Liveblog! Spuds-Arsenal

Not sure if there's anything left to say.  I will just add a point that I thought of when talking to a friend of mine.

This might be an oversimplification, but I think that as a tactician, you have to choose if your team is going to control the ball (A) or control the space on the pitch (B).  That decision dictates the brand of offense and defense your team will play with.  It is no secret that Wenger wants Arsenal to control the ball.

Defensively, if you choose this option, you have to prepare your team to win the ball back as quickly as possible to recover possession and play their game--that is, they have to be prepared to press the ball like mad and recover the ball in a matter of seconds, not minutes.  Recovering the ball quickly through pressing is absolutely crucial to keeping your attackers in a passing rhythm and keeping your opponents under pressure.  To make an analogy to a key principle of American football, you cannot have your defense on the field for too long, or else the big guys will wear out and you'll concede touchdowns--so, your offense cannot go three-and-out very often.

Interestingly, to have this kind of passing offense, you have to have some dominant defenders on the team.  Barcelona is obviously renowned for its attack, but that attack is only allowed to really express itself because of the presence of some world-class defenders in the side.  Puyol almost never joins into the passing rondos, but when Barca loses the ball in the middle of the pitch, there he is to steal it back and get the passing started again.  In contrast, those teams that seek to control the space on the pitch--like, say, Mourinho's Chelsea--consist mainly of defensive-minded players that are happy to absorb pressure all day long, but the system only works because in front of them is a dominant, world-class striker--like 11-foot tall Didier Drogba.

It seems to me that Arsenal's offensive and defensive systems, in this respect, are disconnected.  I think that Arsenal fields some excellent passers.  In fact, I think that if they are given enough time to pass, they can pick apart any defense in the world.  However, when they lose the ball, the team's pressing simply is not good enough to keep the team in a passing rhythm.  Today was particularly bad--there was almost no pressing in the midfield or forward areas, and when our traditional back-four won the ball back close to our own goal, the entire team had to spread back out and re-establish a passing rhythm.  This kind of back-and-forth is not conducive to effective attacking or defending.

You cannot have an attack that looks to beat teams by spreading and shredding them apart through passing AND a defense that sits back and absorbs pressure--you have to choose one or the other.  I don't know if it's Wenger's fault for not understanding this (granted, probably oversimplified) point, or if it's the players' faults for not executing the system properly.

There was one moment in the match--I wish I knew the minute-mark, but it was early in the second half--in which the team lost the ball, and the Spurs midfielder who recovered the ball passed it forward to Defoe--and bang!, there was Song, right on his heels--he got his foot on the ball and deflected it to Ramsey, and Arsenal had the ball.  This is how Arsenal needs to defend.

This is a fascinating idea you've put up. I'm going to have to think about it some more, but I think you certainly have a point, especially considering that our two greatest performances in the past year have been against Chelsea 3-1 and Barcelona 2-1, and in both those matches, we pressed like mad. I think part of the problem now though is that we no longer have the personnel to do that. Cesc and Nasri played possession better than anyone else we've got, and Jack is out for a while. And nor do we have domineering CBs who are near infallible like Puyol at the basics of defending. It feels like there are no solutions =(

Sorry people, I've used up all the hate, disappointment, embarrassment, and shock i saved for this season, and even the reserves that I had stored in my top drawer. At some point its better to look at the bright side and pray that God help us.

This is indeed our most trying time ever. We may not do well this season, though I hope we can seriously turn things around, but we should use this time to identify our problems and get the parts we need to do well. Arsene shouldn't be sacked, even though we haven't won anything in the last 7 years, but we have proven time and again for the last 15 or more years that we are a top class club not only in the BPL but also in Europe. This is our worst year yet, however,  I don't think one really bad year should negate all that has been accomplished over the last 15 years. I hate that Wenger is so damn stubborn, inflexible, and not open to change, but we'll weather the storm. C'mon folks, lets stand by our club. Liverpool didn't do well last season, they've made numerous changes and are doing better at the moment. We are still Arsenal, we will reclaim our winning ways, if not this season, in upcoming season. You can't keep a good man down. 

Defending is an issue, scoring is an issue, lets face it Arsenal has yet to put forth a full 90 of fluid high intensity football.   We held so much possession in spells just for us to mess up the pass forward, not receive the pass forward, or to dribble too much if we actually get the pass.  I am not a fan of our current 1-4-2-3-1.  Van Persie gets caught too many times having to do too much with the ball.  Theo and Gervinho get wide, but more often than not they offer an awful final ball/ cross or they lose the ball off the dribble.  There is no hold up play and a lack of running to the goal from our wide forward players.  Most of our runs come out of midfield from our inside triangle.  Right up the gut...SO PREDICTABLE...Arteta and Ramsey are so prone to having forward passes intercepted because they stare at it for five days before actually making the pass.  OMG and Benayoun...how many times are we going to see him cut in from left to right on his favored foot and either find a negative pass or intercepted pass.  Arsenal, Arsenal, Arsenal...where has the glory gone?