By Myles Palmer
My theory about Wenger’s new system is that he has re-configured his attack to accommodate Wiltord.
Against Middlesbrough and Leeds the manager played three players narrow in midfield – and Ljungberg and Wiltord wide just behind Henry.
From a manager as conservative as Wenger this was radical stuff.
The third Premiership game now finds him with a dilemma – and an opportunity.
On Tuesday night he started with the same 16 players who started against Middlesbrough.
When you have won 4-0 that makes sense.It is safe to assume that Wenger spent a long time figuring out his starting team for Middlesbrough.Maybe they didn’t play as well as he wanted, but they won 4-0 and players believe results more than anything else.
OK, the Henry goal was a fluke. Ehioigu headed the ball against Windass and the ball broke to Henry who buried it with great skill.
OK, the second goal was jammy,when Ehiogu brushed Ashley Cole just outside the box. Penalty, red card, 2-0 and Boro wide open to two fabulous late strikes by Bergkamp.
The three narrow midfielders – Parlour, Vieira and Pires – dominated totally in the first half against Leeds, but Arsenal failed to score an early goal.
They got into trouble when Pires chased Mills, missed the ball,and fouled Mills, who was then fouled again(perhaps) by Cole.
Jeff Winter should have given the first foul, which was further out, and one of the most obvious trips in the game.
On reflection, Winter was NOT worse than Elleray at Goodison. Elleray got all the major decsions of the game wrong, Winter flashed yellows at a team who were determined not to play within the rules.
Seaman has been beaten by a quickly-taken free-kick before, at Bradford two years ago.
That Harte goal was a shambles, with four men in the wall and Cole dithering about whether to cover the line or join the wall.
Sky studio pundit George Graham was right to say that his teams would not concede that goal because they would be well-organised.
Right back Lauren had a fine game coming forward,pushing nicely weighted passes up for Wiltord and others.
But when Kewell took him on he was beaten far too easily.Kewell’s pass found Viduka, who beat Adams far too easily. And Viduka’s shot beat Seaman far too easily.
Arsene Wenger is a stubborn man who believes in the things he believes in. Very strongly. Losing one football match won’t change his beliefs.
So when I watched the tape I wondered what Wenger thought when he watched the tape.
I thought his 4-3-2-1 system failed. Not because they lost 2-1, but because it did not get the best out of Parlour, Ljungberg or Henry.
That system, with Viduka as the striker, might have been very good.
But Henry seemed to lose his bottle last season. Against Leeds, faced by ten players who were ready to kick him on the Achilles, or on the calf, he just flicked the ball off when he could have turned and run at the defence.He only had one shot all night.
Compare that dim output with that of his mate Louis Saha, who had five or six efforts in Fulham’s last game.Saha is a real striker, a player with bottle – and good movement.
Saha knows where to run.Henry does not. He can often be seen hanging back ten yards behind Ashley Cole when Cole is plunging into the penalty area, going towards the goal.
I think that “three narrow” system with those players might work well with more practice. Or it might work well in some games.
The conundrum facing a football coach is : How do I make one part of my team stronger without making another part weaker?
That system means Pires has to tackle back, which is not his game.
It means that the ball takes too long to get to Ljungberg, who makes those diagonal runs into the box from the left side. It means that Parlour is playing in areas which are natural to him – but he is lost without Bergkamp. Those two play very well together.
When Bergkamp came on he made Vieira look better. Those two have played together for five years, so they know each other and can find each other very naturally.
Patrick gets the ball, looks up and knows where he wants Dennis to be – and he is usuallly there, waiting for the ball.
I hope he plays Van Bronkhorst in the middle with Vieira, and Bergkamp up front with Henry.
That would mean dropping Wiltord, who was Arsenal’s best striker, and their goalscorer, without ever convincing me that he can play the role he plays for Lemerre and France in a red shirt.
The main difference between France and Arsenal is that France keep clean sheets.
Last year the fans grumbled about Henry and Wiltord being unable to play together. I agree with that. I don’t think they will ever click, ever set each other up for goals.
And I think that Wenger’s new system admits that by playing them on opposite sides of the field.
Re-configuring his team in this way looks like a compromise, a mistake, an exercise in self-defeating stubbornness.
Yes, Wiltord had some terrific shots, and took the goal brilliantly.And dropping the man who scored your most recent goal might be unwise.
Arsenal will stuff Leicester, maybe 4-0. So,for me, the team selection and the system will be more interesting than the score tomorrow.
I like watching to see whether Arsene and I are thinking along similar lines.
We have thought along similar lines a lot over the last five years,and it makes me laugh when he says things the day after I have said them, but we parted company at times last season, which was the first season of rotation by The Professor.
Tomorrow’s team selection should tell me whether the great man agrees with the above analysis.
24 August 2001.