Don't remember the last time our midfield 3 all worked that hard. We started slightly nervous but once they found there rhythm we dominated Spurs in the middle of the park which gave us the balance to control the flow of the game and keep wave after wave of attacks at their goal. Apart from his goals Theo was truly awful though and I think it shows that if you dominate the possession in midfield you can get lucky and wait for your luxury players to finally deliver some magic. Until Wilshere gets back Arteta, Song and Rosicky must be first choice and hopefully they can keep that high level of performance up and either Theo regains some form or AOC/Gervinho come back in and continue their own progress. On a side note thought Sagna (apart from the early minutes) was also amazing and you can see what he brings to the team. Gibbs was weak defensively but decent going forward.
That was the main difference today - the work rate. We closed down, won the ball, and from there our attacking players had space to play. We've regularly played lazily without the ball, and slow and sideways with it - meaning our attackers have had little space. We need to keep up the work rate to get top 4.
Totally agree, and if we do the same against liverpool then we will win the game. Too often this season we have let the opposition just have the ball, but today there was a real intensity about the team and players like rosicky benayoun arteta who are definately better with the ball really worked hard to win it back and start attacks. This sets us up perfectly for liverpool because they are the home side and will have to attack us meaning that if we press high up the field then we can win the ball back in their half and attack from there. Also now looking at spurs' fixtures there is every chance that we could catch them. But we have to keep this run going and maintain it until the end of the season.
Over the past few games, we tend to look really dodgy if we don't get to that 2nd ball first, and for the first two goals it was the same thing. Get the first ball lose possession next touch.
You are right on this - the second phase of play is a crucial area where we have been falling short, but today the midfield stayed tight. When one of them got a tackle in, another was first to the ball time and time again. I would love to think that it was a gameplan that Wenger and the team had worked on - because it was perfect. Modric was largely anonymous (except 1 moment of brilliance), and VDV was a spectator when he came on.
Totally agree, it was like our midfield was possessed today. They ran their socks off and dominated in the second half, creating plenty of chances. I think the decision to keep Song covering the back 4 worked really well and something Wenger should employ always. Lets not forget the discipline, they all knew their roles and closed down really well. Maybe Wenger took away their ipods or something, but whatever it was, they really need to continue this way of playing.
Said before that it seems we have to hit rock bottom in order to really play well. Wenger needs to talk about todays game and drill into the team the fact that good things happen when they work hard.
If i was getting paid £50k a week then i would play out of my skin. But i guess modern footballers are quite lazy nowadays. On a side note, did you see the way Kuyt ran around like a crazy man as soon as he came on for Liverpool? Whether rain or shine, that guy always gives 100%
If we are talking about EPL, last time was against Chelsea, autumn 2010. "Why can't we do this all the time" was exactly my thought when i was watching the game. I think Wenger has told them something. Have you noticed that Djourou was not even on the bench? There was Miquel, and i thought - just about time.
