Arsenal 4-Portsmouth 1

By: Martin | August 23rd, 2009

Arsenal v Portsmouth
by donchesko10

So, let me say at the outset that I’ve gotten 6 hours sleep combined the last 2 nights, had to move my stuff out of my old apartment (in hellish heat), drive 13 hours to New York, and move stuff into my new apartment (in hellish heat) today. Anything I may be writing at the moment may therefore fall considerably short of the standard of excellence (*ahem*) you have come to expect from this site, so proceed at your own peril. You’ve been warned.

I didn’t get to see the game, but from the highlights it looked like we were really in control of the match all the way through. And while beating Portsmouth isn’t a great feat, scoring 4 against such a defensive-minded team is something we should be proud of.

Abou Diaby grabbed an early brace to give Arsenal a 2-0 lead. Regular readers of the site know that I am not a fan of Diaby. But he created the own goal against Celtic which sealed the victory, and scored two against a good defensive side yesterday. However, I would point out that, while both were decent finishes, on both plays another player (Eduardo and Cesc, respectively) on the team made a great play to be able to find him wide open in the penalty area. I’m still not a believer, but it can’t be denied that he’s a player with enormous athleticism and talent. And I was definitely intrigued by reports that he bore down and spent all summer working out and getting ready for the season. While it would be a pain for me to have to find someone else to pick on, if Diaby could start to realize some of his immense potential it would go a long way towards helping Arsenal win trophies.

We conceded a headed goal (nice play, but the bottom line is that a keeper should never give up a header on a 50/50 goal, because the keeper has a huge advantage–HE CAN USE HIS HANDS to bat the ball away!) to cut our lead in half. However, after that we scored yet another goal on a set piece, another deflected goal off of “Ricochet” Gallas–if this keeps on, I think we should change our formation from a 4-3-3 to a “put Gallas in the penalty area and kick the ball at him as hard as you can” formation. Finally, Aaron Ramsey got through for a clear breakaway and buried the chance for his first Premier League goal. Here’s hoping it’s the first of many, because the young man really has a chance to be a special player.

van Persie had several chances and didn’t capitalize, but did force David James into making several difficult saves. Despite our goal-scoring success this season, our strikers haven’t put many past the keeper–of 12 goals so far, only one has been scored by a striker (Eduardo, against Everton). But really, this shouldn’t be a concern at all–our defenders are getting more prominently involved in set pieces, which is a good thing, and due to the way we’re playing our midfielders in a 4-3-3, they have more chances to make runs or drop into space and have scoring opportunities. And the bottom line is that we have three proven top-quality finishers on our front line (RvP, Arshavin, Eduardo), and if opportunities continue to arise, they’ll show their mettle my getting on the scoresheet often enough.

The other big news item from the game is Cesc Fabregas had to leave at half-time with a hamstring issue. Wenger was uncertain as to the nature of the injury, saying that if it was just tightness Cesc could probably play against Celtic, whereas if it’s a pull he could be out for 3 weeks. Regardless of what it is, I say Cesc needs to be on the bench mid-week–he’s just coming off an injury, and we’ve got one foot in the group stages, and he should be resting until Saturday to try and be fit against Manchester United. Keep your fingers crossed it’s just tightness and Cesc can be ready to go sooner rather than later.

In other injury news, Carlos Vela is out for a month with an ankle injury picked up on international duty. Aye carumba. Es muy malo.

In other news, Arshavin came out and said that Arsenal need to make some new signings, because Arsenal lack the depth of their other Big 4 rivals. I’m conflicted–on the one hand, transfers are the manager’s decision, and players shouldn’t get involved; on the other hand, I think he’s absolutely right. So I don’t know–I guess the bottom line is that Wenger isn’t going to do anything just to please a player who’s been at the club less than a year, so this won’t have any practical impact at all.