Manchester City 1 – 1 Arsenal: BUNDLE!!
September 24, 2012
It’s a mark of how good we were yesterday that most Gooners this morning will be responding to an away game against the champions, arguably our hardest match of the season, a game which we were losing with only eight minutes to go, and still be disappointed that we only managed a point.
Put simply, we were excellent. For large swathes of that match we made one of the most expensively assembled sides in history look frankly a little bit average. In the first half particularly our crisp one touch passing in the middle of the park was virtually unplayable. The decision to start Aaron Ramsey out on the right, only for him to drift in and overwhelm them in midfield was an inspired move from a manager who supposedly doesn’t do tactics.
Ramsey himself was the revelation of the game for me. He was busy, buzzing and confident. His touch was superb and he was always looking for the forward pass. It was the best I’ve seen him play since he came back back from that injury and frankly the first time he’s approximated the form he was showing before he was so cruelly taken out of the game. Having clearly tested the patience of a whole lot of fans with his displays last season I’m delighted and excited by the prospect of having the old (young) Aaron back.
It seems at the moment like every time you blink this squad gets that little bit stronger.
It was Ramsey who provided us with the chance of the match when he slid Gervinho in with a beautifully weighted ball in the first half. Unfortunately this just wasn’t Gervinho’s day and his first touch was woeful. Being around thirty yards from Joe Hart he had a huge margin of error but still somehow managed to overhit it and watch the ball slide harmlessly toward’s the keeper’s arms. After that point he never quite regained his composure and having only just managed to assemble some kind of fragile confidence you do worry what longer term effect that might have on his extraordinarily delicate ego. Can we not send him on some kind of hypnotherapy course for self-assertiveness?
Of course all of our fine work was undone in an instant when we gave away an unnecessary corner five minutes before the break which was defended poorly allowing Lescott to leap and head home. A lot of the focus on Sky’s coverage was on the apparently ludicrous decision to opt for a zonal marking system as if Arsenal are the first team to ever adopt it. But the problem wasn’t with the system. The problem was that Vito Mannone came for a ball which he got absolutely nowhere near and that neither Laurent Koscielny or Lukas Podolski made a whole lot of effort to get to that ball ahead of Lescott.
It was a familiar sinking feeling to go in at the break a goal down having had by far the better of the play. And in fact if this had happened last year against a team as big as Man City I think we all know what the outcome would have been. No points and a world weary Arsene Wenger bemoaning the chances that we didn’t take. Thankfully that wasn’t the case this time.
Second half City brought in Rodwell for Sinclair in an effort to address their midfield issues and in fairness it worked well for them. For the first time in the match we faced some pressure but we dealt with everything they threw at us fairly comfortably despite the fact that we were pushing and looking for an equaliser. Per Mertesacker deserves special mention for his role in the centre of defence. I lost count of how many time we were outnumbered on a City break and a pass looked set to split the defence only for a long, rangy, Big F—ing German leg to come out and intercept the play. His positioning and awareness of the danger were top notch and proof as if it were needed that you don’t get 82 caps for Germany at the age of just 27 without knowing a thing or two about defending.
Still, we needed to change things up. Diaby and Podolski looked particularly tired after recent exertions and they were the ones to be replaced on 70 for Walcott and Giroud. The changes worked. Gervinho added a bit more pace pushed out to the left as did Theo to the right and Giroud provided more of a focal point to the attack, doing a good job of holding the ball up and bringing people into play. The added width seemed to allow Cazorla a bit more space in the middle and he came within inches of getting us back in it with a little run and a stinging shot which Hart just managed to tip wide.
From the resulting corner roles were reversed as this time it was Koscielny profiting from a Lescott mistake. His loose clearance fell to Kozzer who reacted like a striker to flash the ball into the top of the net. You could see the joy and relief it brought to the team as someone shouted ‘bundle’ and the lot of them proceeded to leap on Lolo’s back. I slightly feared for his health for a minute there but thankfully everyone seemed to come out of the bundle unscathed.
We could even have had a winner too. Gervinho again found himself in a peach of a position at the edge of the box, only needing a cool head and a curled finish to put us ahead. Unfortunately ‘cool head’ is not high on his list of attributes and I think he might have hit the roof of the stadium.
Disappointing but as I said, the fact that we’re bemoaning not taking the full three points yesterday really does show how far this team has come. If we can outplay the champions on their own patch then really what’s stopping us from putting together a real run for this Premier League title?
The squad looks stronger by the day. There was a time when the loss of our captain and first choice centre back to ‘flu on the morning of a big match would have been cause to throw up our hands in despair. Yesterday we just welcomed back Laurent Koscielny. In a few weeks time we’ll be hoping to get Bacary Sagna back in the squad. But could you really argue that Carl Jenkinson deserves to be dropped?
For the first time in a long time we seem to have the balance right between youth and experience, skill and brawn. It may not have had the thrills and spills of a 6-1 against Southampton but the level headedness and composure needed to come back and grab a point from yesterday could be the key to a sustained title campaign this year.
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12 Responses to “Manchester City 1 – 1 Arsenal: BUNDLE!!”
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There were so many positives from yesterday’s game. Ramsey was excellent, Carl Jenkinson makes me beam like a happy parent, Cazorla just continues to make me very happy indeed and to be able to replace Vermalen at the last with Kos, who took his shot like a seasoned striker, was the icing on the cake. I only wonder that Gervinho stayed on the pitch for so long, I’m not having a dig he was simply having a bad day and maybe they should have recognised it sooner and took him off with a pat on the back. Confidence is a tricky thing, he certainly put the effort in but his first touch was pretty shabby all day.
Once again a very good article. So nice to read facts ,as against the anti Arsene drivel on some sites. One point I would make is that Jenkinson proved last year that he is class and unlike Sagna he can pass and centre. He also covers his area better and has developed a nice understanding with Per. All this and he is 20 !!
I really believe that had the OX come on in place of Theo we would have won. To think that Jack & Frimmy are back training and later Rosicky will arrive..blimey we have some squad. It made me laugh when another ex Chelski pillock on TV said ” trouble is, Arsenal will always suffer due to having a small squad” . Lets hope they all think like that…roll on May 2013 I say !
I also meant to say that Mannone has been brilliant..yes he made a tiny missjudgement yesterday but he well & truly made up for it throughout the 90 minutes. With Ramsey looking the part again we are flying.
Great summing up, totally agree about Ramsey. I’m not worried about Gerv’s confidence being dented, though, as he’s been that sort of player all his career – he’s used to blowing hot and cold. But he never hides, which is admirable. I see the inconsistency as part and parcel of the unpredictability – he changes his mind, perhaps? or over-eagerness – rather than a lack of confidence.
Gervinho got into the right positions again. That is the main thing. He certianly isn’t useless as I’ve heard many people muttering over the last 14 months. The goals will come, he just needs to calm himself down.
Good result and better performance.
I like the look of this Team. No Superstar posers walking around and the look of togetherness is starting to show.
Cazorla is not just a great player but has anyone seen a football player smile and laugh as much as him?
Podolski too is an happy chappy. We really do look like an happy team wit the guts to go with it.
Mr Me is probably feeling lonely at his new home knocking in the untold penalties his new team are gifted but if WE carry on progressing Mr Me will regret dumping us for the cash come this seasons end.
Luckily there were no controversial ref decisions unlike the Pool /Mu game. In that game ,RVP shd have sent off and Pool denied a legitimate spot kick.Until the refs can have a consistent decision making policy,many fans besides Arsenal fans will believe the refs have been helping on rf to win the epl all the time.
A number of Arsenal players were caught in possession.Fortunately the others chipped in to help defend. I believe the german defender is
going to be punished for his slowness and tackles.
All in all this is cause for optimism
I don’t think we can take too much out of the City game, fact is we put in a similar display last year but had none of the luck. I don’t really rate Mancini much and they’re not really up to speed yet, a much tougher test will be the one at United and of course in the end it’ll be about our consistency against the smaller sides where we so often dropped needless points last year.
It was a positive result in a tough fixture and there were some standout performances from players like Ramsey, Mertesacker and Jenkinson but what it means in the long run is anyone’s guess. Remaining unbeaten is bloody lovely!
Regardless of what it means as to how good we are, last season showed that a single point here or there can be the difference between the title or not, or the Champion’s League or not. So I’m thrilled we clawed back that point, even if we could have had more.
I’ve been impressed with Jenkinson all season, as missing Sagna was my biggest fear, but this game from him I really never expected. The commentators were talking up Sinclair’s desire to impress, but the only real chance I saw him get was a cross from the other side. Then out of nowhere Jenkinson used strength and surprisingly speed to hustle his way past top strong players TWICE during the game and manufacture a chance for Podolski (unfortunately on his right foot) and then force Javi Garcia to rugby tackle him. The way the ref was shaking his head after the Garcia tackle, you could tell he wished the rules would allow him to give a red for that one.
Long may the Ramsey renaissance continue. I think he had some excellent games last season that people overlooked because of missed chances, which tend to stick in the memory more. What needs to be factored in is that if you’re creating and getting chances regularly, you’re doing most of the job right, and only small adjustments are needed. It’s the same reason I think Gervinho is so valuable even with his inconsistancy. He creates chances at an astounding rate. So I’m sure Wenger knows, if he can just get that final shot taken care of, he could just explode.
I was glad to hear the commentators and press praising Arsenal mostly all around for outplaying Man City. Often when we play weaker sides, if we outplay them and tie or lose, the press acts like playing well and dominating the game is hardly important. Nice to see reality reflected.
The BFG was my MOTM. Classic German. Joe Hart’s good. Otherwise we’d have run them over. COYG! Blues. next up! El nil-ño
Saw this and the Liverpool game on MOTD with Mark Lawrenson and Freddie L. I always knew footballers know sh*t about rules. They both dared to say Halsey did a good job…
The red card for Shelvey was well deserved, Shelvey is an idiot, but Evans is really no better, and I can’t see why only one of them gets punished. So Evans is on a yellow and takes that questionable decision to tackle Suarez in the box late on. Did he get the ball? Cause what I saw was a kick in the ankle… Another yellow, hence red and a penalty to the Reds.
And then the sweet reality check for RVP, being reduced to scoring from a soft penalty. Frankly, I didn’t see Johnson do anything wrong there, all I saw was Valencia doing an Ashley. Had Reina got that ball, it’d be the sweetest of prizes for me
OK, back to Arsenal. There really isn’t too much to talk about, is it? We finally got the team we always wanted to have – brimming with talent, skill, and ambition – and a squad so deep it could survive the Millennium winter. Even the areas where we seemed overly exposed – CF, fullbacks, DM – are perfectly covered. And most importantly, the people who seemed awestruck and out of depth last season are now simply a part of the team.
It feels good to be an AKB today
Good stuff Justin, fully agreed. Gervinho blows hot and cold but almost always gets into good positions and causes trouble, if someone can teach him how to shoot he’ll be deadly.