Mixed reactions to last night’s 1-0 defeat to Salzburg, depending on your persuaion.
Ken Mukiibi writes saying same old, same old, pointing out Wenger saying similar things to last season – the players did well, forwards very dangerous etc; and Ken worries this will carry on into this season with Arsenal losing matches.
However some like Philip Brune – see his match report below, thinks some Arsenal players did well.
On the highlights at least, Eduardo seems good at finding space and running down the channels. And Diaby seems stronger and quicker and had a great powerful run.
The Daily Star, points out that Wenger showed he had forgiven William Gallas by making him Arsenal captain against the champions of Austria last night. He could be captain for the first few games as Gilberto won’t be back until 7 August.
The Daily Telegraph, points out that with Arsenal entering the Champions League in three weeks’ time, they need to find answers
The Mirror seems to have a lot of Arsenal stories of late and says Luton are set to move for Joe O’Cearuill after he impressed in a trial. The defender, 20, has been told he can leave the Gunners after failing to break into the first team.
Alex Hleb promises he will be more “selfish” in a bid to stop wasting chances. He infuriated fans at times last season as they squandered chance after chance. And midfielder Hleb said: “I really want to score more.” Maybe Eduardo will open up the space for him.
The Express and Echo, takes a trip down memory lane and points out
Exeter City received £2,000 from Arsenal in 1929 for the teenage winger Cliff Bastin.
Another Devon paper reports Arsenal are running Summer soccer schools in the county.
Below is the piece from long time ANR reader Philip Brune, who attended his first live Arsenal match yesterday.
Salzburg 1 Arsenal 0
First half:
Traore was abused defensively several times early (though Roscicky gave him positive encouragement). This seemed to hamper his runs forward, which in turn detracted from Arsenal’s width on the left side, especially as Rosicky drifted in towards the middle (from his spot on the left) in front of Denilson and Diaby, who both appeared to be playing rather deep.
Denilson was the player of the first half (for me). Good breaking up of attacks, and distribution forward. His running is accomplished by a churning motion (while Diaby seems to glide more).
There was good link-play between RVP, Eboue, and Hleb. As the left side was mostly dormant (except for an occasional ball to Eduardo from Denilson), most of the attacks came from this axis. Not enough crosses were put in, though.
Eduardo made some good runs behind the defense early, but was not recognized for his efforts until later in the half (twice by Denilson, I think)
Diaby plays much better in space. When the game became more narrow and compact (due to left side constriction) he was less influential.
After Rosicky came off and Sagna slotted in pushing Eboue forward there were immediate misunderstandings on defending counter-attacks. Eboue and Sagna need to spend more time together.
Hleb still has no clue where/when (not) to foul, as is evinced by a foolhardy foul when a Salzburg defender was in an awkward position near his end line.
Second Half:
Bendtner & Eduardo a better partnership than RVP & Eduardo (at least on today’s evidence). Best instance was when Bendtner instinctively one-touched a square ball to Eduardo (after excellent work from Hleb to get to the byline and cross on the ground) that set him up for a glaring miss to the outside of the post.
Bendtner looked good playing with his back to goal. He was excellent playing in very tight spaces.
Both Bendtner and Eduardo tracked back fairly regularly, sometimes passionately.
Flamini was utter garbage in the middle. Especially considering that he replaced Denilson, who had been so EFFECTIVELY active. Flamini does too much empty running.
Hleb was excellent in the second half playing on the left side. 2 or 3 times beat several Salzburg defenders to create a great scoring opportunity.
Eduardo was dangerous… He was able to create an opportunity from an innocuous build-up several times. I’m curious about his conversion rate (now that Miles mentions it RE Freddy) when he scored all those goals last year. Hopefully it was just nerves today.
Didn’t have a good view of the goal. The initial penetration that pulled Fabianski out of position came from Arsenal’s left side, so I’d point the finger at Traore, based on his earlier struggles.
Sagna did not attack too much at first, likely due to defensive fragilities with Eboue. Then, as Eboue drifted more toward the middle Sagna came forward a couple times on the overlap. The only cross he attempted, however, was mis-hit and harmlessly rolled to the GK. Eboue was not at all effective playing further infield and needs to keep his width.
Fabianski earned a yellow-card for fielding a dangerous through-ball with too much enthusiasm… i.e. his charge led him to handle outside of the box, despite an elaborate attempt to drop the ball as he was crossing the threshold. The wall did its job on the free kick.
Overall the second half was torpid. Flamini & Diaby don’t work, and Flamini and Randall (?) definitely don’t work. All good movements came through Hleb, or were orchestrated in solo-fashion by Eduardo. Bendtner showed promise amidst these limited circumstances. It would be interesting to see what he does with decent build-up play. He really does have good feet.