6) Aaron Ramsey could learn a lot from watching Arteta. Ramsey has great close control and makes some nice short passes, but his decision-making is often poor and his long passing needs a lot of work. Rambo often chooses to ping the ball across the pitch when he had easier options. Mikel always chooses the simplest option, with great effect. However, when he does make those superb cross-pitch passes they always come off! Aaron should probably have earned a penalty when he was brought down on the edge of the box, but we won anyway so no need to complain too much.
7) Santi Cazorla is one of the best signings of the summer. The fact that he is ambidextrous really works in his favour because he is equally skilled with both feet and nobody knows which side he will choose to shoot from. Having never watched him play in Spain, I am constantly amazed at how somebody so small can ride so many challenges and keep hold of the ball for that long. Then again, I really don’t know why I should be so surprised; Messi has been doing it for years. His goal was perfect and no more than he deserved for another outstanding performance.
8) Kieran Gibbs has picked up a thigh injury. Kieran was substituted for Andre Santos with about half an hour to go, and it looks like he might miss out on the England game next weekend.
“He has a thigh problem. He might be out for England. I believe Cole and Baines are ahead of him [in the pecking order] but it would have been a good opportunity for him to show he could have got in front of them.”
9) Theo Walcott scored his 4th goal of the season, which is all the more impressive bearing in mind that he barely starts and hasn’t really played. Theo, who had come on as a substitute for Gervinho, latched on to a fantastic through-ball from Giroud (- did I mention that Olivier also has great technical ability?) and two touches later the ball was in the back of the net. We need to get his contract sorted out quickly. I know that Wenger keeps saying that there is no rush, but I am afraid that I disagree. I don’t know why so many Arsenal fans have a problem with him and I do not think that we want to/can afford to lose him on a free transfer next summer.
“Theo has an outstanding attitude and I don’t rule anybody out. If I did then I would not bring him on in a crucial moment in the game. I believe in him. Gervinho looked a bit tired and Theo made the difference. He scored the second goal and that is the most important one.
“He slowly gets there. You’re confident now when he gets in front of goal that he will score. Of course he scored an important one today at a moment where the game was a bit 50-50.
10) Arsenal are not threatening from corners. I believe that we had around 16 corners, and nothing really came from any of them. Our new corner approach seems to be to try and target Per Mertesacker at the near post, but this only really worked on a few occasions. Santi Cazorla may be an absolutely outstanding player, but in my opinion Mikel Arteta is a better corner-taker. That is just my opinion, so feel free to say whether or not you agree with this (or my other points) in the comments section below.
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Agree with all the points except for the Ramsey one, sort of. I mean, I agree that he was looking for the Hollywood/Gerrard-style long/cross-field ball too often when a simpler option was available, but it’s not quite right to compare him with Arteta. Mikel is playing a deep, holding/defensive midfield role, where he has to keep it simple and play it safe 99% of the time – he’s just doing it in an extremely intelligent and valuable way. Ramsey is doing a box-to-box job and he is more responsible for making chances than Arteta, and consequently has to attempt more difficult passes more often – so naturally his accuracy will be lower. I don’t think Aaron made serious errors from deeper positions, it was more when he was bombing forward trying to make chances for the team. That doesn’t mean he can’t improve, but he should be looking more at Cazorla wrt the sorts of passes he should be playing around the box. No one expects him to be that good, but Cazorla does have the instints of when to keep it simple and when to go for the through pass in the sorts of positions Ramsey was getting into. A lot of it is just experience.
Should also say that the hold up play of Giroud is not dissimilar to that of Chamakh, but his movement inside the box is infinitely better, and the added confidence he has in front of goal will undoubtedly yield a solid number of goals – hopefully for a good few seasons.
I agree that Ramsey & Arteta are two completely different types of players, but that doesn’t mean that he can’t learn from him. I see your point though! Maybe watching carozla would be equally appropriate.
Also, given his current role in the Arsenal side, Arteta would be competing more with players like Busquets and Xabi Alonso than Xavi or Iniesta. I don’t think Mikel makes many chances for Arsenal directly, but makes a massive defensive contribution and always seems to pick the right pass in a congested midfield area. He doesn’t have the physical presence of Busquets or the long passing ability of Alonso, but he is still worthy of a place in the Spanish squad imo. I don’t think there are many better or more experienced backup players who could compliment the spanish side currently, and he’s definitely worth a few caps. Anyway, it’s better for us that he doesn’t get in because it means he can have a rest during international breaks, and he’s an absolutely vital player for us.
I think our best crosser from corners is almost undoubtedly the Ox-whenever he puts them in we look dangerous….plus I would prefer to have Cazorla and Arteta further back during corners to re-organise either attack or defence (respectively) should the ball be cleared.
Another point I think missed was that Gervinho looked really tired- his touch was off on numerous occasions and gave the ball away easily, although saying that recently he has shown his first touch really isn’t that great (through against Man City…)- I think Wenger is trying to shield Walcott from high performance so he doesn’t get his name put in the had for the rich clubs to go for….?
Arsenal seem to have dropped the short corner system that they employed the last couple ofm years? The big German is an obvious target ,but he doesn’t win the ball enough in those situations.