Arsenal’s second goal came in the second half and displayed all the hallmarks of team taking their position at the top of the league rather seriously. The excellent Nacho Monreal stretched to prevent the ball going out of play on the left hand side before feeding Ozil. The German, with the assistance of Aaron Ramsey, then weaved a tapestry through the Hull defence with an excellent 1-2 that culminated in him calmly slotting the ball past a helpless Alan McGregor. The interchange between the two midfielders was as impressive as anything you are likely to see in Europe and the delicious reverse return pass from Ramsey is just another example to add to the growing list of wonderful things he has done this season
Nikabocker Glory
Niklas Bendtner scored, missed an open goal, ran about a bit and then got subbed off. It wasn’t what you would call a ‘vintage’ performance from the big Dane but by gum, it was his best contribution in an Arsenal shirt for quite some time. To say his inclusion in the starting line-up was a surprise would be an understatement. I’m not sure I’ve ever witnessed anything like the collective gasp in the pub beforehand as we saw the teams flash up on the Sky Sports News ticker. However, such is the air of positivity and optimism around the club right now, rather than the usual sense of dread at this announcement, the general feeling was more ‘alright then lad, let’s see what you’ve got’.
What he had was a flying first minute header to finish off a typically incisive move to put Arsenal 1-0 up while many fans (myself included) were still navigating their way through the Emirates concourse.
For such a universally unpopular player, a rare goal in a rare start is certainly no bad way of getting fans temporarily onside. In what is currently an unhappy marriage of convenience between a player who wants to leave a club that doesn’t actually want him, moments like this can bring about a temporary respite. Hopefully, when presented with similar opportunities from now on, he can continue to perform in a manner that benefits both parties; scoring goals for Arsenal and in turn actually earning himself the move he coverts so much.
Mid-Field of Vision-aries
Arsenal’s second goal came in the second half and displayed all the hallmarks of team taking their position at the top of the league rather seriously. The excellent Nacho Monreal stretched to prevent the ball going out of play on the left hand side before feeding Ozil. The German, with the assistance of Aaron Ramsey, then weaved a tapestry through the Hull defence with an excellent 1-2 that culminated in him calmly slotting the ball past a helpless Alan McGregor.
The interchange between the two midfielders was as impressive as anything you are likely to see in Europe and the delicious reverse return pass from Ramsey is just another example to add to the growing list of wonderful things he has done this season.
The great thing about the current midfield set up isn’t simply the personnel, but rather those occasions when they find themselves of the same wavelength. Ozil’s goal was a demonstration of the beautiful damage that can be done when this occurs.
2 Unlimited
Since the European Cup Winners Cup adventures of 1994, Arsenal supporters adopted and continuously sang the famous “1-0, to the Arsenal” chant whenever the team found themselves winning by that scoreline. In fact, as this was a regular occurrence for the latter day George Graham side, the simple but salient ditty was heard in the stands both at Highbury and around the country quite often.
However, this season the chant might/can/will be amended ever so slightly given this team’s propensity for 2-0 wins. The victory over Hull was The Gunners’ seventh by this scoreline already this season and had it not been for Aaron Ramsey’s late effort in Cardiff at the weekend, would have been our fourth 2-0 win in as many games. Is there any significance in this? Not particularly but perhaps it demonstrates a more efficient and workmanlike approach to matches. That’s not say the quality of football has suffered but the swashbuckling, carefree, gung-ho nature that was equally as likely to yeild a 7-0 win as a 4-4 draw has developed into something far more resolute.
Back(line) to basics
A lot of this can be put down to more assured performances in defence. Whatever the truths or falsehoods about Steve Bould’s influence as number two, there’s no denying that something has changed recently. The errors, the panic and even the often excessively high line seem to have gone. Instead we have a centre back pair that seems to be fully aware of it’s responsibilities, full backs who rarely, if ever get caught upfield as we have seen in the past, a goalkeeper who has come on leaps and bounds in the last 12 months and of course, that much needed protection sitting in front of the back four – be in Flamini, Arteta or both together. Arsenal currently look like more of a cohesive defensive unit and are less likely to ship goals as they have in days gone by. Admittedly, Hull posed little to no threat going forward but the defence always kept their shape and crucially, their concentration as to not really allow any rare forward forays from the Tigers to result in anything tangible.
For Squad sake
In a weird twist, rather than bemoaning a lack of numbers for once, the Arsenal squad is actually looking somewhat healthy. In fact, the team is currently so well-stocked, the Emirates stadium might actually burst at the seams for all the talent it is trying to contain. Aside from Jenkinson and Monreal seamlessly coming in in the full back positions against Hull, there was the ludicrous situation when Arsenal were able to BRING ON Wilshere, Walcott and Arteta. Of course, we are no strangers to an injury crisis so we are well aware of quickly things can change but as of now, I guess we can simply enjoy the luxury. Besides it’s our ‘squad’ which will carry us through our next impending ‘tough run’.
Four to the Floor
On Sunday, Arsenal welcome an Everton side with not-unrealistic ambitions of Champions League football next season. After that, it’s a Napoli team desperate to stay in this season’s competition. Then the small matter of Manchester City and Chelsea before everyone tucks into their Turkey at Christmas. Yes, they say you should only look at your next game but it’s impossible not to look at the cluster of matches as a quartet without worrying about how it will impact our prospects in the longer term. If we’re top of the league by Christmas Day and in the hat for the next round of the Champions League, it would be beyond ideal. If we’re serious about challenging for honours, momentum is key. From the squad depth, to defensive discipline, to midfield, everything that that has been learned and achieved up until this point needs to applied even more in the coming weeks.
EXAMPLE OF AD POSITION
