Arsenal battled for the full 90 minutes, like their lives depended on it. They controlled the midfield and at times in the second half you could see Jenas and co just give up on the ball and not even bother to chase back when they lost possession for the umpteenth time.
Arsenal will get about fifteen shots on goal, but they won't score until about half an hour in. My instincts tell me that we'll score twice: once from a counter-attack and once from a penalty area scramble. I don't see Arsenal conceding.
Arsenal put together eleven shots, which is much lower than recent games at the Grove, but you could argue that the completion percentage was superior. I predicted Arsenal would score after half an hour but it only took 20 minutes for Adebayor to put them in front. It was actually a typically Henry-type goal, a breakaway, finding space between the two centre backs and curling the ball across the keeper into the far right side of the net. The defence played well, especially the emerging Djourou.
What Arsenal Need: On the technical side: Arsenal need to maintain their width in attack, with the full backs overlapping as often as possible. They need to tackle with enthusiasm and passion and once they win possession of the ball they need to counter-attack with pace. In defence, they need to concentrate at set pieces and protect Lehmann at corners.
The full backs overlapped well, but defended intelligently too. Clichy deserves special credit for marking Lennon out of the game. Rosicky and Ljungberg both worked well on the flanks, as did Hleb when he replaced the injured Rosicky. Sadly, he's been ruled out of the FC Porto game. Arsenal looked to attack wherever possible, but maintained the concentration in defence.
On the psychological side: Arsenal need to battle like their lives depend on it, but if things go against them like referee's decisions, they need to keep their heads. Equally, they need to be positive throughout and play with that swagger and confidence that they did in the Champions League last year.
I was so proud of the work they put in today. They hassled for every 50-50 ball, made well-timed hard tackles and worked for eachother. It was another workman-like performance just like the wins at Old Trafford and the Bernabeu. They were positive but not arrogant.
Things To Watch Out For: I'll be interested to see how well the referee controls the match. There's sure to be some crunching tackles and I hope he's sensible enough not to throw around ten or twelve yellow cards and end up sending someone off. I'm sure we'll see the usual histrionics from the girls from up the road, but that's just par for the course with them isn't it?
I haven't seen the off-side or handball calls on Match of The Day yet but in the general play I didn't feel that Poll was particularly generous to Arsenal. Numerous times he didn't play the advantage when Arsenal had the ball at their feet after another cheap foul from the visitors. I felt a number of players in white deserved to be booked during the match, especially Keane for a pathetic professional foul late on.
Hopes For The Match: I hope all of the home fans appreciate the significance of this game and get behind the team, as the atmosphere tomorrow will be citical. We know the Gunners are under a certain amount of pressure so we need to let them know we're behind them and also how much the result means to us.
The atmoshpere at the Grove was amazing today and at times it sent shivers down my spine. In recent years so many Arsenal players with good songs have left or retired. If you think about it we can't sing Vieira Vieira he comes from Senegal, there's only one Dennis Bergkamp... walking in a Bergkamp wonderland, Ole Ole Ole Ole Jose Jose, Super Robert Pires, there's only one Keown, oh ah ray Parlour etc etc. It'll take time for every one of the young Gunners to get songs everyone likes and goes along with. Anyway, today the fans were great.
Although I'd like to see a few more Englishmen in the squad, I have no issues with having a squad of internationals. My only hope for the internationals is that they all understand our passionate and primeval rivalry with those up the Seven Sisters Road.
Arsenal's starting line up were drawn from the following countries: Germany, Ivory Coast, Switzerland, Ivory Coast, France, Sweden, Spain, Brazil, Czech Republic, Holland, Togo. But you could sense that every player knew the importance of the North London Derby, especially the first of it's kind in the new home.
| My team selection for this game: van Persie Rosicky, Gilberto, Baptista, Fabregas, Hleb Clichy, Djourou, Toure, Eboue Lehmann Subs: Almunia, Walcott, Hoyte, Flamini, Adebayor |
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I was a way off with my team selection, but to be honest, I was pleased to be wrong as I'd predicted a 4-5-1, but Wenger played a 4-4-2. Adebayor played with van Perise up front, with Ljungberg, Rosciky, Fabregas and Gilberto in midfield.
Unavailable:
Henry - Still out with a neck injury.
Gallas - Injured his quadriceps taking free kicks in training and will be out for a few weeks.
Diaby - On course to return in January after suffering a fracture-dislocated ankle last season.
Lauren - Still rehabilitating from a knee injury that has kept him out since January 21st.
Long-term issues: It's good to see van Persie emerging as the goal scorer we always thought he was, but I'm afraid that we are missing goals from the midfield. It's easy now to see that Pires was priceless and I'm waiting for Wenger to purchase a left winger to replace him.
Gilberto was excellent today and I was impressed with him stepping up to take the two penalties. To be honest, I was wondering why van Persie didn't take one, but now Gilberto is Arsenal's the third top scorer!
Prediction: Arsenal 2 Seven Sisters Road 0
Score: Arsenal 3 Seven Sisters Road 0
