Just About the Most Boring Game In Years

Yesterday in a preview of the game on Fox Soccer Channel, Warren Barton said that we would play a 4-4-2, sit back and try to hit them on the counter and I said aloud in my living room, Go Fuck Yourself, we're going to play 4-3-3 and attack and batter them.  I was right about one thing, we played a 4-3-3.

We started with the Godfather in goal and our 1st choice back 4, our current 1st choice middle 3 of Cesc, Song and Diaby and RvP, Arshavin and Eboue up front.   We were missing plenty of players but still have such outstanding depth in attacking positions that we could still show quite a good side.  They started with who knows who these people are wearing Red and White all over the place.  Right from the first minute nothing we did clicked.  They broke up our play fairly well by fouling and closing down and being aggressive and not a single player on our side had what it took on the occasion to make something happen.  We defended well, even when they countered and looked to have 3v3 or 4v3 situations we managed to get plenty of players back and close them out of our defensive 3rd entirely.

In possession we could never find the far side and played down small channels our players created with small triangles and rectangles.  Then in the 8th minute we counter attacked with a 4v3 led by Arshavin with Diaby to his left and Fabregas and RvP on his right.  He played in Diaby whose cross seemed to miss Cesc in the middle but fell straight into the lap of an off-screen van Persie who cut inside 2 oncoming defenders but hit his curler far too close to the keeper.  When Arshavin ran into their half I felt we would score, but it didn't happen when it should have, a small flash of last seasons Arsenal.  It was only the 8th minute however, and there was still some time to turn on the style.

They carried on pressing us hard and we carried on being much like American movie makers, very much out of ideas.  In the 12th minute Arshavin slid in to intercept a pass about on the half way line and cleared it out for a corner to them, unbelievable, more signs of some of the old Arsenal.  But when Diaby didn't hand ball it and get sent off to lead to a penalty that went in, I figured we were looking OK and that we'd certainly go on to win.  But still, the half wore on and more of the same.  AZ keeping possession in the middle 3rd, us gobbling them up in the final 3rd, moving forward and loosing the ball because of lack of quality and vision and invention and then it'd start all over again. 

At some point in the first half Arshavin got the ball on the left corner of the box, cut inside his man and hit a quick curler that the way he does so well, but fell onto the roof of the net.  And that was about all we had.  Fortunately that was all they had too, hardly a sniff of a sniff of a chance as we defended as well as I've seen us do, although they really didn't have much invention either, although I'm inclined to say our defending had a hand in that where as in our situation, we were just fairly poor.

Then it came, on 34 minutes Arshavin, the king of offensive interceptions, nipped in to take the ball of their center back when he mis-controlled a simple ball.  He drove on, released van Persie who had made a scissor run with Cesc down the left of the box.  van Persie looked odds on to score but hit a perfect curling cross over to Fabregas who side footed in with ease.  It was a very well taken goal that was made easier than it looked, there were times that some of our boys wouldn't have scored that and it's a good testament to the quality our team has developed to have.

The half finished off the same way it had gone on but we were somewhat satisfied with 1 nil up away to the Dutch league winners.

The 2nd half was much the same.  van Persie made a crazy, needless, reckless tackle with both feed studs up on the half way line about 45 seconds into the half and probably should have been sent off but escaped with a yellow and until Diaby was almost very unlucky to score an own goal when a corner was swung in and fell just over Song's head right onto Diaby's shoulder and went over the bar.  Then there was the free kick that van Persie took that was saved.

We had a series of corners and free kicks too but due to poor balls in they were never threatening.  Late on van Persie was subbed for Vela who played right up the middle and I think that this was a turning point in the game.  It was great to see Vela play, especially as he came on looking all smiley, but without van Persie we had no height or physicality up front, so when balls were played long out of the back, we never really had any chance of keeping possession as he was just towered over in the air. Although he did win a very blatant penalty that wasn't given, which of course is that dash of bad luck you get in away performances like that sometimes.  Assuming we'd score the penalty, with RvP off I imagine that Vela would have taken it himself, it would have been 2 and their goal wouldn't have mattered.

Ramsey came on for Eboue and this was a game changer too.  It moved Diaby up front and I don't think any of us like him there, and Ramsey in the middle just wasn't cutting the mustard defensively and off the ball like Diaby was.  These two substitutions took away 2 vitals tools in relieving pressure and winning possession back.  Eboue wins the ball well up the park and also dribbles well and right at defenses, releaving the pressure nicely and Diaby was doing great work to get behind the ball and for the last 10 minutes it showed. 

They put the pressure on our box and eventually threw big balls down the middle.  Cesc gave away a needless free kick in the 3rd minute of stoppage time as the game looked to be wrapping up.  They launched it into the box, Diaby made an awful challenge in the air getting only just up to his markers shoulder about a yard behind him.  Their player cushioned a header down for the unmarked onrushing whatshisname and he volleyed into the top corner, Mannone never had a chance.  Although late on with big free kicks like that, a more experienced keeper would have come far off his line to cut it out as soon as possible.  Either way it was a poor goal to give up and a poor and boring affair.  It ends our winning streak, which annoys and gives us just the 1 point, while Olympiacos won and are now just a point behind.  I don't doubt we'll win the group, I just wanted us to run away with it.

We played without invention or much forward drive.  It was a great defensive display until the last seconds of the game and it's all cost us.  Had we played the way we can play and opened up the game we could have gone more than a goal ahead and that last goal wouldn't have mattered.  As things stood had we played the scrappy game we did without attacking shape or creativity and just not given away that free kick, 3 points would have been 3points.  But we didn't and it wasn't.

Diaby says we'll learn our leassons.

Wenger's annoyed about it too.

Oh well, I guess, I'm sure we'll have a better showing at home in a couple weeks.

Right then, more news tomorrow.

Highbury86