Nine Jimmy Rimmers – Arsenal and Football

Now that was a game. Except for the first fifteen minutes of the second half, we dominated from start to finish. And yet for a long time it looked like it wasn’t going to be rewarded. But finally Arteta stole the ball and ran into enough space to line up a great shot and score.

Before that we hit the post several times and had a crazy goalmouth scramble where the ball travelled the whole width of the goal before being cleared. Early on, a Van Persie header hit Vermaelen and bounced away.

Through the game the midfield belonged to Arteta, Rosicky and Song. For the first twenty minutes, City could barely touch the ball. It’s hard to say which of the three played best as they all put in such a terrific effort. The three of them dominated our Man of the Match Poll, with goal scorer Arteta topping the votes.

Gibbs and Sagna exploited tons of space left by a narrow City defence. Early on Ya Ya Toure hobbled off after what looked like a fairly light challenge from Song. Mancini took the opportunity to reshape his midfield, which helped but didn’t regain them the initiative.

The main talking point was how long big kid Balotelli would stay on the pitch as it seed that every one of his tackles was led stud first. His worst was a high one on Song, just below the knee. The referee didn’t see it, but the FA might take a look. After the game, a fed up Mancini actually seemed to encourage them to do it. Eventually Balotelli picked up two yellows and trudged off.

Whilst Balotelli was bonkers, the rest of his teammates looked beaten from the start, Kompany and Hart excepted. They looked like they were still on the case. Kompany was fantastic. He has a great knack of knowing where the trouble is and was a big part of why it was just one nil.

Arsenal were great as a team with everyone pulling their weight. Benayoun made a rare start and put in a big shift all over the pitch. The three subs, Santos, AOC and Ramsey didn’t make a huge impact. Santos looked very rusty, I hope whatever ailed Gibbs isn’t serious. Santos picked up an early yellow, but fortunately he didn’t have to do too much defending. Fortunately, because in his time out injured he seems to have got a little vague on both ‘left’ and ‘back’!

The other worry, apart from Gibbs early departure, was Koscielny picking up a tenth yellow and therefore a two match ban. At least it’s against Wolves and Wigan and he will be back for Chelsea. One more game and he would have reached the end of season cut-off and safety!

With Mertesacker out injured, his replacement isn’t easy. Squillaci or Miquel? Arsene Wenger could drop Song into the back four, but with Frimpong and Coquelin crocked there isn’t a straightforward replacement as defensive midfielder.

But for a couple of days we can rest easy, celebrating a good win that was more comprehensive than the one nil suggests. Back into third too! It’s still tight out there after our Loftus Road slip, but job well done today.

In recent years I’ve been finding international football a bit dull and uninspiring.  So yesterday afternoon I almost didn’t bother.

But in the end I was sucked back in to see how Jack, Theo and Johann got on.  Plus there was that Scott Parker who many suppose could supply some diligence and maturity to Arsenal’s midfield.  Then there were a couple of lost boys too: Ashley ‘never been the same since…etc’ Cole and Phillippe Ponderous, sorry Senderos.

England started with ten minutes of quite spirited stuff, looking quite promising, but then lost there pace and purpose.  Inler and Behrami established Swiss control over the midfield and England were on the back foot.

Then those England boys seemed to come up with the tactic of confusing the hell out of the Swiss with a startling different way of defending free-kicks.  Rather than the zone method they adopted the ozone method, as in les make big holes in it.  The Swiss will be so confused they won’t understand what they’re up against!

Two direct free-kicks later the Swiss are so confused they’re two goals up.  Two free-kicks in which no-one, attacker or defender, touched the ball on its journey over the line.  The first came from a slightly high ball into the the middle of box that neither Terry nor Ferdinand judged right.  Hart decided not to come for it, which was not necessarily the wrong decision, and was left stranded as it crept inside the far post.  Even if he had managed to reach it and parry, the two nearest players were both Swiss.

The second was from a tighter angle.  Hart set a two-man wall of Walcott and Milner to guard the near post and crouched ready.  This time the free-kick was hit low and at the wall with a Swiss player making a late run into the box.

Milner obviously decided that this was the threat and started to move, despite the fact that the ball was heading straight for the wall.  It was a bit like a snooker player concentrating so hard on where the cue ball is going to end up that they miss the pot.  So the ball sails past Walcott, who had stayed put, through the space where Milner had been positioned by Hart and in the goal at the near post.

So, two-nil down and it’s looking a bit desperate.  At this point England woke up and went back to playing football.  Jack Wilshere won the ball and went on a determined run into the box where his club team-mate Djourou obligingly brought him down for a penalty.  Frank Lampard almost messed up with poor placement but had enough pace on the shot to score. So England ended the first-half still in the game.

Much of the pre-match debate had been about how knackered Jack Wilshere must be by now, but actually it was Lampard who looked most short of pace and form.  So it wasn’t a massive surprise to see him replaced at half-time.  In the end it was a draw, after a good goal from Young. But for a lot of the time the Swiss were the better side and if they’d taken three points you wouldn’t have called them lucky.

So what of the Arsenal boys, old and new?

Jack Wilshere is looking a bit worn round the edges now and needs time on the beach, but he was one of the better England players yesterday with determination, good running and intelligent passing.

Theo didn’t get in the game as much, but did okay.  He made some good runs but didn’t get a lot of support.  He also did his bit defensively making some good covering moves when Johnson got overlapped.

Djourou had a bit of a ‘mare.  He made some strange choices positionally and could have conceded a second penalty.  Senderos was the same as ever – committed, direct, reasonable positioning but little finesse and no pace.  Ashley Cole wasn’t too bad, but not stunning.  Someone landed on his instep early on which left him limping.  For some reason Capello waited an age to replace him with Baines, so he spent half his time on the pitch looking rather half-hearted.

So what of Scott Parker?  He certainly is diligent and mature, again yesterday as ever, and there are times when Arsenal need that.  But he doesn’t have have massive skill on the ball.  For a good price he would be a good option to have, but I hope we can do better.

Something has changed.  Recently I’ve been watching the big games with a sense of dread.  So often last season we were short when it really mattered.

This season it feels different.  Despite the evidence of the opening games I felt we were stronger. My renewed faith took a knock in the West Brom game, but survived – mainly because our rivals slipped up too.  Even after the Chelsea game I didn’t feel as down as last season because I thought we played well and deserved something more from the game.  Plus we had players to come back.  Yesterday I was really looking forward to the game.

So, the game!  Fantastic game to watch.  Right from the start.  Fabianski got a great save in early and carried on in the same style.  Excellent performance and a clean sheet. This should really build his confidence and keep him in the team ahead of Almunia.  I’m not completely convinced yet but Arsenal have nothing to lose playing him ahead of the Spaniard.

Then at the other end a perfect pass put Chamakh in on goal and Boyata brought him down.  It has to be a red card.  Boyata is the last man and it was clearly a foul.   I see that Mancini has been blaming the referee, saying that it wasn’t a clear chance on goal because Chamakh’s next touch would put it in the goalkeeper’s hands or out for a goalkick.  Arrogant rubbish.  What happened was that a great Arsenal pass split City open and a player he brought in panicked.  Definite sending off.  The rule may be a harsh one, but referee Clattenburg got it absolutely right.

Soon after Djourou missed good header chance.  He also got caught out a bit during the game.  He wasn’t bad, none of the team were on Sunday, but he was probably the least impressive.   For a while in the first half it looked like Arshavin was going to give another frustrating performance with the loose passing that can cost us.  But as the game went on he got more and more into it, even tracking back and covering leftback when Clichy got caught miles out of position upfield.  In the end Arshavin had his best game this season.  Clichy was OK, but we still looked weakest on the left.

On the right we looked great.  Sagna had a fantastic game.  Terrific work rate, covering the length of the pitch and he got a lot of help from Nasri.  Samir Nasri is my player of the season so far, the guy has matured so much.  Maybe the absence of Fabregas has helped bring him on as a player, giving him the incentive to play a more responsible, decisive game.  Whatever it is, he has been immense.  He as quick feet, he reads the game and has a high workrate.  His goal was terrific, fast one-two and buried it.  Top, top player.

Fabregas had a great game too, despite missing the penalty.  Unusual blunder form Kompany, who is a player I really like, but he didn’t need to take out Fabregas there and a great save from Hart kept City in it.   It was a good save, although Cesc’s kick was at a well reachable height.  He may have fluffed the penalty but it was the only thing Fabregas got wrong in the whole game.  The King is back!

By half-time all our midfielders and a few others were on yellow cards.  Hard to argue with, except maybe Djourou’s was a bit harsh.  It really put the pressure on second half to judge tackle right and stay disciplined – but they did it.

I think that we still waste a lot of freekicks and corners, especially now we have Chamakh and Squillaci to aim at.  But as as the second half went on Arsenal dominated.  Song‘s goal was excellent.  He pounced on the loose ball and finished brilliantly.

I thought that Wenger might use his subs to protect the yellow-carded midfield but no, it was attack all the way with Rosicky, Walcott and Bendtner getting time on the pitch.  Rosicky and Bendtner didn’t get the opportunity to make much impact, but Bendtner picked up where Chamakh left off.  He made a well-timed run and asked for the ball ahead of him, Nasri obliged and he coolly finished it to make it three nil.

It could have been four near the end when Sagna dragged one wide but it didn’t matter.  It was a great performance that will answer a lot of critics.  Keeping a clean sheet is another plus, particularly against a big team.  Squillaci had a good solid game.  Denilson did well, very discplined in his task and hardworking.  He’s going to have a hard time getting in past Jack Wilshere now, but yesterday he showed that he is up to the job.

Top game, top team.  Bring on Newcastle and West Ham.

Fabianski and Nasri are still neck and neck in our Man of the Match poll.  You can add your vote here.