From Nigel Hubbard : Danny Simpson and Giroud
I was in the crowd just behind where Danny Simpson bought Giroud down for his second yellow.
It wasn’t a light touch and a dive.
Simpson grabbed the back of Giroud’s shirt away from the referee and pulled him down. A strange and very risky decision when he was on a yellow already.
Perhaps he’d been lulled by the fact that Atkinson wasn’t giving much in the first half.
From John Bolton : Wenger v Ranieri
Told you Wenger would beat Ranieri. He is Claudio’s bogey manager. Arsene’s game-plan went to perfection, despite the penalty.
P : 14
W : 8
D : 5
L : 1
From Simon Hill : Simpson second yellow
Am guessing you didn’t see MOTD or any replays showing Simpson pulled back on Giroud’s arm/wrist to the ref’s side quite forcefully.
First yellow may seem harsh but they took Sanchez out remorselessly first half, second foul is always a yellow now in every game (Ramsey is often booked for it).
.
Also guessing you missed all the first half stuff Leicester got away with (including Drinkwater).
Also obviously checked out how he did first half and adjusted (though still let Mahrez off for his double twist and half pike in the second half…).
Arsenal deserved that win. Leicester surprisingly resorted to cheating and dirty play and lost all discipline.
They now have a week in Vegas or Marbella to reflect on it. Isn’t that also a story?
From Haider Gill : Perspectives
Myles,
I am very very disappointed with your summary of the match Arsenal vs Leicester 14/02/2016.
It does not match your high standards of intelligent and incisive analysis.
Perspectives, lucky Leicester foul Mesut Ozil to get the ball off him and launch a quick counter attack and to add injury to insult the ref awards LCFC a penalty.
I await in great anticipation Myles for your explanation how LCFC fouling one of Arsenal players results in the award of a penalty to LCFC.
The referee helped change the complexion of the match Right There in the favour of Leicester. I enjoying watching matches of football, winning and titles come second. At this rate I will be Premier League for compensation.
How many times have we heard Robert Pires called a cheat for going over the leg of player? Jamie Vardy does the same, he is intelligent.
Simpson and Drinkwater have obviously been inspired by the Six Nations.
Unfortunately, that’s a different sport. Lucky, lucky Leicester…
From James Reiff :
Myles
Lucky Arsenal? Genuine view or a reference to that old 1980s tag?
Leicester were lucky too. Lucky that Ozil didn’t go down under Morgan’s leap into his back (a clear foul), immediately from which Leicester broke and Vardy won a penalty. Unlucky that Simpson was sent off, but lucky that Drinkwater wasn’t.
I enjoy reading your blog. I think that with every subject in life, it is best to deliberately seek opposing views in order to test one’s own. Your Wenger dogma does, however, sometimes come across as though you’re a hostage to your many posts over the past few years.
If that were Ferguson’s United or Mourinho’s Chelsea, might you have instead characterised the win as a sign of spirit, determination and/or brilliant managerial decisions, in bringing on the substitutes?
As it happens, I’m in a kind of Arsenal-stasis.
I still don’t fully believe that Arsenal will the league with Wenger (much though I adore and revere him. Equally I am unconvinced that there are many managers who could take on the club and improve the level of achievement. Perhaps a 3-year manager like Guardiola would have? However, I don’t think there are many others.
From Martin : key moments
Morning Myles,
Well that was enthralling and intoxicating! The cream of football might not be played in the Premiership but the most competitive and entertaining is.
Watching the Harlem Barcelona go through their party tricks against 90% of their league soon becomes tiresome in comparison to the high speed roller coaster of the Premier League.
Leicester would likely have won if not drawn yesterday at 11 players a side.
But not only did they go one man down, it also removed Mahrez. Vardy was isolated and Leicester sunk so far back their normal springboard counter-attacking was nullified completely.
It really was only a matter of time before the equaliser came and it was a superb goal, old fashioned in its set up and calmly finished by Theo. In those situations you do trust his technique now a la his FA Cup Final goal vs Villa.
So could they win it? Well it was nail-biting, high-energy entertainment as wave after wave of attacks were batted away by committed defending but it was quality that had the final say, not Welbeck’s finish but that sublime delivery by Ozil it was on a postage stamp to where it should be, that corridor of uncertainty as Boycott says in Cricket, the goalkeeper stuck to the line and defenders unable to retreat to the flight, just forwards moving onto it. Three Arsenal players could have nudged that home. Sublime quality at the time we needed it most.
Leicester are still the real deal, they will go to the end barring injury to Vardey or Mahrez/
Tottenham are the real deal, harsh penalty aside,they are organised, energetic and have good rotation to keep that playing style consistent and they believe, you see it. The only thing that I can see which would derail them is if Kane gets injured as he is where their goals stem from, if not by him, by his influence.
Arsenal are in there too, the fire power which looked light over last few weeks is strengthening, Walcott was rightly dropped but looked lively and hungry yesterday, Giroud has reached a high level of consistency doing all the good things he does, Welbeck adds to the threat once gets up to full speed, you could see yesterday he just adds a subtle difference to those around him and Sanchez with games under his belt now, will not miss as many chances as did yesterday, there will be a game soon where he fires as we know he can.
Now Coquelin is back the real missing link is Cazorla, he transitions the game on either foot as well as anyone, that fluidity stalls with Ramsey, who is doing a job in there at the moment, but you can see its not natural to him, he is an instinctive runner from deep, not a play maker.
When everyone is fit Arsenal have a really strong squad with lots of variations and options in the attacking half which has been lacking recently, so we are strong contenders to.
It may come down to last game, it may come down to goal difference,
Arsenal home to Villa
Tottenham away to Newcastle
Leicester City away to Chelsea
None of them will have anything to play for (unless Newcastle slip into relegation zone) Chelsea would happily roll over to stop Arsenal and Spurs winning title, Villa players will mostly be looking at their next clubs.
12 games is a lot, it’s a third of the season, squeaky bum time usually comes in last 6 games, it’s going to be exciting.
Arsenal vs Spurs is not must-win for either.
Preferred obviously, but a draw suits both, it may be a real nervy, jittery affair, for players and fans!
From Raj Kumarasuriyar:
Good morning Myles,
I’m sure I’m not alone in saying that reading your post-match reviews on ANR is a weird kind of closure.
Your comments this week on the Arsenal Leicester game were a bit harsh on Arsenal.
A few comments from me:
– I sit in the 7th row in the North Bank and the Vardy penalty is directly in front of me. I didn’t need a slow-motion replay to show how obviously Vardy conned his way into that. He was only impeded because he made an effort to be, so it’s as good as a dive in my opinion. Yes, Monreal took a poor risk but whatever the case, Vardy conned the ref.
– The sending off. What idiot does that when you’re already on a yellow? It may be harsh but when you’re on a yellow, you have to be smarter.
– Drinkwater’s challenge was disgusting.
– The media have an agenda at the moment around the romanticism of Leicester winning the league in a real “Robin Hood” story, so the above three points probably aren’t being looked at in the same negative way as they would’ve done had it been another team.
– Arsenal deserved to win. That statement in itself is credit to Arsenal because how many teams have played Leicester this season and have actually been the better team? Arsenal have played Leicester twice and deservedly beaten them twice.
– Kante was brilliant. However, little has been made about how quiet Mahrez was kept, perhaps because it was done more systematically than by one player’s outstanding performance.
– Arsenal’s only chance of winning the title is if Sanchez can get back to his best. In some of our remaining games, we may only get a few half chances in the games, and we’ll need him to be at his best.
– The atmosphere at the Emirates was brilliant in the 2nd half, as good as any I’ve been a part of.
From Pete O’Donnell :The Emirates hairdresser
Hi Myles
I couldn’t help but notice at the Leicester game how perfectly coiffured the Arsenal boys were.
The sides shaved to perfection, the roll-overs and quiffs lacquered down as if they’d just stepped out of a posh London hairdresser. Not a hair out of place, even after a contested header!
A couple of weeks back The Daily Mail ran a yarn putting Arsenal clearly on top of the Selfies table, streets ahead of the next team. That says it all for me.
If they don’t win the Premier League this year there must be a promising career as a Boy Band in the waiting.
Keep up the good work.