Gibbs – Page 3 – Bergkampesque

Little Jack the real leader, Theo and Giroud not gelling yet, why no Rosicky?

January 7, 2013TotalArsenal

Having watched the second half again last night, I felt a lot more positive about the whole game than I did when I watched the game for the first time. In the first half, Arsenal tried as hard as in the second half, but the belief was not there and our football looked a bit ‘theoretical’ as a result. We pressed them in numbers and tried to find openings, but the midfield and our attack looked like separate sub-teams.

This all changed in the second half, when we took the game once again to Swansea with plenty of energy, focus and with more invention. Swansea scored their goal against the run of play, and our defence should have done better in avoiding the chance happening in the first place and dealing with it as well.

We did not give up though and kept pushing for the equaliser, driven on by the real leader in this team: little Jackie Wilshere. Our goals came in quick succession by substitute Podolski and the other ‘driver’ yesterday: Kieran Gibbs. Podolski showed his predatory instinct with a fine turn and ferocious shot into the corner of the goal which left Vorm shapeless, and Gibbs’ goal was a Bergkampesque beauty; converting a fine ball over the top by Giroud with venom and precision in the roof of the net.

Before the goals, Arsenal had been close to scoring on several occasions but we lacked quality in our finishing: Giroud, Theo, Cazorla and Podolski all missed decent to great chances.

Why no Rosicky yesterday?

Cazorla is one of our best footballers, and I would always play him as long as he is fit. But Arsene has given him the responsibility to shape our attacks and direct our play, and I feel he is struggling in this department recently. He is no Fabregas that is for sure, and I reckon it is Wilshere who is mainly directing our football at the moment with his drive, overview and passing ability.

I am wondering more and more whether Cazorla should play on the wings, at least for a few games, and give Rosicky a chance to play in his position. I reckon we would get a far better shape to the team and become more inventive and effective as a result. But Arsene did once again not even use him as a substitute, and I am starting to wonder whether Rosicky is in line for being sold during this TW. Given the Czechs’ fitness problems I would not be too sad about that, as long as he is replaced. However, I think we are missing a trick or two at the moment, and Rosicky could really lift this team with his drive and ability.

Theo and Giroud not gelling yet

With Ramsey on the left, and Theo playing a lot closer to Giroud than usual, we did not have proper wingers yesterday. A lot of wing-play came from the wing-backs, and especially Gibbs did really well yesterday (if only he could learn to cross!). It was also good to see Sagna back with confidence and drive and I hope he will improve further against Man City. The cross of the game came from the much maligned Ramsey, who worked hard to get himself a bit of space and time to cross all the way from the corner flag onto Giroud forehead at a perfect height. But Giroud is once again trying too hard to convince his (few) doubters that he really is a good striker, which seems to affect his finishing.

Ollie works so hard for the team and tries to help as much as he can, but it is clear he is one of these players who needs to play regularly to be at his best. Theo also struggled to have a real impact on the game, as Swansea did not allow him, and the rest of the team, a lot of space during most of the game.

It was also clear that Giroud and Walcott have some way to go to become a strong partnership, but I do feel we need to keep playing them together for a while (maybe with Rosicky and Cazorla, or Ox and Pod, on the wings in a 4-4-2).

Second half offers hope of better times to come.

This season we seem to be a second half team. We play a lot better after the break which indicates to me that as a team we are not gelling enough on the pitch, and Wenger and Bould need to do a lot of work at half time to get the players to perform better both tactically and personally. It does seem to work, though, but we need to get the same level of performance for 90 minutes, if we are to beat the Northern and Southern Oilers in our next PL fixtures this month.

The second half performance offers hope of progress in terms of drive and spirit. But our defending needs to improve significantly, and Mertesacker will play a key role in this. He did not have a good game yesterday, but just like Giroud he is one of those players who need to play regularly to be at his best. We need his organisational skills and reading of the game to give us back shape and unity in our defence. Let’s hope he is back to his best again next weekend.

Written by: Total Arsenal.

Arsenal 2 – 0 West Brom: eight positives to take from today’s game

December 8, 2012December 8, 2012TotalArsenal

Today’s performance against West Brom was a significant improvement from what we have seen in recent Arsenal games. Lady Luck helped Arsenal on the way with a harsh first penalty being awarded in our favour, but there can be little doubt that the good guys deserved their win today.

It looked like our core players had benefited from not having played mid-week, as they all appeared to be both fitter and more focussed during our game against the Baggies.

The big negative for me today was our inability to take some of the excellent chances which came our way – other than the two well-taken penalties by the impressive Arteta, of course. We also were not able to get the best use out of Giroud, although the Frenchman himself was partly to blame for this.

But, other than those two ‘areas for improvement’, I thought our encounter with the Baggies offered strong signs of Arsenal making progress, and I would like to highlight eight positives from our game today:

MA8: I thought Arteta had one of his best games this season; at least for the first seventy minutes or so. He tired towards the end and made a few mistakes that could have cost us on another day, but before that he was the solid anchor in our team. His positioning was spot on and he also won many one to one battles; he had great drive and timing, and really imposed himself on the game. Mikel also managed to be more direct against West Brom and his passing was often full of attacking intent.
Jack Wilshere took the game by the scruff of the neck today. Not Cazorla or Rosicky turned out to be the conductor of our team today, but Jack, the beanstalk climbing, giant-killer was the one who led the team on the pitch against West Brom. There is still room for improvement for Jack – his final ball needs to improve a bit further and he missed a very good chance today – but his ability to give our team shape and purpose is incredibly important for us at the moment. Jack was simply fantastic today.
Our wingers were disciplined in keeping their shape and stick to their tasks. Ox played a lot better than he did on Tuesday, and hopefully he can build on his performance against the Baggies to regain his best form. Gervinho might have missed a few chances, but his overall play – especially his running with and without the ball – is so important for our team. His ability to take on defenders and get the ball into the box, simply means Arsenal have an added dimension; we are less predictable. If Gervais could just add a bit of sharpness to his game and gain more upper-body strength, he would be far better able to pick the fruits of all his hard work.
Our full backs were great today. Both Sagna and Gibbs really found the perfect balance between solid defending and supporting our attack against WBA, and I really hope the former signs a new contract and the latter can stay fit for a while. In our 4-3-3 system they are immensely important, and we are lucky to have two very good full backs at Arsenal.
Our centre backs, as well as our back-four as a whole, looked more in control and coordinated than I have seen them in a while. How many times did they manage to get the Baggies in an offsite position today? It all resulted in a well-deserved clean sheet.
As a team we pressed so much better than in recent games, and we were also able to win a lot of the one to one battles today, which is an improvement from recent games. WBA were never allowed to get into the game and this was mainly the result of our improved pressing and ability to dominate midfield.
The whole team did not only have a better shape and gelled a lot better; it also showed real passion and fight. Players stood up for themselves and each other today, and it was a joy to behold.
Despite our injuries, we were able to bring on three strong substitutes who were all able to contribute in us seeing the game through till the end. It is good to know that we will have an almost full squad available for the tough – and oh so crucial for gaining momentum – December and January fixtures.

Next up in the PL are away games against Reading and Wigan. There are no easy games in the PL for Arsenal this season, but with a strong squad, and a good possibility that the above mentioned eight positives can be repeated again in fixtures this month, Arsenal should be able to make further progress in the table. However, it will be key to further integrate Giroud into the team and provide him with quality service; and as team we need to score more in the PL by taking our chances better than we do currently.

Still a work in progress and another set-back cannot be ruled out, but we can take plenty of encouragement from today’s strong team performance.

Total Arsenal.

Arsenal – Chelsea: player ratings – Gibbs by miles my Man of the Match!

September 29, 2012September 29, 2012TotalArsenal

A very disappointing result that will need further analysing in the next few days, but here are my player ratings for now:

Mannone: not much to do during the game and not at fault for the first Chelsea goal. The second goal was conceded mostly as a result of Koscielny’s bad timing, but the goalkeeper should still have dived towards the corner with more conviction. 6.5

Jenkinson: super, positive performance today with a number of good crosses in and defensively very sound throughout the game. He was always willing to go forward and seldom or never gave the ball away. 8

Thomas Vermaelen: he did not do much wrong today and made a few good interventions, as we have come to aspect from the Belgian warrior. However, as a captain I found him a little bit too quiet again. 6.5

Koscielny: he will want to forget this game as quickly as possible. He should have been stronger against Torres for the first goal and the timing for his intervention from the Mata free-kick that led to the second goal, was not good enough. He lost the ball a few times when under pressure during the game as well. 4

Gibbs: superb performance. Confident, applying good pressure, winning the ball back all the time, and pushing on constantly. Great link-up play with Podolski until the latter was substituted. My Man of the Match by a mile. 8.5

Ramsey: good start on right side with winning balls well and keeping possession. He did ok when taking over from Diaby but was unable to help the midfield gain control over that all important area. At the start of the second half he seemed to tire again (as he did against MC) and a couple of passes went missing. His substitution made sense. 6.5

Arteta: decent first half in which he fought hard to get control over the midfield (together with other midfielders). In the second half he seemed to tire initially, only to come back strong towards the end. He lost the ball under medium pressure at one point in the second half, which led to TV having to intervene by conceding a free-kick – from which the second goal was scored. Not his best performance but still ok. 7

Cazorla: was not given much space in midfield by the hard working and disciplined Ramires and Mikel, and did often not get enough support from our other midfielders. As a result he was isolated, especially in the first half. In the second half he became more involved, but unfortunately he did not have his shooting boots on, and he should have done better in the last few minutes of the second half. Good lay-off though to Giroud, who should have done better. 6

Diaby: started off ok but not long enough on the pitch to rate him. Such a shame he went off injured, as we really missed him.

Gervinho: energetic, could be found all over the pitch helping his team, and full of confidence. He showed great movement for his first goal, with a good first touch and clinical finish as well. He produced a good ball for Cazorla late in the game from which the latter should have at least hit the target, but he did manage to be off-site a few times too many. Very close to my Man of the Match. 8

Podolski: he had some good moments but was absent a lot during the game. His link-up play with Gibbs is getting better and better and he almost scored with a header from a difficult angle (from a Gibbs cross). 6

The Ox: he had periods of good wing-play with a nice variety to his crossing/putting the ball in the box. One of them led to Gervinho’s goal, which was very well spotted by him. 7.5

Giroud and Theo did not play long enough to give them a fair rating, although Giroud should have done better with the chance he was given by Cazorla in extra time. Theo had no impact.

Total Arsenal.