Kevin Whitcher
It was the kind of match we’ve seen many times before, and often been frustrated by. I always pin the failure to win the 1998/99 league title on a goalless home draw against Charlton for some reason. Such is the subjective memory of the football fan.
Anyway, it was a match that people reasonably expected Arsenal to win, and it progressed as many at the E******s do, with the wait for the home side to open the scoring and a game of football to subsequently develop. The visitors were content to stifle Arsene Wenger’s team by keeping numbers back and counter attacking. It was very successful, and the fact that Arsenal’s man of the match was Petr Cech says it all. Ultimately, the clearest chances of the game were enjoyed by Middlesbrough. Their pace on the break made life uncomfortable for the Gunners’ defence and required the keeper to bail them out several times.
Arsene Wenger felt his team suffered from fatigue after their midweek exertions. If that was the case, perhaps greater rotation might have been an idea. Alex Iwobi did not play against Ludogerets and failed to reach the level we have seen of him up to this point of the season. Santi Cazorla was injured, and creativity from a midfield of Elneny and Coquelin was restricted to the odd probing forward pass by the former. Generally though, not many risks were taken. A couple of long range shots, but by and large attempts to pass the way through the thicket that were foiled. More attempts might have been made to take defenders on, or try low pot shots in the hope of a deflection, with more bodies in the box to pick up anything that fell loose. So perhaps a lack of imagination rather than fatigue might have been the real culprit.
Plan B is crossing the high ball into the danger area – and this is where Olivier Giroud would normally come in. As the second half wore on, Arsenal reverted to this option, but without the HFB, it was easily dealt with. Victor Valdes often got to the ball first, and it was just over ten years ago that he foiled Arsenal in Paris when playing for Barcelona. As to Giroud’s toe injury, one wonders if this is a diplomatic absence. Remember when a sprained elbow went on for months rather than the manager admit he had dropped the Spaniard back in 2010?
Giroud and Wenger have history. The girl in his hotel room on the eve of a home game led to Yaya Sanago starting a knockout game against Bayern in the Champions League. The striker will have doubtless been unhappy at not starting a game this season and his getting two yellows after coming on as a substitute against Paris St Germain may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back as far as his relationship with the manager is concerned. Wenger suggested that Danny Welbeck could be back in January earlier in the week. One wonders if, should that happen, Giroud might depart in the new year. Certainly, the notion of any kind of plan B seems a little pointless unless the manager is going to play him. Or maybe he is genuinely injured. With Arsenal, one can never be certain. No player is ever dropped if you believe the message coming out of the club.
In a sense, this game does not change much in terms of what Arsenal will face at home. It’s happened before so often and it will happen with a good 75% of the teams that visit. Their Plan A is to ensure they do not concede and hope to nick something when they do venture forward. For Middlesbrough, it worked. Arsenal need to make sure that others do not get the same rewards. It could of course have been worse. One point is better than none. More concerning would be a couple of repeats in the next few home matches. It must be hoped this was simply a bad day at the office and that the absence of the team’s creative abilities was a blip rather than a regular occurrence. The results this season have generally been good, but the performances mixed. There has undoubtedly been some good fortune in regards to late wins, and the award of a late penalty and a late goal. Of course, teams that win often enjoy a stroke of fortune (take a look at this, which ultimately allowed Arsenal to win the title in 1971), so we’ll take it. But Wenger’s team might need to rely more on a contribution from Giroud rather than Lady Luck if they are to challenge for the league this season. He was badly missed in the last 20 minutes yesterday.
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