Morning all,
a defeat last night which predictably brought about a pile of OTT negativity after the final whistle but I thought there was a lot more positive than negative to last night’s performance. As I said yesterday the game was unimportant. Yes, it was a chance for some young players to gain some experience and for some first team fringe-ers to show they’re ready for action but it was not a game on which careers stand and fall.
Let’s face it, Arsenal dominated possession throughout the game. This was a team with two full debutants (Bartley and Cruise), Wilshere playing his first Champions League game, and if Sylvester hadn’t been in the team the average age would have been 3. They played nice football in the first half, of course they got caught a bit on the break by an experienced team playing at home, but that’s only to be expected. Going in 0-0 at half-time was a fair reflection of the game and the jeers and whistles of the home crowd told you they expected their team to do better against a pack of kids.
The only goal of the game came early in the second half. Bartley got a bit too enthusiastic with a challenge and got caught out of position, their player took it on and finished nicely between Fabianski’s legs. A goal borne out of our inexperience really. In those circumstances though you look for a reaction and it wasn’t a case that heads went down, we went at them and really should have been level inside a couple of minutes. Ramsey broke forward from midfield, drew the defenders and at the perfect time slid a ball across the box for Carlos Vela whose right footed effort was tame and straight at the keeper.
Vela had another brilliant chance later on, this time on his stronger foot but he clipped it over the bar. Ramsey had a free header at the back post from a corner, he also had one cleared off the line and I’m sure it was accidental, the defender knew nothing about it till the ball hit him, Theo had a couple of half chances and while Fabianski had to make one very good save the best opportunities fell to Arsenal. Sadly we didn’t take any of them and if you want to be critical of the finishing then fair enough, but not of the performance.
That young team can hold their heads up today. They went to a difficult place, played a team who have beaten Liverpool and Madrid in recent times, and should have gotten a result. The stand out performer on the night was Aaron Ramsey who had a really fantastic game. He was involved in pretty much everything good we did and some of his passing was magical. In the first half he played a perfect ball through the defence to Theo Walcott but Theo’s habit of leaving the ball behind him saw the chance go begging. In the second he played another outstanding pass to Walcott from midfield, with the outside of his foot, but the shot was blocked by the defender in the end.
He always wanted the ball, got stuck in, showed that he’s got a bit of a fight and niggle about him, which is vital for any top player, and while not everything he tried came off the fact that he was constantly looking for it to try and get us going was hugely positive. At 18 he’s yet to add consistency to his locker but you can’t help but feeling this boy is going to be a player and a half if he keeps developing like he has been. A word too for Alex Song who provided the solidity and platform for Ramsey to get forward. It was interesting to see him win it, bring it forward and almost every time look for the young Welshman to do something with it.
Where we might feel a little disappointed is with the front three. Wilshere was very quiet but at 17 and making his first Champions League start that’s no real biggy. Carlos Vela was disappointing though, I thought. Running up blind alleys, getting knocked off the ball too easily and extremely poor finishing don’t give you a lot of confidence that he’s the man to get the goals we need in van Persie’s absence. He’s had a decent enough run of games recently and unfortunately has shown little in any of them. He had two glorious chances yesterday and badly missed them both. Yes, we’ve seen glimpses of breathtaking skill from him in the Carling Cup but when it comes to games with a bit of importance or where there’s an expecation for him to perform then he’s never really done it for us.
At a time when we’re struggling for goals you’d hope for better from a young man Wenger compared, favourably, to Robbie Fowler. Yes, he’s only 20, and I’m not writing him off by any means, but on the evidence thus far he’s not ready for the first team at the moment. Theo – a brief word, he looked as rusty as a guy who has only played a game and a half this season. He needs to get games under his belt and build some confidence. That means staying injury free – he took a worrying knock right at the end of the game – and end product when he does get into good positions.
Afterwards Arsene declared himself proud of the performance and I think that’s fair enough. Overall we did enough to get at least a draw from that game, given the circumstances and the team we had out. It was a very effective training exercise really, nothing more than that.
So, we top the group which means that we’ve got a two-legged tie against one of the group runners up. The 7 teams we can draw are: Bayern Munich, Stuttgart, Porto, Inter Milan, Lyon, AC Milan, CSKA Moscow. So some potentially tricky games in there, if you had to choose I think one of the German teams would be best, Stuttgart in particular, but I have this feeling in my water that it’s going to be Inter Milan. Wenger v Mourinho again. The draw takes place on Friday week so let’s think/worry about it then.
Now though, attention has to turn to Sunday, back to the important business of the league and a big, big game against the Mugsmashers. More on that to come in the days ahead.
Don’t forget your chance to win a copy of ‘Football Ambassador‘ the autobiography of Arsenal legend Eddie Hapgood (dope aided hog!!) with thanks to GCR Books. Details of the competition on yesterday’s blog and the winners will be announced tomorrow.
Till then.
