arsenal-fulham analysis

As we're unlikely to see terraces again at football, this is the virtual equivalent where you can chat to your hearts content about all football matters and, obviously, Arsenal in particular. This forum encourages all Gooners to visit and contribute so please keep it respectful, clean and topical.
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tomkingsbury
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arsenal-fulham analysis

Post by tomkingsbury »

So first day of the season, and 3 points. We played ineffectively but still won the game - a mark of champions??
Despite the early kick off, the day was generally a good crack. Once the rocket opened, it was pleasing to see the booze flowing and plenty of anti-spudz chants and the odd chopra one!
Moving onto the game, we didnt play that well, and yet again we left it late, and all goals came in the same end just like last season. Im sure if Lehmann hadnt cocked up tho we would have won 2-0, but we just put ourselves under instant pressure; people will say cos its Lehmann, its him being him, but i think 9/10 he would have spread the ball to the right. As for players, thought fabregas and RvP were lacking (mainly due to his lone role), however i think hleb showed that he isnt a wide player- thats prob why he plays inconsistently most of the time. Playin behind RvP he offered more, got more invloved and actually had a few shots which is encouraging; id like to see him playing more in an attacking central role to see if he can do as well as today. Sagna and Eboue combined well and looked good, although id prefer a natural wide player on the rigt. Likewise Theo was lookin very ordinary - i think wenger's belief in playing him wide is wasted on theo, again i think playing him more centrally up front would give him his most favoured position and certainly more confidence which he looks low on. Bendtner looked promising, a potential target man like adebayor and both are very skillful.
Nearly done! we were famed for our fast transition and flow from defence to attack; we almost seem to play at a lower tempo these days - maybe its teams playing with 9 behind the ball but we certainly dont have the same impetus.
Lastly, is it just me or is there a connection between goals being scored by us at the end where the most chanting happens??
Thought son today anyone....???
please :oops:

Chunky The Gooner
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Post by Chunky The Gooner »

I dont like one man upfront and especially at home! Im glad we got something out of the match. It seemed liked Fulham tried to time waste from about 20 minutes into the game probably even earlier. Sagna and Eboue did some good link up play. I though Gallas didnt win enough ariel challenges but we got 2 more points than we did have at the same stage last season! :wink:

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I Hate Hleb
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Post by I Hate Hleb »

THE DEFENCE STILL NEEDS WORK. GAVE UP WAY TOO MANY CHANCES CONSIDERING THE QUALITY OF THE OPPOSITION. FULHAM MUST HAVE HAD 5 OR 6 DECENT CHANCES AND COULD HAVE PUT THE GAME BEYOND OUR REACH WITH THAT DEMPSEY CHANCE JUST BEFORE WE EQUALISED.

TOMAS ROSICKY WAS DANGEROUS THROUGH-OUT THE TIME HE WAS ON, AND ALTHOUGH HLEB PLAYED WELL, I WOULD HAVE PREFERRED IT IF WE HAD STARTED WITH TWO UP TOP, AS I FELT ROBIN WAS LESS EFFECTIVE ON HIS TODD.

EBOUE DID OKAY IN THE FIRST HALF AND WAS QUIET IN THE SECOND. I STILL DON'T THINK HE IS THE ANSWER TO THE WIDTH PROBLEM, AND APART FROM A COUPLE OF NICE LINK-UPS IN THE FIRST HALF WITH SAGNA (WHO WAS VERY GOOD TODAY BY THE WAY), DIDN'T PROVIDE ENOUGH GOING FORWARD. CERTAINLY NOT AS MUCH AS A PROPER WINGER WOULD. AND I LOST COUNT OF THE TIMES HE DRIFTED INSIDE WHEN WE HAD THE BALL, INSTEAD OF STAYING OUT WIDE TO STRETCH THE PLAY.

AS FOR EBOUE HELPING SAGNA OUT WITH DEFENCE - NOT A CHANCE!! THE GUY WAS STOOD FORTY YARDS AHEAD, IN A MORE CENTRAL POSITION RATHER THAN WIDE RIGHT, AND I ONLY REMEMBER ONE OCCASION WHEN HE TRACKED BACK TO HELP OUT THE DEFENDERS. IF THE MAIN REASON FOR PLAYING EBOUE IN MIDFIELD IS IN ORDER TO GIVE THE RIGHT-BACK MORE HELP, HE CERTAINLY DIDN'T DO A GOOD ENOUGH JOB OF IT TODAY, IN MY OPINION.

FLAMINI. WHO I AM NOT A BIG FAN OF, WAS SUPERB AND HIS PASSING WAS MUCH BETTER TODAY. ARSENAL'S MAN OF THE MATCH IN MY OPINION. 8) :lol: :wink:

OH, I ALMOST FORGOT. KOLO TOURE WAS ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT AND BACK TO HIS BEST!! 8) :lol: :wink:

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All_Arsenal_1886
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Post by All_Arsenal_1886 »

I thought we looked nervous at the start, the 1st goal in 2 minutes didn't help. I thought otherwise that our football at times was amamzing and at other times frustrating, Arsene Wengers subs was good and at the right time i think Walcott gave us some extra pace down the side and Bendtner troubled Fulhams defence more so than RvP Who to be honest i wasn't best pleased with his proformance yesterday, If he is going to be top goal scorer he needs to to shoot when he see's the goal, time after time he took an extra touch, although he stepped up and took the pen with confindence.

Helb for me was our best player, made some good runs (and they was at goal), his passing was good awell and the goal was great carmly taken.

So Arsenal have 3pts i wanted a thrashing of Fulham but i will settle for that 2-1 i'm happy with the preformance and think it proves we are up for the fight.

Leigh On Eea Gooner
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Post by Leigh On Eea Gooner »

Sorry chaps ..take the rose tinted glasses off.
A well orgnaized Fulham team probably should have won .
I wasn't happy with a lot of things yesterday so let's get my rant off my chest .
Hate playing 1 up front especially at home . Gives the opposition defence too easy a time . doesn't suit RVP at all & to say Wengers sub's were great seems a little misplaced to me . When we are 1 nil down & we turn to 2 18 year old sub's who haven't scored a oremership goal between them seems a little desperate even on the 1st day of the season . I think the manager got it wrong from the start & we were lucky to get 3 points as a result . I didn't think helb played well either . his job in that formation is to create chances & to score . He is lightweight & I don't like to see him & Rosicky in the same 11. Eboue was shown up for what he is .. A average right back playing out of position & even Cesc looked a little heavy legged. I hate to say i told you so but we are LIGHTWEIGHT up front ... I don't care too much about the defence as we should be scoring more at the other end so it's not a worry .. Martin's or Anelka should have been bought & i fear we have the makings of a similar season to the last .

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tomkingsbury
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Post by tomkingsbury »

When we are 1 nil down & we turn to 2 18 year old sub's who haven't scored a oremership goal between them seems a little desperate even on the 1st day of the season . I think the manager got it wrong from the start & we were lucky to get 3 points as a result . I didn't think helb played well either . his job in that formation is to create chances & to score .
Considering others were injured, exactly who could we have put on the bench besides our 'younger' players? I think everyone agrees we played poorly but we were by far the better team. Hleb played extremely well - he created, should have got a penalty, had a few shots and scored, os in that department he met ur criteria 8)
Anyway, have to agree with u about the 4-5-1 thing, RvP aint an out and out striker, and we looked better once we moved towards a 4-4-2.
Lets keep it poisitve tho, its encouraging at least - even tho we beat fulham last year (this comment may seem a little odd) last season this game we would have drawn so heads up!! :D

Leigh On Eea Gooner
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Post by Leigh On Eea Gooner »

Yes he did score .. Perhaps earlier then the 90 th minute may improve my mood., The shot he had from 8 yards out in the first half in front of goal is still grating with me a little. Guess my main points are never play with 1 up front .. Don't play Rosicky & Helb in same team .. We are lightweight up front ..
Worryingly for me i started the game on the edge of my seat & after 50-60 mins I was sat back watching something I've seen hundred's of times before from us .
I accept this is small rant but surely wenger see's what i see ?!?!?!

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donaldo
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Post by donaldo »

One man upfront just did not work.Look at the difference when Bendtner came on.RVP was isolated on his own you could see how frustrated he was.I also dont like Eboue on the right of midfield,He didn"t seem to know where he was playing most of the time.Once again it showed we need a natural wide man.I would have started Theo especially against a team like Fulham.

Am i the only Gooner who thinks Lehmann is pass his sell by date just like Seaman at the end of his career. If we hadn"t have scored in the final minute his horrendous mistake would have cost us two points.

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RaM
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Post by RaM »

I didn't think helb played well either .
Hleb played well! How can you say he didn't?

I do agree with you about 4-5-1 though, RVP just isn't the sort of striker who can carry it all hmself, hes much better in combination with another striker.

Eboue should not be our first choice right winger. Simple as that.

Nothing wrong with using Walcott/Bendtner in my opinion. What do you expect Wenger to do? Send them out on loan?

And what is wrong with Rosicky/Hleb playing in the starting 11?

Leigh On Eea Gooner
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Post by Leigh On Eea Gooner »

Our midfield looked like an under 11's team .... I don't think a midfield of Cesc .. Flam .. Rosicky ..Helb ..Eboue ..walcott .. gilberto will contribute enough goals to mount a realistic title challenge. There I've said it !!

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RaM
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Post by RaM »

We certainly do need a winger, and I'd love for the Pederson rumours to be true!

Rilo II
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Post by Rilo II »

Surprised no one has mentioned Clichy yet. He had a massive game and in my eyes is one of our best players.
I was happy with Sagna's performance, nice to see him winning a lot in the air.
I fell it's harsh to criticise Hleb. He did lose the ball a fair few times and played some poor passes as usual, but all in all I think he had a good game. Can't forgive his miss in the first half, though. He should have made yesterday a lot less stressful.

Leigh On Eea Gooner
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Post by Leigh On Eea Gooner »

Good point about Clichy .. man of the match for us.

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Robsy
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Post by Robsy »

Here's my 10p's worth...

POSITIVES:

Sagna looked solid
Clichy looked quick
Rosicky looked sharp and direct
Bendtner gave us different options and helped change the game
The win

NEGATIVES:

4-5-1 was too negative for the opening home game
Flamini disappeared in the first half
Cesc seemed off the pace for most of the second half
I think Hleb was lucky not to have been subbed off
Eboue wasn't all that in midfield (although at least when he lost the ball it was more often than not in Fulham's half)


It was a very satisfying result after all Fulham's time wasting and then their supporters singing "Thierry Henry" as a piss-take. I thought Sanchez talked rubbish after the game and to be honest I now pretty much hate Fulham, whereas before I had no opinion of them.

I know that people are frustrated by our desire to make every game tough for ourselves, but at least we showed some bollocks in coming back from being a goal down. We kept playing right up until the final whistle and we've started the season with a win - it took 4 matches last year!

I think Bendtner looked great and gave us a completely different way of attacking. He's tall, strong and wants to have a pop whenever he can.

All in all it was a good opening weekend for us (the Manwho & Sp*rs results were great!)

Magic Hat
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Post by Magic Hat »

In defence of the formation, who do we play up front with Van Persie? Walcott or Bentendar? What if they get injured? What about prepreaing for away game in three days time?

As for Hleb, he did score and should have won a penalty, he isn't the best shooter but he is improving. Admittedly Motd isn't always the best for analysing a game so may have missed something

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