Kevin Whitcher
It’s a pleasure to write about the kind of Arsenal we want to see, and the spell at the beginning of the second half of last night’s game against West Ham was exactly that. This is what the Gunners are capable of and something that we have seen all too rarely this season. The players at Arsène Wenger’s disposal are easily better than those of most of the teams they face in the Premier League. Too often, they have failed to confirm that when it matters, but let’s just be grateful of the reminder that they are able to put lesser teams to the sword.
It was a whirlwind of goals that left the visitors just wanting the game to end. It was frankly strange to see a Sam Allardyce team being taken apart in this fashion, but it couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. The first half had seemed somewhat bitty to this observer. In spite of there being two goals, there seemed little in the way of any kind of pattern except the ball moving around and moves eventually grinding to a halt with a tackle or a misplaced pass. It was pretty even with the Hammers’ opener a reminder of the problems Arsenal have with set pieces, with nobody remotely near Collision when he lashed in from the edge of the box. Still, Lukas Podolski’s equalizer was something to behold, an unstoppable shot. There is an article in the new issue of The Gooner which went on sale last night that expressed the view that the player is wasted out wide. He certainly drifts in whenever he has the chance and sometimes to devastating effect. He is poor in terms of covering his full back, and this has created problems over the course of the season. The obvious solution would be a change of formation, but that isn’t going to happen. It’s strange how the manager buys players and then tries to make them fit the system rather than – if he is going to retain the same formation – recruiting players specifically for a role. Of course he believes in the intelligence of a footballer to be able to adapt, but if a player is not willing to graft, then you run into problems. So the suspicion is that we will continue to see Podolski contribute going forward, but little will change in terms of Arsenal’s vulnerability at the back on the left hand side.
However, West Ham had serial misser Ricardo Vaz Te up front, so the home fans could rest easy. Another of the breed, Marouane Chamakh was ineligible for this game but had a stinker against QPR by all accounts. Big Sam sure knows how to collect them. Arsenal’s finishing, on the other hand, was much more clinical and the 12 minute second half flurry of goals put paid to this as a contest before the unfortunate injury to Potts left the visitors with ten men. The attacking continued, although the intensity of the contest was predictably lesser due to the time taken to remove the stricken player from the field. It’s fair to say the Gunners could have had more.
So once again, a game of two Arsenals. Sluggish before the interval, much improved after it – as with Swansea last week and Chelsea at the weekend. Why can’t they start matches as they seem to begin the second? Maybe the manager has found a way to deliver a half-time team talk that makes a difference. Who knows? The transfer window has a week to run and it now appears that Mohamed Diame is almost certain to strengthen Arsenal’s defensive midfield options. Whether there will be any further of the necessary arrivals remains to be seen. The club are still in contention for the coveted fourth place trophy but will need to put a run of some kind together to take it. And consistency has been an issue all season. Let’s hope last night’s convincing win provides a springboard for a decent sequence of matches to put some impetus back into a so far disappointing campaign.
The current issue of The Gooner, went on sale last night and will remain on sale for the away match at Brighton and the home games v Liverpool and Stoke. It can also be bought online here. There is also an e-version of the issue available to read on your ipad/tablet/iphone/android. The app is free and you can download the first few pages of each issue as a taster before deciding whether or not to purchase the whole thing.
