Arsenal Win, Flamini Plays Right Wing, Good Times Had.
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Arsenal won away from home against the English champions.
Not everyday you see that headline nowadays, which in itself is a bit of a shame, but the past shouldn’t put a damper on what this team is achieving here and now.
You seldom know what you’re going to get when you see Arsenal square up to a top side. Be it a continental juggernaut like Bayern Munich, or old foes Manchester United. With City, however, there’s always a glimmer of hope. You know you’re at least in for a spectacular game of football.
For some reason, it’s never a dull fixture. Part of me thinks it’s because City are the one team among the “elite” clubs that can’t seem to hide their soft underbelly. For every bit of brilliance produced by the Aguero’s and Touré’s of the team, you just know that Martin Demichelis has got a moment of madness or two in store for the 90 minutes.
I think the reason we’re so good at exposing City’s fatal flaws is because we share quite a few. On our day, we hog possession, and wait for the chances to present themselves. We often put too much emphasis on attacking, and leave ourselves unprepared for what runs the other way.
Yesterday though, we managed to put the shoe on the other foot. We soaked up pressure, and tried our luck on the counter, and it worked. While we weren’t living up to our usual standard of fluid attacking football — particularly in our passing accuracy, which left a lot to be desired — it was refreshing to see us perform so well against top opposition. Everything about the way we went about playing was carefully considered, and it showed.
It was a true team performance; we were compact, and well organized. Everyone had a job. In particular, I have to commend Alexis Sanchez and the Ox for their box to box performances. I maintain that the hardest positions to play in today’s game are the wide ones; you have to be elusive on the front foot, and dogged in your own end to be considered a top player. Even though neither were particularly effective in front of goal, they managed to give City’s flanks a tough test for 90 minutes, so good on them.
The real stars of the show were down our spine. Francis Coquelin, Santi Cazorla, and Olivier Giroud were magnificent today. Coquelin managed to contain David Silva the entire match, not something to which many defenders can attest. You have to admire Le Coq’s reform since coming back from Charlton. You can see he’s worked on controlling his temper, although he’s still prone to the odd flare up. Not a bad thing, considering we do need a bit of steel in the middle of the park.
Olivier Giroud was also up for the contest today. His first touches were mostly excellent, and his sense of awareness is becoming better every game. His passes are connecting well, and overall, he’s finally showing that he’s ready to lead our line with confidence. He’s making his presence known in the big matches with increasing regularity. It’s been a treat to watch him grow into this role, despite it being a long and windy road.
Quick shout out to our entire back line, who, with Coquelin in front of them, looked absolutely stellar.
Lastly, Santi Cazorla. We’ve all said it before, but there’s no doubt in my mind that this match was his best in an Arsenal shirt. Once Ozil is at his sharpest, you’d imagine Arsène will have some headache trying to keep everyone happy, and playing in their optimal positions. I’m sure we’ll figure something out.
Despite having Theo Walcott and Mesut Ozil fit, we left them on the bench. Arsène probably felt their lack of match sharpness and less than industrious work rates weren’t suited to a high tempo, end to end match; in the end, he was right. It just goes to show that piling on the big guns isn’t always the best plan. Hopefully it makes a case for more liberal rotation in the future, in the hopes that it keeps our players off the treatment table.
I don’t have anything bad to say about that match; sorry if you were expecting a little more analysis. Everyone was brilliant in their own little ways.
It’s nice to see Arsenal on the right side of a big result once in a while.
