So left somewhat bemused and then baffled by the Norwich game I decided that I would take a day or so, reflect and maybe watch it again after the WTF, DID THAT JUST HAPPEN, WE WE’RE SCREWED feeling wore off. That, and my notes from the last 20-30 minutes were crap which played into the feeling that I needed to watch the game again. And that feeling (awesome) took until Monday morning to wear off, at which point I realized that with Everton coming on Tuesday, I would be hard pressed to get my notes and thoughts together in a form that was fit to publish. (Not that what I submit is anyway, but thanks, Mike.) So I decided that I would watch the game against Everton and then the Norwich replay and put it all together in one tidy package for consumption, not that you can or should actually physically attempt to consume this.
Oh, you Canaries…
I have to say that I have no intrinsic interest in Norwich in any form. From the looks of things, the Canaries have fat crybaby forwards but are keeping it together and look to be staying up. I do have a lot of respect for the manager Chris Hughton. He did a pretty amazing job at Newcastle (and admirably as well) in what could be described kindly as poor circumstances. He did a pretty good job at Birmingham as well as I recall. All that said, we all fancied three points. And then they played 90 (+5) and had to put up with what turned out to be a rambunctious talkative lot who were up for it. That said…
- Grant Holt and Robert Snodgrass are insufferable. I know at least one or two guys that would have slapped one of them for the way they were badgering the ref, well perhaps if not their faces. As an aside, I hate playing against guys like that. They want to talk to make you lose focus and then elbow you in the ribs as they attempt to (A) jump through you and get a knee into your stomach or (B) attempt to crowd you out/engulf you with their love handles and turn you, uggh… (*shudders at the thought, may need a shower.) Anyway, I hate that type of player, even when he’s on my team. I think that’s one of things I like about Arsenal, very rarely do our players behave in that manner. Look at Adebayor, his true colors came out in his departure, you didn’t really see them when he was at the club, well, at least on the pitch.
- I love the phrase park the bus because it never gets old and is almost always applicable somewhere in the Premiere League, especially with the teams further down the table. I know, stunt them with a 10-man midfield and see if you can knick one in the second when they get frustrated. Maybe a solid idea for a pub team where you have several members of your squad still trying to see straight from the night before. MAYBE! Sadly over the last several years Arsenal have stumbled to that strategy and in the first half of this season it was no different. At least its looking to be getting a bit better. That it’s coming together is probably having several new world-class players that need to acclimatize to the team, the country, etc. Winnable games against teams that want to play are coming.
- The changes in the starting 11 sort of puzzled me. I am all for rotation and sometimes it has to happen but it just took time for the squad that’s been on the current run to get on the same page with Wilshire replacing Tomas Rosicky especially. He was a little off the pace from the start and his positioning in relation to Ramsey just didn’t make sense to me based on the last couple of games. Ramsey had done a very good job next to Arteta previous and it seemed to me like Jack was a natural replacement for Rosicky. I don’t know, maybe it just seemed the balance was off? Maybe he was fit for that role but not further up field as the manager alluded to later. In the long run I think we can all agree that Jack is not a deep lying midfielder. In general, the close passing was sloppy and the players were running into alleys with no outlet when asked. There is a reason that you are coached not to attempt to dribble past three people. Even if your last name is Bergkamp…
- Gervihino: The Jose Antonio Reyes of the 2010’s (twentyteens?). Except he hasn’t been kicked by the Nevelle brothers back to Spain and no, that’s not an unreleased track. He just can’t seem to keep it consistent and I’m not sure that Arsenal can carry ‘confidence’ players with both the squad size (which is slim for most Prem teams) and wages. For some reason, the ghost of Eduardo keeps springing to mind…
- The defense prior to and the Norwich goal itself were poor. Simple as that. I’ve played as a center half for close to 20 years and I would have been way up in someone’s ear over that marking. That said, if it was my team taking that free kick I would have loved it. Shambolic on the part of Arsenal. The way they dealt with that and most of the other free kicks of varying type both offensive and defensive left a LOT to be desired.
- The deserved equalizer: The substitutions made the difference and were giving Norwich a torrid time in the lead up. Was it a foul? You bet your arse. Was the ref horrid all day and should someone who is an Assistant Referee be able to make that call? Again, you bet your arse. The rules of the game are written so indicating that and as well he should have. The Ref was baffling in several respects. Walcott had a penalty turned down that was fairly obvious but that’s how the cookie crumbles. I’ll stick with what goes around comes around and leave it there.
- Can’t argue that Norwich didn’t deserve something for their effort. To bad for them they didn’t get it and for all their time wasting and absolute bitchery at the ref, they both deserve the result and the little bit of salt Poldi got to rub in. I was giddy for a good 36 hours.
Three points, third place and on to the next…
The Blue half of Liverpool…
Everton are another team I don’t particularly have a feeling about one way or another. I pay attention to their results because Tim Howard is American (I tend to pay attention to all English teams with Americans passively, but I can assure you this is not the case with Totterenham or the Shawcross Orcs of Stoke). You have to respect what David Moyes has done the last 11 years with the money he’s had. They’re usually in the top 7 or 8 and considering they routinely sell their best players, you have to give them credit. A quick thanks for Arteta by the way… A guy I play pick-up with is a diehard Everton fan and has been going on about Seamus Coleman and Ross Barkley for a while now, so I was interested to see them play. I was also interested to see Kevin Mirallas play with the interest that Arsenal had apparently shown last summer. So, then this happened…
- I was surprised that Jack Wilshire was in the starting lineup after his performance against Norwich. I just assume that it means the Tomas Rosicky is more knackered than Jack at this point. I like neither of those scenarios but ok, going with Jack. Per Mertresacker has earned his place this year and deserved to be returned to the starting lineup. I never thought Vermaelen deserved the captaincy so I have no problem with Wenger going with what he currently sees as his best center-back paring. Szczesny came back too, and I guess that means Wenger let him out of the dog house, or Fabanski is actually injured.
- The first 20 minutes were nervy but once the kicking really got going, Arsenal seemed to understand what they were up against and settled into, well, another 70 minutes of getting kicked. To their credit, they were kicking back but those were the only fouls the ref seemed to see until he booked Gibson and Pienaar. There was one foul that wasn’t a foul on Santi Carzola in the 17’ which had me throwing things, but thankfully it looked a lot worse in slow motion than it ended up being. The main defensive theme for Everton seemed to be “Find Wilshire and kick the crap out of him.” And they seemed to do that and with Jack being a bit off the pace (being kind) he took the bait and his concentration slipped. He ran into corners/alleys with no one to pass to and then would get kicked, moan and look at the ref as opposed to following the ball. It is definitely easier said then done, (I am wound up and wind others up in equal measure) but you have to focus on the game and get on with it.
Second to last thing to note on the fouls: Gibson should have been off in the 33’ for a professional foul on Walcott. His reaction indicated he knew exactly what he was doing/did and realized that he could be very well getting a red. Not given, meh, that guy would be reffing league 2 the rest of the year if it was up to me.
Last thing on the fouls and the ref: He was bad. Uneven is being an apologist and that’s the best I could come up with. The yellow for Gibbs was a joke and Everton should have had at least 3 more yellows if that is what passes as a cardable offense.
- So about those Everton players I was interested in seeing play. Here are my thoughts on each in a set of words which might form sentences:
o Seamus Coleman: Looks like Gareth Bale. Good goal-line clearer. Bit of a hack.
o Ross Barkley: Tidy player. Absolute hack.
o Kevin Mirallas: Good work rate. Wind-up artist. An utter… *insert any descriptive word my mother would disapprove of.
- When Arsenal came out for the second half they looked up for it but there was just something missing. Santi seemed to be drifting in and out of the game and Walcott, if I’m honest, sucked. I know he hates a kicking and it just looked like he’d had enough in the first half and wasn’t up for it. I think Jack was definitely up for it mentally but his lack of fitness let him down. Oh, and having the crap kicked out of him for a good period of the first half may have played a role in that. With the subs on, Arsenal made a real push in the last 20 minutes, sadly to no avail. I like what Podolski does as a player and I’m baffled that he hasn’t started more, especially in the EPL. There are rumors of surgery over the summer on a foot issue so that would make sense as to the limited PT, but why not just shut it down? He has barely played in the last month and a half and we only really needed that goal against Norwich as insurance. I’ll save my Wenger rotation rant for another time…
- Last thing on this game. Moyes said after the match that hard tackling was “allowed in football.” This is true. A blind ref is out of the control of either team. Targeted, cynical fouling is a choice made by the manager and I lose respect for teams that say they come to play but play only for a point by employing that strategy. I rate it just higher than the parking the bus strategy.
One point, hard fought, still in the top four. I’ll take it.
A couple of final thoughts: Aaron Ramsey has been playing his ass off for several weeks now. Let’s give credit where credit is due. So that’s where we are going into a road game at Fulham and welcoming the Dutch Skunk back when “The Grove” hosts ManUre the week following. I really hope it’s not a game they can win the prem. All the more reason to beat them. More on that later. Still 15 points to play for, hope we do better than last year’s last five which as I remember was a bit of a disaster mixed with a hand grenade in a bunker and newly hatched baby scorpions.
And just remember…
A CANNON BEATS A CHICKEN EVERY TIME!!!
COME ON YOU GUNNERS!!!
