I don’t particularly want to break down yesterday into positives and negatives but it seems like a good way to do it.
Positives: Our unbeaten run continued.
Negatives: Everything else.
Maybe that’s a little simplistic, as there were some good things in yesterday’s game, but we blew a big chance of closing the gap on Villa and it is, even in the cold light of day with a hangover and rum encrusted around my eyes (at least I assume it’s rum), hugely frustrating.
I thought defensively we were very good. Carlton Cole has been in excellent form recently and he barely had a kick. West Ham didn’t threaten us at all really. There was one header from a corner which Clichy headed away and that was the extent of their attacking threat. So credit to the team for nullifying the opposition.
I thought Abou Diaby had a good game in central midfield. His passing was a bit wayward at times but in general he put himself about and went through the game, until his injury, with real purpose. It was the sort of performance that gives you some hope about him.
However, as an attacking force we were not very good at all. On Twitter, the man from East Lower provided a rather shocking stat – since the Man United game we’ve only scored four goals at home in the league. Yesterday it was easy to see why and why the manager has been chasing Andrei Arshavin. We lacked creativity and over the 90 minutes we barely troubled Robert Green.
The two best/only chances fell to Adebayor and he fluffed them both. The first came from a lightning break from the back, reminiscent of the kind of football we used to play so well, and when the cross came in Adebayor was on hand to put it wide. The second was a header which he delivered straight into the arms of Green. When you aren’t creating much you need you main striker to be much more clinical than that and on both occasions he was found wanting.
Frankly I was astonished he even started the game after his display against Everton. The manager chose to mix things up a bit and made the remarkable decision to leave Robin van Persie on the bench. The man who has scored or created every Arsenal goal in the month of January was dropped. You can say rested if you like but that’s just dressing it up.
The manager says he was trying to save him from injury and I can understand that thinking to a certain extent. He looked at Adebayor and Bendtner and thought they should be good enough to trouble West Ham but to me it’s still a very strange decision. When one player has been carrying the team then to remove that player leaves a very obvious gap and the fact is there’s nobody else who is capable or willing to fill the gap.
Adebayor was better than he was against Everton but not much. Bendtner I felt sorry for. When Eboue went off why didn’t Nasri go right, Vela left and we continue with a traditional 4-4-2? I’ll tell you something, Bendtner would have buried that headed chance Adebayor had – instead he was stuck out on the right wing crossing in balls for a bloke who could hardly be arsed to jump most of the time.
Robin was brought on with about 25 minutes to go but he was unable to make the difference. The fact is he could have played yesterday – and I do understand the need for caution – but still had over a week to recover before the Sp*rs game next weekend. He gambled with the defence, pairing Kolo and Gallas, and it paid off. It was a good defensive performance.
The gamble with van Persie was a big mistake, in my opinion, and while it’s easy to say it with hindsight when you take the most creative player out of a team that is struggling to create even with him in it then a draw is no surprise.
I don’t even want to talk about what he said after the match because all this stuff about them defending well is bollocks. They hardly had anything to defend bar a few hopeful crosses into the box and that’s bread and butter stuff for most defences. We drew because of our failure to create, pure and simple, and ultimately that comes back to the manager’s decision to leave the most creative player out of the team.
So while a draw is frustrating at the best of times the fact that Aston Villa were held by Wigan makes it even more so. We had a great chance to close the gap and it goes back to what I said the other day on the blog. Yes, Villa will drop points but it completely overlooks the fact that so will we.
People will point to the fact that since Cesc has been injured we haven’t lost a game. Which is true, but we miss him so badly it’s unreal. His ability to find a pass, find that little bit of space, is vital in tight games like the one yesterday or the one against Everton in midweek. Without him our midfield is bereft of that kind of craft and it’s no surprise that we’re struggling at the moment.
There was some good news yesterday when he revealed he might be back a bit sooner than expected but I would urge caution, no matter how much we miss him. He’s dedicated and I’m sure he’s looking at these games and dying to play, dying to make the difference. He needs to be 100% ready though, any kind of relapse or secondary injury would be awful. He’s got to make sure his knee is completely ready and the manager has to resist the temptation to throw him back in ahead of schedule just because he needs him so badly.
Again this goes back to needing more quality in central midfield and while I’m unwilling to go around banging the same drum time after time to me that’s simply the heart of the matter. In relation to Andrei Arshavin the boss said:
Nothing is happening – maybe, maybe not. It doesn’t worry me either way. He can unlock defences and maybe we needed him here, but we have other players who can do that, who are not available at the moment but who could be in the next two months, like Walcott and Fabregas.
Which is a remarkable thing to say really. I know he’s hardly going to come out and say we’re desperate but what are we supposed to do until those players come back? Abou Diaby was injured yesterday – which must make the boss happy because he’ll have another new signing to unveil when he gets fit again (please note position of tongue which is firmly in cheek).
Arshavin may not be the ideal signing. He doesn’t play central midfield, he’s not a strapping centre-half, but he’s an industrious, creative player who will improve this team in that area of the pitch. I’ve been a bit indifferent about his arrival, I have to say, but no longer. I really, badly, desperately want him to sign because we need him. We need someone to provide something different, this tired, jaded, bland squad needs freshening up and I think that unless we do days like yesterday are going to be more and more commonplace.
I’m genuinely concerned about whether or not we’ll finish in the top 4 this season. I might run a little poll at some stage to see what people think but when presented with an opportunity to make that a little more possible yesterday we blew it.
Overall, disappointing, frustrating, maddening, but sadly all too familiar.
