Kevin Whitcher
We’ve been here before haven’t we? Highly beatable opposition visit Arsenal. Three points expected. Just the one collected. Fatigue? Complacency? Lack of wit? In fairness, at times it reminded me a little of England v Poland in 1973. For those of a younger persuasion, England had to beat Poland at Wembley in a World Cup qualifier to make the trip to the following summer’s finals in West Germany. It finished 1-1 and the Polish keeper had a blinder as the attempts rained in on his goal. I saw a stat that Arsenal had 27 goal attempts over the duration of yesterday’s game. I’d guess at least half of them in the last 25 minutes.
The most frustrating thing was that the Gunners did the hard bit by taking the lead. 1-0 up at home should lead to consolidation of a winning position – by scoring more goals. Instead Arsenal were wasteful. Robin van Persie seemed a little selfish in a couple of situations, or at least believed a little too much in his own ability when there were better options available. Some might argue he’s earned that right, but it may have cost the team the win yesterday.
But the worst offender was Alex Song. Showboating with backheels with his side only a goal ahead, he had a poor game. The indiscipline that saw him receive a three match ban at the start of the season after the Newcastle game (the three matches he missed included the defeats to Liverpool at home and Man Utd away) reared its head again and he should have received a red card. That Stuart Attwell saw the incident where Song attempted to kick lumps out of two consecutive opponents and issued only a yellow means there will be no further disciplinary action. But the player needs to start maturing quickly if he is not to cost his team again. It was little wonder he was hauled off by the manager before much longer.
I was encouraged by the starting eleven, aside from the selection of Djourou who really struggles at right back. Aaron Ramsey has looked tired lately and I thought Rosicky had as decent a match as he is likely to given his sporadic appearances these days. Theo Walcott had a virus, so Yossi Benayoun was given a deserved start and both he and Rosicky were involved in the creation of the early goal.
The chances to increase the lead came and went, and then, Wolves got their leveler. I thought at the time that scorer Fletcher was offside, but later replays revealed the lacksadaisical Song strolling forward with the conviction that summed up his performance, playing the Wolves player onside.
Someone ventured to me that what the team lacked was pace, and with Walcott out and the Ox on the bench, there was surely an argument to see him thrown into the fray for the final 25 minutes. Instead we saw Ramsey, Arshavin and Chamakh, none of whom made much difference, although in fairness to the Russian, he had a go on this occasion.
Wolves did a decent job of eating up the clock, Stephen Hunt a wonderful panto villain on that score. I actually found the last half hour of the match pretty decent entertainment with the siege on the visitors’ goal and all the dramatics on the field. The Wolves sending off might not have been given were the game at Molyneux, but the reaction of the home crowd played its part in the dismissal of Milijas. As I understand it, if a player is deemed to have lost control of his movement when making this kind of tackle, a red will often result. In common parlance ‘don’t dive in’. The player’s feet may have been in contact with the ground but the studs were undoubtedly up and in this day and age, that’s a chance a player cannot take.
With ten man Wolves packing their own area, Arsenal were often reduced to pumping a high ball in and hoping something would drop their way. The visitors’ keeper Hennessey had a blinder and a late winner never arrived. Having made the start they did to the season, Arsene Wenger’s team can ill afford to drop cheap points. Fans were looking at 12 from 12 in the sequence of matches between Christams Day and Manchester United’s visit on 22nd January. Let’s now hope for 10.
The current issue of the Gooner is available to buy online here. It will also be on sale outside the forthcoming matches at home to QPR and Leeds.
Kevin Whitcher’s newly updated version of the book co-written with Alex Fynn, ‘Arsènal: The Making of a Modern Superclub’ is available in paperback from publishers Vision Sports for a reduced price of £6.99 including postage if you use the promo code ‘Gooner’ on the page that appears after you click ‘buy now’. Click here to order.
