(Was due to be posted yesterday but couldn’t due to work)
Well yesterday was a scrape if I’ve ever seen one. A manager-less but nonetheless organised team in south London’s crystal palace took Wenger’s men to the absolute edge in The days evening kick off. The gunners started the match with the expectation of the summers spending and the recent FA cup and community shield victories firmly on their shoulders. The gunners started tentatively and found it hard to break down the palace defence with the lack of options evident in the early stages. Sanchez tried to impose himself on the game via pace but could not break through the palace bus. The first goal came at the other end via a corner from palace and the marking from Arsenal so poor it’s probably made Alan Hansen regret retiring from MOTD. The miniature Alexis Sanchez left to man mark the biggest player on the field in Brede Hangleland. The former Fulham captain brushed Alexis aside with relative ease to rise above Koscielny and knock the ball in. The initial set piece was caused by Szczesny’s mistake in trying to sweep the ball instead of being patient in
letting chambers deal with the issue, this then left Koscielny in no mans land where he could have conceded a penalty instead of the actual corner. More mistakes were made in actually defending the corner. I hate the use of the zonal marking scheme that arsenal tend to adopt. Zonal marking requires an amount of planning and understanding the oppositions set piece routines with the gunners hardly ever know. It also requires a sweeping centre back in my opinion. Someone who is willing to intercept any runners that enter. The same role kos tried to play in the set piece. That role requires leadership and vision. I feel that this role is where we missed metre stacker most during the match.
The equaliser came at the stroke of half time, again from a set piece. Alexis Sanchez chipping the ball into the box from the left hand side providing koscielny
With a difficult but good headed finish into the bottom corner. The goal provided a collective sigh of relief that was heard in my house as well as the emirates.
The second half saw arsenal try and force the issue again via possession of the ball and the gradual breakdown of the palace defence. Giroud and Chamberlain came on to replace Sonogo and Wilshere. During the match arsenal found it hard to find Sonogo when attacking, with only one wild chance that I can remember. I disagreed with the Wilshere substitution, I felt he did ok today and there was other players more deserving of removal from the game (Santi). Chamberlain however, came on to great effect in the later stages of the game, forcing the issue and controlling the game from a central position. Chamberlain also played a key part in the winning goal which came seconds after the palace midfielder, Jason puncheon was sent off for a second yellow card. A cross that developed from a set piece was then kept alive via Koscielny and Giroud before falling to Debuchy who smashed it against Speroni before Ramsey put the ball in the net.
Looking back on the game, it’s one that arsenal would have easily lost 2 seasons ago. Palace was clearly the better team yesterday and their efforts didn’t deserve that result. Our performance can be summed up with one phrase: “We made Chamakh look good”. Arsenal surprised me with their willingness to fight back considering their tendency to completely collapse after going behind. You can tell some are still lacking fitness and we are missing first team players such as the Germans and Walcott. The determination to continue fighting well into the 90th minute is something that impressed me. Harder opposition however will provide a tougher challenge and arsenal let palace give them a tough time, an early goal would have removed all confidence within that team and could have led to an easier victory.
Santi seemed very poor yesterday. He’ll tell you himself that he had a bad game. For someone who doesn’t misplace passes, he missed an awful lot yesterday and almost gave away possession in the majority of attacks he was involved in. He also seemed as if he lacked match fitness and sharpness but we all know Santi will come back better against Beskitas. We can’t afford those same mistakes against Beskitas and especially Everton next week, who will definitely punish those mistakes
My MOTM:
Alex Ox’ Chamberlain
It’s hard to pick an Arsenal player who started the match that I can say played well or stood out. I heard Ramsey was given the title by the media, but besides the goal didn’t really make any spectacular contribution throughout the game. Chamberlains introduction and control of the game changed Arsenal and we became more direct, faster and more purposeful in attack.
Official Stats: (WhoScored.com)
The4231 