Match Review: Southampton 2 vs 2 Arsenal (Gunners drop vital points after poor display)

On a wet miserable night in the South coast of England, Arsenal contrived to hand the advantage back to its title rivals with what has to be described as one of our worst performances of the season. Its difficult to explain or rationalize just how badly we played in that first 45mins, was it nerves? or just our plain inability to get the engines firing. The boss in his now customary love for using automobile analogies to describe games, said we just couldn't find the right gear. He sounded coy in his press conference after the game, but i sense he must be worried at what has now become a consistent first half malaise in games recently. Apart from the Cup ties against the spurs and more recently against Coventry, matches against West ham, Fulham,Cardiff and now Southampton have seen us start worryingly flat. My concern revolves around the premise that unless we find a way to get our best foot forward in games, better teams in this division will capitalize on this and have us chasing games before we sort out ourselves out and start playing (which often is in the 2nd half). We were poor in our marking, sluggish on the ball, and laying sloppy passes throughout that miserable first half. And to be honest i'd say we were lucky not to have conceded more than one goal as the hosts had very good chances to kill us off.  Their goal was a bit unlucky for us as Mertasacker was called for a foul that wasn't one and from the resultant freekick Fonte (the man who was headbutted by his own teammate in training) climbed all over Monreal to head past Szczesny in the 21st minute. It nearly got worse as young striker Gallagher contrived to miss a simple tap-in after Monreal had made a very untidy clearance. It was the luckiest of breaks as the referee Lee Masons' whistle brought an end to Arsenal's misery at the break. I bet Wenger couldn't wait to get his men off the pitch fast. We were simply dreadful and the slight encouragement for me was that i couldn't fathom any way we could possibly play worse than that, therefore suggesting we could only emerge for the 2nd half better than what we saw in the first.

And so it proved, whatever the Boss said to the guys at half time worked like a charm. Arsenal began much better in the 2nd half. We looked a lot more like the premier league leaders as we bossed early proceedings. Jack Cork and Calum chambers of Southampton who had ran the show in the first half suddenly began to look like they were in for a long night as Arsenal began to pass the ball confidently around and had them chasing shadows. Within minutes of our early domination we were level. Bacary Sagna had ventured forward and managed to out-hussle a defender and steer the ball into Olivier Giroud's path. The striker did well to improvise with his back to goal and back heeled an effort past the goalkeeper. Goals change games and with that equalizer our confidence reached new levels. For a 2 minute spell the hosts couldn't get near the ball as we pushed to stamp our advantage. Four minutes later it was 2-1, Ozil in his languid manner swept into a wide position on the right and with customary ease found Carzola free just outside the box. The Spaniard who seems in confident form lately took one step to steady himself and rifled a low shot past Boruc to stun the home crowd into silence. It was a fine goal symptomatic of the upturn in form of Santi at a point in the season where we need him firing on all cylinders. Our joy was short-lived however, as Southampton restored parity quickly. For all our well eulogized defensive solidity, the goal by Llallana was a poor one to give away. A long ball from the middle caught Bacary Sagna struggling and from that pass Jay Rodriguez fed his strike partner who made no mistake. Curiously there was no one tracking the run of Llallana as he moved into the box and Arteta who had a rotten game last night, needs to take responsibility for that. So 2-2  it was and for the most part,somehow i felt we could still win it. Our best chance to do so came from Ozil, who made a stunning solo run from  the middle went past 3 men and smashed a deflected shot past Boruc that cannoned off the bar rather unluckily. Then a crucial moment of the game unfolded, Flamini in a moment of sheer madness lunged in 2 footed at Morgan Schneiderlin and got his marching orders. Straight red card for the Frenchman means he will miss the Man U, Liverpool games in (Cup and League) and Crystal palace on Sunday. It was a daft tackle to make in any game but considering we are the away team and knowing what the refs in the EPL are like, it looked even more stupid. Added to the terrible news of Ramsey's setback we are looking at being avoidably stretched now in midfield. 

This result even though it is quite bad,is not a complete disaster. Southampton are a decent team and were worthy of their point. There are still plenty of games ahead and so this one needs to be quickly forgotten. Chelsea and Manchester City play tomorrow and the worst case scenario is we may end up in 3rd position by the end of tomorrows games. I know it is wishful thinking, but here's hoping those Lilly whites can find some pride at their home ground and prevent city from winning. Also who knows, West ham could also pull out a shock result bouyed by their  recent Italian imports. For us  though, its a return to London with a clear conviction to improve on this rather poor outing before we welcome Crystal Palace on Sunday..

Match Preview: Southampton vs Arsenal ( A huge test awaits us..)

Arsenal make a trip to St. Mary's today to keep a date with Southampton. When these two sides met earlier in the season Southampton gave us a damn good game. I recall watching that game and saying to my mate about the visitors ''These guys can play''. Such was the good account they gave of themselves in that game at the Emirates and look,  if it weren't  for some goalkeeping clownishness from Boruc that game might not have ended as heartwarming as it did. In recent days they have suffered some poor results. I was particularly disappointed with their performance in the home loss to Tottenham, i didn't feel they did themselves justice in that game. But as any seasoned watcher of this League will tell you, you are only as good as your performance on the day. That goes for every team in the division, doesn't matter if you are sitting pretty at the Top of the pile or you are one of the basement strugglers. Their Manager, Pochettino will be the first to tell you he is quite happy to be the underdog in this game. That toga will suit him just fine. His team are only just recovering from a bad Christmas spell where they only won 1 game in 6 spanning Dec 14th to Jan 1 after surprising everyone by flying out of the blocks at the start of the season.

So who are the Saints Danger Men we have to look out for? There's the exciting Adam llalana who plays behind the battering center forward Ricky Lambert known for his dead ball ability.... Not forgetting Jay Rodriguez who operates from the Left but loves to cut in on his trusty Right foot. These three forward men are individually talented players and do not necessarily depend on being spoon fed by their Midfield. They are comfy dropping deep and complementing each other in tight games. Our back four have been great all season (apart from that hellish Etihad afternoon) and will do well to watch these live wire forward men.

We have a chance to pull clear of Mancity and Chelsea with a win, and in so doing , pile pressure on them before their games Wednesday. We are expecting a return for Ramsey and Arteta but looks like Jack will not be involved due to a whack he sustained vs Coventry. 3 points will be what the doctor ordered as we move into a daunting February and March. We have the quality no doubt but will we show the required desire to out-slug the Hosts? Time will tell.. C'mon Arsenal

Thoughts on last nights FA CUP win.. (AFC 4-0 COVENTRY)

So expectedly we did  the business against the Minnows last night...4-0 it ended and i'll be the first to say the result was a little flattering for us as the League one Club gave a good account of themselves.Yes they were lacking the Killer instincts required to punish Arsenal on the day but what they lacked in terms of ruthlessness they compensated with a good dose of bravery and positive approach to the game. First half Goals from Lukas ''aha'' Podolski (2) and one each from Cazorla and Giroud in the second half was enough to ensure our passage into the 5th round. Honorable mention goes to Gnabry, Podolski and Mesut Ozil for eye catching performances...On Twitter someone mentioned his observation that the starting lineup didn't have a recognized Defensive Midfielder. I felt at first a bit of panic in the light of that because the last time we ventured into a game without a recognized DM we got bashed 1-3 by Villa at the Emirates. But eventually, there wasn't much to worry about as Jack and Oxlade chamberlain were disciplined in their Dual-defensive role efforts. Coventry were good value for their 4th round presence in the FA cup and didn't roll over in any way to the hot favorites, however in the end it proved a mountain to tall for them to scale through.

Other observations on the Night.

• The pace of our movement in attack especially in the first half was great to watch. It appears the directness of Gnabry and OX was the reason for this. They possess the confidence in possession to run at the heart of defenses and lay off good one-two's. I know against better teams they would be denied that space but still its a great reassurance to me that we can switch from the sometimes predictable short passes around the box to a more direct use of runs at the opponents to scare the shit out of their back-line and force errors.

• Fabianski needs games and needs them fast. He looked hella rusty last night but luckily didn't commit any of the howlers that would have kick started the plethora of harsh ''Flappyhanski'' comments allover again. Im sure he knows he's nowhere close to unseating Szczesny as our number one so definitely his days at the club are numbered if his career is to move forward. He would've watched Vito Mannone in action on Tuesday for Sunderland and probably come to terms that he has to do the same..

• Podolski is quite a decent player  Ok im a huge fan of ''guy smiley'' Podolski not only because of his like-able personality off the pitch but also the little things he does on the pitch. He has a great understanding/match reading ability and knows how to finish. although it has to be said he suffers a kind of ''Deer in the headlights'' syndrome when played alone centrally as the top striker, no thanks to his lack of Holdup-play and poor positioning. I feel when he has the benefit of someone else like Giroud/Bendtner to worry about all that Holdup play stress, he becomes a different player. I read somewhere that it may have been that Wenger bought him because he felt Podolski could play centrally only to find out he can't and is dissapointed. But one thing Poldi gives you is a great ''chance/Goal scored'' ratio. He knows how to find the net and i would want him to make it hard for the manager to drop him by making sure he keeps banging them in and showing a bit of defensive nous like he did last night.

• Ozil showed us we haven't seen anything yet.  His overall performance last night was as good as iv seen since he joined. The guy was everywhere and his close control and dribbling kept the Coventry defenders guessing his next turn. His ball to Podolski showed a clear understanding of his country man's game and i felt he (Ozil) deserved a goal himself. I loved the way he combined with the Ox. The young English man's constant running was being lapped up by Ozil as he kept finding him with great balls. Ozil loves runners ahead of him as it makes his job easier than when everything around him is static. He can only get even better and if you ask me, not a second too soon as big big games approach.

• Olivier coming in as a substitute seems interesting. You may disagree with me saying this but it looks like when Giroud comes into a game, he has a certain different ruthlessness about him as opposed to when he starts. Its difficult to explain and it may seem like nonsense but id' like to see us surprise opponents every now and then by starting Bendtner in some games and then later bringing on Giroud later. I have a feeling it will unsettle the opposing defense to cope with a fresh Giroud in the course of a game, who provides a different skillset to Bendtner. Last night his finish was emphatic and clinical. There was no trying to flick the ball inside the box to play in a teammate, just a good old fashioned  whack!

• Please no more Friday kickoffs!    Seeing the game for me was Hell as i had to negotiate traffic to meet up with kickoff from the Island. I ended up not seeing Poldi's first goal real time and i hate missing the spontaneity of watching key moments in a game live as opposed to watching them on highlights. The scheduling must have been tough also for those who went to the stadium from work (Kudos to the fans in London for filling up the stadium tho). So here's hoping we don't get to see more of this unhealthy kickoff time in future.

The squad named was strong and a clear indication the boss isn't going to allow any complacency creep into our game. Winning is a habit and as long as we keep up this run of  games now without a loss, Our confidence can only get stronger. Its Southampton on Tuesday and that will not be an easy game. Ramsey and Arteta will be back hopefully for that to boost the squad options. The 5th round draw is tomorrow so here's hoping we get another Minnow to slaughter in our quest to Wembley.

Match Preview: Arsenal vs Coventry (David and Goliath at the Emirates in the FA Cup)

Right... its great to be back on the beat after a short absence from this forum. Hope everyone is doing ok. Its hard to imagine that there's actually a transfer window open right now, such has been the silence in terms of business across the big guns not only in England but across Europe.Although its a generally accepted fact that the January transfer window is one of the hardest to do business given its short span, this particular one has done little to change that assertion. Apart from the Mata deal that looks to be moving to completion, every other thing has been mostly speculation and little in terms of concrete followup. Its also been quiet from the Arsenal camp transfer-wise (surprise, surprise) and earlier today, the boss was his usual reticent self when quizzed for clues on possible signings. If you ask me, i really don't know why these reporters even bother asking him anyway. In my opinion, the ''wait and see'' approach has proven to be the best strategy when transfers involving Arsenal are concerned. Any other method to squeeze info from Arsene is nigh on impossible.

But lest i digress, We have a game on Friday. An FA cup fixture against Coventry city. The League one outfit are not new to the Emirates, they paid a visit early last season and were dealt a 6-1 defeat in the then Carling Cup. This season, they can be found right smack in the mid-table regions of their division and in decent form too beaten only once in their last 11 games this season. I admit i'm struggling to write in volume about Coventry, as i know next to nothing about them. But as their captain Carl Baker has described it , this is a game they intend to give everything to make their fans proud and also progress to the next round. Wishful thinking you might be tempted to say, considering our recent form and record in the league this season. However, the memory of Blackburn and Bradford from last year who ended our cup dreams i.e the FA and Carling Cups must not be forgotten. The boss will be wary of those two awful experiences repeating themselves and will likely name a strong squad having some first teamers mixed with fringe/youngsters looking to impress. I expect Coventry to sit deep and try to frustrate us early. They won' t be looking to go toe-to-toe with us because technically we are from another planet compared to them, and will eat them up if they throw caution to the wind and try to come at us. 

Team News from our camp is encouraging. Bendtner is back from injury, Ramsey and Arteta are not too far behind, including Sanogo. For squad depth, this is welcome news. Particularly because the second half of the season will see difficult games occurring in alarming regularity hence the importance of  having as many bodies in the squad as possible ready to contribute. Oxlade chamberlain is still in the mix, and might start on the right side of the attack with Ryo on the left channel. Gideon Zelalem has impressed in Training this week and will likely get the nod to feature alongside Rosicky and Flamini. The back four will definitely see the captain Vermaelen in the team to be paired with Either Mertasacker or Koscielny. Who plays up front is a little more difficult to predict, due to the amount of fringe candidates who are itching to play and are due a game. Popular assertion would be for Podolski to start alongside Bendtner, whilst Giroud stays on the bench. Don't be surprised if  Park chu young is given a chance to play also, his attitude and application in training has been commended by the boss  severally and who knows...he may be rewarded with playing time come Friday.

Our possesion game coupled with its quick passing around the box ought to slice the Coventry Defense open at will but its necessary that the sell-out Emirates crowd support the team fully to make short work of the visitors, so they can all return home after their Friday exertions at work...here's to a smooth passage to the 5th round, with no injuries....c'mon Arsenal