For the last few years, Arsene Wenger has been in the process of building a midfield to fit his own specifications and this season we are truly seeing the fruits of his labours as he seems to have emerged from his tool-shed with a pretty formidable unit. Baring one or two rare moments, the five players who started in the middle of the park completely overwhelmed Liverpool, barely allowing the scousers opportunities to create anything tangible and putting them on the back foot for much of the match. Goalscorers Ramsey and Cazorla, along with Özil and Rosicky weaved wonderful passing patterns that left the likes of Gerrard and Lucas chasing shadows. It was one of those occasions when all the planets seemed to align and the players were all on the same wavelength. As a result,

Arsenal saved their best performance of the season for an emphatic and convincing 2-0 win over second placed Liverpool.  Billed as their first real test in the league this season, Arsene Wenger’s team passed with flying colours and now sit five points clear at the top of the table. Let the good times roll…

Cross examination

Regular eagle-eyed readers will have noticed that following the match at West Brom, I was less than pleased Arsenal’s profligacy with crosses that day. The numbers show that this is one area of our game where it’s fair to say we’re pretty weak, with the majority of balls often just lumped into the box more in hope than expectation. Even on this occasion against Liverpool, 13 of 14 crosses attempted failed to find an Arsenal player. To that end, you won’t be surprised to hear that for the opening goal, I was almost happier to celebrate the fact Bacary Sagna actually first made an effort to pick out a man and secondly, successfully did so as Cazorla cannoned a header of the post before following up his own rebound to score (Speaking of which, does he get to claim his own assist for that? If not, he should!).

If we can transfer the accuracy of our passing into far more efficient crossing, we could be absolutely deadly.

Ram-mazing

Arsenal’s second goal came courtesy of Aaron Ramsey who is looking peerless at present and is by far and away playing better than anyone else in the division right now. The improvements in his all-round game barely need mentioning any more. His goal tally for the season also now stands at an impressive 10 – double figures for the first time in his career. These goals are hardly being bundled in from 6 yards off his arse having taken deflections along the way either. The Welsh Wizard is actually scoring goals of genuine class. Following on from his sexy, slaloming, solo effort against Norwich, ‘Ramsinho’ took centre stage against Liverpool as he scored a wonderful dipping half volley from just outside the penalty area that left Simon Mignolet sprawling.

While the excessive number of TV cameras and unnecessary replays in football can sometimes be quite grating, I implore you, and everybody you know, to seek out and watch the slow-mo of Ramsey teeing himself up and observe his composure as he waits for the exact moment to strike the ball as cleanly as possible. It is as visually captivating as anything you are likely to see on a football pitch.

Middle Class

For the last few years, Arsene Wenger has been in the process of building a midfield to fit his own specifications and this season we are truly seeing the fruits of his labours as he seems to have emerged from his tool-shed with a pretty formidable unit. Baring one or two rare moments, the five players who started in the middle of the park completely overwhelmed Liverpool, barely allowing the scousers opportunities to create anything tangible and putting them on the back foot for much of the match. Goalscorers Ramsey and Cazorla, along with Özil and Rosicky weaved wonderful passing patterns that left the likes of Gerrard and Lucas chasing shadows. It was one of those occasions when all the planets seemed to align and the players were all on the same wavelength. As a result, the away side simply could not keep up. That’s not a slight on them either; in that kind of form, this Arsenal midfield would be a match for just about anybody.

Art and Soul

Behind the four mentioned above was the human fulcrum of Mikel Arteta who, in his more withdrawn role from the rest, put in what was close to the complete performance. It almost does him a disservice to simply say he was playing as a defensive midfielder because he accomplished so much more. Perhaps being a former Everton man played a part but he seemed determined to make sure Liverpool weren’t given an inch. Stats never always quite tell the full story and it’s easy to get bogged down by ‘data’ when trying to make a point. However, on this occasion, the numbers support the view of many that Arteta was man of the match. According to FourFourTwo Statzone, Arteta topped the charts for passes, tackles and ball recoveries (I assume this means interceptions…) ahead of anyone else on the pitch, and thus emphasising his immense contribution to the win.

Ol or Nothing

Ably assisting the midfield was Olivier Giroud who once again found himself dropping off as an extra option and aiding the fluidity of attacking moves with some deft touches to play in advancing teammates – a stark contrast to seeing Niklas Bendtner stink out the place just a few days prior.

If there was to be any slight criticism however, it would be the Frenchman’s less than clinical efforts in front of goal on the day. ‘Flamboyant’ would be a fair way of describing OG’s style of play so there is naturally sometimes a tendency to err towards the aesthetic.  Pouncing on a defensive error from former Arsenal man Kolo Toure early in the second half, Giroud found himself one-on-one with Mignolet at an angle. But rather than shoot, he opted for a chip and ended up lifting his shot wide and into the side netting.

If you are 5-0 up, then by all means attempt the lob, but at a nervy 1-0 as it happened to be at the time, just put your foot through the ball and finish the bastard. Thankfully, we weren’t to regret the miss as Ramsey produced his moment of magic just a few minutes later.

Pure Per-fection

For the last few weeks all we’ve heard is about how Liverpool’s SAS strike partnership are supposedly the best forward pairing in the league. Unfortunately for them, Koscielny and Mertesacker didn’t get the memo as Sturridge and Suarez were pretty much shackled from first minute until last.

Paying At-tention

A word on the officiating. While it’s a popular past time among Gooners to blame the referee when things go against us, it’s sometimes easy to forget there are times when we get the rub of the green too. Martin Atkinson’s insistence on stopping the play to book Sagna for his foul on Luis Suarez at 1-0 meant that Liverpool were unable to benefit from the Uruguayan’s quick-thinking free kick that could well have led to an equaliser. You may also remember that Atkinson did something similar at the Stadium of Light earlier in the season when Sagna (again) attempted to haul back Altidore who went on score but had his goal disallowed. It’s easy to complain when these marginal decisions don’t go our way but when they do, we ought to be thankful.

First responders

After the disappointment of Tuesday night, a response was needed and a response is exactly what we got. Not just the result, but a fine, dominant performance to match. Whether Liverpool are considered genuine challengers or not, they were the closest team to Arsenal in the league and could have leapfrogged the gunners at the top of the table with a win at the Emirates. The significance of this vi
ctory will not be lost on anybody. The 5 point gap Arsenal now holds provides a bit of breathing space and heaps the pressure on the chasing pack to keep getting results. This current advantage means that our destiny is in our own hands and while I will repeat that it’s too early to talk of the title, it certainly feels nice to not have to worry too much about other teams – as long as we keep performing, that is. Next week brings two tough trips to Dortmund and Manchester. Hopefully this win will help breed confidence going into those games so this time next week we’re sitting here with two positive results under our belts. COYG

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