That Was Then, This Is Now « A Cultured Left Foot

Posted by: Yogi's Warrior | March 31, 2008

That Was Then, This Is Now

Recent months have seen the defence disrupted through injury and absences. The collective lack of concentration has cost points in the title run-in that may yet deny the squad silverware. ‘Soft’ goals against Birmingham, Middlesbrough and Aston Villa meant wins or defeats were turned into a draw. Of the four drawn games, one clean sheet at Wigan highlights the problem. The victory on Saturday was a triumph borne out of adversity and yet when the team went to three defenders, the pressure put on the Bolton defence and midfield meant that for the last half an hour, the hosts barely had an effort worth noting. In fact, I cannot think of a shot they had on goal once 3-4-2 had been selected as the formation.

To those who were schooled in the George Graham ways, it is the antithesis of their trade. Nigel Winterburn highlighted the changes that have happened over the time of Arsene’s reign in terms of defensive attitudes,

Arsenal play a different game these days. They take far more risks than we did and that includes the defensive players. When I was playing, I’d lash the ball away if I got into trouble and happily concede a throw-in but this team are reluctant to do that. They want to play their way out of trouble and you have to admire them for that

That attitude of playing football the correct way is what makes this potentially the most attractive Arsenal side of Arsene’s reign. A barren spell for the forwards needed to be supported by defensive solidity and it did not happen. Even at Bolton, the only goal scored by an attacker was from the penalty spot; the other two were from Gallas and a Cesc-inspired own goal. The run at the front is not over although one would hope that RvP draws inspiration from the penalty to find his shooting boots that, for the moment at least, do not quite fit properly.

The midfield has to provide more cover for the defence. Flamini is the only naturally defensive player in the centre, supported by Cesc working hard as well as trying to be the creative fulcrum of the team. On the flanks though, the first Bolton goal saw that weakness; Clichy was overloaded on the left from a throw-in, which should never happen, for the consequences were clear to see. Collectively, the midfield have to do more defensive work; the quartet protecting the back trio on Saturday did just that and there should be no reason why they do not do the same when there is a quartet behind them.

The best of defence is to attack but the element that is needed is awareness. With fullbacks who like to get forward, the wide midfielders have to provide cover by staying deeper in the midfield. They started the season doing so but in recent games that has been lost domestically. The Champions League saw them implement this strategy, aside from in Seville, and a miserly number of goals have been conceded. Transfer this back to the Premier League and the team will be better placed.

Finally this morning, a reminder that the memory of David Rocastle is being honoured by charitable efforts. On the seventh anniversary of his death, perhaps it might be a fitting gesture to treat yourself to a t-shirt?

‘til Tomorrow.

Posted in Arsenal, Champions League, Football, Premier League, Premiership, Soccer | Tags: Arsenal, David Rocastle, Football, Premier League, Soccer

Responses

this is the first time RVP has taste victory since his return to the team AND he got a goal as well. I think the two together will give him in particular the impetus he needed to go into the Liverpool trilogy in the right frame of mind.

I agree with Nige, we do sometimes just need to boot it out and then defend the throw in properly. when you are under pressure in your final third the best thing to do is get rid because if you have 3 or 4 opposition players putting pressure on a small space it stands to reason that those players cannot be anywhere else on the pitch, so if you hit it long chances are they will be short at the back.

By: gazzap on March 31, 2008
at 9:01 am

Well, Kolo should jump to face the cross/lob, he commits schoolboy error like standing still or kicking in the air with a high boot. Schmuck!

By: ZZ on March 31, 2008
at 9:11 am

Toure was standing while Taylor was sprinting in fast. I think Toure on form could have done better but the attacker always has the advantage if the cross is that good.

I thought wenger got the tactics spot on. those 3 goals could only have come in the last 30 minutes. they were far more likely to happen when an old and very tired Bolton team suddenly had to cope with a huge change in our tactics and obviously a whole lot more pace and power. despite our 10 men, Bolton had been chasing us about the pitch and working very hard for an hour. in the end that worked in our favour as the last 25 minutes, they were running on empty.
had we changed the tactics too early, Bolton could have found the formula to deal with us. Wenger got this one very right for once.

By: gazzap on March 31, 2008
at 9:48 am

Agree with Nigel especially in the latter stages of the game ie when there are just minutes left, either at half time or full time; a boot anywhere is the correct action, unless of course we are behind. At times you can almost tell what is going to happen next. Like you Gazzap, I hope the thrill of putting in the ball in the onion bag will go into RVP’s radar and bring forth a bag full of goals. I still think using Kolo as Right Back is a waste, no one can convince me he played well there at Bolton. As much as people hate Eboue he is still a far better option than Kolo in that position IMO.

By: Old Timer on March 31, 2008
at 9:56 am

I’m with old timer, Kolo should never be played as a right back. I was so surprised that Wenger played him there. On the other hand, since coming back from the ACN, he not even half of what he used to be. Espcially on the first goal, I think he could’ve done better because he was there before Taylor and could at least put him of balance instead of giving him an easy time on the ball.

I hope we overcome these defensive errors before Wednesday.

By: Gunner4Ever on March 31, 2008
at 10:13 am

it will be interesting to see whether Benitez plays Crouch .. if he does so, we will be in deep shiit

By: BB on March 31, 2008
at 10:41 am

against liverpool its more or less same as with milan…cancel gerrard and torres(who is on fire!!!!) out and u have the paltry rest…. just like kaka and pato.

I bet benitez with the keen observer he is WILL play crouch and torres for sure….its a tough call for us….odds against us…but who knows..

By: gunner4life on March 31, 2008
at 10:58 am

Tolo and Ade are both out of form nows the time for them and RVP to snap out of it, and for the defense to concentrate and not let Torres get behind them or babels passes reach the middle.

By: solgooner on March 31, 2008
at 11:10 am

I dont know, its well possible that Kuyt will play wing and then Gerrard behind Torres with no crouch. every gooner will know that crouch is the player we cannot handle but I dont see rafa going 4-4-2 away from home ‘in europe’.

the most important thing fo us is for Liverpool not to score. everything else is a bonus, the clean sheet is key.

By: gazzap on March 31, 2008
at 11:10 am

yeah .. but Benitez is shrewd and knows we cant handle crosses .. at latest, we will see Crouch at Anfield ..

By: BB on March 31, 2008
at 11:15 am

I am more worry about RVP, who’s getting more wasteful than Ade at the moment.
I prefer Gallas/Senderos as CB and Kolo, RB, just as cover for Sagna, and the mildfield and front to pick itself.

Almunia.

-Kolo-Senderos- Gallas- Clichy.

-Eboue-Fabregas- Flamini- Hleb.

- RVP.

- Ade. 4-4-1-1.

I expect Theo to come in the last 30′.

By: lc on March 31, 2008
at 11:18 am

I am still buzzing about the game, check out this from Squid Boy

http://www.arsenalvision.co.uk/reviews.php?articleid=563

It just sums it all up.

As much as Theo was great when he came on, does he do enough going backwards? It could be argued that Eboue does even little going forward.

By: Gooner79 on March 31, 2008
at 11:30 am

I don’t agree with Nigel, in that, I think this Arsenal side are more in need of taking risks, than ever before.

My support for this side really hit an all time low during that first 15 minutes of the second half. Like a drug addict, we hit rock-bottom before we could come back.

The lesson is this, if you dominate the ball, it is near-on impossible to avoid bad results. Call it sod’s law but whenever we dominate games, we fail. It’s not just us, it’s everyone. Look at Middlesbrough yesterday, when they were on top they hit the post 3 times, yet when they were penned in their own half for 90 minutes, they scored with their only shot against us. After that Birmingham fiasco, Birmingham by all accounts outplayed Pompy, and yet lost. When they scored with probably their only two attacks against us.

What we are doing by dominating possession, is allowing teams to adopt to their only hope, being organised. When they can’t get the ball, all they can do is get everyone back and mark up. With our patient play, and passing around at the back, we are encouraging this to the extreme.

Man Utd at this moment in time look a better side than us. It’s not because they are a better side, but they do take more risks, and it’s more effective. They take risks with their attacking play, they risk losing the ball in the hope of creating a chance, allowing the opposition to attack themselves, and trusting their defenders. But we are strangling the life out of every team we meet, and in turn, strangling the life out of ourselves. It has to stop. Play Walcott for example, he will lose the ball maybe 4 out of 5 times, but on one occasion he will create a genuine chance. This Arsenal team right now has forgotten how to score goals, how to create chances. It’s playing from one man to the other, across the pitch, back and forth until the ball finally gets intercepted in midfield by the opposition.

You’d hope we turned a corner on Saturday, but I’m not sure we did, at 2-2 we actually went back to playing this way again, passing around at the back. We must put teams under pressure, take risks, understand what causes goals, because patience doesn’t.

This team started the season taking risks, getting men in the box, taking shots, gambling with possession, it’s stopped and we’re right back to where we were last season. It must stop now. Don’t pass it to Walcott’s feet, take a risk, play it through a gap for him, give him a chance of getting in on goal, he might not get there, we might lose the ball, but such is football, come on Arsenal, more risks, more faith, more belief. Arsene really needs to change the team’s focus. We need to attack Liverpool with passion, we need to get men forward, and we need to trust Kolo Toure to do what he does best, dealing with attackers in one-on-one breakaway situations.

By: hboy on March 31, 2008
at 11:41 am

hboy .. its a well known statistics that the vast majority of goals are scored when a break occurs .. I guess its something like 10 or 15 secs possession .. this undelines your point .. goals are not being scored out of long spells of passing the ball around

By: BB on March 31, 2008
at 11:45 am

hboy, some of your comments are warrented in that risks can be taken and yes pass a ball so that Theo can run on to it. However from my observations Man u do not mess around in the last third of their defense area. If there seems to be any indication of man on man they seem to remove the ball quickly away from the danger zone. The risk taking is mainly in the middle of the park or on the attacking third of there opponents part of the park. We however play pretty football in the last part of our defense area, causing me for one to palpitation of the heart. Wonderful to watch when effective but bloody disastrous when it goes wrong, hence my comment at the end of the half or at the close of the game. I reiterate that Kolo should not play RB, the mans talents are wasted, his attacking forward movements in the middle of the park are valid, but he does not have the same effect when coming from the wing. Sanga did have that effect and his link up the forwards stretched the opponents defense. As we no longr have Sanga playing due illness Eboue is really the only real option for that position.

By: Old Timer on March 31, 2008
at 12:09 pm

no eboue under any circumstances, walcott has to be starting games now.

By: dan on March 31, 2008
at 12:23 pm

hboy, I agree with the thrust of your post but Old Timer is right, taking risks in your defensive third is very different from taking risks in the attacking third, which I completely back. but arsenal dont ‘play the percentages’ we play possession football. As BB points out, Arsenal are battling against an important stat by doing that all the time. Despite arsenal playing this way, most of our goals come from counter attacks, or set pieces, just like everyone else.

By: gazzap on March 31, 2008
at 12:33 pm

the other thing I wanted to talk about was Flam’s deal again. I see that Cesc is now angling for £100k a week. I would think that is due to Flam’s potential deal and that Cesc has to be the highest paid player at the club.
would not surprise me if several players have their wages increased if we pay Flam 80/90k per week.
I say do it. If we lose Flam it will cost us more than that to replace him. with all the extra revenue coming into the club than what was predicted ie the TV money, I am sure we can afford it. Its not like wenger spends a lot on transfers!
I also hope wenger reviews his admin policy, and makes sure his important players never are allowed to enter the final year of their contract.

when players have 2 years remaining they need to re-sign or be sold for proper money. I hate losing class players that we have developed further, for free.

By: gazzap on March 31, 2008
at 12:38 pm

Yogi, i would argue that although flamini can defend and work hard he is also not a ‘natural’ defensive midfielder in terms of positioning. He makes as many forward runs during a match as cesc does and is often further forward than him. I’m not blaming Flamini for our defensive faults but i do think that having attacking wingers and no holding player does leave us exposed.

By: Jimmy on March 31, 2008
at 12:45 pm

gazzap .. where do you get the Cesc info from??

and I dont think that Flam is worth 80K a week .. lets not fool ourselves .. his technique is underwhelming and he is not a physical monster .. but he is a very very clever player
unlike Hleb .. or Eboue .. or Ade

By: BB on March 31, 2008
at 1:03 pm

cesc 100k a week??!! he would never demand such wages…..

By: ck on March 31, 2008
at 1:27 pm

Hi, Yogi. Afternoon, all. Interesting what you say about the wingers/left and right midfielders staying out wide at the start of the season. It’s one of the many things we have missed in the absence of Tomas Rosicky. He is so good defensively, and when he picks up the ball from deep, he drives forward with it into space… Happy days.
Going back to yesterday, I wondered if, because the character of the team has been publicly questioned so much, they subconsciously engineer a situation in which they will have to show character, ie falling a goal behind? If so, I really, REALLY hope they’ve proved it to themselves now!

By: FunGunner on March 31, 2008
at 3:36 pm

I don’t think Cesc will ask for $100K/W, he is only 20 and although he is destined to be a great player, he himself said he didn’t prove anything yet, actually %90 of the current team didn’t prove anything yet (i.e. Capable of winning trophies).

So it could be a rumor since he parted ways with his agent, and Flamini is not worth $80K/W yet either…Max $60K/W.

G4E

By: Gunner4Ever on March 31, 2008
at 4:33 pm

i just hope..its the end of downhill for us..and the end of uphill for manc…..

but Gooner79..thnks for the gr88 read..

and of course keep the faith….RVP is nearing his best.

By: gunner4life on March 31, 2008
at 4:47 pm

hello all, still absorbing our amazing Bolton game!! Just wanted to comment about Bendtner.

I’ve wanted AW to rest Ade for awhile now and I was so grateful to see him on the bench, and have Bendtner start. Have to say, tho, Bendtner has not yet impressed greatly, and he was disappointing on Saturday. I’ve been hoping he’d step up, maybe he needs more games, but I don’t know if that’s it. But the minute he went off and Ade (and Walcott) came on, we were a different, more threatening team. I am a critic of Ade’s but anyone could see that immediately he gave Bolton far more trouble than his bosom buddy Bendtner did.

But I noticed that one thing Bendtner was decent at on Saturday was the one thing our 2 centre halves seem in capable of: handling aerial threats. A couple of times at set pieces he saved us by knocking out the ball using his height. Very frustrating that AW can’t seem to get us a good tall centre half.

By: NYmarcus on March 31, 2008
at 4:48 pm

Agree G4E - that’s just newspaper talk and we should know better than to believe everything we read.

Good points about risk taking hboy - I think the team has been playing with the handbrake on (in the PL at least) since the Birmingham game. Maybe this result will free their minds to show us what they are really capable of.

By: Passenal on March 31, 2008
at 5:00 pm

Some good points hboy,. It is very frustrating when Arsenal dominate the possession of the ball and ending up on the losing side n how this allows other teams to organise themselves and park the bus n hit us on the break. Like at the bridge where we were giving Chelski a good spanking.!

Ive also go to agree with that the risks need to be taken more in the last 3rd. Which have kinda fizzled out as we are shorn of the attack minded directness of the beginning of the season. We have lost a little confidence which I hope the Bolton result will help build up again. On form you can bring Torres and whoever you like and we will deal with them.If you have a guy who can jump higher in the box why arent we crossing more balls into the box for Ade n what about shooting when we get into gr8 positions instead of passing and following up the rebounds.I think Arsenal could do what they want at the back as long as they score higher up.

By: Gooner4Life on March 31, 2008
at 5:38 pm

Also wanted to comment on something that got very little attention during int’l week:

Fergie kept Ronaldo and Nani out of the Portugal game, which was lost to Greece. Fergie claimed “injury” to both players, which we know is patently not true. Ronaldo is fine.

After the int’l break, AW was quoted saying he thinks people will stop watching int’l games because they’ll become less and less important to the general public, as they’re not competitive. He also said, however, that these int’l games are very important to the players. He said that his players consider these games important and he can’t prevent them from playing them.

So. Our int’l squad is made of players who very much want the honor of playing for their countries, even friendlies, and AW doesn’t feel he can say no to them. He wants to keep them happy.

Whereas apparently Fergie can indeed keep Ronaldo playing for his country and apparently Ronaldo doesn’t feel the honor is that important.

By: NYmarcus on March 31, 2008
at 5:48 pm

G4L

I think the problem with crossing comes from the fact we depend mostly on Clichy & Eboue or Sagna. Unfortunately Eboue & Clichy crosses are not good enough, and the good ones are scarce. Sagna does a little bit better on the cross while running which is what we need to diversify our attacking options.

Cesc & Hleb also try but they don’t always get the chance to cross, and they mostly like to play the splitting pass rather than a cross.

I always said we need a real left winger, if we want to play the cross game.

By: Gunner4Ever on March 31, 2008
at 6:03 pm

Just to say I agree with what people have said regards risks in the final third, and I agree with Nigel on that as well, my comments were more about risk-taking in general, ranging from midfield to the final third. I’m not talking about balls over the top (which Cesc has become pretty keen on), I’m talking about the midfield being ready to try a ball through the gaps more quickly, I’m talking about the midfield being prepared to take men on, and I’m talking about the midfield taking risks with their positional play, take a chance, get in there, I don’t care if we get caught at the back every now and then, we’ve got recovery speed at the back to deal with that, what we need is more exciting/pressuring football, our attacking football has become completely stale, we’ve forgotten how to be dangerous.

I’d be hugely disappointed if Walcott doesn’t start against Liverpool, to me, at this moment in time, he looks our in-form attacking player, everyone else looks unfit/jaded/stale - Cesc, Hleb, Van Persie and Adebayor.

By: hboy on March 31, 2008
at 6:15 pm

Van Persie is just coming back, I don’t expect him to be a Super-Man from a couple of games he played. I really think apart from shooting, he was all over the field and generally played good.

Walcott is being used in the best way, when the opponent defenses are tired and no one has it in them to run after him any more. I still think he can’t do it for full 90 minutes.

Walcott has 1 to 2 years until he can play effectively for 90 minutes plus.

We have to remember that not conceding a goal at home in the CL is more important than scoring one. As it happened with Milan.

By: Gunner4Ever on March 31, 2008
at 6:32 pm

I agree re: Walcott - he’s looking sharp and on Saturday filled a vital function in pinning back the Bolton defence. It was good to see him getting the ball, too - too often recently he’s had acres of space on the right but flam/hleb/fab have failed to make the pass, preferring instead to get snarled up passing to and fro around the box.

I’d say Walcott to start with Eboue at RB - Toure just isn’t right on the wings. Controversially, I’d leave Toure out altogether and go with Big Phil to partner Gallas - they’ve worked together much better recently than T’n'G.

RvP’s due a big game, as is Walcott. Bring on the Pool!

By: Freudus on March 31, 2008
at 6:43 pm

Did anyone see or hear Kolo’s interview with Arsenal.com?

Lou are you around? please if any one saw it, let is know what he said?

Thanks.

By: Gunner4Ever on March 31, 2008
at 7:57 pm

is = us

By: Gunner4Ever on March 31, 2008
at 7:57 pm

G4E, yes, I saw Kolo’s interview and also heard Gallas (whose interview is audio only).

Basically both of them said that AW’s half time talk was really important because it lifted them up, convinced them they could go back and win the game. He just drummed it into them not to give up. It sounds so simple but it works. The rest of what he said was just how down they were after being 2-0 down with one man less, how they worked so hard to get back into the game.

Gallas sounded exhausted and said basically the same things, adding that the substitions were very important as well. He also said he needed to go spend time with his family and kids and relax a bit after the game.

By: NYmarcus on March 31, 2008
at 9:00 pm

To my mind the risk-taking discussion is right on the mark. Earlier in the year our attack was much quicker once we got the ball. That was a huge contrast with 2006-2007 when we would dominate possession but then not score goals. The last 10 games or so, we have gone back to that kind of ponderous play… and we need to snap out of it.

By: california gooner on March 31, 2008
at 9:15 pm

Thanks NYmarcus, I really appreciate it.

By: Gunner4Ever on March 31, 2008
at 9:21 pm

I still think it’s the changes he made, because for the first 15 minutes of the 2nd half, we were still on the rack. When the changes were made, they became a different team, plus Bolton got tired.

By: Gunner4Ever on March 31, 2008
at 9:27 pm

As far as earlier season performances are concerned I think there are 2 reasons that we are now finding it harder.
1st many of the players look tired and have lost some confidence.
2nd and to me very relivant is that a lot of teams underestimated us early season and have now reverted to park the bus play.

By: Steve on March 31, 2008
at 9:34 pm

Steve, I agree with point one: our team is tired and that makes a big difference. It is pretty obvious that the squad is too thin, particularly given that our second team has not been as good as we hoped they were. However, I don’t agree with the park-the-bus theory. Teams have always done that and of course they are very defensive, but then over-passing plays right to that strategy.

By: california gooner on March 31, 2008
at 11:19 pm

Guys, we always passed the ball around and teams always parked the bus. We lack penetration, someone like Pires, Reyes, Walcott is similar but he is still green and loses the ball or gets knocked off it easy.

Hleb is also good at that, but you need more than one player who can do it to exhaust your opponents. We don’t, they pretty much know it’s going to be Helb trying to squeeze by or Fabregas with a through ball or a long ball. The rest will keep passing the ball around and will not penetrate.

By: Gunner4Ever on March 31, 2008
at 11:28 pm