If Theo Walcott was 19 he could be Anelka with a smile

– by

A WHILE AGO I said that Arsenal don’t excite me.
    
And I didn’t mind taking flak for that because football is a game of opinion and opinion makes the world go round.
    
I saw Aston Villa 1-1 as a blip and was sure they would beat Middlesbough but that was also 1-1 and the team did not turn the corner until they won 1-0 at Old Trafford.
But now that exciting  victory looks like a blip and Man United, having been given a kick up the arse, improved and are top of the table with Arsenal third 10 points adrift, with  a game in hand. 
    
For the last four years I’ve said that Arsenal do not have enough ways of scoring a goal. 
    

During 2006, as the side has become a short-passing team based on Fabregas, they are often unable to score goals in open play, and when they beat the woeful Liverpool 3-0 it was Flamini,Gallas and Toure scoring the goals.
    
 And the line you now tend to read is : Arsenal equalised from a free-kick by Robin van Persie / Thierry Henry.
    
 Note : equalised. Note : free-kick
    
 So the team that rarely scored from set-pieces now has only that way of scoring.
    
 And they bring Theo Walcott on at the end and his crosses are accurate. But Arsenal don’t have anybody to convert crosses into goals.Because that is not the way they train or play.
    
 If Gilberto is away on compassionate leave, and Baptista comes in and plays badly, Arsenal should still be able to beat Newcastle.
    
 Even if Rosicky is out and Henry is on the bench.
    
 Yes, every match is hard to win and all points have to be earned but Arsenal should beat Newcastle.
    
 So why can’t they? 
    
 Because there is something fundamentally wrong with the style of play the team is using.
  Because the way they play, passing and moving with sweet skill, is too one-dimensional and too predictable.
 
They have the ball too much.They can’t counter-attack because they have the ball too much.They have 60-72% possession and that dictates the shape of the game and they end up playing the whole 90 in front of the opposing defence. They have three dribblers in the middle of the field and a Brazilian who can’t tackle and those factors dictate the way they play.

Obviously, dribblers are good because ball-players create unusual situations and chances and new angles, but the new style is evolving…and results are stuttering
    
 And Henry is still making excuses, still rambling on about two finals he lost last season, and insisting that big players who went far in the World Cup are not sparking at the moment. Sorry, Thierry, but Totti scored two goals for Roma at AC Milan the same weekend that you said that.And Ronaldinho, who had a nightmare World Cup, is firing on five cylinders now.
    
  To me, VillaMiddlesbroughCSKAEvertonNewcastle is all the same game. You would say its six different games on six different days with six different referees.But to me it’s the same old game, its Groundhog Day 3 and 4 and 5.And the draws go on and on and on.
    
I could see this coming. I could see a series of draws, a series of disappointments. 
That’s partly why I said Arsenal don’t excite me.
And that’s why I had the hump when I came home after the Everton game.
 I couldn’t see where the next goal was coming from.
    
 Against Newcastle, Arsenal were playing too narrow in the first half and the visitors were taking the ball off them too much and the game was frantic, like an FA Cup tie, and Arsenal’s shots were all from distance.
Hleb was superb and van Persie tried hard and took a nasty knock on his left ankle.
But Adebayor, like Baptista, was awful.
    
So by half-time the stage was set for TH14 to come on and win the game.
    
 And Taylor stupidly pushed Henry when a bouncing ball was beating them both and Arsenal got a free-kick and Henry scored with a tremendous bender that went in off the underside.
   
 But they could only draw 1-1 again.
   
 And I firmly believe that if they had not got that free-kick they would have lost 1-0.
    
 Arsene’s Arsenal has always tried to improve from game to game and they’ve done that for long periods in many seasons, with a few hiccups and some bad spells.
    
 But they are now in a period where I don’t look forward to the next match. What I see confirms all the doubts I’ve had over the last five years.
    
 It’s folly to build a team round one player, especially a moody poseur like Thierry Henry. If he is not scoring, who will give you goals?
    
 Myself, I prefer Wayne Rooney.
    
 And I also prefer Kevin Doyle of Reading, who was playing for Cork City 16 months ago. Doyle is grateful to get a game and says, “I know I stand a chance of playing every week if I do what’s required.”

It’s just a shame that Theo Walcott isn’t 19.
    
If he was 19 he could play down the middle and give Arsenal the cutting edge that Anelka gave them eight years ago.
  
 
 

 

If Theo Walcott was 19 he could be Anelka with a smile

– by



By Myles Palmer

A WHILE AGO I said that Arsenal don’t excite me.

And I didn’t mind taking flak for that because football is a game of opinion and opinion makes the world go round.

I saw Aston Villa 1-1 as a blip and was sure they would beat Middlesbough but that was also 1-1 and the team did not turn the corner until they won 1-0 at Old Trafford.

But now that exciting victory looks like a blip and Man United, having been given a kick up the arse, improved and are top of the table with Arsenal third 10 points adrift, with a game in hand.

For the last four years I’ve said that Arsenal do not have enough ways of scoring a goal.

During 2006, as the side has become a short-passing team based on Fabregas, they are often unable to score goals in open play, and when they beat the woeful Liverpool 3-0 it was Flamini,Gallas and Toure scoring the goals.

And the line you now tend to read is : Arsenal equalised from a free-kick by Robin van Persie / Thierry Henry.

Note : equalised. Note : free-kick

So the team that rarely scored from set-pieces now has only that way of scoring.

And they bring Theo Walcott on at the end and his crosses are accurate. But Arsenal don’t have anybody to convert crosses into goals.Because that is not the way they train or play.

If Gilberto is away on compassionate leave, and Baptista comes in and plays badly, Arsenal should still be able to beat Newcastle.

Even if Rosicky is out and Henry is on the bench.

Yes, every match is hard to win and all points have to be earned but Arsenal should beat Newcastle.

So why can’t they?

Because there is something fundamentally wrong with the style of play the team is using.

Because the way they play, passing and moving with sweet skill, is too one-dimensional and too predictable.

They have the ball too much.They can’t counter-attack because they have the ball too much.They have 60-72% possession and that dictates the shape of the game and they end up playing the whole 90 in front of the opposing defence. They have three dribblers in the middle of the field and a Brazilian who can’t tackle and those factors dictate the way they play.

Obviously, dribblers are good because ball-players create unusual situations and chances and new angles, but the new style is evolving…and results are stuttering

And Henry is still making excuses, still rambling on about two finals he lost last season, and insisting that big players who went far in the World Cup are not sparking at the moment. Sorry, Thierry, but Totti scored two goals for Roma at AC Milan the same weekend that you said that.And Ronaldinho, who had a nightmare World Cup, is firing on five cylinders now.

To me, VillaMiddlesbroughCSKAEvertonNewcastle is all the same game. You would say its six different games on six different days with six different referees.But to me it’s the same old game, its Groundhog Day 3 and 4 and 5

And the draws go on and on and on.

I could see this coming. I could see a series of draws, a series of disappointments.

That’s partly why, all those weeks ago, I said Arsenal don’t excite me.

And that’s why I had the hump when I came home after the Everton game.

I couldn’t see where the next goal was coming from.

Against Newcastle, Arsenal were playing too narrow in the first half and the visitors were taking the ball off them too much and the game was frantic, like an FA Cup tie, and Arsenal’s shots were all from distance.

\

Hleb was superb and van Persie tried hard and took a nasty knock on his left ankle.

But Adebayor, like Baptista, was awful.

So by half-time the stage was set for TH14 to come on and win the game.

And Taylor stupidly pushed Henry when a bouncing ball was beating them both and Arsenal got a free-kick and Henry scored with a tremendous bender that went in off the underside.

But they could only draw 1-1 again.

And I firmly believe that if they had not got that free-kick they would have lost 1-0.

Arsene’s Arsenal has always tried to improve from game to game and they’ve done that for long periods in many seasons, with a few hiccups and some bad spells.

But they are now in a period where I don’t look forward to the next match. What I see confirms all the doubts I’ve had over the last five years.

It’s folly to build a team round one player, especially a moody poseur like Thierry Henry. If he is not scoring, who will give you goals?

Myself, I prefer Wayne Rooney.

And I also prefer Kevin Doyle of Reading, who was playing for Cork City 16 months ago. Doyle is grateful to get a game and says, “I know I stand a chance of playing every week if I do what’s required.”

It’s just a shame that Theo Walcott isn’t 19.

If he was 19 he could play down the middle and give Arsenal the cutting edge that Anelka gave them eight years ago.