Arsenal v. Man U: their first half was better than our second
Arsenal’s First Half v. Man U
Man U first half v. Arsenal
Arsenal’s second half v. Man U
Man U second half v. Arsenal
I don’t want to be too simplistic but looking at the FourFourTwo Stats Zone Powered By Opta* application on my iPad I noticed a few things.
First, simply put, Arsenal’s first half was very poor in terms of passes in the final third against Man U but was, when compared to Man U’s second half, pretty much a wash. Except! They scored a goal in their period of profligacy and Arsenal didn’t.
Second, Arsenal’s second half was superior to their first half but the amount of rebound fell well short of the effort Man U put into their first half. Arsenal attempted just 68 passes in the Man U final third compared to Man U’s 100 passes in Arsenal’s final third in the first half. Still! Both teams scored just one goal in both of those halves.
Third, you can see how Man U targeted the right back in both halves but how Yennaris was better equipped to deal with the threat in the second than Djourou was in the first.
And finally, the debate will continue to rage over Wenger’s substitution of Arshavin for Ox but don’t see a huge drop in passes in the final third after the Ox’s sub. Arsenal still completed 25/31 in those final 15 minutes which is nearly half the attacking passes in the second half in just the last 15 minutes. But! Defensively, is where Arsenal failed there. United completed just 11/20 passes in the Arsenal final third in the last 15 minutes of the game but crucially, they completed 7/7 passes in Arsenal’s final third from the moment that the Ox was subbed to the moment that Welbeck scored — including the three in the build-up to the goal.
One sub, seven minutes, seven passes, one goal.
Is that the lack of concentration that we keep hearing about? Is this just down to Arshavin? What else do you see?
*I’m being silly in mentioning the entire name. I was NOT paid to put this here. In fact, I paid for the damn app myself. Grrrr…**
**I also was not paid by Apple to mention the iPad. GRRRRRR…
Comments
Seems as plain as the nose on yer face (whatever that means). I really wanted to like Arshavin, I really did. But he’s just like your mate who drinks too much, eventually loses everything, says he’ll change but shows up at his daughters dance recital hammered. Sometimes you just have to say enough is enough and wave goodbye.
Watch, now he’ll go and hit a brace on Sunday.
@Gooneryank, Yes. Arshavin is like an alcoholic, delinquent father.
What it says to me is that the gripe we should have with Wenger regarding first XI selection should be far greater than the one over AOC’s substitution. I would rather a third choice RB start at RB than a fourth choice CB. Not only did he improve our defending, but there appears to be more activity in the final third on the right side too. A solid 45 from Yennaris and I hope he gets the minutes ongoing over Djourou. [I believe I read somewhere though that this wasn't tactical,but that Djourou had a little strain? Anyone with info on that?]
@11cannons, Jamie Sanderson mentioned that I believe
@LMG, cheers LMG. Hope Yennaris gets the nod on Sunday regardless.
@LMG, Here Wenger says it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy-WHfIqECY Although hearing him, makes it sound like he’s just defending Djourou
@LMG, Thanks again. I don’t suppose it really matters either way at this point, but it’s hard to know whether Wenger made a tactical change or whether it was forced by injury. It would be nice to think that he saw Djourou was getting overrun and decided to put on a player more familiar with the tactics and positioning of being a fullback, rather than a CB who really only gets minutes right now based on injuries.
I’ve seen it characterized that Wenger’s subs are prescriptive and I guess I’m just hoping that the switch to Yennaris was indeed tactical so as to challenge that notion. Mourinho would have made that change 15 minutes in, if he’d started with Djourou in the first place.
@11cannons, But as you may be suggesting, it could be that Wenger is sparing Djourou a little by saying it was an injury, and not that he’s a crap fullback.
But based on the AW interview and the Jamie Sanderson tweet it would appear JD was legitimately hobbled. Which, to be honest, is a little disappointing. That too, matters little, if it means Yennaris gets the nod and Sagna comes back soon, both of which I sincerely hope are the case.
@11cannons, I think it is that. I don’t mean to sound all stalker-y lol but I feel like we have the same line of thinking for many decisions we take in our lives. And one principle I live with is that as leader of my team, they take credit for the work they’ve earned because they’ve rightly earned it and if someone messes up, well then it’s my fault for having delegated the task, not theirs. He routinely defends his player and the club in general.
@11cannons, On that note, I feel like you have to read between the lines for truly understanding Wenger. People make fun of him for not “seeing things” but that’s his obvious way of saying we did something negative. He obviously loves the club having recently turned down PSG and Real Madrid for it and so is willing to take flak for it. Remember “any club who would sell players like Nasri and Fabregas have no ambition…” or something of that nature? I took it as his way of saying the board’s doing things he doesn’t want happening OR his way of telling us things are going down the shitter atm and wants us to shift our goals and views of the stature of the club in general.
While it’s easy to say now that Wenger should have just picked Yennaris from the start instead of Djourou, don’t forget that it was still a risk. Making your league debut against Man U is no small thing, and if Nani had torn the youngster apart early on Wenger would have been pilloried as well.
@Eurazian, It’s easy to say because it is blatantly obvious. Yennaris is third choice RB and has looked good when he has played previously. Djourou is a fourth choice in a different position and has never really looked comfortable out there.
Of course it is a risk. But is it really a bigger risk that playing Djourou out of position? Isn’t it a risk to play all of your only fit CB’s week in week out over the most grueling period in European football?
The substitution for Ox obviously left a lot of us scratching, and a few days later I was still curious. Just to advocate devilishly, he obviously saw that Ox was getting low, and I can already hear what we would have said if Ox had gotten injured out there. Players get injured when they are not game fit. AW obviously doesn’t think he is game fit yet, and why would he be, he hasn’t played an entire match at that level yet, against that kind of opponent. It was a bad call, because Arshavin is bum, and AW needs to cut the chord. I’ve heard a ton of other substitutions that he could have made, or on-field switches, but this is the one he made, and while I do think it cost the match, AW hasn’t lost the plot. He just made a bad sub. There was a time not too long ago when this team was on an upswing, and we were all confessing our ignorance at calling for AW’s head on a platter. Now we seem to be calling for it again. The difference between a month ago and now? Injuries, and AW was trying to avoid another injury, which translates for me clearly that the Ox is a part of the future, and he didn’t want to risk it.
The situation is..
1) ManU were without their marquee signings of the season. (Jones 15mins and No Young)
2) Nani had not given a goal or assist for 5 weeks
3) Rooney had not scored in 5 weeks
4) The midfield was devoid of an imposer…carrick?
5) Evans and Smalling probably the weaker of all defensive pairing ManU had..
I think we were outdone by an inform Valencia and by our own ability to not take chances…nothing more..nothing less. I think the person who could have stepped up the game was Song..as like to like he was against the worst opposition on paper. A few dispossession and misplaced distribution did it for him…
I think that is one of the reasons for Arsenal final third even in the second half where they held more posession in midfield seem to be pushing the ball sideways without an inch forward.
Have not had a chance to re-run the game…ManU were not pressing really..but was Song as coming out as much he is usually..???
@Cliffy, Don’t know how much I’d advise for Song to venture forward when we start the game with two CB’s at fullback and two wingers who aren’t known for their defensive support.
not a single pass from our own half into the final third that reached its intended target…