Arsenal Embark On ‘Fixtures Of Death’ At Villa Park
ByWhen this fixture was played last season, the thrill and excitement of the game provided quality Boxing Day entertainment. The only heartbreak is that Arsenal didn’t leave Villa Park with all 3 points. The Gunners will want to rectify that statistic this year.
The game stood out in particular because of 2 individual shows of brilliance from Abou Diaby and Bacary Sagna. Diaby’s individual thrust from box to box saw him unleash a screamer into the roof of the net in what is perhaps one of Arsenal’s top 10 goals of all time.
In defence, Bacary Sagna defied the laws of physics with his agility. The French fullback freaked out the entire stadium by making a breath-taking overhead goal line clearance from Agbonlahor’s header that was making its way into Almunia’s net.
I think even the Arsenal players stood there wondering how Sagna stopped that ball from going into the net. Every time I think of Sagna’s acrobatic clearance, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
That night, Arsenal’s 2 nil lead was cruelly cut by Barry’s penalty and Zat Knight’s last minute volley from outside the box. The Gunner’s propensity to give away crucial goals had already cost them enough in the early part of last season, and the draw left many fans with a bitter taste in the mouth.
Villa Park has been a good hunting ground for Arsenal in the last few years. It’s not going to be easy though with Villa fighting for that elusive Champions league spot and the Gunners vying for the title.
Arsenal’s form coming into this game has been stellar, having collected the last 23 out of a possible 29 points. A win in this game sees the Gunners reclaim top position in the league table, and sets them up well for the weekend encounter with our ’friends’ from Manchester.
Injuries have been a Key issue for Arsenal, and the return of Samir Nasri and Nicklas Bendtner is welcome. Villa do have their own injury gremlins, but the Gunners have to focus on their own strengths and look to impose themselves on the game.
The one good thing about this fixture is that Villa will come out and play, and this is always a welcome change to the kicking and bullying tactics of some teams.
Tactically, Arsenal need to be prepared to absorb Villa’s relentless thrusts especially through wing play. Fans will be relatively happy with the fact that the Gunners have our first choice back 5 available, and as such, a better chance of containing Villa’s pacy wingers.
Villa will more than likely be having nightmares of the recent 27 minute cameo by Fabregas that literally bitch slapped them when they last visited the Emirates. They will be hell bent on denying him space to weave his magic.
Being embarrassed once is one thing, but I doubt they’re willing to be turned over the second time by the individual brilliance of the Catalan genius.
It’ll be important for Arsenal to maintain defensive discipline as Villa are very good at counter attacking. The maturity to show patience while holding off Villa and then converting our opportunities will be the key.
A lot has been made about the importance of the next 4 games in Arsenal’s title challenge. 9 out of 12 points in the 4 games will not be a bad return at all.
However, the most important outcome is that winning begets momentum, momentum begets confidence, and confidence gives Arsenal the mental fortitude to hold their nerve at this crucial time in the season.
Arsenal is a confidence team and a win tonight will be good business. The Gunners have their work cut out though.
Tue 13th September 2011; 19:45, Dortmund
Nice bit of pre-match hype there Darius. It seems as though Villa also have themselves a few injuries. I doubt that they have the quality in abundance to replace what is missing, like we do.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed and would love to see nb52 get on for a few mins. More than anything though I really want Theo to get in the starting squad and bag a goal. It would be nice to see him shine against the Villa players he is so often compared.
1 – 2 with Theo and Rosicky to score.
Oh apparently Diaby is out. Arrgh didn’t realise, so many bloody injuries I can’t keep up.
If you haven’t yet, you should watch Wenger’s press conference on the Villa match.
He makes a very passionate case for patience on Theo – and rightfully says it’s unrealistic and unfair to expect Theo to do anything after 3 games in 6 months. YApparently, the media expects Theo to be switched on and off like a car, and it doesn’t work in football.
I’m looking forward to the game – and I think the midfield will be either Denilson, Cesc and Nasri or Denilson Cesc and Rosicky – depending on where Wenger feels Rosicky will have the most impact.
Darius I watched the press conference. Theo does indeed need time, and what the press expect, is unreasonable. The media darling is now becoming a victim of his early rise in the team.
I however think he is more than capable of demolishing villa, it would only take 1 goal to get his confidence back up. If only Arshavin had squared that ball!!!
That said if he doesn’t make waves i’m sure the minutes under his belt will do him no end of good.
I can bet you that 90% of the supposed Aston Villa injuries will be on the pitch come kick off time. I simply do no believe them on that front.
Having Diaby out is a blow, I must say.
LRV mind games are afoot.
What do people think of the Smalling incident. It seems that Wenger may be in the market for a defender. I may be wrong but he doesn’t strike me as the kind of player that Wenger has to buy regardless of if he has a slot for him or not (don’t think he’s ever done that, thankfully). Therefore perhaps he is looking for another defender. What would that do to the current squad. We have an obvious first choice partnership. Sol seems to be a stop gap to the return of Djourou. Bartley and Nordtveit are also, becoming ready to take there place in carling cup games and bit part roles, but are probably a few years off regular places, as central defence is a game learned with age and experience. Would Smalling have been any better than these 2. What does it suggest that he is looking for a player in this position, it seems to me that a player in the early twenties would be a better fit. That would no doubt require a heftier price however.
I obvously say this only as banter, I don’t claim to have a billionth of the knowledge of the prof.
Hey Darius,
Looking forward to tonight’s game.
Just wanted to carry on talking about Song, a little off topic as he’s not playing tonight, didn’t have time to compose my thoughts on the matter till now. .
One thing that’s so cool about this current squad is that we can see the players develop as they train together.
So a few seasons ago we could see Song begin to attempt his tricks around he centre of the park, so good that you’d want to head-butt the wall in disbelief. And in the last two seasons it seems like he’s added Diaby-esque dribbling skills and passes to his repertoire. I honestly felt like I was watching a young Beckenbauer in those early games, although I’ve only seen some video clips of the original Beck’s in full flow. In the last few game before he went away, at times Song was driving the whole team forward. It really has been a pleasure to watch his game develop over the last three seasons, it’s been easier to follow ( & understand from a fans perspective) as he’s not been hampered by serious injury problems. And it’s obvious that AW has been grooming Song for a particular role since before his loan move to Charlton. When we all started to feel worried about not having an obvious replacement for Song in the squad, Le Genius pulls Eastmond out of his hat. He was very impressive against Liverpool, and for him to have been given starts in both Bolton games is a huge indication for the rest of us of how highly AW regards his young prospect.
But what I wanted to ask you, was who did you initially compare Song to when you saw him a few seasons ago, and would you try and reference his game to older players from other era’s?
For me, I initially thought of Desailly, who was equally at ease at CB as well as in midfield, and gave the most amazing ‘DM” performance of recent times in the ’94 European Cup final. I thought I could see Song playing his role with similar flair in the future. But he has skills that Desailly never had, and that’s where I have to calm myself down a little bit I think.
‘I also thought of Desailly…’
>
‘For me, I initially thought of Desailly…’
Haha Finsbury what a fan!!
An out and out positive that any doomer can not dispute is that with the way our club is ran we feel closer to the players in the squad. Well at least the ones that have played through the youth and reserves.
Watching Song grow into the talent that he now is has been a treat for us all. I would liken him to a Dessailly or Gullit player, but the player I think of quite often is Baptist, I know he was terrible for us and is only just now sorting himself out. But for Sevilla he was strong and had drive. They look alike physically and have a similar style of play. Diaby is doing now what Baptista hoped he could have done for us. As you say though Finsbury, Diaby could well surpass many legends. I’ve been since I first saw him that he had the most potential of ALL our young players, Cesc included. Thats saying something.
ELS.
On the issue of Smalling, my view is that it’ll be a shame if Bartley, Ayling and Nordtveit are not given priority.
I know there’s better people to judge what Smalling can bring in that we haven’t had, but from what I’ve seen of him, I personally don’t think he’s an improvement from our up and coming youngsters.
Our de facto reserves in the CB position are Djourou and Sly, and I think by the time that Gallas has retired, then one of Ayling, Bartley and Nordtveit are good and ready.
It will also be demoralizing for the young lads to see a new prospect come in at this stage.
Finsbury.
Great points you make there. I really like Alex Song and I think he is on his way to being one of the best midfielders in the world.
I think one key thing that he has that many other defensive minded midfielders ala Mascherano, Makelele, et al – is that Song is ridiculously talented with the ball.
In getting sorted out, I think Wenger has prioritized defensive matters first and Song has had to build on this. Slowly but surely, you’ll notice that he’s now more involved in play making and is doing a damn good job at it. I’m sure he will even get better and better.
It’s not the first time his drive has carried the team. League cup quarter final against Blackburn in early 2008 was an example when we went down to 10 men and Alex Song single handedly put Blackburn to shame.
Beckenbauer is a very good comparison to Song, though I’ll admit that Song has a way to go before he can match the German ace. But the role is somewhat similar.
I’m thoroughly enjoying watching Song and Diaby in particular proving all the doubters wrong and becomeing possible the best midfield generals you’ll see in any team in the world. A combination of Cesc, Diaby and Song in midfield will be explosive if the 3 of them stay fit and accumulate game time.
Eastmond has also been a revelation. I really like his ‘bring it on’ attitude, and he seems unphased about the pressure.
I think that in the absence of Song, Eastmond does bring some defensive minded balance.
Finsbury – I didn’t compare Song to anyone over the last few years, as I was still trying to work out what type of player he was, and what skills and abilities he had.
However, since he started playing regularly in our first team last season, I’ve had the opportunity to have a good look at him, and now have a much better idea of what he has to offer, particularly when playing in midfield.
Although in anchoring the midfield, Song carries out a key tactical role for Arsenal, I think it’s misleading to describe him as a mere “defensive” or “holding” midfield player.
When operating in midfield, Song doesn’t just stop opposition attacks, win the ball back and then make simple passes to supposedly more talented/skillful team mates, as some reductionist commentators and fans would have you believe.
If you watch Song carefully, you’ll see that he starts a number of our attacks from a deep position, but doesn’t actually get any credit or acknowledgement for the same.
I think Song – with the range of talents we’ve now seen him display in midfield – acts as both a deep lying playmaker as well as a so called holding midfield player too. In short, he acts as a sophisticated midfield anchor, and has a very influential role within the side.
If I had to mention other players he reminds me of, then I’d say it’s a combination, in varying degrees, of Frank Rijkaard and Matthias Sammer roled into one.