ROBIN WHO? ARSENAL BANISH THE GHOST OF JUDAS AT ANFIELD

                     

After the disappointing inactivity of the club on the transfer window deadline day, a lot of Arsenal fans were livid and worried about the depth of the squad. I for one went absolutely mental. A deep lying midfielder was desperately needed to replace Alex Song based on Wenger’s comments the week before but to our surprise, nobody came in.

So for someone that saw the way Liverpool dominated Manchester City last week at Anfield with such pace and pressure, I was almost sure that we were going to have a tough time there. I thought Raheem Sterling would torment the inexperienced Jenkinson all day and the thought of Suarez’s trickery against Per Metersacker made me shiver. I was mostly concerned about how we would deal with the pressure from their three forward players.

The starting lineup was not too surprising as news had filtered in yesterday that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain might be brought in to replace either Gervinho or Diaby. Oh bless God it was not the latter. The England winger was slotted on the right wing while Don Vito kept his place as Wojciech Szczęsny failed to recover from his rib injury.

Liverpool started with a midfield Trio of Sahin, Allen and Gerard and for me I think the inclusion of Sahin in midfield affected the intensity of their game a bit to our advantage. Compared to the way Lucas Leiva and later Jonjo Shelvy kept up the tempo against Man City last week, I was very pleased they made that move to our benefit. They had some flashy moments in the early hours of the game with Luis Suarez and Fabio Borini moving the ball with pace and trickery in dangerous areas, while Raheem Sterling looked impressive as well when he had the ball. The first scare came when Luis Suarez went past Per Metersacker only for the BFG to pull him down earning himself a yellow card. Carl Jenkinson also misplaced a pass across the central defence area but luckily we were not punished.

Our first goal came in the 31st minute after a misplaced pass from Captain Steven Gerard was intercepted by Thomas Vermaelen who passed the ball to Podolski to counter in a devastating fashion. The German’s forward pass to Cazorla was returned by a carefully threaded through ball to his left foot for him to deliver a ferocious low shot past Pepe Reina. Yes! We broke the deadlock and gave the annoying British press one less thing to talk about. The counter was sharp, effective and clinical, making a case for Lukas Podolski. He is not the most flamboyant player out there but he is as deadly as ever. He does not fluff around and needs a half chance to whack a shot in. I love that about him! I have seen a certain Arsenal STRIKER try to pass the ball back 6 yards from goal- that should explain it better.

The second half came and Liverpool had a penalty shout in the 51st minute when Luis Suarez went down in the box after a he appeared to have out-foxed Metersacker. Howard Webb ignored him and I think that was based on his ridiculous diving pedigree and for me that would have been a soft penalty to give. Liverpool later replaced the rather quiet Nuri Sahin introducing the skin head (Jonjo Shelvy) to increase the pressure on us.

In the 68th minute, Santi Cazorla made it 2 after combining brilliantly with Lucas Podolski once again down the left to score a heartbreaking goal.  He hit it hard and low to make it clumsier for Reina. 2-0 and we killed whatever motivation the Liverpool players had left in them with the way we defended effectively. We were tight and organized making it difficult for them to create too many chances and at the end of the day; we left Anfield with 3 precious points.

Analysis

As we all know, Arsenal have now gone 3 games without conceding a goal- the first time on 88 years. Now you might think it is too early to start making noise about the immediate influence of Steve Bould but if you look back at the way we have defended since 2006, you will understand better. At no point in the game was our defence “all over the place” and this was a phrase commonly used by commentators and journalists when referring to our defensive discipline.

Once again, our defence looked “coached” and we made sure Mannone did not have much to do (besides making some impressive stops). I once made a point to one of my Arsenal pals that a great defence is not just about 4 players and a goalkeeper, it is a team thing. Mikel Arteta and Abou Diaby fully understood their primary responsibility of not exposing the back 4 and our forwards tracked back to help out. Times without number, Lucas Podolski tracked back to double up on Glenn Johnson and any other Liverpool player that tried to trouble Gibbs down the left. Jenkinson put in another fearless shift making sure Raheem Sterling does not steal the headlines and Metersacker recovered well from the early yellow card he received. Thomas Vermaelen produced another fine captain’s performance leading the team from the back; it is vital he stays fit this season and Arsene Wenger was quick to say after the match that the injury he picked up late in the game is not a serious one.

The midfield once again did its job effectively with Abou Diaby stealing the headlines. The Frenchman can be frustrating sometimes but you will hardly find fault in what he is currently doing. He serves as a pivot in midfield supporting Arteta in defending and bursting forward at will to ease the responsibilities on Santi Cazorla. He was everywhere and gave Liverpool all sorts of problems with his body movement and swerve. That brilliant reverse through pass to Giroud after an amazing run from deep was his best move of the game.

Santi Cazorla was brilliant again and he keeps reminding us that he will ease that pain we felt when Cesc Fabregas left for Barcelona. It will be very interesting to see how the team will line up when Jack Wilshere and Thomas Rosicky return to the side. Wenger reckons Wilshere is 4 weeks away and he had said a week ago that Rosicky is close to returning as well. Diaby is playing like a beast in midfield and Arteta and Cazorla are untouchable- it will be interesting.

Olivier Giroud played like a man under a lot of pressure and who can blame him? He has been singled out as the main man brought in to replace Judas Iscariot and that is a huge responsibility. The chance he got from that Diaby’s pass should have been put away but again, his finishing let him down. He also fluffed a clear header from a corner kick in the second half and I quite understand the impatience of some Arsenal fans. The way Gervinho has played since he joined and the way Chamakh ended up are not great examples helping the French man at the moment. This is when Arsene Wenger’s player management skills will be needed, we need him to come out of his shell and prove to us that he can hold his own amongst the best in the world. Lukas Podolski is getting more accustomed to the pace of the premier league and he looked sharper today. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain had a rather quiet game as he did more of covering than attacking before he was substituted for Aaron Ramsey. I hope the knock picked up is not too serious as we will need all our key players fit this season considering the size of our squad.

Our next game is in 2 weeks against Southampton at the Emirates before we head to France two days later to face the current Ligue 1 champions in the Champions League. Every Arsenal fan will be hoping our boys don’t come back after the international break with niggling injuries, it is vital to keep up the pace. Victoria Concordia Crescit!!!!!

NB: Did anyone notice I just wrote an Arsenal piece without mentioning Theo Walcott? I hope he got the message.

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