A trip to Anfield is always full of trepidation, despite Liverpool’s recent decline, they are still a team that hold many dangers. If the Kop are allowed to get into the game they can be a telling 12th man roaring their team on. With this in mind Arsène Wenger and his newly arranged squad deserve a large amount of credit for making the game a very relaxed enjoyable affair for us fans.

Photo courtesy of chas – our man at the match

Quite simply we looked comfortable from the 1st minute, even when passes from the back went astray the team had retained its shape and there was no sudden chase to catch opposition forwards with the defence and midfield looking all at sea.

Liverpool tried to press as Swansea did last season but the lads in the main looked calm and collected as they moved the ball in neat triangles around the red shirts, most importantly they moved themselves as well to a position where they could receive the ball again, too often last season we saw an Arsenal player pass the ball and stand still or move as if pre programmed not reacting to what was happening around him. At our worst last season the man in possession was lucky to have one man available when faced with the press, yesterday he was unlucky if he only had two options.

The first twenty five minutes saw the two teams sizing each other up, apart from Mertesacker pulling down Suarez after letting Suarez drift off and spin him quickly and a couple of dodgy cross field passes by Jenkinson there was not too much goalmouth incident at either end, a couple of speculative efforts from either side and nothing more.

Any foray into our half by Liverpool was dealt with comfortably, any foray into Liverpool’s half by us resulted in an overhit cross or a missed pass.

On the half hour mark With Liverpool pushing forward again and committing men forward Gerard played a pass which Vermaelen read and dealt with quickly, the ball played straight to Podolski who turned and found Cazorla, for the first time in the match he was in space between the midfield and defence, Cazorla drove at the heart of the defence, Giroud pulled right and Podolski was busting a gut to join in on the left of Cazorla.

Cazorla delayed until he had the attention of the four men in front of him and as they started to think about closing a potential shot down he played a pass into the path of Podolski, one touch to set and the second touch sent the ball low and hard past Reina. One nil to the good guys, a good pacy counter attack. Perhaps the best thing about this goal was not even the goal itself, it was evidence that lessons have been learned, look behind the front three and not one other Arsenal player had left our half.

Amongst all the action something exciting was happening in the middle of the park, we were seeing the player we have been dreaming of since about 2005 when Vieira left for Juve, we were seeing Diaby stamp his authority on a football match.

Arteta was quietly and effectively mopping up the pieces in front of the back four, Cazorla was pushing and probing in the final third, and in between the two Diaby was doing whatever he wanted. Throwing dummies, back heels, twists and turns, running with the ball at pace, pressing opponents and tackling. In short the lad was class and reminded all of us just how good he can be, and precisely why Wenger has persisted with him.

Before the half ended Diaby drove with the ball through the Liverpool lines and picked out Giroud’s run, unfortunately our new front man couldn’t quite get his leg round the shot and it went harmlessly wide. To be fair to Giroud he had spent most of the first half watching crosses from Gibbs sail over his head, this was his first real chance of the game.

The second half started in the same way as the first half ended, Liverpool had possession, but they didn’t threaten sufficiently to cause the nerves to start jangling. Gone from our performance in the second half were the half hit misplaced passes, everything was being done efficiently and the team was moving up and down the pitch as a cohesive unit.

Mertesacker took our lives (and his place on the park) in his hands when he tickled Suarez under the arm which I can only imagine sent the Uruguayan weak at the knees and he couldn’t help but fall to the ground. I think this decision was probably the hardest for Webb all match, he knows he is not supposed to help Arsenal but he is definitely never allowed to help Liverpool under the terms of his contract with ManUre.

As the Arsenal midfield started to control the game more pressure was put on the Liverpool area, Gibbs was released into the 18 yard box by Podolski, his cross come shot was well saved by Reina. Cazorla going across the box let fly with his left foot to see his effort go just wide of the right post.

Finally the second goal cushion was achieved, a classic Arsenal goal, a swift one two between Cazorla and Podolski released Cazorla into the box, he drove his shot low and hard, and Reina could only parry it into the net. Two nil and cruising.

The last twenty minutes was a case of getting the job done, this is where we would really see if things have changed in the team this season, and on the evidence of this final twenty minutes the answer is a resounding yes. We were not committing six or seven men forward when in possession, when players were in possession and isolated they waited for support or the foul to come, to use a US sports phrase, we ran the clock down. Not by walking the ball across the 6 yard box every goal kick, but by keeping the ball, and supporting each other around the park.

Liverpool’s best chance came on 87 minutes and it fell to Shelvey who drove low and hard, Mannone was equal to the shot, and Vermaelen was first to the bouncing rebound to clear the lines.

The final whistle brought a few boos from the Anfield crowd, well except that corner which was full of Arsenal fans who had been magnificent (as always) for the ninety minutes. Although i would ask them to drop the “She Said No” it does us as fans no favours.

Okay so having read all of that you must be thinking everything’s rosy and we’re on the march for the league, well I wish i could agree, a good manager I played under always said the time to put things right and focus on the negatives of a performance is after a win, that way you are not further demoralising the players and they are more receptive to the ideas.

Areas for improvement:

1) Row Z is never the wrong option for a defender, sometimes it is just needed, the defence need to understand this and not be afraid to hoof it into touch to relieve pressure rather than trying to find a difficult pass with opposition shirts close.

2) Supporting the front man, occasionally we went longer to Giroud, this is a good thing as long as it doesn’t become the only ball, occasionally when Giroud did manage to get the ball ahead of Skrtel and Agger he wasn’t getting enough support, or there was breakdown in communication between him and the player coming to support, resulting in losing possession when the chance to break was on.

3) Attacking set pieces still need more work (not that we had many).

And finally the ratings, always difficult for me as its all very subjective but I will start with giving my basis for scoring. Each player starts with a 7, that 7 is based upon what i know of them as a player not how they performed compared to others on the pitch, for example Sagna might have got a 7 for the performance Jenkinson put in, but Jenkinson will get an 8 because I don’t expect him to be at that level yet….make sense?…no? …..good you can’t complain about them then:

Mannone – 8 Solid performance from our oft criticised 3rd choice, he almost made me forget that horror goal in the CL last season

Jenkinson – 8 Despite a couple of dodgy passes he just never gives up, stuck to his task of dealing with the highly spoken of Sterling very well he didn’t get a sniff.

Mertesacker – 7 Exactly what we have come to expect from the BFG, calm and assured, puts himself in the right positions most of the times, how many centre backs in the PL would stay on the park after picking up a booking in 5 minutes against the likes of Suarez at Anfield?

Vermaelen – 8 Solid display from the skipper, strong in the air when needed, good on the ground, and a couple of well timed clearances.

Gibbs – 7 Defensively solid although Borini posed nowhere near the threat that Jenkinson had to contend with, supported the attack well but must improve final ball.

Arteta – 8 His normal influential self, disciplined to play the holding role, eager to break up opposition attacks, read the game brilliantly.

Diaby – 9 – MOTM Probably his best match for the club, simply magnificent in the centre of midfield drew opposition shirts too him and then fed the ball to the free men, he helped set the tempo of the game with Arteta and Cazorla

Cazorla – 8 An assist and a well taken goal, welcome to Arsenal Santi, head up football the whole time, good runs with the ball, two footed in possession, makes the game look too easy.

Podolski – 8 Strong performance, put in a decent shift up and down the left flank, also made the pitch narrower to help out on defence, superb finish, good assist.

Oxlade-Chamberlain – 6 This to some will be abit harsh, but i don’t think Ox got into the game, he was easily marshaled at the moment by more experienced players, he will learn a lot from his new teammates, and i expect huge development this year.

Giroud – 7 Worked hard for his team, in a thankless task, didn’t stop running for 90 minutes and looked dead on his feet at the end, will need to relax to score his first goal.

by Gooner in Exile

After watching our first two matches, I have some thoughts and observations I’d like to share. This may be (hopefully) a busy week, so as you read this some personnel may have changed.

I have been keeping up with the blogs, and there is an unusual amount of agreement among fans about the defense, and the team in general. It seems Steve Bould’s influence is apparent. The discipline and cohesiveness are plain to see. Tommy Vermaelen only bombed forward a bit – late in the match vs Sunderland, when we were chasing a win at home against the bus, and in those circumstances, I was happy to see it. Much better than being in the opponents box when we are nursing a lead, like last season. Mertesacker has been his normal, under-rated, steady self. But effective as usual. Hopefully we will have our best defender Kozscielny back soon. I have said before, I would stack up our first 3 CB’s against any team’s.

A lot of us have noticed how well Gibbs has played – for me it’s obvious why he has defended so well. It’s FOCUS. I don’t mean that in an abstract, cliche way – I mean.. he has been told to be a defender first. He needed this, because in the past he didn’t excel in any facet, now he has shown he can be a very good defender at least, which is more than before. The same for Jenkinson, he has so far avoided being caught out of position as he was in the pre-season friendlies, which had us all worried. So our boy Sagna, with Jenks, Coquelin and Yennaris, might leave us well covered at RB. But these defensive improvements come at a cost. As you know, a big part of our attack has always included our full backs participating, and I do feel like I’ve noticed that has been curtailed so far in the two matches. I’m not saying that it’s the problem, but we all knew in the back of our minds, that the discipline we were asking for would make for a slightly less exciting attack. I do believe, that when our coaches see enough defensive discipline, the fullbacks will be encouraged to help a little more -but hopefully in a responsible way.

In the comments section after the Stoke match, our friend LB made a great point, which I had been pondering during the match, and that is – if our defense is looking so tight, maybe we don’t need a killer defensive midfielder. But I will disagree, because, even though I considered it, I remembered how I felt watching some of our future opponents offensive squads in the past two weeks. Chelsea with Torrez, Hazard, Mata, Oscar, Marin, Sturridge ( and probably another top striker to come). City with Aguero, Tevez, Dzeko, Balotelli, Silva, and Nasri. United is the weakest of the top teams with Rooney,VP, Chicharrito, Berbatov (?) Kagawa, but the worst midfield behind them. And the next tier of teams including an improved Everton, Newcastle, and Spurs are all more dangerous than the teams we just held scoreless. At Liverpool, Suarez alone has more talent than anyone we have faced so far. By the way, looking at that list, I really think we need one more striker, I like our crew, but if we really want to challenge in all competitions, Giroud and Podolski will be way overworked. But we will have the best midfield in the league, talented and deep, for sure.

I am amazed at the divergence of opinion about Diaby, everyone watching the same performances can have such disagreement. I see it this way: I’ve watched some older matches over this summer from 2009,10.. and obviously so far this season. I think he is talented, but in a subtle way, he is not as slow as he appears, very fluid, with a nice shot in him, uses his upper body very well to keep players at bay, but I don’t see him as a DM. Arteta does everything and anything asked of him, and very well, including excellent tackling, but I think we are a little better if he is free to go forward more, especially since we didn’t add Sahin, and we don’t want to rush or pressure Wilshere. By the way, even though I defended Song alot last season, he was a clown, and WE are better without him. He can be coached into playing well as CB/DM for Barca, I will admit. Thy do know how to recognize physical talent.

So, I think, particularly in those big matches, I would feel more secure having an aggressively defensive midfielder, who is also a very good passer, if only to protect our new organized, effective back four, which I think we will all be proud of this season.

Written by JNYC

MJC has submitted the chart below that compares the corners won against those conceded after the first two games, this data adds weight to some of the points made in JNYC’s post today………..

I watched a lot of football over the weekend: Manchester United versus Fulham, in which some Dutch bloke scuffed the ball over the line; Chelsea v Newcastle, a mid table clash between the fifth and sixth best teams in England; Stoke v Arsenal, in which a party of brave adventurers including at least one dwarf travelled to Mordor, failed to slay some Orcs and came home again; and, finally, a mugging in Liverpool (I know that’s not news, but this one was a footballing mugging, with the away team stealing an undeserved point).

There were many talking points from those games (including Wayne Rooney experiencing a nasty old gash; the usual bovine booing of Aaron Ramsey by the Stoke herd and Martin Skrtel demonstrating why you can never afford to be sloppy with an exposed rear).

But the incident that really caught my eye was Chelsea’s first goal in their 2-0 victory over Newcastle United.

It was scored by Eden Hazard from the penalty spot after Torres was deemed to have been tripped in the box by Newcastle’s sweetly named midfielder Anita.

The problem is that to me, at least, it was not a penalty. Torres jinked into the box and pushed the ball past Anita who looked as if she (sorry, he) was going to stick out a leg.

Anticipating the contact, Torres instantly tipped into the two-footed “Sniper*” fall and went down.

The only trouble was that Rita, after starting to dangle out a foot, quickly pulled it back again. There may have been slight contact, but only because Torres’ legs were spread out to the sides in the first stages of the “Sniper”.

Certainly the contact would not have been sufficient to upend the Spaniard if he had carried on running instead of playing for the penalty.

The referee was Phil Dowd and all Arsenal fans will remember from a certain 4-4 draw at St James’s Park that he is perfectly capable of awarding a penalty for nothing.

But I am not going to lay the blame on Fat Phil for this one. The fact is that many in the game today would argue strongly that the incident was a foul and deserved a penalty. They would point to the fact that there was some contact, however little, and that Juanita stuck her leg out, even though she quickly withdrew it.

In my book it’s a form of cheating and bad sportsmanship, although some pundits would describe Torres’ behavior as “clever” for having won the penalty; and certain players would no doubt say that they go down in anticipation of the challenge to avoid injury (I wonder what their domestic lives are like: Wife: “What ARE you doing?” Player: “Er… going down in case of injury?” Wife: “That’s funny, that’s exactly what John Terry said yesterday… Oops”).

Newcastle manager Punchy Pardew was being restrained when he said afterwards that Torres “made a meal” of it.

As it happens, in this game I don’t think it made any difference. Chelsea, I’m afraid to say, were on top for the whole game and would certainly have won it with or without the penalty. Their new creative signings have made them a force to be reckoned with. We can only hope that, as the older “stars” like Lampard and Terry start to get edged out, the usual discord will follow and will act like dry rot in the London Oilers’ edifice.

To go back to my point, I believe Torres expected to be fouled and started to fall before the foul happened, rather than falling as a result of being fouled. It’s a subtle but crucial difference. Across the season we will see many, many more such penalties, some of which will help decide the destination of silverware

Some of the shocking dives last season by the likes of Ashley Young and Gareth Bale were defended on the grounds that they were “anticipating” the fall.

Simple sportsmanship dictates that you don’t go down without being forced to. The Titanic did not “anticipate” the iceberg and plunge head first into the icy Atlantic seas before making any contact with the ‘berg.

Effects need causes otherwise they become causes in themselves.

The only solution to this cheating is – as with so many problem areas in modern football – the use of retrospective video evidence to punish offenders. At the moment this can’t happen because of the ludicrous rule that if the referee witnessed the incident his decision cannot be second guessed. Because referees, like the Pope, are infallible.

I would suggest a panel of ex players and referees should sit in judgement of such incidents. Their decision would not affect the result of the game, but they could award a ban to anyone found to be cheating. If they are not unanimous, the benefit of the doubt would go to the striker.

Of course to an Arsenal supporter this is mostly academic (no penalties awarded to us at home during all of last season, remember). But even if referees are allergic to awarding spot kicks for us, we know they’ll be happy enough to dish them out to our opponents.

Clamping down on the “already on his way down-ers” would benefit not just us, but the game as a whole.

RockyLives

*The Sniper is so called because it looks as if the player has been shot in the back from behind, sending his upper body forward while his legs fly out to the sides. The Sniper is believed to have been the subject of a Trademark dispute between Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard, both of whom claim they invented it. The dive is now sold under licence in several countries including Spain, where Dani Alves holds the rights.

Firstly, congratulations to Stoke for improving upon their average goal tally at Reading. They scored one whereas last season they managed less than one goal a game, scoring 36 goals in 38 games. And guess what – the majority were from set plays (58% !!)

I must confess to liking Tony Pulis as a man, he is passionate, committed and honest (though deluded!) but I hate his tactics; I realise he has limited resources but that is no excuse to play the worst type of anti-football. Norwich, Swansea, Wigan etc show it is possible to stay in the PL on a limited budget without resorting to Route One physical football. Hopefully, the signing of Fatboy Huddlestone indicates a change of direction.

Ryan & Robert

Some have expressed an opinion that we should be more accommodating and friendly towards Stoke and in a logical world I can empathise with this – but – addiction to Arsenal is totally illogical, as is the amount of time we spend discussing it! Fact: Football is tribal. Fact: One of my tribe was hurt by one of Stoke’s and there was no apology forthcoming. Fact: Stoke play a physical game designed to curtail the skills, pace, cohesion and equanimity of my warriors. Fact: Stoke fans hate us and Ramsey in particular. Fact: Rivalry in sport is what makes it so damned compulsive.

So, I make no apology when calling Stoke “The Orcs,” nor when belittling their admittedly well run club. Yes, Stoke play with heart and commitment and generally within the rules of the game but “so what”. I don’t like them – not since we went down 5-0 in the first Double season (the pain was worse than MU last year). Bury the hatchet? Why? Why now? Should we reflect kindly upon our miscreant, cave-dwelling, knuckle-dragging neighbours? Of course not. No, the Stoke game has an emotional element which did not exist a few seasons ago when a trip to Stoke was just another hurdle on the way to the title; long may the rivalry continue.

Right …. off the soapbox and onto the game. Stoke have a superb home record against the top clubs (losing only to Newcastle of the top 6 last season). We came away with an admirable draw despite wearing last season’s awful away kit. Today, we premier our lovely purple outfit – not sure it is proper Arsenal but at least our players no longer look as if they are in Cirque du Soleil (though I suspect Bob Wilson would not be impressed by Chesney’s pink ensemble).

We know all about the excellence of Stoke’s twin Orcs at CB. I wonder if Pod and Giroud will have ever come across two such “committed” players. Thankfully, the little scrote Whitehead was sent off last week and will be absent. Mr Crouch has a penchant for goals against The Mighty Arsenal and our best bet has to be to stop his supply, but can Corporal Jenks or Young Gibbsy control a wily and pacy player like Etherington – we shall see. And please Mr Wenger put a player in front of Crouch at set plays with  BFG marking him.

Will we play O-C or continue with the fit Diaby? Gerv or Theo or both? Pod or OG? Gibbs or Santos?

My team:

I really worry about our right side because Diaby has never shown himself to be strong defensively and Jenks will need cover. The connection between him and Theo needs much work. However, we will need Diaby’s height at set plays – an area where Sagna will be much missed. For this reason I would also play Giroud. Podolski may not be fully match fit but 70 mins pitch time will sharpen him plus playing The Orcs will give the new boys an important lesson in the leniency of EPL refereeing. Lee Mason has the whistle today.

Rocky’s excellent post about the forced expansion of Stoke’s pitch and it’s effect upon the long throw tactic will be highlighted today. Will a referee ever add extra time for the “towel”?

Expect to see the Orc fans doing the Wenger Wave which passes for humour in a town where there is very little to laugh about – let’s face it, if you were forced to live in Mordor  wouldn’t you want to take the rise out of a multi-millionaire, successful, intelligent foreigner?

Can we win? It will be difficult, as Stoke’s home record suggests. With the wind at our backs, a little luck, a secure defence and potency upfront – why not?

Some facial graffiti  …… a world record beard measured at 18* 6″ (5.65m) owned by a Norwegian.

COYRRG

Written by Big Raddy