Speaking of playing without the ball. How good was Santi Cazorla in that second half? Who needs a big beast of a 'DM' when you have little Santi scampering around throwing his body in between the opposition and the ball as he did so often last night. I thought he worked tirelessly for he team and it was infectious. I'd love him to find the form of his first season at Arsenal, a joy to watch when on
Sanchez was my MotM for his goal which proved decisive and never ending effort throughout the game. I loved his physicality, he'll be handful for many Premier League defenders particularly when the ref is a bit lenient. Wilshere was a fighter, could have been quicker with some passing though. Cazorla stepped up, Chamberlain had good energy and some nice touches on the flank (shame he didn't score)... Arguably Monreal's best performance in an Arsenal shirt, definitely so from a defensive point of view
Mertcielny return at the heart of the Arsenal defence which instantly makes me feel somewhat more relaxed about the situation. Hopefully Mertesacker has dusted off his rust from Goodison Park. Full backs stay the same which is no surprise
A prime example of this was Everton on Saturday. Mathieu Debuchy is very capable going forwards and backwards, despite not being as quick as some people had hoped. His eagerness is admirable, although it does leave a few gaps on the right hand side, which on Saturday, Everton were happy to try and exploit. For the first 20 minutes in particular, Debuchy seemed very hungry to get forward. I was a bit concerned about this, as I’ve only seen Chambers play a couple of times in our system, and wondered how he’d cope with having to cover so much ground and make such important challenges against a high calibre of opponent. He coped with it
However, reliably informed BBC journalist, David Ornstein, has suggested that a striker still isn't a priority for Arsenal. Uh-oh. The fear and angst amongst the fans is palpable. The prospect of giving Alexis TIME to adapt, or giving Sanogo TIME to develop, or waiting a little more TIME for Walcott to return to full fitness is working up a collective cold sweat. Of course, this is understandable and not for one minute am I suggesting not signing striker cover is a wise move for Arsenal, but the manic scramble that is often affiliated with Arsenal at the end of a window seems to be more synonymous with the fans and media than the club itself
You'd imagine that Matty Flamster will continue to replace Mikel Arteta, especially as he had a decent enough game at Goodison Park at the weekend. Jack Wilshere could replace Aaron Ramsey with Mesut Özil back in the number 10 position but I just had a streak of fear flash across me. Can you get a streak of fear? Let's run with it anyway. What if Arsène is adamant that we stick to the 4-1-4-1 and selects his team based around that? Which would mean Mesut Özil continuing in a wide role and perhaps someone like Tomas Rosicky coming in for Aaron Ramsey dropping Santi Cazorla to the bench. It will be interesting to see if the 4-1-4-1 is here
Podolski, even when he's been tried centrally, has typically been a non-factor there. The problem is that Podolski is not a dogged runner off the ball. At times he will make breaks or play one-twos with teammates, but he's as often seen walking or merely jogging. Worse, Podolski seems unable to cross the penalty spot and operate on the right side of the pitch with the same confidence as the left. As strong as his left foot is, his right foot is relatively weak. Any striker, even a poacher, must be able to operate over the entire front of the goal. And Podolski also doesn't have aerial skills that might mitigate some of this.
I just had a feeling that we would do it from that point. Everton was dropping deeper and deeper and we were knocking on the door. I had turned my phone on moments earlier as it had been charging, it then alerted me to Ramsey's goal from earlier. A few minutes later it had made the same sound and I refused the urge to check if it was yet another alert from a new app I had installed but secretly I was hoping it was. When Ramsey had blasted a cross way beyond everyone my stream buffered for a second and my heart sank. We needed much better delivery than that but when my stream returned Giroud had headed in the equaliser. On the replay Nacho had done brilliantly to retrieve the ball and cross perfectly for Giroud.
As much as we all would love to do a false 9 with Alexis it has never really worked in the PL. Size and strength matter more in England. Quickness alone can't get you through two 6ft center halfs in this league. Some would say look at Aguero but he usually has a big strike partner. Giroud came on and kept the defenders honest and in so doing opened up their box a bit. The great header by him is an example of needing strength in the PL
BFG is back and straight into the starting line up. We haven't had the pleasure of watching Mertesacker in our line up since we lifted the FA cup in May. His height and leadership will be needed from set pieces, an area we have failed in recent times. He lines up alongside Chambers in the heart of defence. Kos is resting his injury I suppose.