Match report – By the numbers – Player ratings – The Guff
A 0-0 draw with United last night wasn’t enough to send us back to the top of the table, but closed the gap on Chelsea to a single point.
There was plenty of post-match anger which I guess comes down to context. In isolation, a draw against a team like United isn’t a bad result. The issue is that a draw against this particular United side, feels like a real opportunity lost. This is as bad as United have been for longer than some Arsenal fans have been alive – very much the average product of an average manager – but I think the overall circumstances played a part.
Having shipped 5 goals against Liverpool on Saturday, this was, Arteta’s early mistake apart, an Arsenal side set up to ensure they didn’t lose, first and foremost. Regardless of how bad the opposition are, that’s an approach I understand after such a dreadful result. When your confidence is shaken, sometimes you need something of a sideways step before you can go forward again.
As I said yesterday this was a game we had to make sure we didn’t lose and you could see from the performances that both sides were semi-crippled by fear. Arsenal after what happened against Liverpool, United after the two dropped two injury time points against Fulham (and the rest of their shaky season too). There was huge pressure on them and us not to lose, and that was obvious.
Despite the start in which both sides should have scored – van Persie’s lame effort after Arteta’s error was followed by Giroud putting a header wide which he really should have buried – the game descended into a fairly tedious affair. The Dutch Skunk found space in behind and shanked a right footed effort miles wide, Arsenal tried lots of tippy-tappy stuff around the area which failed to come off.
The second half was more of the same, springing to life briefly when Valencia cleared a goal-bound Koscielny header off the line. Szczesny had to be alert to head away from van Persie, and in the final 15 Arsenal managed to get on top and push United back. Santi Cazorla and Mesut Ozil combined well a couple of times, twice de Gea made good saves from the Spaniard.
But at the other end there was the nagging fear of losing it by over-committing. United did break once with menace, Rooney’s cross floated over Mertesacker and found van Persie at the back post, but his close range header was brilliantly saved by Szczesny. Once again we have our keeper to thank for a clean sheet and a point.
Arsene Wenger resisted the temptation to throw caution to the wind – sensibly enough, I think – and there came a point in injury time when you could see that Arsenal had decided to take the draw, and not to get stretched. It felt frustrating, because we were on top, but I could understand it too. That disquiet was obvious, we overcooked it and gave the ball away in the final seconds, but in the end neither side could many get the one goal which would have been enough to win the game.
Afterwards, Arsene admitted fear of United on the counter played a part – and van Persie’s late chance is proof that wasn’t unfounded despite the overall paucity of their performance – as did what happened at Anfield. He said:
You felt our team was highly focused not to concede, and that maybe restricted our game going forward a little bit because we were certainly hit by the five goals we conceded on Saturday. You could feel that here. We lost two points and we missed an opportunity to go top of the league again but a point keeps us in the race. We had difficult games just now, Liverpool and Man United, and from now on it is important we come back and win our games again.
Although we’re very much in one game at a time territory right now, with difficult cup games coming up before we play in the league again, the next three Premier League fixtures – against Sunderland, Stoke and Swansea – provide a real chance to get points under our belt before things start hotting up again. So, while I didn’t much enjoy our performance last night, it was, I believe, informed by that.
It was reminiscent of the 0-0 against Chelsea following the 6-3 against Man City. You have to dig in, re-trench, and a clean sheet is the one big positive you can take from last night. We followed up that Chelsea game with a run of excellent results and with confidence somewhat restored you have to hope we can do the same again.
That said, it’s hard not to be a bit worried about the overall level of our performance and the way the team is set-up right now. Giroud had another night where he struggled to convince, and all the dramatic gesticulation in the world isn’t going to make the ball came back into play and go into the net. He was half a yard off everything last night and by the end he looked absolutely dead on his feet.
Our options – Podolski, Bendtner and Sanogo – are all unconvincing to one extent or another. You can argue, of course, that at the other end a genuinely world class striker missed two chances just as good as anything Giroud had, bit it misses the key point. He’s honest, likeable, and he works hard, but in tight games against the best opposition you’re looking for your main striker to make the difference and after a season and a half he doesn’t really look like he can do it anything more than occasionally, at a stretch.
With Rosicky in the side we were brighter and a bit quicker than we were against Liverpool, but still played the game at one pace throughout. Not so much slow-slow-quick-quick-slow, as slow-slow-slower-slow-slow. We miss the pure speed of Walcott, the outlet that gives us, and the drive of Aaron Ramsey in midfield. The manager has to find an injection of pace from somewhere, whether that’s Oxlade-Chamberlain asked to do the Walcott job, or using Gnabry who does offer that, is up to him. Without it, we’re just too easy to defend against.
As well as that, Jack Wilshere’s carelessness in the centre of the park is, to my mind anyway, becoming an issue. You can’t fault his desire or effort, but his decision making is seriously suspect. It’s very reminiscent of Ramsey when he was struggling – constantly eschewing the simple option which would keep us flowing, choosing the almost impossible one which usually breaks down and kills our momentum.
On a more positive note there were good performances from Ozil and Cazorla who combined well a number of times, and the Spaniard looked the most likely to score from an Arsenal point of view. Ozil was much more involved, but again the lack of pace in our team, and the lack of options when we had the ball was in sharp focus last night. Often he had it in midfield, his only choice was Giroud, with his back to goal, surrounded by United defenders.
Even if Giroud’s finishing leaves much to be desired, he’s also a player who works best when others are making runs off him. Our overall cautiousness last night meant that didn’t happen, so it’s little wonder we were that ineffective from an attacking point of view.
I’ve seen people suggest it’s ‘season over’ in the wake of this result, which is nonsense. We’re a point behind the leaders with 12 games to play (including a game against them). If you can’t remember what season over is really like, then you’ve forgotten the last campaign very quickly. Or the one before that. Or the one before that. Or the one before that etc.
I also don’t fully buy into the idea that we *have to* beat teams like United to win the league, but with away games at Chelsea and Sp*rs, and Man City to come at home, we’ve got to improve our points tally from the bigger games, and maintain the excellent record against those lower down.
It’s as tight a Premier League title race as I can really remember, the chasing pack are closing in, and despite frustration over the last two games with just 1 point from 6 (the same as Man City took from fixtures against Norwich and Chelsea), we’re right in the thick of it.
That we have to improve the level of our performances is obvious. That it’s hard to see exactly how we’re going to do that with this group of players almost goes without saying. But we’re still in a position where doing it would keep us at the top end of the table and I think that’s hardly the end of the world.
Till tomorrow.
