After the late equaliser in the Champions League game last week the manager and a number of the players went on record saying we couldn’t afford to be that sloppy again. We would have to learn from the mistake we made.
Sadly for us that lesson hasn’t been learned yet and while a draw away from home isn’t a bad result on paper, the circumstances of yesterday’s 2-2 with West Ham make the result most frustrating. After going 2-0 up that was a game we should have won. Instead we took our foot off the gas, strolled through the second half and when we gave them a lifeline they grabbed it with both hands.
It had started very well. Robin van Persie put us in front after 16 minutes. Bacary Sagna’s cross was touched on to van Persie’s feet by Robert Green and it was a simple tap-in. It was 2-0 after 37 minutes, van Persie’s corner headed in by William Gallas. Another goal from a set-piece, another goal from a centre-half, and having got ourselves into that position there should only have been one winner of that game.
West Ham were all over the place defensively, they offered very little in attack, the only threat coming from the always lively Carlton Cole who really seems to have grown up as a player. Without him West Ham would be utterly toothless and he caused us problems with his strength and power but without ever threatening the goal.
In the second half we never really got going. We created some decent positions, exposing West Ham’s full backs, but the final ball into the box was nearly always appalling. My joke from Twitter yesterday – Why does Gael Clichy need a boy scout to get from one side of the road to the other? Because he can’t cross. Crap, I know, but better than Clichy’s crossing. On the other side Eboue got into good positions but there was no end product to his endeavour.
One thing I’ve noticed about this Arsenal team this season is how many of the goals we’ve conceded have come from individual errors. It’s one thing being taken apart by nice football but when you’re gifting the opposition goals then you’re going to have problems. We’ve conceded 15 goals so far, I’d suggest 10 of those goals were totally avoidable and down to carelessness or mistakes on our part. And it was a mistake that let West Ham back in the game.
They got a free kick on the right hand corner of our area. Diamanti curled it around the wall with his left foot and instead of pushing it around the post Vito Mannone sent it back across goal and Carlton Cole reacted first to head it home. It was poor goalkeeping and it goes back to something I said a couple of weeks ago. Young goalkeepers will make mistakes, there’s nothing you can do about it, so I’m not really pointing the finger at him so much as the whole goalkeeping situation at the club. It’s obvious Arsene doesn’t want to play Almunia yet an Arsenal team hoping to win the title is not the place for a guy, barely into double figures in professional appearances, to be learning his trade.
The importance of a good keeper cannot be underestimated. Put that free kick around the post or away from goal and West Ham would not have scored and we’d more than likely have won that game yesterday. The keeper’s mistake gave them a chance and they took it. Fabianski is back for the Carling Cup game and he’s got a big chance now to stake his claim as the number 1 at the club, at least until the transfer window opens. Credit to Mannone, he’s done well enough given the circumstances, but he’s far from ready for first team football at Arsenal. And as time goes on it looks more and more like we need to spend some money in this area.
With the wind in their sails a bit West Ham pressed forward and looked for a penalty when Scott Parker went down in the box. The ref waved play on and replays showed Parker clearly dived. Without trying to open up that whole debate again if the ref decided it wasn’t a penalty then it had to be a dive and Parker should have been booked. West Ham didn’t have to wait long for another chance though. Carlton Cole had his back to goal, was going nowhere, Alex Song gave him a little kick on the ankle, not enough to knock an old woman down but quite enough to send a professional football tumbling, and Chris Foy gave the penalty. It was soft and generous, exactly the kind of penalty you get at home having had one appeal just turned down, but naive defending on our part. Just stand him up, don’t give the ref a chance to make that decision. Diamanti lashed it home to make it 2-2.
Only then did Arsenal stir. Scott Parker was sent off for a deliberate handball and Rob Green made a fantastic save from a Robin van Persie header but it was too little too late. Bendtner and Eduardo came on but we got what we deserved in the end, a single point from a game in which we should have taken three.
Afterwards Arsene spoke about us having to learn to kill off games and there’s no doubt there’s an element of ruthlessness missing. We played that second half like the game was won and West Ham would be no trouble for us. The thing is, until 15 minutes from time, they weren’t. But we have to learn that 2-0 is not a comfortable lead, especially when as a team you are capable of giving goals away as presents at any time.
We had the quality to score more goals against a pretty poor West Ham side yesterday but it looked as if we didn’t really want to. Get to 3-0 or 4-0, then you can amble about as much as you like because you’re never going to be caught, but get to that position first. Arsene wasn’t happy with the referee but I think it’s somewhat churlish to blame him. Yes, the penalty was soft but at that point a penalty to West Ham shouldn’t have mattered. And he might be better off looking at some of his own team who really didn’t perform as well as they might have.
Overall, while not the end of the world, the result was very frustrating and disappointing. We did move into third in the league, City, United and Sp*rs all dropped points, but we need to learn to turn the screw in games like this. When they drop points we need to take advantage. If we really want to win the league this season then we can’t afford to let leads slip like we did yesterday. You just have to wonder how many times we need to be taught the same lesson before we actually learn it.
Anyway, it’s a bank holiday here in Ireland, so for now that’ll have to do. I have to go drop Mrs Blogs into town as she’s running the Dublin City Marathon today. It makes me tired even thinking about it but good luck, Mrs!
And, as I mentioned last week, make sure you check back on the blog at around 1.30pm for details of a rather excellent competition which will be running all week.
