Graham Perry
Dear Fellow Gunners
There are no routine wins. On their day anyone can beat anyone. It happens wherever you look. Only occasionally with every club but enough to make us all worried as the whistle goes to start the game.
It almost happened against Villa – we lost concentration and first Mertescaker and then Koscielny and finally Cech lost their way. Villa had a surge. So often that sequence of events leads to an equaliser and the initiative passes from the dominant team to the struggling team. Actually it is the excitement of football. It is what gives us the highs and lows of the game – what makes us addicts.
Back to the game we were rocking – if only for then minutes or so. The Villa crowd sensed it. We Gunners and Gooners sensed it. The match commentators sensed it.
In the event it did not happen and none of the papers or the contributors to onlinegooner have mentioned what I felt was a shrewd move by Arsene.
He made two substitutions in the 64th minute; Gibbs came on for Campbell and the Ox came on for Theo.
I sensed the tide began to turn. The Villa surge was blunted. We began to re-assert ourselves and the new legs in new positions made us a stronger more composed unit.
It is something we have seen more of this season – more tactical substitutions and there is a big difference between injury substitutions and tactical substitutions. Neither Campbell nor Theo looked injury affected though it may be the case that Wenger with an eye on Sanchez’s hamstring took off the two to protect their fitness. Whatever – it worked and without getting the third goal we held on more comfortably in the last 25 minutes than in the first 20 minutes of the second half.
It raises a point for discussion – the substitutions. Has there been a change? We always used to say that Mourinho seemed to get his substitutions at the right time in the right way while we stayed with the chosen team until the last ten minutes. Is this something new with Arsene? Is this the influence of Steve Bould? Are we getting more flexibility? Gibbs may not be happy in the role but he is becoming a great substitute – he almost scored a winner against THFC at the Emirates. He has many skills but his appearance on the pitch does make an impact as he adds new legs in midfield and adds attacking options to Monreal’s increased penchant for raids into the opponent’s penalty area.
There is another point that came out of the Villa game and this seems to be a difference between Wenger and GG. We often talk of the fist waving, energy pumping leadership skills of Tony Adams. I recall a game at Blackburn Rovers. It was the run-in to the title in 1998. It was played in a snow blizzard and we were three up in about 30 minutes and ran out comfortable 4-1 winners. It was their goal that makes the Adams’ point. It was down to an error by our left back – Remi Garde actually – and I can see Adams letting rip at him – all mouth and fists and anger. I have often felt myself that I want to see more of that from our players – a reaction to a setback. But it tends not to happen. Now this is linked to another comment made by players about Wenger. He keeps cool in the dressing room. He does not let rip. No hair dryer. No expletives. Calm. Again strange to us who think a loss of temper – even if it is contrived – can turn a lethargic performance into a fight. It is an aspect of management that I hope we can hear more about when Wenger stands down and gives us glimpses of his style of management and coaching.
Regular Arsenal Circular readers will know that they are now posted on onlinegooner and yesterday’s comments on the editorial on the game carried the following words from Micky Quinn who on Talk Sport said the following: "If Arsenal don't win the league this season, it has to be down to Wenger."
The reader who posted Quinn’s quote, Chris (post number 85441), commented “I don't have a problem with that, as long as it's completely down to Wenger if we win it! We have no right to win it, especially not when you look at the resources available to competitors such as City, United and Chelsea, so it works both ways. Liverpool's resources are a fraction less than ours but where have they been for the last decade? Below us - and that's down to Wenger, Micky.”
The point is this – we are in with a chance. As Brian Moore said “It is up for grabs”. Another contributor to onlinegooner called Westlower (post number 85475) points out that the next set of crunch games will be 13 January away to Liverpool followed on 17 January away to Stoke followed on 24 January home to Chelsea. If we come through these three games with a decent haul of points we will be in with a shout.
Finally – we are all saying the same thing – Ramsey is back in his best position and success will give Wenger a selection problem. Coquelin and Cazorla have due to injury been replaced by Flamini and Ramsey. Bellerin – a better game against Villa – took his chance when Debuchy was the victim of a push into the advertising hoardings. Back in 1966 Geoff Hurst took his chance when Jimmy Greaves was injured in the World Cup. These things happen and players have to take their chances but luck plays a big part. That said Ramsey is playing to his strengths and may make himself indispensible. He does have a long run because Santi’s injury has him in doubt until April. Let’s hope Ramsey stays injury free. He will if he steers clear of meaningless internationals.
Again – What makes me tense about being a goal up with 20 minutes to go is due to Peterborough in 1965. The 3rd Round of the Cup and our team which included Alan Skirton and Frank McClintock is counting down the minutes but Derek Dougan and Peter McNamee score two to win. The walk away from London Road was horrible. Many of you there that day?
* You can follow my tweets @arsenalcircular
