Young Gunners lacking in spirit
When I got home and rewound the Sky gadget to hear the pundits pile such slavering post-match praise upon the Blues gallant second-half performance, I realised why I felt so perturbed.
Sure there was always likely to be an appreciable difference in the commitment levels of a Chelsea team desperately clinging to their title prospects and an Arsenal side with so little to play for. Yet there was a time when the mere tag of top London dog was sufficient motivation for the Gunners and a fired-up home crowd would be guaranteed to generate a cauldron-like atmosphere.
The pre-match mood certainly seemed suitable for just such an occasion however sadly, once inside the ground our crowd seems to struggle to generate that really intense atmosphere of the sort that served Liverpool so well at Anfield a few nights earlier.
The Scousers seem to instinctively know when they’re required to do their bit and they react accordingly to create a good old-fashioned atmosphere, of the sort that had me feeling envious last Tuesday night. Whereas sitting in our comfy seats, it seems to me that we have far too many punters who don’t seem to appreciate that they’ve a part to play, by creating the sort of intensity which can actually influence proceedings on the pitch. You’d have to credit the Liverpool crowd for creating the cracking atmosphere that inspired last week’s triumph, whereas to date our crowd has only ever reacted to events on the pitch.
In which respect, they haven’t given us too much to get excited about this season. It just about says it all that the high point of Sunday afternoon was the euphoric celebrations of ref Wiley’s acknowledgment that Baptista had been brought down in the box and his subsequent sending off of Boulahrouz. And apart from his four-goal haul at Anfield in the Carling Cup, it just about sums up Baptista’s ineffectiveness that this was perhaps his most significant impact on our season.
I suppose Arsène is duty bound to do so, but I can hardly recall a press conference where Le Prof hasn’t referred to the spirit within his current squad.
Well there wasn’t much evidence of it in the second-half on Sunday, where they were presented with a perfect opportunity to reap some long-awaited revenge on a Chelsea side that has made Gooner lives so miserable, with our monotonous diet of crow these past few seasons. I’m the last person to be lauding the Blues, but I wish this Arsenal side had half the spirit that we saw from Michael Essien with his colossal second-half performance.
Standing opposite us on the touchline, gesticulating like a nutter, Wenger looked none too pleased that the majority of his team were seemingly content just to see this game out.
While our much-esteemed manager might not be found wanting, it would appear as if Wenger is struggling to transmit the same levels of desire amongst some of his troops.
I enjoy watching us produce those intricate, one-touch passing patterns as much as the next lover of the beautiful game being played at its best. But as has been the case for far too long now, we’ve made life much too easy for our opponents, as they need only to frustrate Plan A, knowing only too well that the Arsenal have no Plan B.
If ever we were guilty of tactical naivety, Sunday seemed a case in point, at least from where I sat.
On our wide pitch, with an extra-man and with legs tiring in the second-half, we should have had Chelsea chasing shadows. Yet with no natural wide men in our side and with our full-backs only showing limited ambition, instead of taking advantage of the situation, by stretching Chelsea to the limits of our large playing surface, we continued to try and pass our way through the heart of the visitor’s formidable core.
By the end, there was only one team trying to win this game and sadly that wasn’t the Arsenal. If you didn’t know better, judging by the last half an hour, you would’ve thought we were the team that was down to ten and playing with only one up front.
Despite Adebayor’s best efforts, there’s no benefit to be gained from winning a knock down in the air, when there isn’t a teammate within twenty yards.
As I lingered after the final whistle on Sunday for the players to come back out for their ‘lap of appreciation’, I instinctively applauded with the rest of my fellow Gooners. But at the same time, I couldn’t help but think that not all of them deserved such appreciation, as sadly there are far too few amongst them, from whom I get the sense that the Arsenal means as much as it does to me. http://goonersdiary.blogspot.com
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