Arsenal FINALLY using a “Plan B” to good effect!
“Nobody can play beautiful football all the time,” Robin van Persie commented ahead of the match against Aston Villa, “I tell our lads ‘If it’s not happening for you, just try to kill off the game so we can move on.’”
Rarely does Arsenal score from a set-piece. Even rarer yet does Arsenal win matches with goals from set pieces and long shots. Recently though, we have seen Arsenal win matches by these means.
Against Aston Villa, a penalty from van Persie and a goal from a corner kick by Yossi Benayoun got us a crucial 2-1 win. Against Everton, van Persie’s spectacular volley from Alex Song’s long ball was the only goal in a 1-0 victory. In the match away to Wigan, it was Mikel Arteta’s long shot and Thomas Vermaelen’s goal from a corner kick that gave Arsenal the eventual 4-0 thumping. Further back, the game against Borussia Dortmund was made safe by a goal from a corner kick with van Persie bringing the score to 2-0.
That does not mean that Arsenal have forgotten the beautiful style of playing either. Intricate passing and movement is still exhibited by this Arsenal side, but it is only employed when it is necessary and most importantly workable. This means that Arsenal are finally able to use plan B – that is, set pieces, long-ranged efforts among others – to get results. Especially at present with fixture congestion forcing the team to play many games in a short span of time, “smash and grab” wins are important and achievable using a more direct approach to the game.
We all love watching beautiful football from the gunners – in fact, many people even began supporting the club because of this love – but sometimes, grinding out results by a more physical and direct approach is not a bad thing either. Finding a balance is key to achieving good results, and Arsenal have gone a step further towards this with a “plan B” always available.
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First!!!!! And yeah <<that right there is not needed here, but, i was first!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yeha!!!! and yeah thumbs up if you love arsenal and think there gonna win the champions league and fa cup this season!! i know they will, cmon, its arsenal we are talking about
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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Despite what the haters will tell you the team is stronger this season than when we had Fab and Na$ri. This team is made up of winners and not celebrities. The guys are willing to dig-in and grind out a win, that is what champions are made of.
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I agree with LT….the team also looks more together than before i guess when youth meets experience thats what happens
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I don’t know why but I think this year arsenal will be like the A’s in the movie Moneyball. They lose all their good players and replace them with winners and cheaper players.
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Out of tune?. Like or Dislike:
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I am an apostle of sexy football and love arsenal 4 that.but since it has not been giving us trophies,there is need 2 find a solution. d solution i believe is what we are seeing 2day.play beautiful footbal mixed wit ugly footbal if it matter and get a result.i wil never cease 2 praise veira 4 his attitude 2 arsemal cause during his arsenal days.that is d kind of players we need at this stage.those that hav d spirit of vermalin.
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We did it. We gritted our teeth, and earned the 3 points. Please give me a few minutes to run through some player ratings:
Szczesny – 7 – did well, made some good saves, and dealt with crosses well. Great confidence.
Coquelin – 5 – Struggled against N’Zogbia but became better as the game wore on. Not his natural position.
Mertesacker – 7- Solid enough. Maybe if I’m being critical he could have done better with the goal.
Koscielny ( or Bosscielny) – 8 – Great performance from him again, he’s turning into an absolute machine.
Vermalean – Did well at left back, but was at fault for their goal.
Frimpong – 4 – He was poor on the ball, and largely anonymous off it. I think he should go on loan in January.
Arteta – 8 – The only midfielder out of the three who started that did well. Very classy and good passing.
Ramsey – 5 – Not his night, he’s trying to think to much about what to do.
Walcott – 5 – no service, mostly due to the lack of full – backs. Won the penalty very well indeed.
Van Persie – 7 – 1 goal, 1 assist. Had some very nice touches, and should have had a second penalty which was harshly ruled away for simulation.
Gervinho – 5 – again, no service. Drifted out of the game, as did Theo.
Rosicky – 8 – came on and helped us keep possession, made a real impact IMO.
Arshavin – 4 – It was his shot which led to the second goal from the corner. Yeah. That was all.
Benayoun – 8 – Yossi Benayoun! Benayoun! Yossi Benayoun ! Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na! Played really well in his short time on the field, and he grabbed the winner.
We didn’t deserve the points, we were pretty poor. But it’s a good sign that we were able to grind out the win. How many times have United done that in the past few years? Elz. Gooner till I die.
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But very honestly,I do miss the beautiful football with fab…But we will have more creativity when our wonder boy Jack returns…Up the Gunners
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We can exhaust all alphabetical plans for all I care. Just as long as we get the win. By the end of the day, that’s what counts.
Kill off the game, get the 3 pts. Move on!
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We all will be happy if arsenal win ugly…3 points every in match is what we need!!
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I did not watch the match, so I can’t say much about it. But well done guys for giving us the 3points. We need more. Up gooners.
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I love Arsenal because of the classy beautiful game….thanks to wenger.
The Everton Arsenal game was so good but Arsenal had sloppy plays…..very.
Very happy with Cocquelin, fantastic to watch.
The defence is so solid in Arsenal, no need to criticise the players at all. Verminator, Koscielny, marte do alot and sometimes its just bad luck.
have alittle problem with ramsey though, he gets tired so quickly but he can be creative.
Arsenal have a good midfield substitution” Rosicky, Yossi, Ox chambo who can play nice football..BUT the question is, why does Wenger sometimes play ramsey for 90 minutes yet there is great substitution?????
We have seen what Chamberlain can do….fantastic footballer……Remember Jeremy Aliadiere’s foot work?? it made Arsenal win yet he was young.
Wenger should give Chamberlain more chances at the first team.
FYI Walcott should do more……nothing personal but he does disappoint sometimes….got speed but no talent or skill.
ASNL 4 lyf
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i think frimpong should not even see the pitch. roscky over ramesy in our next game. ramesy needs some good rest benyoun ovag gervinho in the next game he was so poor so if we keep playing him he will becme an arshavin
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Arteta man of the match for me congra…to the team..but this guy everytime his on the pitch looks like he wants to die on the pitch aither then finish the game as a looser..we coming 4 u spuds…be ready we taking u down gunner till i die..
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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I agree, this team is far more willing to go the extra mile, than last seasons team. Although we looked kinda fatigued against Villa (perhaps the game on Sunday took it out of our players physically and emotionally) we had the reinforcements playing their hearts out to bring us victory.
We have also been able to see what works and what doesn’t. I really think Benayoun and Rosicky need a first team start as they look to be more creative and direct.
Ramsey and Arteta need a break I think. Let’s see what Rosicky and Benayoun can do in a full 90 minutes. And for crying out loud play AOC.
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I like this team they can always bring good results from all sides.arsenal go and score many goals and dont forget to kill games then show them football. lastly sir wenger henry is good bring him back we need him.
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Just looking at the stats against City. It was actually a very even game, they had 1 more shot on target (5 – 4) than us and one more shot on goal (9 – 8). We had way more crossings.
I just wish we started the season with the unison we have in our team now. I’m sure we would be first. Anyway, at least we know we are on the right track now. The future looks bright. Perhaps we could even take United over. Is that asking too much? One thing is for sure we can’t let the spuds finish above us!
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Why is everyone soo hard on AA23??
Form is temporary…class is permenant! and when AA23 is in form he is phenominal(liverpool(4goals)and barcalona)personally i think he is a very very good player and deserves a second chance… not just as a sub but he needs a full game to show us what we bought him for! play him in behind Van the man with walcott on the right and gervinho on the left
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I wouldn’t call Alex Song’s assist a long pass, it was more a dink over the defence
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We are much better than the last few seasons no question. As noted above, we now have winners rather than celebrities. Our sexy footy will come back when Wilshire comes in and the boss need to bring somebody in as a good creative mid. Now about our grinding or ugly win, I’d put that down to our skipper, VP and the experience surrounding him. With Fab in the team last season we might have been better to have VP as the captain. If we can get a Creative mid and some one like podoski then I think we are going to rum the league.
As for Frimpong, the poor man had a tough game but he tried. He need a few gamed to get full confidence. He was filling in for Song who’s at the top of his game so he tried to do maybe a bit more than necessary but I think with more games comes the understanding, relaxation and can start to enjoy the game. I have faith in him. All in all very pleased with the direction we are carving out n pls VP extend your contract. This is your own new project see it through and pls Arsenal board pay the guy his worth. Peace to all gooners worldwide
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this team is alot different than what we have had for a few years,we do have plan b…
we still do need a another good striker,jack and sagna back kwikly…..we do have some exciting yung guns aswell.kind ov glad fab n nasri have gone i can see us going places without the drama now…
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i absolutely agree with lt.glad we sold na$ri.arsenal is better without him.
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@ LT…i was the 100th thumps up mate!!!!………well said… its been intresting to note that with arteta… per … santos in side…we are not referred as “BOYS” anymore… we played ours skins off in both ManC matches… I am just loving it…;)
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I wont even say anything else, JUST PLAY AOC!!!!!
at least sub him for gervinho in such games!!
GunaFoLIFE!!
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