Sport-Blog.com
|
Sports News: ESPN | SI Leagues & Associations: NFL | NHL | MLB NBA | PGA | USTA Archives: Other: Resources |
<< Home
Negative tactics once again frustrated Arsenal
Monday, October 30, 2006
Arsenal 1 Everton 1
28 Oct 2006
For three seasons now, this is how managers tell their teams to play Arsenal: put ten men behind the ball; do not give them any space; the main objective is to destroy, not create; tackle them hard, kick them if necessary; waste a lot of time... As Arsene Wenger told reporters, "It seems we will have that all season where teams play 4-4-2 everywhere they play and then come to play us and play 4-5-1."
That was what Everton did, and it worked again. It was hard to blame Everton though, as they were thrashed by the Gunners 7 - 0 only 18 months ago. David Moyes knew full well what Arsenal could do if you let them play. Reading let them play and look what happened to them. They were hammered. Even a team like Man U could not cope. Arsenal went to Old Trafford, Man U gave them space, and Arsene Wenger promptly handed the Red Devils their first defeat of the season.
The Arsenal manager was less than impressed by Everton's time wasting, "From first to last their goalkeeper was placing goal kicks from the left then moving them to the right and they were standing in front of the ball at free-kicks. It was negative but that's the game. It was like a film you have seen 10 times. It's becoming boring."
Simply take a look at the match stats, and you will see how dominant Arsenal were. 16 corners to Everton's 3. 26 goal attempts to Everton's measly 2. But Everton's defence held firm, despite an Arsenal onslaught in the last 15 minutes, when there were only two Arsenal defenders on the field. Wenger sent on Theo Walcott and Jeremie Aliadiere, which means there were four Arsenal strikers on the pitch. Wenger knew how important it was to get all three points as Chelsea and Man U had already won.
It was understandable that Arsenal fans were frustrated, but it was shocking to hear some fans venting their frustration on Captain Thierry Henry. But Henry was not going to stop playing the beautiful football now associated with Arsenal. As he told reporters after the match that he would rather "die" than to play ugly.
Arsenal probably had the upcoming Champions League match in mind on Saturday, and Henry was told to conserve energy. CSKA Moscow defeated Arsenal 1 -0 in Moscow, and it is important for the Gunners to win on Tuesday to not make a once easy group stage difficult.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said, "It was very frustrating, but we shouldn't have conceded the goal in the way we did. Everton deserve the credit for the way the defended. They were very intelligent and once they went 1-0 up they never came out. When you play like we play we have the ability to open up teams and punish them, but unfortunately we weren't able to do that today."
Everton manager David Moyes was proud of his players, "The lads showed great character and there is a bug doing the rounds and I may have to give them a few days off to recover. All the lads who have played with injuries and illness need a pat on the back for their performances. It's great for the lads to come here and get a result, especially the way they played against Reading last week."
Credits have to be given to Everton for a disciplined defensive display. I do not like the way they played, but it is possibly the only way they could play to get anything out of the match. American goalkeeper Tim Howard made an outstanding save to make sure his team earn a hard fought point at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal:
Jens Lehmann, Johan Djourou (Theo Walcott), William Gallas, Justin Hoyte (Mathieu Flamini), Kolo Toure, Cesc Fabregas, Aleksandr Hleb (Jeremie Aliadiere), Tomas Rosicky, Gilberto Silva, Thierry Henry, Robin van Persie
Goal: Robin van Persie 71.
Everton:
Tim Howard, Joleon Lescott, Phil Neville, Alan Stubbs, Joseph Ikpo Yobo, Mikel Amatriain Arteta, Tim Cahill, Lee Carsley, Simon Davies, Leon Osman, Andrew Johnson
Goal: Tim Cahill 11.
Referee: Riley, M
Venue: Emirates Stadium
Attendance: 60,047
Corners: Arsenal: 16Everton: 3
Goal Attempts: Arsenal: 26 Everton: 2
On Target: Arsenal: 12 Everton: 2
8:53 PM
Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home
