Arsenal 1-1 Villa
Myles Palmer was confident that we will be able to repeat that 5-0 scoreline against Villa, and to be honest I never thought of losing points in this game. But a new manager often has that luck of getting some result in his first few games. Credit to Villa for their effort in defending against us. They were certainly outplayed in every aspect of the game but they did not give up.
We lost two points but I was upbeat because the performance was a very good one. It was encouraging to see this young team played in such a dominating way despite losing some key players over the last two seasons.
Few things that caught my attention.
Djorou looked very composed though he still need playing time with Kolo in order to understand each other better. I do like Senderos but somehow I still feel that two quick centrebacks suit our games better considering we defend high up the pitch. There were situations in the game where we were saved by Djorou's pace. Senderos might be superior positioning wise, but similar to Hypia, he is always in trouble the moment the opponent manage to get past him.
Cesc looked stronger, much stronger. He held off challenges and he joined the attack more. He was very much involved and of course, his stepping on Poll is always appreciated. Gilberto, Ljungberg, and Hleb was okay. I guess they will be much sharper next week.
Theo Walcott- I guess I have nothing to add other than what have been said. I would only like to point out how he had done what our other players failed to do for the first 80 minutes. A decent cross into the box. His cross was nowhere as good as Giggs' cross that was converted by Saha against Fulham. Yet that was good enough to catch Villa offguard. A direct run, a cross. Simple. Much simpler than all those one touch passes we made right through the heart of Villa defense.
We had wider pitch but we didn't make use of it. We insisted on passing the ball short and through the centre. I agree that the quick interchange was beautiful and breathtaking to watch. But there are times when you have to vary your approach. Man Utd may not play as beautifully but to me, there is more dimension to their play and they were certainly more effective in stretching the opponent's defense. They were more lethal.
That said, we are still adapting to the new pitch and it's never easy. I believe our players will learn to make use of the pitch size the more they play and we will see a much improved performance the moment they start to feel at home. May that begin with the Man City game next week.
I don't forget that we still have a CL qualification game midweek but certainly we are not going to lose 4-1, are we?
We lost two points but I was upbeat because the performance was a very good one. It was encouraging to see this young team played in such a dominating way despite losing some key players over the last two seasons.
Few things that caught my attention.
Djorou looked very composed though he still need playing time with Kolo in order to understand each other better. I do like Senderos but somehow I still feel that two quick centrebacks suit our games better considering we defend high up the pitch. There were situations in the game where we were saved by Djorou's pace. Senderos might be superior positioning wise, but similar to Hypia, he is always in trouble the moment the opponent manage to get past him.
Cesc looked stronger, much stronger. He held off challenges and he joined the attack more. He was very much involved and of course, his stepping on Poll is always appreciated. Gilberto, Ljungberg, and Hleb was okay. I guess they will be much sharper next week.
Theo Walcott- I guess I have nothing to add other than what have been said. I would only like to point out how he had done what our other players failed to do for the first 80 minutes. A decent cross into the box. His cross was nowhere as good as Giggs' cross that was converted by Saha against Fulham. Yet that was good enough to catch Villa offguard. A direct run, a cross. Simple. Much simpler than all those one touch passes we made right through the heart of Villa defense.
We had wider pitch but we didn't make use of it. We insisted on passing the ball short and through the centre. I agree that the quick interchange was beautiful and breathtaking to watch. But there are times when you have to vary your approach. Man Utd may not play as beautifully but to me, there is more dimension to their play and they were certainly more effective in stretching the opponent's defense. They were more lethal.
That said, we are still adapting to the new pitch and it's never easy. I believe our players will learn to make use of the pitch size the more they play and we will see a much improved performance the moment they start to feel at home. May that begin with the Man City game next week.
I don't forget that we still have a CL qualification game midweek but certainly we are not going to lose 4-1, are we?
posted by phoenix chix at 3:09 PM
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