Arsenal’s Firepower Not Enough To Slay The Dragon of Porto
ByAs I threw my hands up in exasperation last night, the question about when a hill of beans becomes a mountain lingered in my head. That was me just pissed off at our breath-taking propensity to engineer individual moments of madness that pretty much unravels the collective team effort.
After being scraped off the ceiling, I had a beer and watched a classic stand up comedy routine from 1981 by Richard Pryor. Of late, movies seem to do the trick for me, especially to inject a dose of reason and perspective with the elapsing time.
So what really pissed me off? Probably the fact that I don’t like losing, but I guess one team inevitably loses in a game of this type. I think it was more the individual mistakes that led to the goal, but just for the record – I came off the ceiling and can happily look at this in the cold light of day.
Firstly, it was a great match for most part. Any neutral would have loved watching last night’s game as it ebbed and flowed. Believe it or not, there was not one offside decision and I can’t ever recall a match going all the way without an offside decision being given.
I didn’t want to leave the room lest I missed a counter attack. Apart from the errors that led to the goals against us, Arsenal played relatively well for a visiting team to the Estadio do Dragão.
It seems the lessons from recent defeats about keeping our shape and dealing with counter attacks have been learnt. I don’t recall a time when I thought we were in imminent danger of conceding a goal from a counter attack.
In respect of a free flowing attacking game, both teams have to be given credit for making it a great game of football to watch. Not that there weren’t sloppy and lethargic spells during the game, but the two teams applied themselves well.
From Arsenal’s point of view, it was great to see Bendtner getting into the attacking flow of things. We eventually scored from a corner resulting from Bendy’s deflected shot, and in all honesty, Bendy had started to celebrate for the ball was enroute into the net when it was deflected.
The look on Bendtner’s face with his hands behind his head pretty much said ”how the hell didn’t that ball go into the net”.
Porto had clearly been studying our games against Man United and Chelsea. They targeted Clichy’s left flank in what the industry now considers Arsenal’s defensive Achilles heel. I recently wrote about the mental fortitude and discipline Arsenal needs to make the system we play a success. There was a classic lapse of this for Porto’s first goal.
Silvestre Varela should have never been given the freedom of the park to bomb down our left flank, and the sequence of individual lapses that amount to a hill of beans that I talk about played right in front of our eyes. Nasri didn’t track quick enough, Clichy didn’t deal with Varela well enough (and he really should have), and Fabianski became the second Arsenal goal keeper to score a goal in less than 3 weeks – albeit at the wrong end of the pitch.
Watch The Goals And Highlights
Fabianski’s judgement could have been spot on as he moved to anticipate Varela’s cross, and I guess you can argue all day whether it was a really bad shot from the Porto player that went the wrong side of Wookash. Varela probably couldn’t care less, and why should he.
For the second goal, I can live with the first mistake made when Wookash picked up the back pass. However, his judgement to give a demanding referee the ball will probably haunt him for a long time to come. This was one of them cases where Wookash should have taken one for the team and refused to give the ball to the referee until Arsenal had regrouped.
It most definitely would have cost him a yellow card, but it would have been one card that the Arsenal players and supporters celebrated.
Campbell should have punched the referee out of the way for blocking his run towards Falcao and taken a yellow or red card for ‘dealing’ with foreign objects obstructing access to the ball. If the referee had any conscience, he’d have had Porto retake the free kick because his positioning blocked Campbell.
Denilson, who in recent times has become the doom and gloom brigade’s ’scapegoat du jour’ had a shaky start but he settled down and I feel he had a good enough game. Like with AC Milan and Man United the previous evening, both Arsenal and Porto went through a spell of giving the ball away like they were being paid to do it.
Porto also employed the unsavoury tactic of rotational fouling targeting Cesc Fabregas. This cowardly and irritating strategy not only broke Arsenal’s flow, but it’s that cumulative tackling that ends up causing niggly injuries that will affect our players as the season goes on.
Martin Hansson (of the France-Irish World cup qualifier fame) should have handed over more yellow cards to Porto players for this rotational fowling was a deliberate well thought out strategy that had intent written all over it.
Part of the reason I was pissed off after that second goal was this. The referee made a technically correct decision to give the indirect free kick to Porto, but having done that – it was totally unfair for him not to allow Arsenal the right to defend it.
Considering the drama this referee is capable of, I concluded that there’s absolutely no point in expecting any less from him. My exasperation then moved to Campbell and Fabianski for giving the referee the opportunity to gift Porto an open net – and also for not taking a yellow card for kicking the ball out of the stadium to stop the free kick being taken until Arsenal were ready.
All in all, the minimum we can now demand from this team is the right to sing ’One nil to the Arsenal’ on March 9th. Any win will do, but if Porto score twice at the Emirates, we have to win with a 2 goal margin because of the away goal rule.
I don’t think Arsenal is out of the tie and I believe we have a great home advantage. This habit of the Gunners doing things the hard way is what’s making my doctor contemplate referring me to a shrink.
Tue 13th September 2011; 19:45, Dortmund
Just a quick one. Saying that Henry used to take quick freekicks has nothing to do with this. The simple fact is that advantage does not apply in the box. The referee got it wrong.
Outside the box advantage applies to both direct and indirect freekicks, that means that if it applies in the box that it applies to direct freekicks in the box. That means that it applies to penalties.
So according to the referee if he had given the penalty to Rosicky. Rosicky could have taken the ball from the referee and while Helton and co were complaining, put the ball on the spot and pass it into the net. This is why all that discussion about early freekick is nonsense
Well said Darius. Instead of looking like a moth to a flame, Fabianski should have taken one for the team. The freekick was rightly awarded, but the manner in which it was executed was wrong and if we rewind a bit further, the ref missed an obvious penalty (so this whole issue should not have come about if the ref hadn’t been dreaming of the Winter Olympics instead of concentrating on the match).
This sets up the return rather nicely for us to clobber Porto at home. We will have a few players back (and hopefully no new injuries).
We need to concentrate on Sunderland at home and Le professor will be instilling that on all the players.
A dose of my old 1970s favourite “When the boat comes in” was my remedy last night, Darius.
I don’t know why I am more pissed off than usual. Perhaps it is the realisation that we are just not tight enough yet. Maybe still expecting a little too much?
My feelings about the match echo yours. It was indeed a very good game from both sides & losing 2-1 is perhaps as good equivalent to 0-0. The tie is in the balance & it is probably better to go into the game knowing you have to win well, rather than be tentative. We will need to score 3 to go through.
I don’t blame Sol for the goal, he could not avoid playing it. Fabianski should have taken no chances & conceded a throw in.
Very interesting point, snazy. That is something I didn’t know but AW inferred that last night.
What is it about Swedish refs?
There was that prat who gave Babel that penalty, before he had even thrown himself to the turf – rewarded with the CL final that season. Last night we were denied the clearest penalty you will see that meant instead of us winning a game, we were on top of, we lost for the reasons explained by snazy.
Then watching Bayern v Florentina, a goal was scored but a penalty was given (blown too soon), a Florentina defender was red carded for clearly only a yellow card offence, then a goal that was obviously 2 metres offside was allowed in the last minute. Another of Sweden’s finest in charge.
Snazzy – interesting points.
My take is that Arsenal should have been well aware of this referee’s form and put the game beyond his control. We only have ourselves to blame to expect any more from this punk.
If any team at the world cup are wise, they better get in their petition now since Hansson is on the list of referees. Let’s just hope he doesn’t get the semis or the finals.
Flint, interesting choice for entertainment there – I can see you have developed good coping strategies over the years.
I wonder, what pisses you off more – Wookash’s howler for the first goal yesterday or Bob Wilson’s howler in the 71 cup final.
I think the biggest lapse of judgement yesterday was the decision to give the referee the ball back. Wookash should have taken one for the team.
Sol’s intention was to shepherd the ball and that it didn’t work out is part of the game. Wookash may already have prepared himself to receive the ball and that he did wrongfully is part of the game – but Jesus, why did he give the ball to the ref? That still baffles me.
C1. Sunderland it is and I hope the anger of losing that game can be exorcised on the Black cats.
Exorcise the anger on the black cats indeed Darius. Thanks for that dose of voodoo humour in the course of a black-mood day.
You’re generous with that referee: Keeping him entirely away from the world cup would be prudent.
We simply aren’t tight enough indeed Flint. Given Fabianski’s record, I’d have thought the coaches would have worked the harder with him. Is it simply that he can’t, yet, hold his nerve? or is it individual imperfection inadequately addressed by coaching? I’m finding it very difficult to simply foist the entire blame on the lad, culpable as he is, in writing the game off: This sort of stuff seems to be happening too often for comfort lately. Take Nasri and Clichy: It was an action replay of what happened in the league : The opposition winger left free to skin the left back down to the bone! How many more teams have to target Clichy before the message gets across to cover better?
That said, we seem to be collecting injuries and “moments of insanity” in copious quantities this season, at a severe cost to our fortunes.
I do think however that the best course now is to simply play every single game for itself over what remains of the season and letting the chips fall where they may.
This team, Wenger down, have, at the least, to send a message out by force of their performances hereon.
” the best course now is to simply play every single game for itself over what remains of the season and letting the chips fall where they may”
I think that should be true for the season, although some rotation is always necessary.
Funnily enough, Darius, nobody blamed Bob but himself.
Bob Wilson, in fact, is a good illustration of why we need to remain patient with our project, certainly in the ‘keeper situation. Unfortunately it is not a position where you can afford much.
Arsenal had always had 2 long term goalkeepers from 1946 to 1961, in George Swindon & still my favourite Jack Kelsey. Jack had his career ended by injury c1961 & we then had several occasionally brilliant but mostly unreliable ‘keepers. including Bob, until Fingers Furnell came from Liverpool to be a bit a little bit more reliable but I would not put him in even Almunia class.
Bob had a spell of about 4 games, starting brilliantly against Forest & ending looking like the amateur he still was against Chelsea. He disappeared for 5/6 seasons to reappear after Fingers made a mistake too many. He was totally different & was superb, particularly in 70/71, until he retired c1974.
What I am saying is that perhaps it is too early for Fabianski. We have not produced a permanent ‘keeper through the youth system since Jack Kelsey. I know from his book that he got off to a very poor start, in the 1st team, but made it whilst still very young, a couple of seasons later. Same with Jennings at Tottenham, he had an awful start there.
Jack was, in my opinion better than Seaman, so you have to be a great to make it so young. Fabianski has a way to go but for me Szezny has the look of an early achiever.
On a side note, I see Given did no better than Fabianski against the Delap throw, in the recent 2 matches. It ain’t so easy.
I think that the inexperience that Arsene Wenger referred to regarding Fabianski before the game rearer it’s head in the incident concerning the second goal we conceded yesterday.
I’m referring to Fabianski’s decision to meekly hand the ball back to the referee as soon as he requested it, rather than (a) holding onto the ball, or (b) booting it downfield, either of which would have provided his colleagues with more time to get back and organise themselves defensively.
Despite those errors however, I can still see a very good keeper in Fabianski, one who is talented enough to one day be Arsenal’s first choice keeper.
The only way he can iron out those flaws in his decision making and unnecessary errors (the first goal for example) is by actually having a real run of successive games. That will allow him to improve, just as it has allowed Song, Diaby and Denilson to do the same too.
Arsene has often spoken in the past about how the education of young players is paid for by them making ‘real time’ mistakes in games which sometimes cost goals and points.
The making of those mistakes – no matter how painful and costly they may be – is no reason to give up on the players concerned, and it’s something we’re just gonna have to accept as an inherent part of the current training and development model that Arsene has installed at the club.
Let’s not be too hard on Fabianski. He needs support at moments like this.
Magneto.
I still believe in Wookash and I know he’ll be one of the best in the world. It was just that decision to hand the ball that pissed me off as I was happy to accept the mistakes that led to the first goal and him handling the back pass. Not to worry though, I’m already smiling and hoping he has a run of games to get those errors out of his system.
Wenger touched on the issue of patience during his press conference on Tuesday. When asked about buying a striker, he used the example of Nicklas Bendtner who was in the press conference with him.
Wenger suggested that it’s wrong to take Bendtner for example at the age of 15, and work with him for 7 years because you have faith and belief in the young lad, and then when there’s an injury or suspension and the media scream that you have to buy a player – you then toss him aside. You can’t have faith in someone for that long and invest in them just to throw them aside when things get tough.
For me, that there is the difference between Arsenal and other teams.
Think of it this way. Each and every one of us has made a mistake at our work place, some of them very costly. I’m sure some folks have been skinned and they’ve lost their job – but in many cases, we have learnt through those real time mistakes and are better for it.
It would be disengenuous to not allow that growth through mistakes if we are accepting of the development model that’s in place.
Flint, that really is a fascinating insight on Arsenal goal keeping my friend. You are indeed an oasis of reflection when it comes to the Arsenal.
Speaking of young keepers, the only one I can think of who has made it big time in their early 20s is Russia’s Akinfeev. I think long time al, Wenger will settle for the two Poles as the main goal keepers.
Darius,
Thinking of goalkeepers who made it bigtime in their early ’20s, I believe the Italian goalkeeper, Gianluigi Buffon, fits into that category.
From memory – having watched “Football Italia” regularly when it was on Channel 4 back in the day – Buffon became the first team keeper at Parma as a teenager, before transferring to Juventus in his early ’20s.