First of all - 3 pts in the bag, well done, let's move on.
However, as was discussed in the match thread, in addition to the rather pedestrian approach play, another aspect that puts us at a disadvantage against a teams sitting deep is the relative lack of movement. There was a priceless bit of play in the 1st half when Diaby, in possession, just waited motionless for some 5 seconds at the corner of Stoke's box, because there was no movement around him.
Now it has been said that Giroud lacks the ability to make little incisive runs in behind the defence and drag the opposing defenders away, but I would like to make the point that others fail to exploit space efficiently, too. On some 3 occasions in the first half, we managed to stretch Stoke's defence to the point that a gap formed between two players, usu. their fullback and centre back, that just begged for a run to be made into, but nobody failed to spot it, in fact, nobody was even close to the gap to start a run from deep.
To cut it short, we are not sharp enough. We have not been for a good while now, in fact, for some good 1 and a half years. It is generally true that top class players are better at finding space and make decisions quicker, and that the quality of our team has been diluted; yet I still believe both the speed of approach play and fluidity of the off-the-ball movement can be improved with the personnel remaining as it is.
In other words, a part of the blame for our lack of movement and lack of urgency in our approach play must lie with the coaching. While I am in no position to judge what has been done in training, it just seems that the players are put in some sort of a comfort zone and believe that the points will come no matter what, as opposed to being pushed to their limits to improve the collective movement and the creation of chances, which, given the evidence (ie the fact that we have been static in attack for a good while) should have been acknowledged and addressed by the coaching staff.
Stoke. A study of a static attack.
posted on 2/2/13
Good article.
There definitely seems to be (at times) a distinct lack of urgency, more so at home games than away.
Of course there are multiple reasons for this, but one think I've really noticed this season is the confidence issue.
When this current Arsenal team actually get the ball, keep possesion and play their natural game, their tails are up and they'll give anybody a game. That Arsenal would comfortably finish in the top 4!
The other side of the coin is that there's a certain sense of nervousness about the team, Wenger has even (unusually for him) been quite vocal about this issue. It's something that is part of the current teams make-up and is not the kind of thing that goes away overnight. Perhaps the fact that to some degree this is a 'new' Arsenal team and they are finding their feet and identity.
posted on 2/2/13
We always have the problem to play against these park-the-bus defensive team, and these are the times that we need some long shooters like Podolski to play in the middle (CF, AMF) to get something started. We don't need beautiful goals, at least we have someone that can shoot, and only good things will happen when you have a shot on goal... deflect, rebound, 2nd chance.... passing the ball to the sides all game long won't help
posted on 2/2/13
A lot of our players were guilty of dwelling too long on the ball today/making slow sideways passes but Diaby was the worst imo. Don't get me wrong, I love how we always try to pass the ball instead of playing it into the box aimlessly. It's an amazing philosophy and I'm proud of us for sticking too it BUT sometimes it goes TOO far. Today this was the case.
We need to be more energized at the start of games, both physically and mentally. A lot of talented players out there who can win us the game by being confident enough to make a run, take a shot, go for a risky pass. Not happening often enough.
posted on 2/2/13
You know one player who would help with this problem? David fecking Villa.
posted on 2/2/13
I know he got 5 goals in 3 games, but I still think Giroud does not do enough to get in the right place and Walcotts crossing suffered today as he had no-one to aim at within his passing ability.
And with all of the posession we had today who else thinks we would have scored more with a top striker?
posted on 2/2/13
comment by ● (U4443)
posted 42 minutes ago
You know one player who would help with this problem? David fecking Villa.
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comment by I am gooner now (U16927)
And with all of the posession we had today who else thinks we would have scored more with a top striker?
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Yes, Villa would have given some improvement and yes, we might have scored more.
However I don't believe that Villa alone would have made all the runs that were 'on' today. The point I am making is that there is a lack of movement from our wide players, too, and a general lack of urgency in our play. Our slow approach play makes easier for teams such as Stoke to keep their defensive shape.