Inept Arsenal Had No Desire For NLD - Match Report

Match Review: Sp*rs 2 Arsenal 1 - Premier League 07.02.14

Losing the North London Derby is a terrible feeling. The manner we lost this one in was especially bad too as Tottenham ran out deserved victors and Arsenal delivered a performance of all too familiar ineptitude. For whatever reason, this team seems to crumble when they’re given a serious challenge away from home. It really upset and angered me yesterday that players like Ryan Mason, Harry Kane and Danny Rose seemed desperate to win, yet I can’t say I saw the same burning desire in any of our players. We were weak, we rolled over and lost a very important game in the race for Champions League football.

Wenger made one change from the team that demolished Aston Villa, with Danny Welbeck replacing Theo Walcott. I think this was to give us better defensive protection down the right, as Walcott isn’t especially good at tracking back and helping out his right back. But it seemed Pochettino had decided that was the area to attack for his side, with Danny Rose bombing on and Harry Kane drifting from his central position to occupy Hector Bellerin. Both Kane and Rose came close to scoring with the former forcing a good save from Ospina. Our right side was a problem area all game.

Despite that, we actually exploited the right side to open the scoring. Welbeck skinned Rose and then cut the ball back. Giroud scuffed his shot horribly, but it fell perfectly for Özil to caress a first time volley into the top corner. Three goals in three games for Özil, plus a beautiful assist against Villa, he’s really hit the ground running following his injury. Unfortunately, it was our only moment of attacking potency.

It hurts to say this, but Tottenham proceeded to dominate us for the rest of the game. We set up with the tactic that was so successful against City away and it should have worked, with Tottenham committing men forward and leaving themselves open to the break. But we just kept giving the ball away or clearing straight to Tottenham players. Our pass completion percentages were pretty awful, hovering around the 60% mark in their half for most of our players. For all Tottenham’s domination though, they didn’t really create any clear cut chances, although Ospina did have to make a few saves from long range shots.

We needed things to change in the second half, but they didn’t, in fact they probably got worse. I can’t remember Lloris making a save of note, while Tottenham piled on the pressure. It was inevitable that Spurs would score with the pressure they were putting on and it was Harry Kane that provided it.

We failed to prevent a corner being flicked on at the front post and Ospina was forced into making a good save. Unfortunately, no-one tracked Harry Kane at the back post and the ball fell erfectly for him to sweep home. Coquelin had been dragged off the post trying to head away the ball that Ospina had saved and thus the net was open for Kane to score. That’s not a criticism of Coquelin, he reacted in the right way and there was no time to give a shout to Opsina or vice versa. The problem was that Ramsey let Kane run off him and Bellerin couldn’t react quickly enough to block the shot.

Tottenham deserved their equaliser, but it was annoyingly preventable. The introduction of Rosicky and Walcott didn’t change a lot, but as Tottenham’s intensity dropped, we did see more of the ball in their half. Welbeck came closest to scoring for us, just a few minutes after Kane’s goal, curling a beautiful effort towards the far corner, but Lloris saved well. To be honest I was just praying we could hold on and secure a draw. Unfortunately Tottenham’s habit of scoring late did us.  

We only had ourselves to blame again, as Walcott and a number of other Arsenal players stood and watched while Bentaleb was allowed all the time in the world to cross the ball for Harry Kane. Koscielny was beaten far too easily and Kane planted an excellent header back past Ospina who could to nothing to stop it. You could tell it was the winner, we threw men forward but our attack had been ineffective all day and nothing changed in the last few minutes. Tottenham were deserved winners and also leap frog us in the table, leaving us a point behind them, three behind Southampton and behind United.

For me, Özil, Monreal and Ospina had good games. The rest of the team failed to stand up to the test. Cazorla and Ramsey lost possession and couldn’t get the ball to Giroud, while Danny Welbeck provided a few flashes going forward but left Bellerin exposed at right back. Bellerin struggled to deal with Rose and Kane all game and barely got a chance to get forward, while the centre backs allowed two goals from headers. The damage done by this defeat isn’t irreparable and I’d still back us to finish in the top four and above Spurs. But a win would have been a huge step towards securing a top four spot and damaging Tottenham’s chances. Now we’ve got a real fight on our hands, one which starts with a must win game at home to Leicester on Tuesday night.

Teams

Tottenham (4-2-3-1)
Lloris, Walker, Dier, Vertonghen, Rose (Y), Mason (Y) (Paulinho 95’), Bentaleb, Eriksen, Dembele (Chadli 75’), Lamela (Stambouli 90’), Kane (Y)
Subs
Vorm, Fazio, Chadli, Soldado, Paulinho, Stambouli, Davies

Arsenal (4-3-3)
Ospina, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal (Y), Coquelin (Akpom 89’), Ramsey (Y), Cazorla (Rosicky 68’), Welbeck (Y) (Walcott 78’), Özil, Giroud (Y)
Subs
Szczesny, Gabriel, Gibbs, Rosicky, Walcott, Akpom, Flamini

Player Ratings

Ospina - 8/10 - Not sure why he’s being criticised, he kept the score respectable at times
Bellerin - 5/10 - Struggled to deal with Rose and Kane and didn’t get much help
Mertesacker - 6/10 - Didn’t look his normal composed self
Koscielny - 5/10 - Caught out badly for their winner and possibly suspect for their first
Monreal - 7/10 - Didn’t give Lamela a sniff all game, with help from Özil
Coquelin - 6/10 - Struggled to cope with Tottenham swarming forward in midfield
Cazorla - 6/10 - Didn’t pass the ball well enough or control it well enough, lack lustre
Ramsey - 5/10 - Not sure what to say, he’s a shadow of last season’s player
Özil - 7/10 - Scored a wonderful goal and worked hard down the left
Welbeck - 6/10 - Produced a couple of great moments up front, but left Bellerin exposed
Giroud - 5/10 - Starved of service and isolated, definitely not his day
Subs
Rosicky - 6/10 - Didn’t really do much better than Cazorla
Walcott - 5/10 - Didn’t close down Bentaleb for the winner or have an impact up front
Akpom - N/A

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