The vice captain leading by example.

Reaction: Queens Park Rangers (H)

The vice captain leading by example.
The vice captain leading by example.

Arsenal narrowly broke a stretch of poor form with a 1-0 win over QPR at the Emirates. It was a performance that was short on quality on Arsenal’s part coupled with Julio Ceasar’s brilliance in front of the QPR goal. Arteta managed to hook in the winning goal late in the game to inject that much needed confidence into the Gunners. In many ways, this win came to much relief for both the team and its fans.

 

What Happened?

After storming to win the West Ham game 3-1, Arsenal looked completely void of any quality against Norwich, Schalke 04 and for most of the QPR game. Everything that could break down, went into pieces. We we so poor against Norwich and again against Schalke 04 that fans were left wondering if the team had too much spud inspired lasagne.  So what happened? I will try to break things down here:

 

Lack of Midfield Physicality

If you are one that watches trends, statistics would show you that our season went down after Diaby went off injured against Chelsea. Without Diaby and before QPR, we took only 3 points out of a possible 12. Even the 3 points we earned against West Ham was difficult. Before Cazorla, Giroud and Theo linked up superbly, we were having a torrid time coping against West Ham in the middle and they looked the more likely team to break the 1-1 deadlock.

As I mentioned in a former post, Diaby is key to Arsenal’s hopes. His physicality is unmatched in the team and we have no replacement. That showed. Ramsey barely coped at West Ham and Norwich. Coquelin was then preferred to him against Schalke 04 before Wenger threw a barely ready Wilshere into the mix today. I would say Ramsey and Coquelin can, in time, do the job. But at the moment, they are not ready to handle the hustle of the EPL at their age. Ramsey doesn’t like to take players on. Coquelin goes in full but is no where as effective as Diaby.

Wilshere is small but he has the speed and touch to get him past players. He broke through QPR numerous times today before being subbed off. I just hope he is fine because we will need him at Old Trafford.

 

Santos: Simply not good enough.
Santos: Simply not good enough.

Fullbacks

With a hole in the middle, Gibbs going off was bad news as well. The idea of a 4-3-3 formation is that it becomes 2-5-3 when we go on the attack. The fullbacks have to be very mobile and support the attack before racing quickly to defend a counter. Gibbs and Jenkinson did that perfectly. That broke down when Gibbs went off against West Ham. Santos looked past it. I remember great performances from the Brazilian against Chelsea right till the final match of last season. But he looks as if he has completely lost it. He was at fault for both Norwich’s winner and Schalke 04’s opening goal. Slow to play a perfect line, slow to move forward and slow to move back. I don’t think he will be around for much longer and Wenger will have to find a new left back. It’s a pity in some sense, Santos is loved by the fans for his character.

Jenkinson was dropped today and Sagna was preferred. However, CJ has done nearly no wrong. He was probably dropped to give the young Finn (or is he English now?) a break and to inject freshness into the squad. The problem with the right hand side is that CJ (and Sagna now) doesn’t have a stable partner upfront. Ox, Ramsey, Gervinho and at times Theo have been made to play at the right. Last season, Sagna drew excellent understanding with Theo and both of them combined well. This time there hasn’t been a constant partnership for the right flank to settle. As such, defensively the right hand side was ok but provided little in offence.

 

Tiredness & Injuries

Podolski and Cazorla have made a storming start to the season but are fading. It is probably down to tiredness and the need to adjust. Physically, it is tough moving and adapting in the same season and these players need to be rested. I was hoping that Wenger would allow Arshavin into the middle and shift Gervinho into Poldi’s spot to freshen things but that didn’t happen today. Poldi was only subbed in the second half and Cazorla continued to play every game in the EPL for the Gunners.

Having both Ox and Theo out is bad news for us because their pace can swing a match. We were stuck with two semi paced wingers. Gervinho who over dribbled and Poldi, who has tried his best but has now forgotten to track back as often as he did in the opening games.

 

Compounded Factors

When things go wrong, problems compound. Players begin feeling that knocks are worse than they are, there’s a certain level of dread and caution sets in. This was clearly seen against Schalke 04 and also against QPR. We started taking more touches than necessary  There was more caution to our play. Players didn’t dare to take others on and rather back pass to keep the ball than to push forward. One touch football completely evaporated.

There’s no cure to this besides turning results around. At moments like these you look at your old heads at the club to push the team forward. Arteta, TV5, Sagna and young Wilshere responded today.

 

Wilshere: Drove the midfield forward.
Wilshere: Drove the midfield forward.

Wilshere

I have never closely watched Wilshere till today but I can understand why fans are excited. Wilshere is a confident terrier like player who takes players on and often comes out on top. He has a good range of passes and is able to pick out team mates in a 270 degree angle. There’s quite a bit of vision in this young Englishman.

Wilshere injected what was sorely missing in the last two games. The tiny figure of his often took on 2-3 QPR players only for him to slip past them or release a fellow team mate. We need more like him. However, I don’t like pinning a season hopes on such a young player.

 

Ramsey

Ramsey has never been given much credit but I felt that he was one of our better players during this poor run. He might not win every tackle or get past players but he has the knack of being in the right place at the end of our often terrible passes. The boy has got industry and grit and I’d like to see him played in the center and not on the flank. I still don’t get why AW plays him up on the right.

Ramsey: Industry and perseverance have often gone unseen.
Ramsey: Industry and perseverance have often gone unseen.

 

Arteta

Arteta gets his tackles right. He isn’t a physical player but he is like a defensive Wilshere in a sense. Arteta has been our most consistent performer and the goal he nicked today after a mad scramble was a reward for the relentless consistency he has shown week in and out. It tells you a lot when a player joins a team and becomes a vice captain even before he is here for a year.

 

Are We There Yet?

No. We are far from the form of the early season. Ramsey has to be played in the middle to allow him to learn the trade of a CM. At current status, we need a miracle at Old Trafford or a fit and firing Wilshere.

I hope Gibbs comes back. Santos is just so far behind and is unable to play our system. He has been unable to defend well or even play the offside trap consistently. Going forward he is offering far less than what he did last season. I have no idea how he could have dropped so far in performance in just 4 months. Santos is a huge liability for us unfortunately.

This is a game that brings some positivity back and relieves us of some pressure. We need a result at Old Trafford but our form currently suggests we’d be lucky to get a draw. Nevertheless, the ball is round and you can never tell until the fat lady sings. At this moment, fans are just relieved to get the 3 points.

 

Ratings

GK V. Mannone 7 Had an ok game. Saved us twice. One close shave at the end.
RB B. Sagna 7.5 Kept the right side safe from any meaningful QPR attacks. Whipped in good crosses.
CB P. Mertesacker 7.5 Solid performance. Some good clearances.
CB T. Vermaelen 7 One goal saving tackle. Else, did nothing wrong.
LB A. Santos 5 Slightly better performance than Norwich and Schalke 04 but still below par.
CM M. Arteta 8 Hustled and fought for every ball. Perserverance saw him bundle in the winner after the crossbar denied his header.
CM J. Wilshere 8 Made the difference in the first hour he was on. Drove the midfield forward.
AM S. Cazorla 7 Tried hard but no effective product. Blazed one over when he should have finished. Is beginning to see what the EPL is.
RF A. Ramsey 7.5 Played his heart out. Had 2 good headers.
CF O. Giroud 7 Held his own and generally did well. Helped out defensively as well.
LF Podolski 7 Ran his heart out but no effective end product. Needs a break.
SUB T. Walcott 5.5 Did nothing of note. Passes were poor but stretched QPR with his pace.
SUB Gervinho 5.5 The old Gervinho didn’t last for long but again didn’t look before he made his passes or shots.
SUB A. Arshavin 7.5 Good crosses and did his best in a short cameo. Cross created our goal. Deserves a start.