Manchester City 1 – 1 Arsenal
1 – 0 Lescott (40)
1 – 1 Koscielny (82)
It speaks volumes for the performance when the final whistle leaves you at once elated and deflated. Before the kick-0ff, we were told that Arsenal’s improvement this season would be judged by yesterday afternoon’s result – not performance, result. On that basis alone, the strides taken by the squad were clearly seen. Chasing a one-goal deficit at the top six clubs was not something Arsenal were particularly good at last season. At Stamford Bridge, yes but in similar scenarios at Old Trafford, Eastlands and White Hart Lane, Arsenal were found wanting. A significant improvement.
No such shortfall yet this season. And a thoroughly well-deserved point it was. It was a performance which merited a result but too often in the past has failed to deliver. The disappointment comes in the manner of conceding City’s goal and in the absence of shooting boots, gilt-edged chances may lead to guilt-ridden consciences this morning: if only. A point not lost on the manager yesterday,
We had early chances and very late chances, especially Gervinho at the edge of the box where he missed the target
A touch harsh to just mention the Ivorian but understandable, more so with his spurned opportunity in the closing stages. This and City’s goal were the lessons which have to be learned going forward. Well, defending not going forward quite literally. It is, I suppose. Hell, you know what I meant.
Being an Arsenal supporter can be tough; even when things are going well, panic seems to be a moment away with each miscontrol – slight or heavy – or wayward pass treated as though it were the norm. That held true yesterday with the nerves of the opening stages not on the pitch but in those watching as a period of dominance brought no reward. Arsenal began brightly, taking the game to City rather than sitting deep and defending. A sign of confidence borne out by previous results.
That period contained chances, Gervinho and Podolski’s efforts were disappointing for differing reasons. Slipped through by Cazorla, Gervinho’s heavy touch let Joe Hart gather the ball comfortably rather than bending over to pick the ball out of the net. Ten minutes later, Podolski showed admirable concern for the England ‘keeper’s recurring backache by blazing over the bar following the hearty endeavours of Jenkinson. The sides traded possession, the final chances snuffed out by excellent defending by both sets of centre backs. Mertesacker was outstanding yesterday and the selection problem identified before the match, is one that the manager acknowledged. The speedier forwards are likely to see the German drop out of the side.
Inevitably, Arsenal’s control of the match faded and City took control. Having weathered the Arsenal storm, they took the lead from a set-piece. It was a disappointing goal on all levels. Mannone came for the ball and hesitated, losing any chance that he had of making contact. Such indecision is something which the Italian must eradicate from his game to make the move to the next level. He was rescued by his defenders at Anfield, this time he was punished.
To compound matters, Podolski was outjumped by Lescott, momentarily switching off; to try and beat the England international from a standing start was too much to ask. Criticism of the zonal marking system misses the point; players are not precluded from attacking the ball as it comes into their zone. Matters might have been worse but for the intervention of Mannone’s fingertips from Dzeko’s shot moments later. Arsenal were rocking but that did not last, ineffectual counter-punches landed before the interval. The second half began with City in the ascendancy as the visitors appeared to lose their way, energy levels dropping.
The change came with the introduction of Giroud and Walcott, reinvigorating the search for an equaliser. Mannone defied City at the other end, reinforcing his shot-stopping credentials whilst Cazorla forced Hart into action to preserve the hosts’ advantage. It proved to be short-term relief. From the corner, City were unable to clear and Koscielny controlled the ball, shifted it and thundered home. The goal was taken with the aplomb expected of a seasoned centre-forward.
Either side might have won the match in the final moments; Kompany’s overhead kick was dangerously parried to Aguero, who narrowly shot wide with Mannone stranded whilst Gervinho wasted a golden opportunity also. Overall, a point was probably a fair result but Arsenal will, you suspect, take more from the match than City. The effort the players put in was astonishing, Aaron Ramsey and Carl Jenkinson in particular, both offered positives which must surely alter their critics opinions, dominating the Arsenal right. Equally Gibbs linked well on the left, the opposite sides of the pitch in defence are working relatively well together given their youthful exuberance and inexperience. Gibbs might have scored himself and perhaps justified Giroud’s decision to shoot at Anfield, when yesterday the youngster opted to pass the ball across the area when the better choice was surely to shoot.
All in all, a very good point and one which quite rightly pleased the manager. It ought to please us as well.
’til Tomorrow.
If Gervinho could finish, he would be world class.But then he would have cost us £30 million and not £10 mill.
Still cannot forgive the ignorant Arsenal fans who were on the case with Ramsey and Jenkinson last season. One recovering from a career threatening injury, the other a novice who had been playing non league football. These fans should go and support Tottenham, they don’t deserve AFC.
Sriram (@Sriram_Gunner) @ 4:53pm
The question is “Gervino, are you shotta?” LMLO (Laughing My Locks Off).
BTW: The miss by Gervs at the end pretty much sums me up as a player in my youth. I was poor.
Gervinho being in the last year of his lille contract had a lot to do with him being 10mil more than anything but he does need to be a little more composed
Hazard said Gervinho was the best player he has seen.
Now,why would I know more than him?
Better now then, shotta?
One can see Gervinho going a similar direction as Theo has in the eyes of many of the impatient.
The point with both players is that they raise expectations and inevitably disappoint unless they are scoring several times each game.
I would imagine Gerv is a nightmare for all defences everywhere and whilst we can say he needs to score more, the fact remains he is getting himself into highly dangerous positions throughout all the games in which he plays. I’m pretty sure it’ll take the most minor of adjustments for him to become a free scoring contributor, and one as capable of providing assists of the highest quality as well as taking the chances himself. Certainly playing him in a more central position has proved full of promise.
you can see why hazard said that..
hes a very good player..
i like him
Gervinho has had 2 absolutely fantastic games and now one where he got in the right positions but didn’t finish as we expected. Why are we having a discussion about his quality? He’ll probably run rings around a fallen-over Terry before finishing it past Cech like it’s Sunday League Footie on the weekend.
different players andrew.
one of them can control a football..
ones a winger trying to be a finisher and ones a finisher trying to be a winger
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19707348
Apparently Master Walcott wants to be an Arsenal legend….but not from the wings.
go figure…
Gerv just needs serious work on his shooting. He’s good with the short leg-stroke goals. It might take a while
i would play theo centrally now..
previously we needed our central forward to be a false 9..tippy tappy and all that..
but he fucked off to play for the red mancs
our games changing, the tippy tap in the final third is dying out and we are becoming more direct..
to be honest, we dont need a ball player in the middle, the midfielders do most of that now, we just need someone who can shoot.
gervinhos a winger, girouds a target man and id have said podolski and theo are the finishers
podolski however is good enough to play wide and not fucking cry about it..
if theo wants to play central id play him central but he’ll have to score bucket loads of goals to merit playing there over the better footballers and if he doesnt just sell him in jan.
we should have just sold him in the summer but hey ho..
I’m really hoping lil Czar plays on wednesday. he should be “fully fit” by now
Absolutely no shock in Theo wanting to play up front, hell he has been banging on that drum for a fair while now. I just cannot see him playing up front with Arsenal in a fluid 3. I think to be honest OG suffers from it as well given the only crossing is pretty much coming from Jenks. I guess if you were sub out Gerv in the middle with Theo that is fine, but I could see his pace best exploited by playing off the shoulder of the last defender in a 2 front 4-4-2 formation. That said, any team facing him would know to sit deeper and then you have nullified almost all of his ability to be effective.
Though I’m still not all jizzed out on yesterday,
I’m trying to look forward
forgive my partialities but it feels almost a travesty AW has not let AA play in the sand with the new boys..
we all know he knows how to put the ball in the net…
so, since all-out defending is not his strength..throw him on for 30 mins please, Arsene?
or 20?
By the way, did anyone else get a kick out of watching Clichy banging crosses into Row Z yesterday? I’d take Gibbs any day.
Clichy actually fouled Gervs in the pen area.
Interesting timing for Walcott to stake his claim for a CF spot again. He knows AW is not just going to play him as a CF in a Prem match and being thrown on as CF for 10 to 15 mins at the end of a match isn’t going to do it for him either. But it does no harm to restate your desire to be a striker in the run up to a League Cup game when the Boss has a limited number of strikers available anyway.
Manchester City have been poor in defence this season – Kompany has surprised me with his idiotic defending, where has backed out, and not shown the same commitment as he did last season. That’s not to take anything away from Arsenal. A great performance, overall. BFG is world class, Koscielny will be considered world class if he continues with his performances until January/February. Ramsey looks back to his best. Cazorla is the best player in the league. Like I said to you lot a while ago, Cazorla is a better player than Silva, he is more direct and wants to get things over and done with. The only reason he hasn’t been in the press a lot is because his club record doesn’t stand out (not stats). A gem of a player. All that’s lacking is a quality striker to lead the line. I genuinely believe Giroud will come good, but already his heads dropped.
Sol getting into the spirit, as Jens sticks to the cardigan:
https://twitter.com/danlevy1/status/249842423541399554
How many of you would agree with me that Mike Dean had an excellent game yeaterday……bearing in mind his usual treatment of our Club in the past.
@Wavey i dont get it though. AW has already stated time and time again that he sees Walcotts future as a striker. But AW being AW knows when Walcott is ready. And Wallcott should know after is it 6 years? at arsenal that very few if any managers out there are as good as AW in finding the right time for the right spot for any player.
Walcott should also know that being under AW he will develop into a great striker though thing take time. Look at RvP when did he get his chance up alone? that was last year no? And he had been in the club for 8 years? besides, what other club will use Walcott as a striker?
The whole situation is weird, im sure we are having a nother player up our sleeve and will sell walcott if we get this other person in January. I dont see any other reason for not signing him up immediatly.
Its important to remember that AW can be a ruthless bastard when he wants to. The way he just flogged Song. Im not sure Song saw that coming. And I’m not sure Walcott is seeing this coming neither.
Atm it looks like AW are fed up with moaners and players trying to dictate what the club should or should not do. For the first time in a looong while we are a club without any huge egos. RvP was the last huge ego out the door.
and yeh we play with brazilian fullbacks atm! they are so attackminded while our midfield covers for them! i love it!!!
Is Gervinho the semi false 9?
Theo interview. Why is he so dam likeable!?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19705607
Getty @ 5:15 pm,
“Now, Walcott is a whole differnt story, is he leaving in January?”
It’s a difficult (impossible) question for the supporter to do any thing other than speculate about. However, things are looking better according to this report of the SS:
“Wenger converted Henry from a winger to Arsenal’s all-time leading goalscorer and Walcott, who inherited the Frenchman’s number 14 jersey, told ESPN on Monday: “I want to be an Arsenal legend. Thierry joined the club when he was 22 and I want to become an Arsenal legend like him, playing up front as well, which is a big factor for me.
“I’ve played on the right wing and had the opportunity to play up front a bit more so I think it’s about time.”
Talks over extending the 23-year-old’s contract, which expires at the end of the season, reached crisis point last month when he rejected a new five-year deal worth £75,000 a week.
It was reported Walcott was holding out for £100,000 a week, but he said: “That speculation on the money side of it has never been me. That’s not me. I’m not the sort of person who’s influenced by money. I always make my decisions based on football and only football.
“Hopefully, something can be sorted out. I’ll just wait for the club to get back to us now and go from there.”
He added: “It’s a slow process. My last contract took over six months to happen. Hopefully, it can be sorted out. I’ve never said I wanted to go, I’ve always wanted to stay.”
However, the England star refused to rule out leaving Arsenal completely.
“It’s one of those things that happens in the game,” he said.
“If it comes to it, if the club had to sell me, I’d be disappointed but, like I said, hopefully something can be sorted.”
As I speculated, it doesn’t seem to be about the money alone and (as with most serious contracts) negotiations need time. Fingers crossed, he stays and blossoms with us.
“Hopefully, something can be sorted out. I’ll just wait for the club to get back to us now and go from there.”
It’s the ‘us’ in that sentence that is the unknown quantity. None of us know whether Walcott’s ‘team’ are following his strict instructions, trying to turn his head, advising him, listening to him, influencing him or what. I for one believe him and if it wasn’t true I believe Arsene would have got rid.
As good as the Song, Theo, RVP triumvirate were for us last go around they were only good enough for third and Arsene wants more than that and if he can manage without any or all of them and still improve as it appears he has then so be it.
http://www.aclfarsenal.co.uk/?p=9561
Today’s post flying in the face of the above
Doh, trust you Yogi.
City were better than us in the second half but never dominant, not by any stretch – but despite media hysteria this result doesn’t hold any significance over the rest of our season, we put in a similar display last season away at City and were unlucky to lose – it didn’t mean we were fighting with them at the end of the season. I think Mancini is overrated and despite his embarrassment of riches hasn’t figured out a way to play Arsenal successfully, I know they won 1-0 last year but as said above it was more luck than good judgement on his part.
What we can tell from our first 5 games, plus the Montpellier clash is that we have buckets of quality strung through-out the squad, the team look united and we’ve shown the same grit and determination we had last year to come from behind in two tough away fixtures (both against champions of their respective leagues). What this means come the back end of the season is anyone’s guess but I have to giggle at people writing Arsenal off for any trophies at this point, they’re going off of seasons past and not using their eyes to see what we are right now.
We were better than City in every aspect all through the match and the one thing we lacked was cutting edge in front of goal , which I suspect might be a problem for us this season . In defence and midfield we are top of the league at the moment and its brilliant . But we need a scoring frontman and a more experienced goalkeeper if we want to win a title