. The new guys finally got off the mark and one has
to say it’s been long coming. From the first two games, it was obvious they had
the potentials to succeed and all that was required was to give them the chance
and for the manager to make them play without fear or pressure. Podolski got
the first goal assisted by Cazorla and he returned the favour for Cazorla’s
goal in the second half. Olivier Giroud seems to be letting the pressure of
being the lone striker get to him and he had two good opportunities (one in each
half) to break his duck which he missed. Perhaps the pressure of delivering the
goods at a club such as Arsenal is getting to him or playing as a lone striker
does not suit him, I feel he will deliver at the right time. He has the
potential, his movement in the box his good and am sure his physical build will
serve him in good stead in a league such as the EPL. He just needs to strike
the right chord with his teammates and he will be good.
Yesterday’s performance was the kind to boost morale at the
club and it’s such a shame the guys will be away on international duties this
weekend just when they are finding the right chord. But like Arsene said, there
is nothing we could do about it so there is no point in moaning about it. We can
only enjoy the victory we had over the weekend as well as the performance of
the team and bask in the euphoria of it.
That's all for now folks, be back on Wednesday for another
one.
God Bless the Arsenal. Iree o
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