Arsenal vs Tottenham: Match Thread

[riggi]

:bang::bang::bang: .Watched it in Liverpool st, hardly any gooners, thank god.

 

[DEFchenkOE]

The gameplan we had required the right personnel, I think we would have felt confident if Lennon or Modric were in the team instead of Keane and Bentley, because they have the mobility and skill to work the counter attack. Unfortunately Bentley was rusty, and Keane out of form, and neither were able to provide anything that would threaten Arsenal.

A lesson could also be learnt about squad rotation - none of the substitutes appeared match sharp, and Bentley still looked off the pace. It's all right having a bench that looks strong on paper but if these players aren't on their games then they won't be able to offer any impact when they come on to the pitch.

This, a very important point and one I have been saying for a while. We have a lot of players in our "great" squad that just haven't had enough minutes on the pitch to be able to step into a big game like this and be match sharp, Bale, Bentley, Pav all looked well off the pace. HR needs to try and distribute minutes on the pitch more evenly so fringe players can try and get some kind of rhythm.

 

[Allen]

They are rubbish without Fabregas??? Yet have played in the champions league for the last 12 seasons. Arsenal have system and a style of play that runs from the youth team all the way through to the first 11 which allows any players to come in to the side and get on with it.

People were saying they were going to struggle this season without a main striker in Adebayor but Wenger has put Van Persie up the middle and due to the fluency they have in the whole team he never just stays up against the two centre halves much like the Barcelona way.

I think some fans get too carried away of what comes out of Harry's mouth about how good our squad really is compared to say Arsenal's!!

Great post!! :clap:

 

[Wsussexspur]

This, a very important point and one I have been saying for a while. We have a lot of players in our "great" squad that just haven't had enough minutes on the pitch to be able to step into a big game like this and be match sharp, Bale, Bentley, Pav all looked well off the pace. HR needs to try and distribute minutes on the pitch more evenly so fringe players can try and get some kind of rhythm.

Good post! This i think is the whole problem of not having a proper reserve team! Ok the reserve league in no way compares to the premier league but at least it gives players like Bale Bentley etc time on the pitch.

 

[SpurSince57]

I really think this is an over reaction. Their not that much better than us.

Imagine if just one of those chances against stoke went in, and we had beaten Stoke last week, we'd be going into this game on a high, imagine we wern't missing our 3 best players in Defoe Modric and Lennon. It would have been a completely different story. Its just circumstance. Im sure we'll beat the scum at our place convincingly.

Not much, but still better, and it's not simply a matter of one player, or even the squad as a whole. Run a player-by-player comparison, and there really isn't a lot in it—they edge us in some positions, we edge them in others. The difference is 13 years of one manager moulding the squad according to his vision, with little or no compromise; they believe they are going to beat us, we don't seem to believe we can beat them, even when we've got them on the ropes (2006 CC at the Lane?).

Maybe today we'd have been better off starting with Bale or Kranjcar on the left and dropping the anodyne Hudd, going offensive rather than trying to nullify their strengths, I don't know. On the other hand, we'd succeeded in frustrating them and were getting more into the game before two appalling lapses in our previously excellent concentration did for us, so who's to say Harry got it wrong?

We learn from it, put it behind us.

 

[Legend10]

Not much, but still better, and it's not simply a matter of one player, or even the squad as a whole. Run a player-by-player comparison, and there really isn't a lot in it—they edge us in some positions, we edge them in others. The difference is 13 years of one manager moulding the squad according to his vision, with little or no compromise; they believe they are going to beat us, we don't seem to believe we can beat them, even when we've got them on the ropes (2006 CC at the Lane?).

Maybe today we'd have been better off starting with Bale or Kranjcar on the left and dropping the anodyne Hudd, going offensive rather than trying to nullify their strengths, I don't know. On the other hand, we'd succeeded in frustrating them and were getting more into the game before two appalling lapses in our previously excellent concentration did for us, so who's to say Harry got it wrong?

We learn from it, put it behind us.

Do we?

I seriously don't see much learning from these situations at the moment. Our problems are mental, we seem to lack mental toughness and the fight to produce in some games. We have ability but it isn't enough.

Nobody can have watched that game today and believe that man for man we showed the same desire as Arsenal did.

Ability can get us a long way but we can't progress without the mental toughness and desire.

Oh for a Mackay, Perryman, Roberts or Mullery. Somebody that just won't accept losing and won't let his team mates accept it.

I watch Barca all the time, a team of supremely gifted players, but the mental toughness and desire of Xavi, Iniesta, Messi and others is what lifts that team to be truly great. They want to win, win, win and win, we just don't have enough of it.

 

[camaj]

We were our own worst enemy today, our biggest problems are mental and I don't mean confidence. I feel we lack focus at times and become sloppy, giving balls away or not picking up runners etc.

I think our problem in the past was lacking a settled team. I don't think rotating players would improve the situation but I think we need to use the cup competitions as more a proper reserve league.

Of course people will say we missed Modric, woody, Defoe and Lennon today and we did but we need stronger players in case they can't play. I haven't seen anything to suggest Jenas or Huddlestone are good enough to be back up players. Yes they have a good game every now and then but they often have poor games (today) or are average. I know Tainio didn't have a lot of backers but he was rarely anonymous in the way JJ often is. What's worse is if he plays it forces Modric out of position (IMHO). We'd be better off with Bale or Kranjar (sp?) on the wing and Modric in the middle

I think we can take a little comfort in the fact that we gifted them the goals today. For the first one Keane just wasn't marking the player who recieved the ball but perhaps that wasn't his job. He could have made an attempt even though there should have been another player there. We probably should have had a defender in front of King to block the cross too.

The second goal was absolutely inexcusable. God knows what Palacios was doing, he had several options but kicked it straight at Fabrigas. Then he and king lunged in. The most disappointing part for me was the attitude of the other players though, only Corluka made any real effort at trying to defend. Bassong casually runs back and Huddlestone makes a weak attempt at some pressure.

I'm not sure the third goal should have stood. The player who was fouled was offside, I'm not sure if the fact that he was fouled should negate that. Either way Gomes, who was excellent today, made a bit of a hash of it and Ledley didn't really set himself well either.

 

[nipponyid]

Still feeling the effects of the PTSD!

 

[Vecellio]

I have to confess i missed the majority of the match today (had a lady over) but i did see the first two goals, then basically gave up on the match as it was over as a competition really at 2-0.

But i am surprised at the King slating by some. Not his best match i'll grant but by my reckoning he was at 'minor' fault for the first two goals (not the main cause but with some culpability).

The first goal was a soft goal to concede but as others have said i reckon the main fault was the positioning and allowing the cross into such a dangerous area. By the time it goes there Van Persie only has to reach it first and toe-poke it. King simply gets there too late - that's not really a glaring defensive error, simply a well taken opportunistic strike. And as toe pokes take less time to execute than a normal shot, it is on Gomes before he really has time to react as normal. He could have saved it of course but it would have been a good reaction save imo.

So it was a soft and very frustrating goal to concede at that point in the match. A real blow. But the thing to do was regroup, get to half time and then have a decent crack at them second half.

Instead we folded faster than Superman doing laundry, and the game was effectively over. So i'd question the mentality and belief more than anything. It should be obvious we were never likely to keep them from scoring, and at some level we had to take the game to them.

With all that said and done yes we were missing our 3 best attackers, and with them we could give a much better account of ourselves. But you still expect us to have a decent crack at good possession football and not lose our heads, and have some self belief, whomever is out injured. That is the more worrying thing imo.