Boy, did neverton give it a go. The weather was atrocious. It was snowy, cold and predominantly unpleasant. But AW wanted to play to avoid a fixture pile up so the boys can't complain.
This was our 1st game without Alex Song and I was fully expecting a bumpy ride. I was right. Like west ham the weekend before, neverton put our boys under a lot of pressure and our centre midfield, denilson in particular, was easily over run.
Nasri worked hard to try and shore up defensively, tracking back a lot to help out and to collect the ball from deep. I thought he was our best player, not afraid to take on defenders (and doing well at it).
Traore was having a terrible time at left back. I can't wait for Clichy or Gibbs to come back into the team. Traore fits better on the left wing. He crosses the ball unlike Diaby and most of our other players who have been put on that wing.
neverton scored from a set piece before denilson evened things up from a deflected shot. You've gotta make your own luck, I always say, so it's good to see someone taking initiative to take a decent pop at goal when presented with the opportunity.
The team played better in the 2nd half, putting together decent attacks. But as usual, they had nothing 2 show for it. Then 10 minutes from the end, while trying hard for the winner, I think it was rosicky who played a bad pass and we were made to pay from the counter attack. We had so many players up the field that there really wasn't anyone left to defend.
Traore lost his composure towards the end giving away needless corners. He needs to calm things down if he plans to make that position his own.
By some stroke of luck and a patient passage of play, Diaby managed to make a pass to Rosicky who blasted another deflected shot in.
It wasn't a pretty show from our boys but I guess the end result was a fair one. They really need to pick things up and find a good replacement for Song. denilson went down with an injury and had to be stretchered off. I'm thinking it's going to be Nasri who will have to come into that position. Maybe if we played Nasri and Diaby in the middle, defensive and attacking CM roles respectively, we might be able to scrape through the next month. Here's hoping for the best...
Monday, January 11, 2010
West Ham 1 - Arsenal FC 2 (FA Cup)
Better late than never. The west ham game was a while back but I've not had the time to jot down my thoughts. From what I can remember of the game, Arsenal weren't in full flow.
west ham gave it a go and pressured our boys well. behrami gave a good performance in midfield to break up everything we could throw forward. It's only to be expected. That's how all teams play against Arsenal. They know that the relative inexperience in the side can and should be exploited to stand a chance. Pressure them well, win the ball and try to get an early goal. Then, what you have you hold and simply hit on the counter attack. Simple, really.
Luckily though, we still had Alex Song in midfield. He didn't have his best game ever, showing some poor touches and giving the ball away several times, but nonetheless, Arsenal would have done a lot worse without him breaking up hammer attacks.
west ham took the lead just before the break when diamanti beat the offside trap (and silvestre showing he's totally off the pace) and slotting one past Fabianski. Our keeper might have done better by getting stronger fingers 2 the ball but it was a very good strike so it wouldn't be fair to put all the blame on Lukasz
In the 2nd half, as expected, west ham tried to defend their lead and soak up our pressure. Without Cesc, Arsenal's attack wasn't very creative. They kept prodding but couldn't do anything useful in the final 3rd. It didn't help that west ham always puts up a resolute performance against us.
Somehow, Aaron Ramsey found himself in the box and on the end of a rather fortuitous pass from Carlos Vela. The young Welshman managed to shape up to shoot and buried a shot into the side netting on the far post. A well taken strike. At the moment, I feel Ramsey shows more determination than skill and know-how. He still needs plenty of time to grow into the team. Maybe one day he'll turn out to be our new Ljungberg.
Just moments after Rambo's goal, Vela again gets to the side line and somehow manages to cross the ball into the box. Amazingly, Eduardo manages to jump well and somehow head the ball into the top left corner. There was very little the keeper could have done about it. A great goal from the only Arsenal player who knows how to head the ball.
At that point, I was speechless. I didn't know what to expect. I couldn't quite believe that we'd taken the lead.
All of a sudden, Arsenal had turned the game on its head after some determined play. I like what I see, in that sense. They don't seem to give up. But at the moment they just lack a little bit of experience in finishing off chances and games.
And that's how the game ended. Arsenal through to the next round of the FA Cup with a visit to Stoke penned in for later this month.
west ham gave it a go and pressured our boys well. behrami gave a good performance in midfield to break up everything we could throw forward. It's only to be expected. That's how all teams play against Arsenal. They know that the relative inexperience in the side can and should be exploited to stand a chance. Pressure them well, win the ball and try to get an early goal. Then, what you have you hold and simply hit on the counter attack. Simple, really.
Luckily though, we still had Alex Song in midfield. He didn't have his best game ever, showing some poor touches and giving the ball away several times, but nonetheless, Arsenal would have done a lot worse without him breaking up hammer attacks.
west ham took the lead just before the break when diamanti beat the offside trap (and silvestre showing he's totally off the pace) and slotting one past Fabianski. Our keeper might have done better by getting stronger fingers 2 the ball but it was a very good strike so it wouldn't be fair to put all the blame on Lukasz
In the 2nd half, as expected, west ham tried to defend their lead and soak up our pressure. Without Cesc, Arsenal's attack wasn't very creative. They kept prodding but couldn't do anything useful in the final 3rd. It didn't help that west ham always puts up a resolute performance against us.
Somehow, Aaron Ramsey found himself in the box and on the end of a rather fortuitous pass from Carlos Vela. The young Welshman managed to shape up to shoot and buried a shot into the side netting on the far post. A well taken strike. At the moment, I feel Ramsey shows more determination than skill and know-how. He still needs plenty of time to grow into the team. Maybe one day he'll turn out to be our new Ljungberg.
Just moments after Rambo's goal, Vela again gets to the side line and somehow manages to cross the ball into the box. Amazingly, Eduardo manages to jump well and somehow head the ball into the top left corner. There was very little the keeper could have done about it. A great goal from the only Arsenal player who knows how to head the ball.
At that point, I was speechless. I didn't know what to expect. I couldn't quite believe that we'd taken the lead.
All of a sudden, Arsenal had turned the game on its head after some determined play. I like what I see, in that sense. They don't seem to give up. But at the moment they just lack a little bit of experience in finishing off chances and games.
And that's how the game ended. Arsenal through to the next round of the FA Cup with a visit to Stoke penned in for later this month.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)