Match Review: Arsenal 2 Tottenham 0 - FA Cup 04.01.14
My first FA Cup review and what could be sweeter than reviewing a good squashing of the Spuds? The culmination of a run of 5 games over the last 12 days and despite the physical challenge it presented, we’ve come through it with flying colours. A draw and three wins in the Premier League, rounded off with a flourish by dismissing our noisy neighbours from the Cup. After a lot of build up and talk before the game, particularly from the Sp*rs camp, but in the end, it was a breeze for the Gunners and we strolled into the fourth round.
Arsenal again made changes from the previous game. Perhaps the most surprising was that Fabianski replaced Szczesny in goal. It did give me a little sense of unease, Fabianski is not the worst keeper in the world, but Szczesny is a lot better and I didn’t see a huge need to rest him. Maybe the few little mistakes that Szczesny has made recently prompted Arsene to remind the younger Pole that complacency cannot be afforded.
The other changes saw Vermaelen come in for Mertesacker, Gnabry replaced Podolski and Rosicky came in for Flamini. Wenger had conceded that rotation was necessary after a hectic Christmas schedule, but also reminded the players that with a nine day break between the Sp*rs and Aston Villa games, no drop in commitment or desire would be tolerated. Walcott lined up as the central striker, with Cazorla, Rosicky and Gnabry comprising the three attacking midfielders and Wilshere partnering Arteta in the deeper midfield role. A rotated team, but still with all the necessary qualities to deal with Sp*rs, especially with the likes of Podolski and Özil on the bench.
The early play was fairly even, Sp*rs lined up in their new 4-4-2 system with Adebayor partnering Soldado up top and they created the first proper chance. Christian Eriksen took advantage of a ball rebounding of Koscielny but Fabianski did well to save when it was one on one. After that though, we took control. Tottenham’s 4-4-2 was, as many had expected, inadequate for dealing with Arsenal’s quality and numbers in midfield. Dembele and the young Bentaleb were left to try and deal with Arteta and Wilshere, with Rosicky, Cazorla and Gnabry all playing further forward and they were overrun. We were able to keep possession well and we had plenty of options when attacking.
Theo Walcott looked threatening, testing Lloris form range on the break and also curling just wide from the edge of the area a few minutes later. Meanwhile Sp*rs front two were starved of any service and when they did get it, they were promptly robbed by Koscielny or Vermaelen. Arsenal looked comfortable at the back and competent going forward and Cazorla and Gnabry were causing Tottenham a lot of problems cutting in from the wing to aid the play. Cazorla fizzed a shot just over from 25 yards and Gnabry and Wilshere combined to send Walcott clean through, but he hit his shot straight at the keeper.
The goal was coming and it was Cazorla who provided it. Sp*rs formation and lack of quality was ruthlessly exposed, Gnabry drifted in from the right and Rose failed to pick him up. Walker on the other side of the pitch had no idea Cazorla was in acres of space on the touchline and the Sp*rs midfield was all over the place. It was an easy, unpressurised pass up to Gnabry from Sagna and the young German turned and ran at the Tottenham defence. Walcott made a brilliant run which drew Rose and both centre backs away from Gnabry, with Walker still miles out of position. Gnabry delayed until exactly the right moment to slip the ball past Walker and into the path of Santi Cazorla, who smashed home. The Sp*rs defence lay in tatters and Arsenal deservedly led. Arsenal saw out the first half with ease, the only incident of note was Dembele getting away with an attempted backwards headbutt on Jack Wilshere. Perhaps Dembele was dizzy from trying keep track of our attackers.
Sp*rs started the second half a little brighter and did have a chance when Adebayor managed to bring the ball down in the Arsenal area, but then slipped over and scuffed his shot in quite hilarious fashion. It summed up how Sp*rs’ game had gone, no creativity and no finishing ability. Things were comfortable for us, but we weren’t creating and fizzing forward in attack like we had in the first half. Turned out we didn’t need to. Danny Rose received the ball as the last defender on the halfway line and dwelt too long, despite having options in front of him and ample opportunity to boot it out. Thomas Rosicky was only too happy to rob the left back and sprint through on goal. Just when you thought he was about to be caught and he’d taken a touch too many, he lifted the ball over the onrushing keeper in impudent fashion. 2-0, game over.
With the game finished, Arsene brought on Flamini for Wilshere, just to make extra sure. It was our second sub, having already been forced to take off the injured Vermaelen, who was replaced by Mertesacker. Our third change was just rubbing it in as Mesut Özil replaced Arteta with 15 minutes to go. Unfortunately this meant that we had no subs left when Theo Walcott was injured in a clash with Danny Rose. The striker for the day went down right in front of the Sp*rs section, who sympathised with his plight, singing ‘let him die’ along with other abuse.
For some inconceivable reason, it was decided that the best route to take to the tunnel was right in front of the Sp*rs fans, who continued their abuse and followed it up with a shower of loose change and even the odd bottle. Theo responded with a big grin and made a gesture of 2-0, which caused the Sp*rs fans to foam at the mouth and intensify the shower of coins coming from their section. So of course, the media on Sunday morning was full of pieces criticising Walcott, chastising him for provoking the poor gentle Tottenham fans, who of course had every right to pelt the player and medical staff with coins and abuse.
Gesturing an inoffensive and amusing reminder to the fans that their team is pants is clearly unacceptable and Walcott has been chastised by pundits and newspaper columnists all over. The media seem to have ignored the pathetic actions of the fans in favour of attempting to stir up a controversy out of nothing. Walcott could have reacted in any number of ways, but he chose a measured and amusing way of putting the idiots in their place. I’m sure some will argue he shouldn’t have reacted at all, but when you’re the subject of vicious abuse and being pelted with metal, the natural instinct is not to just ignore it.
With that aside, it was a walkover from the Gunners. Tottenham were put firmly in their place, having given it the usual verbals beforehand. The almost traditional Michael Dawson rallying cry, coupled with some very brave talk from Tim Sherwood and other Sp*rs players showed that they still haven’t learned their lesson. The pattern continues, they get brave, shoot their mouths of, we put them in their place.
A couple of wins and a new manager and had them all excited, but the bubble’s been burst. We rolled them over without any trouble and now we can focus on our push for the league title. With nine days rest and a nice draw at home to Coventry to look forward to, we can be very satisfied with the season so far. There’s a real confidence that we can achieve something big this season, but there’s a lot of work still to be done, starting with Villa next Monday.
Teams
Arsenal (4-2-3-1)
Fabianski, Sagna, Vermaelen (Y) (Mertesacker 45’), Koscielny, Monreal, Arteta (Özil 75’), Wilshere (Flamini 71’), Cazorla, Rosicky, Gnabry, Walcott
Subs
Viviano, Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Podolski, Özil, Park, Flamini
Tottenham (4-4-2)
Lloris, Walker, Dawson, Chiriches, Rose, Eriksen, Bentaleb, Dembele, Lennon, Adebayor, Soldado (Chadli 63’)
Subs
Friedel, Capoue, Chadli, Fryers, Kane, Fredericks, Obika
Player Ratings
Fabianski - 7/10 - Not called on much, but did make a good save in the first half
Sagna - 8/10 - Dominant in defence and effective in attack
Vermaelen - 7/10 - Got booked early and had a few worrying moments, but overall did well
Koscielny - 8/10 - Added Adebayor to the collection of PL strikers in his pocket
Monreal - 7/10 - Very good again, a good defender and a great attacking threat
Arteta - 7/10 - Controlled the midfield and distributed the play expertly
Wilshere - 7/10 - Busy and caused Bentaleb all sorts of trouble
Cazorla - 8/10 - Made Kyle Walker look like a complete amateur
Rosicky - 8/10 - He just loves to sink the Sp*rs, what a guy
Gnabry - 8/10 - Hugely impressive performance from the youngster, all over Sp*rs
Walcott - 8/10 - Looked a real threat and was instrumental to the first goal
Subs
Mertesacker - 7/10 - Made of reinforced steel. You shall not pass
Flamini - 7/10 - Didn’t have to do much, gave Bentaleb an earful for his attempted stamp
Özil - N/A - Not really needed, only brought on for show to annoy the Sp*rs
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