Dinamo Zagreb 2 Arsenal 1
Oxlade og 29 Fernandes 58 Walcott 79
Clearly, Dinamo coach Zoran Mamic rumbled Wenger.
He realised that the presidential French genius is a choreographer rather than a tactician.
That Arsenal almost always plays the same way
As I’ve been pointing out for 14 years, this manager spends most of his mornings trying to make small improvements to the rhythm of his ensemble’s movements.
But last night he made six changes to the team that beat Stoke 2-0 last Saturday.
That was a kamikaze move by a coach who is usually the opposite of a tinkerman.
And a historic moment: the night that Wenger treated Matchday 1 like the Capital One Cup.
No Cech in goal! Starting Debuchy and Arteta meant that he was playing with 9 men from the kick-off.
Giroud’s silly dismissal then made it 8 against 11.
Giroud is a poseur, a flaky Phrenchman who will never do it in pressure games.
As I wrote on ANR before I went on holiday, he won’t play for France in Euro 20165. Too slow and lacks bottle.
Zoran Mamic said, “We realised it was very important to close the middle of the field, to stop the fast passes, and we succeeded in doing that. This is not new. We have already seen other teams who beat Arsenal use the same tactics. This is a good way to beat them.”
Verdict: Boring. Just another episode in a same old story.
Still, it’s nice to be home.
For the last two weeks I’ve been living another life in another country, so I’m still trying to adjust and find my metropolitan mood.
First time I’ve ever missed Matchday 1 because of a holiday in Croatia.
The day that Arsenal played in Zagreb, Mr and Mrs Palmer flew out of Split.
Chelsea v Arsenal at 12.45 on Saturday?
BRING IT ON!