A Standard win is required for Arsenal
ByYou really can’t fault the enthusiasm of football reporters. After all, it is their job to create catchy headlines and spin conjecture and assumptions into a story.
So it was good to see Wenger cut one journalist down to size in the post match interview after the loss to Sunderland. The journalist insisted on shoving priorities down Wenger’s throat by enthusiastically suggesting how important it was for Arsenal to focus for the next game against Chelsea.
Wenger’s response carried a subtle disdain of sorts by reminding the hack that actually, our focus is Standard Liege on Tuesday, and not Chelsea.
And so it should be.
The disappointment of the loss to Sunderland will only be addressed by getting back on the pitch. Europe has been kind to Arsenal over the last 10 years or so and more recently, we’ve had good matches during qualifiers home and away. Standard Liege are a good team and they gave us untold grief on match day 1, but they’re as good a team as any to get us back into the swing of things before we welcome our guests from Kings road at the weekend.
It’ll be good to see Carlos Vela and Theo Walcott get an extended run. When they came on as subs on Saturday, I felt they didn’t get enough time to impose themselves, and the little time they had, they showed flashes of inspiration. For the next couple of months, Eduardo, Vela and Walcott will have ample opportunity to settle down and show what they’re made of as we wait for the return of Van Persie and Bendtner, both of whom bring something different.
The game at the Stadium of Light also showed how much we needed a physical presence in the middle of the park – the kind of penetrative presence that Diaby provides. I suspect that Song, Denilson and Fabregas will be preferred for at least the next 2 matches and they seem a safe pair of hands in the middle of the park as you’ll ever get.
The boys need to pick themselves up quickly and tomorrow is a great opportunity where a good result against Standard is a reasonable expectation.
Tue 13th September 2011; 19:45, Dortmund
For Arsenalitis Malperformanca the only cure is a couple of days avoiding any football then it is look forward putting it right in the next game. The danger in that is a poor result could lead to Super Malperformanca, which can have dangerous consequences.
“The game at the Stadium of Light also showed how much we needed a physical presence in the middle of the park”
I don’t really agree with that. This game was about not setting a quick tempo rhythm against a side determined to stiffle & pick up scraps. Sunderland played very well but it was as much our lack of focus that meant we deserved to lose this game.
It should not be an excuse but this really was not the ideal fixture after the Interlull. Concentration & energy was low, which is why you need a home game not the furthest away game on the calender. Even so enough of our players were not involved midweek so it was disappointing to seem them not make enough of an impact.
This has been the case throughout the AW CL years. Away games after the away midweek fixtures have been our achilles heel even with PV4 in the team.
It will be interesting to see who plays against Standard, a game where some resting will probably be done. I think we can lose by a single goal, provided they don’t score more than 2, & still go through.
We need a good performance to reignite the good vibes. No more, no less.