Sunderland 1-Arsenal 0
By: Martin | November 21st, 2009I opened up my preview for this match with the following paragraph:
Back in action at the Stadium of Light tomorrow, for what I expect to be a very tricky match. Seriously–this match scares the hell out of me. For one thing, it’s a road match against a top half side with a very good home record–those matches are always tough, no matter what. But throw in the fact that nearly half our first team is injured, and that everyone is already talking about next weekend’s matchup with Chelsea, and this has all the makings of an Arsenal stumble. I dearly hope I’m wrong.
I don’t know if I’ve ever been so disgusted to be right.
All year, I (and many others) have been talking about how different this season’s Arsenal squad is from last season. After today, though, you’d have to say: maybe not so different as we thought.
Last year’s team, you recall, made a habit of mailing in awful performances against teams we should have been expected to win against, only to turn around and turn in strong performances against our fellow top 4 clubs and in the Champions League. The only possible explanation is that the club, while capable of playing great, simply didn’t have the focus and mental strength to play their best week in and week out. That’s basically what happened today.
I know, I know, we have plenty of at least somewhat legitimate excuses–injuries, tired from the international break, etc. But you know what? (1) Sunderland had plenty of injuries/suspensions of their own; and (2) we had plenty of world-class players–Fabregas, Arshavin, Eduardo, Nasri, Song, Vermaelen, Gallas, etc. To be blunt, all of those players are likely better than any single member of Sunderland’s squad. We should have won. Period. And we didn’t, because Sunderland wanted it more than we did, and they came out and outworked and outplayed us. Full credit to them for that.
I generally try to avoid hyperbole, so I won’t say that this match ended Arsenal’s title hopes. We’re 8 points behind Chelsea, but with a head-to-head match-up next week and a home game against Bolton in hand. If we were to win both of those matches, we’d be just 2 points behind, easily within striking distance. But I will say that it’s hard to imagine a league-winning side turning in a performance as lackluster as what I just saw from Arsenal. I was at the pub, and the Arsenal game was playing right next to another tv, which was showing the Chelsea-Wolves “match.” The contrast between the quality and composure of Chelsea and Arsenal was disturbingly evident–it didn’t make for a very good morning for me, I have to say.
Like we did so many times last season, we seemed overly content with merely retaining possession and passing the ball back and forth outside of the proximity to goal where we needed to be to cause any real danger. We had 65% of the possession, yet you wouldn’t really say that we dominated the match. Tomas Rosicky missed a beautiful chance inside of 5 minutes, but the entire rest of the game, we only created a few chances and never again forced unproven keeper Martin Fulop into making a difficult save.
This is also the first time we’ve been kept off the scoresheet since the 0-0 draw with Manchester United last season. To be blunt, I think a big part of it was Robin van Persie–we miss him more than even I thought we would. Eduardo certainly didn’t play well, but only so much of the blame can fall on his shoulders, because he’s just not the kind of player to fill that position. Robbie’s position in the 4-3-3 is the fulcrum for the entire attack, constantly getting the ball into feet and sending back out again to someone in a dangerous position. On the other hand, Eduardo is most comfortable as a true poacher, probing for weaknesses in the backline without the ball and popping up to take one touch and get a shot on goal from a dangerous position. For a guy who should have been involved in the attack a lot, Eduardo seemed awfully invisible for almost all of the match. I’m not sure what the answer is, but I do think Wenger needs to go back to the drawing board in terms of who should take RvP’s place as the center forward, b/c Eduardo isn’t up to the task–if it means temporarily abandoning the 4-3-3 until van Persie returns from injury, so be it.
Anyway, as to the match itself, there isn’t much to say by way of recap. Fabregas created a beautiful chance for Rosicky which he wasted by shooting directly at the keeper in the 5th minute. After that, there just weren’t too many chances. Eduardo had another great chance inside the box, but instead of just shooting low to the side of the keeper, where he had room, Eduardo tried to be too clever and chip the ball over the keeper, and his chip went well wide. We had a couple of quality balls into the box late after Sunderland had scored, but couldn’t get anyone on the other end of them. Sunderland didn’t fare too much better–Malbranque had a couple of shots inside the box unmarked (apparently Traore doesn’t quite understand what a left back’s duties are just yet), but in the 73rd minute, off a corner kick, the ball ricocheted around and came straight onto the foot of Darren Bent, who just had to poke it past Almunia. The marking was very poor, and as the ball came back into the six-yard box, Rosicky just stared at the ball, apparently attempting to clear it through the use of telekinesis.
On to the ratings:
Almunia 6.5. Didn’t really have too much to do. His best save of the game came on a play where Darren Bent was offsides anyway, but patrolled his area well.
Sagna 7. Another good performance–good getting back on defense, but seemed consistently involved going forward as well.
Traore 5.5.I’d say that he confirmed Arsene Wenger’s preseason statement that Traore lacked the defensive chops to really play left back. He looked decent going forward, but was pretty calamitous at the back–left Malbranque unmarked in the box twice, and generally just kind of ran around aimlessly when Sunderland had the ball. Took a yellow on a very dangerous tackle in injury time for good measure. His future is not at left back.
Vermaelen 6. Defended well, and stayed tight at the back, but didn’t get forward in attack as much as he could have.
Gallas 6. Ditto.
Ramsey 5.5. Woof. Big step back. Looked tentative and confused, and generally just didn’t look like he knew what he was supposed to be doing. Doubly bad because this probably paves the way for Diaby’s re-entry into the starting XI when he comes back from injury.
Song 8. Man of the Match. Maybe the only bright spot. Aggressive and strong in the middle of the field. On several occasions he would go into an exchange alone against multiple Sunderland players and would come out with the ball on the other side. I know he’s only really come into his own this season, but I’m calling it–he’s one of the best holding midfielders in the world right now.
Cesc 6. Seemed strangely timid and frustrated the entire match. Couldn’t find much in the way of through balls, and kept losing his temper. He’s got to be more composed and influential if Arsenal are to ever become an excellent team.
Eduardo 5. You know, in a sense, it’s not entirely his fault, because he was being asked to play a role that doesn’t suit his skill set. And van Persie didn’t take to the role instantly, either. But even considering that, he was awful–the center forward role in a 4-3-3 is the focal point of our attack, which makes it baffling that Eduardo was almost completely anonymous. He squandered the one decent scoring chance he did have.
Rosicky 5.5. Missed a tremendous chance very early in the match, and despite having possession in Sunderland’s half on many occasions, struggled to create anything at all.
Nasri 6. Not too bad, but has yet to settle in and find his role in the 4-3-3–based on what we’ve seen so far, I’m not sure forward-wing is the best fit, although with his preseason injury he’s only been able to make a couple of appearances.
Arshavin 6. Created a couple moments of real danger, but didn’t look like his normal self, justifying Wenger’s decision not to start him.
Vela 6. Wasn’t as involved as he could have been, but almost drew a penalty in injury time.
Walcott 6.5. Worked very hard in his substitute cameo–how many times in the last 15 minutes of the game did Walcott get forward with the ball only to find himself surrounded by Sunderland shirts with no Arsenal shirts anywhere near him? It seemed like he was the only one who was really desperate to get forward and equalize. Made a claim that he should be in the first XI if he’s healthy.
Truly a wasted chance. A wasted chance to keep pace with Chelsea and Manchester United, and a wasted chance to put some space between us and Aston Villa, Manchester City, and Liverpool, all of whom dropped points today. But we lost, and we’ve got to look forward. We’ve got a chance to win our Champions League group on Tuesday at home, and then Chelsea travels across town to the Emirates on Sunday for a big showdown. If we’re to have any hope of winning the league, you’d have to think that’s a must-win–at the very least, a loss would put us 11 points behind, which you’d have to think would be a mountain too tall to climb.
I think Wenger isn’t going to be sleeping too well tonight, as he tries to figure out whether, in van Persie’s absence, he still has the personnel to operate the 4-3-3, and if so, exactly how. We’ve only got two days off before Tuesday’s matchup with Standard, and then five days later it’s Chelsea. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, I’ll be back with a preview for the Standard match on Monday.
Some Related Stories:
Category: 
Home 
