By Myles Palmer
Arsenal 1 Southampton 0
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Tony Adams’s bruised toe turned out to be soft news.Adams played.
The team sheet reflected the need for a Champions League rehearsal as well as the need for three Premiership points.
Teams lined up in 4-4-2 and 4-5-1 formations :
ARSENAL : Manninger ; Luzhny, Keown, Adams, Silvinho(Dixon 46 );Ljungberg, Vieira, Grimandi, Pires (Kanu 65, ); Wiltord (Henry 60 ),Bergkamp .
SOUTHAMPTON : Jones ; Dodd, Lundekvam, El-Khalej,Bridge ;
Davies, Tessem, Oakley, Draper (Gibbens 88), Kachloul ; Beattie(Rosler 77 ).
The game provided eight plus points, and three negatives.
1. WENGER’S NERVE HAD HELD
The first half performance said a lot for his man-management skills and his preparation techniques. He said four years ago that, “I like five days preparation for a game, but I can make do with four.” He usually gets three days. Or two days. Or one.
The slick passing of the first half showed that the last five days, since the 1-0 defeat at Leeds, had been put to good use. I sat there thinking, “This is the best football I will ever see by a team that has just lost their last three games.”
2. WENGER’S TEAM SELECTION WAS BULLSEYE
He rested Thierry Henry and gave Wiltord a chance with Bergkamp,to maximise Wiltord’s chances of scoring. He putLjungberg on the right for Parlour because Parlour is suspended for the Bayern Munich game.The benefits of a good rehearsal far outweigh the benefits of keeping his team selection secret from Ottmar Hitzfeld.
3 ADAMS WAS MAGNIFICENT
He was a powerful, positive, confident warrrior who rolled back the years,led by example and stormed up the field at every opportunity.He took the initiative, transmitted a lot of urgency, played as if every kick, every pass, was life-and-death .
4.BERGKAMP WAS IN GLADIATOR-MODE.
He was roaring all over the field like a Rolls Royce in overdrive.Speed,energy, purpose, power, Bostik-boots ball control, instant vision,ferocious shots. He was up for it. He was really up for it.
DB seemed be making a statement.He seemed to be saying : Yes, we’ve had a shocking run of no wins in seven games, but I did not play in five of those games and I’m going to turn this round, starting NOW!
He had a volley that rocketed just over the bar(2 minutes). He initiated a lovely move between Silvinho and Wiltord which ended when the Brazilian had a shot from four yards blocked (13). He took a pass from Pires and blasted his drive into a defender’s body (17). He cushion-headed a 60-yard Keown pass to the unmarked Wiltord, whose shot hit the keeper’s leg.
When Silvinho was released down the line by Wiltord he cut a beautifullow cross back to the edge of the box and Bergkamp adjusted his stride perfectly to connect with a thunderous right foot shot which rebounded from the base of the post. If that had gone in, Goal of the Month (35).And so on : a freekick over the wall, a corner onto Ljungberg’s head.
5. VIEIRA LOOKED MUCH FITTER THAN HE DID AT LEEDS.
He scored the vital goal, a miscued header that dribbled in off Lundekvam’s shoulder in the 85th minute.After losing to a deflected goal last week at Leeds, Arsenal had beaten Southampton with a deflected goal six days later.But they also hit the post three times (Pires, Henry).
6.GRIMANDI, MUCH MISSED, IS BACK.
Against a functional German side you need gritty, energetic ball-winners. And you need his heading ability.Mehmet Scholl is nippy enough to play round Grimandi, but not nippy enough to play round Grimandi AND Vieira.One of them will reach him when it matters.
7. KEOWN WAS HIMSELF AGAIN.
Who was he in November? I don’t know, but this was Keown’s best game since Man City on October 28th.
8. LJUNGBERG IS A JACK -IN-THE-BOX
The Swede is much better at nipping in behind defences than Wiltord. He was very good in the period just before the goal. He kept the attacks going when the crowd was beginning to give up and think it was another 0-0 like Derby.
So, a good day. I expected them to beat Southampton, maybe by 2-1,but not play as much good football as they did. Everyone is saying they have grabbed three points and restored confidence, but need more goals.
But for me Arsenal did more than that.On this performance the team has recaptured 90% of their dynamism and 80% of their fluidity. I saw enough to convince me they will score two goals against Bayern.
NOT ALL GOOD NEWS, THOUGH.
There were three big negatives in the game.
ALEX MANNINGER flapped at two crosses in the 46th and 91st minutes. Those aberrations must have scared the living daylights out of Wenger and goalkeeping coach Bob Wilson.
The latter boob was when Manninger came for a left wing corner. He went up and missed a punch in a way that was shocking and terrifying, especially when your next game is against Germans, who cross a lot of accurate high balls.
However, Carsten Jancker, Bayern’s six foot five inch target man, is injured.And Manninger,an Austrian, will be able to understand what the Germans are saying to each other.
WILTORD WILL PROBABLY COME GOOD IN JANUARY
He is improving slowly. Last week against Leeds he was losing the ball in his own half. This week he was dribbling across the front of the Southampton defence, getting nowhere. He buzzed around and got some good passes in. But too often he seems all huff and puff. Unable to anticipate opportunities in the box. We shall see. It is early days.A
couple of goals might make a big difference.
SILVINHO IS INJURED.
Silvinho is a compact attacker-defender who relies on skill, acceleration and balance. A reflex player, sharp and accurate, a hummingbird who is so nimble that he can jump away from 29 out of every 30 tackles aimed at him.
But big Kevin Davies, playing wide in a 4-5-1, managed to whack him in the 37th minute. It was a wild tackle which Silvinho almost managed to evade, missing a more serious injury by inches. That challenge probably caused his calf injury
Silvinho’s absence would be a major blow. He has a slim chance of recovering from his injury. A great shame because he is Arsenal’s best finisher. He wastes fewer chances than the strikers.His four goals make him the club’s second top scorer.
Lee Dixon came out for the second half, with Luzhny switching for his first taste of life as an Arsenal left back.Luzhny wobbled at times. But the goal came from his inswinging corner.
OVERALL, Southampton was a performance which will worry Bayern Munich’s spies.
If I was a Bayern scout I would tell Hitzfeld : “Bergkamp can hurt us.Henry can hurt us. The little Swede can hurt us.And these guys are very,very fast. They are not like us because they don’t pass the ball sideways very much. They pass it forward quickly, so we won’t get much time to make decisions or retrieve mistakes.”
3rd December 2000.