Morning Gooners,
I would like to start this post off with a congratulations to the Arsenal team, a great result after our abysmal performance at Wembley. A five nil win against Leyton Orient was very emphatic and well deserved, the players were very focused and passed the ball about very effectively, a good one touch goal from a Rosiski fine run, and well executed cut back pass which found Maroanne Chamakh and his one touch, and that was our first goal. I felt relief as that goal went in and i believe the players did as well. It seemed to me that the game was set up for us to win. I couldn't understand Orients tactics for the evening starting from the back and trying to play in the same manner as is our style, which in all honesty was playing straight into our hands, it appeared to me that this was a different set up than from the first game, perhaps i shouldn't question a win, but at the end of the day we made another three million for this replay, when i say we i mean the club not the supporters as they were the ones paying the money, perhaps i am just a bit touchy after the loss at Wembley, but football is a business after all.
That win puts us in the quarter final and we are matched with Manchester United, it appears to me that we will keep on being matched with United in every competition we stay in, so what are our chances against them. Most people would give us a good chance seeing how Ferguson's men haven't been firering on all cylinders, my opinion, we don't stand a chance. Now don't stop reading until i explain why. Against Orient we passed all night and they gave us plenty of space and time to make our passes, and that's what we did all night, our passing must have been close to Barcelona's figures when we hosted them. but when you look at the game again like i have, you see that we very seldom make a tackle, when i say tackle i mean going in with commitment, every tackle which is fifty fifty our players pull out of, i understand that they do not want to be injured but i have noticed this trend more and more. The same thing with heading, very seldom will we win a header, the players jump but only to try and put the defender off, never an intentional effort to win the ball, so what i am saying in so many words is that we are running scared of physical contact.
Dennilson, Diaby,Rosiski, Nasri Eboue Walcott Arshaven, are some of the worst offenders, i have noticed that it is spreading right through the team, Diaby pulled out of several tackles against Orient, that brought him to my attention, now when your defensive midfielder start pulling out you know your in trouble. Wenger said after our last game at Orient, that young Miquel would be left out till he was stronger to go into tackles with intent, i think he should be looking at many more.
Now against a side like Leyton Orient, who dwell in about eleventh place in the league below us, they are starstruck playing against Premier competition, the difference between the teams are massive, and thats why we scored five goals with our so called worst strikers, and fielding what is now called our second string team. Chances of there being an upset were almost zero. Many of the teams in the Premier league are of the same standard as Leyton, and some of them will be playing against them next season, so the point i am making is the opposition last night is not a good example of our might, it was a forgone conclusion we would win.
Now i come back to my statement about us not winning against Manchester United. Now this is a physical side, they are on you, as soon as you receive the ball, especially Vidic Evra Fletcher Carrick They never pull out of any challenge fully committed with one intention to get the ball or player, their forward players will all battle for everything, they jump and win most of the balls in the air, they have a very sound goalkeeper that is very experienced, his nearing retirement but is still one of the best if not the best in the league, what i am saying is that you have to fight power with power as Chelsea did in their latest encounter, and our boys have not got this in them, so when matched with a physical side we normally come unstuck. When our players are rushed they give the ball away, they are frightened of the physical side of the game, i believe we lost the Carling Final because of it, i'm afraid our team are chokers in important games, their tackling to. Until their bottle is sorted out, i believe we will gradually get knocked out of all competitions we are left in. But maybe, with other teams making mistakes, we may stand a chance in the League.
Have you noticed this trend, or am i just still annoyed at losing a final.
Written by Steve Palmer
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