First problem was Arshavin. In the beginning of the match, he was trying and you could see that he wanted to do well but i got the impression that he was not trusted by his teammates. They hesitated to pass him the ball. This prevented him from doing well. He seems to have lost a step. I would like to see Arshavin be given the role of a supersub. He comes off the bench to move things forward. This should be the same with Benayoun and Rosicky.
The second problem was with the rest of the team. Today, the whole team looked letargic. Unable to take the fight to Fullham. I would put this down to the game against Dortmund. This type of stop and start game is hard on the body. It showed today. The players looked like they had lead in their boots. Which brings me back to Arshavin. Why was he not more effective ? Lack of playing time, lack of motivation, lack of belief. These same symptoms are evident with Marouane Chamakh. Rosicky had shown improvement before he got injured. The other player who should not have been affected by the Dortmund game is Djourou and he played very well today. He seems motivated to improve himself and remain with Arsenal. The rest of the team had a tough outing. This does not bode well for Tuesday’s encounter with Man City. Today, Fullham parked the bus and waited for opportunities. They did not win the draw, Arsenal gave them the draw.
The man of the match was Vermalen. I give him this distinction because he did not accept scoring an own goal. You could see that he wanted to correct the unlucky mistake. Throughout the game he was solid. He wants to win. I give him full credit for fighting to score the equalizer. This determination makes him for me, the man of the match.
The team is not starting a downward trend. Anyone who looks at this performance and is having heart palpatations should take a second look at the game. The players were not making mistakes on a consistent basis. They fought hard to maintain their roles and system but you could see they were worn down. Aaron Ramsey ran like a lion today but you could see that he did not have the zip to fly by the defenders. Theo stumbled his way around also and could not dance pass the defender. Alex Song was a shadow of his man of the match performance against Dortmund. Arteta gave it a go but also was not scooting past defenders. Santos kept up with the play but looked labored in his movement. Mertesacker was doing well along with Vermalen and Djourou. Captain Van Persie looked tired in his movements. All of this makes me give the upcoming Man City game a 60-40 percent in favor of Man City, unless Wenger puts out a mixed team of experience and youth to counteract the energy problem that afflicted today’s game. I might be wrong and the preferred starting eleven could come out with rockets in their boots but they will not have much time to heal from Saturday to Tuesday. But on the off chance that they come out flying on Tuesday then Wenger will have to look carefully at the team he puts out next weekend. Time for Park, Chamberlain, Coquelin to be given their chances. Don’t believe for a moment that there will be a collapse by the players. The 8-2 loss to Man Utd, have made sure that these players will fight hard to prevent another slide. They are playing as a team and will continue to be successful as a team.
Interestingly enough, Man Utd and Chelsea seems to have picked up various versions of the disease that afflicted Arsenal at the beginning of the season. Today Man Utd tied with Newcastle. Chelsea was more surefooted today and won. On another front, I had the chance to see the Real Madrid game and the Barcelona game. I recorded them and saw them later. Real won 4-1 against 10 man Athletico Madrid (Jose Antoinio Reyes plays for this team). Athletico Madrid then went to 9 men by the end of the game. Before all of the goals by Real, they were doing as well as Arsenal. Struggling. Barcelona lost 1-0 to Getafe. Barcelona had the same luck that we had against Norwich. Getafe’s players kept the ball out of the net. The reason that i have presented these results is to show you that results can vary to the negative for the side that have the most expensive players. Buying expensive players do not guarantee a win but it ups the odds. Arsenal on the other hand, guided by Wenger, has produced an inexpensive but pleasing to watch side that is moving up the table. I still believe that even though Tottenham is doing so well at the moment, you never know what may befall their fortunes. The same can be said about the other teams. Look at Man City without Silva in their midfield, they look mediocre. I am not saying that Arsenal is better than the top guns but it takes determination, blood and guts and self belief by the players to win. Afterall, the reason that they have made it to a top level team is because they already have a good enough skill set. However, it is their self belief and inner drive that helps them win with the team. Arsenal showed this against Dortmund and last year against Barcelona. I believe that they would have beaten Barcelona last year save for a lousy referee. Today however, was another story and it makes me continue to believe in this team. I still believe that they will be in the top four by the end of the season.
by Weslee
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