It was brilliant to get the ball rolling again with a convincing result against Watford. Especially after I'd been casting covetous glances at the TV pictures from White Hart Lane earlier in the afternoon and the sight of Scousers being substituted and already giving their manager of only a few days quite such a surprisingly hearty hug. As was the case at Dortmund, such evidence suggests that it won't be too long before Jurgen Klopp engenders the sort of warmth and affection within the Liverpool dressing room that might soon have his players willing to die for their new manager.
So it was a relief to see the Gunners achieve the sort of result that will keep Arsène's many critics quiet (for the moment!). It's hard to imagine our somewhat more reserved manager inspiring the same overtly emotional response, but so long as we're watching some of the most entertaining football being played anywhere and can maintain the required level of consistency, we really can't complain. Klopp's zany personality might be a breathe of fresh air, but when you consider the constant turmoil resulting from the revolving-door managerial policy at some of our competitors, we surely cannot be advocating change, for change's sake.
I have to admit that the Gunners' patience paid off against Watford, with the goal coming from the first time our hosts were eventually caught without having a sufficient number of bodies behind the ball. It's true that we're capable of passing most teams to death, forcing them to chase the ball until they eventually run out of steam, but it's a risky, not to mention stressful approach, reliant on our defensive resilience, to ensure that we're not breached beforehand.
Personally I would've much preferred to see us plough into Watford right from the opening whistle, with the same sort of urgency we showed against Man Utd, thereby preventing the home side from being able to settle into the game and to grow in confidence, to the point where they began to fancy their chances of getting something out of the game. Mercifully, Alexis goal on Saturday was perfectly timed to crush the Hornets growing sense of belief and with the two more that followed in such quick succession, you could sense all the home side's early optimism evaporating in that thrilling twelve minute spell.
I can't help but feel that if we're going to achieve anything against Bayern on Tuesday night, we need to force the German side onto the backfoot, with the same high-tempo, incisive football that did for Man U. Saturday's "quick, quick, slow" approach that provided Watford time to organise behind the ball is only likely to have the same results. Not only are Lewandovski and co. likely to prove far less forgiving when winning the ball back and making forays forward, they're not about to succumb to our hypnotic passing, to the point where they'll be huffing and puffing like the Hornets.
I fear that if we show Bayern too much respect, it's likely to prove fatal and that we instead need to exert our dominance on our home turf. The last thing I want is for us to end up failing to triumph against one of the best sides on the planet without having done ourselves proper justice and without having given it a real go!
COYG
Bernard
___________________________
Home From Home
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| Alexis literally puts the Hornets' lights out |
Although it was blooming marvelous to witness the Boys in Green
bloodying the noses of the World Champs, for the remainder of the Interlull, I
found myself being offered eight matches on the red button, none of which were
worth the princely sum of my TV subscription. So after a seemingly pointless
fortnight of tedious football, where aside from the incredible demise of the
Dutch, the only object seemed to be the elimination of minnows such as
Gibraltar and San Marino, my tongue was literally hanging out, salivating at
the prospect of the recommencement of some proper Premiership entertainment.
Especially after last Thursday’s appetiser of the Arsenal AGM, where
obviously the trouncing of Man Utd in our previous outing somewhat tempered the
whiff of revolution in the air. Nevertheless, there were plenty of the
unlikely-looking peasants amongst the Arsenal shareholders, who were intent on
expressing their dissatisfaction with the board’s apparent reluctance to offer
even the feeblest justification for the £3million, seemingly being milked by
the Kroenkes from their extremely profitable plaything; or to bellow out their
indignation at our disastrous Champions League defeats to Monaco, Zagreb and
Olympiacos.
Meanwhile, as Arsène felt obliged to chime in, he’s won a lot more
than he’s lost and ultimately the abiding respect for our manager remains such
that le Prof’s presence on the dais amongst all the other stuffed-shirts, will
invariably save the board from the sort of lambasting that they might otherwise
endure.
With the Arsenal’s Fanshare Scheme sadly now defunct and the vast
majority of supporters having eventually succumbed to the irresistible
temptation to cash-in their token piece of the club, there aren’t many shares
left in individual hands. In fact, it won’t be long before the shareholders are
outnumbered at the AGM by the ever-expanding multitudes of the global media.
Yet for those that endure, in spite of the mounting frustration at
our perennial “also ran” status, with so many clubs in an almost constant state
of flux and with the exception of those with limitless resources, ultimately
it’s impossible to ignore the fact that as fans, we are privileged to enjoy
fabulous football, when compared with the vast majority of our competitors.
However where in the past we’ve giggled at the obsequious (often sozzled)
pomposity of the Hill-Woods patronage, with Sir Chips at the helm, the old
duffer seems downright contemptuous of the minions who dare to question their
guardianship of our beloved club.
Such utter disdain doesn’t quite fit with the oily-slick corporate
spiel of our chief executive. Gazides’s annual overblown Powerpoint polemic
invariably leaves me feeling drenched by his blatantly disingenuous assertions
that the Arsenal are the best in all aspects of our business (sure Ivan, all
but THE most important one!). While such is the reticence of the real power
behind the throne to even open their gobs to pass the slightest comment on
their intentions for the club that if I hadn’t seen pictures of Kroenke at
Watford on Saturday, one might easily believe the club are annually wheeling
out waxwork dummies of Silent Stan and his son Josh for the AGM.
It’s great to have Watford back in the Premiership because the short
trip to Vicarage Road invariably feels like a home game for me. Win, lose, or
draw, a pit-stop at my Mum’s on route, means that I’m at least always
guaranteed a good nosh up. In fact, with Watford’s proximity, I’ve heard of
several Gooners defecting to the Hornets in recent years, merely because,
unlike at the Arsenal, they can go to games with their kids, without having to
risk taking out a second mortgage. As a result, it makes for a refreshing
change to be able to enjoy a more genial family atmosphere, amongst supporters
who are primarily there for the pleasure of the ride, rather than being rabidly
driven by the desire for some tangible reward when the music stops.
It’s always worrying playing last on a Saturday, when the three
points are only going to maintain the pressure on the sides who’ve won earlier
in the day and Alexis’ goal on the hour mark was a massive relief. I was just
beginning to fret that our failure to reproduce the same urgency that we’d
shown against Utd, was about to cost us dear.
Troy Deeney might not be the most naturally gifted player, but
rather than having the armband awarded merely by dint of seniority, I’d love to
have a captain covering every blade of grass with such uncompromising
commitment. The three goal flurry that resulted from the Gunners injection of
pace knocked all the stuffing out of our opponents, but I won’t be at all
surprised if their tactically astute manager contrives to take points from some
of our competitors.
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| When's it due? |
Hopefully, having finally got off the mark, Aaron Ramsey will enjoy
a surge in confidence that will enable him to find the net far more frequently,
in contrast to some of his glaring recent misses. But disconcertingly Petr Cech
is still some way short of being the decisive, dominant keeper that I was
expecting and such hesitancy against the likes of Bayern will doubtless be
punished.
Although there are
those arguing the benefits of being able to focus on our domestic campaign, by
avoiding prolonging the agony of our involvement in the Champions League, we
really can’t afford to have the burgeoning sense of optimism brought to an
abrupt halt by Bayern tomorrow night and instead require a display that
reinforces our status amongst Europe’s elite.
--
email to:
londonN5@gmail.com
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