#EFCvAFC
I went into this game hoping for more than a draw, as this was our first real chance to demonstrate that we've improved from last season, away from home against a top-five team. Having watched the match, however, I feel that this is a point gained rather than two points lost. I'm not sure that our performance demonstrated much improvement, but in the same fixture last season we got thoroughly beaten. We certainly demonstrated some heart and desire to get anything from this game, and I'm left wondering whether we had one eye on the more important Besiktas fixture on Wednesday.
Starting line-up: Szczesny; Debuchy, Chambers, Mertesacker, Monreal; Flamini; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ramsey, Wilshere, Ozil; Alexis
Flamini for Arteta was a forced change, due to injury, and I suspect that Mertesacker for Koscielny was to give Koscielny a chance to recover from a niggling injury. This is also with a view to the Besiktas game on Wednesday, giving Mertesacker valuable game time, Koscielny valuable rest, and providing a way to keep Chambers in the team following his excellent start to the season.
With Ozil lacking match fitness, he was given game time, but on the left, maintaining the Wilshere-Ramsey partnership, just ahead of Flamini, in central midfield. The other significant change was that of playing Alexis in the centre, instead of Giroud (or Sanogo). It could be that Giroud was given a rest before the Besiktas game, or that Wenger wanted pace up front, to avoid Everton playing a high defensive line and compressing the midfield, as worked so effectively against us in the equivalent fixture last season. Oxlade-Chamberlain also offers more pace and directness than Cazorla.
It's easy to say this with hindsight, but playing both Monreal and Ozil on the left seemed to be asking for trouble when facing Coleman and Lukaku, two players who caused us huge problems in our last game against them. While we started the first half positively with lots of possession and some neat passing combinations, we never really looking like breaking through the Everton defence, and it wasn't long before our left side was exposed. Ozil failed to track Coleman's run, and he was left with an easy headed finish to make it 1-0. Everton seemed well-prepared for going one up, as their game plan of sitting deep, drawing our midfield forward, and playing on the counter-attack worked a treat for the rest of the first half.
Everton didn't have many players that would get into our team (Coleman and Lukaku), yet every player had well-defined roles and, as a team, they looked strong and organised, with a well thought out game plan. Arsenal, however, seemed to lack cohesion. Many of our players seemed unsure of their role, as if they had just been asked to go out and play. With so many changes to players' positions, it will be interesting to see, as the season progresses, what our first choice line-up looks like. Does Wenger see Ozil's best position as being in the centre or on the left? Is Alexis most effective out wide or through the middle? Does Wenger see the Ramsey-Wilshere pairing as an essential part of the midfield? Of course, it may be that there is no best option, and that different line-ups are better against different oppositions. This would represent a shift in Wenger's approach, as he has previously insisted that we focus on our own game, rather than adapting our team to counter the opposition.
With Alexis through the middle, there was confusion in how we were pressing. With Everton sitting deep, drawing us into their half, Alexis was chasing the ball and gesturing for our midfielders to press with him (this is brought with him from Barcelona), and yet our midfield was resisting, aware that should they all press then we would be left exposed on the counter-attack. It is a credit to Alexis that he was so eager to work hard to win the ball back but, without the support from the rest of the team, a lot of this effort was wasted.
Everton got a second just before the end of the first half. While Mertesacker had been given the unenviable role of marking Lukaku, a quick ball forward caught him out. A combination of a slip and a slight foul allowed Lukaku to break free from Mertesacker, Chambers rashly dived in, missing both player and ball, allowing Lukaku to run straight into the danger zone. He fed Naismith, who was offside, and slotted home. While the goal shouldn't have stood, it doesn't excuse our poor defending and Everton had played for exactly this since their first goal.
Giroud, who has been the brunt of a lot of criticism recently, replaced Alexis at half-time. It is very rare for Wenger to make a change at half-time; the last player I remember being subtituted so early in a game was Eboue, so I'm hoping this isn't indicative of how Alexis will develop at Arsenal! I think that more likely is that either he was injured, or Wenger took him off with half an eye on the hugely important game on Wednesday against Besiktas. Giroud instantly made a difference, providing a different option for our midfielders and offering more variety in attack. Suddenly, Everton's defenders had a real physical threat to deal with, who may try to run in behind, or could also collect the ball with his back to goal and look to play in midfield runners. Our midfield looked much more purposeful with so many more options available.
Towards the end of the game it was noticable the Mertesacker gave Ozil a gee-up as he went up for a corner - nice to see his leadership skills in action, and Ozil seemed to respond positively. While these two players looked tired in their first game back, it will be a real asset to have three (or two, if Podolski leaves) World Cup Winners and the winning mentality and team spirit that comes with it. Despite having performed well on the left for Germany, Ozil was less able to influence the game from there than when he's been deployed in the centre. I suspect that he will be played in the centre again once his match fitness returns, but this raises questions about whether Wilshere will get into the team.
When Cazorla and Campbell were brought on, we started to look even more dangerous, though a big part of this was due to Everton tiring noticably in the last ten minutes. Campbell was always positive on the ball, looking to try things and take risks; more often than not, this led to a positive outcome, even if it wasn't what was intended. One example was an ambitious diagonal cross which, despite hitting the first defender, led to us winning a corner and maintaining pressure. It was no surprise that Ramsey was the man to get the first goal back, showing great desire to run past two Everton defenders and meet Cazorla's low cross. Then, at the death, Giroud capped a great centre forward's performance by out-jumping Sylvain Distin to score with a header.
Everton must feel hard done by not to come away from this game with three points. While we started positively, we didn't ever really look like scoring, and they were the better team for the majority of the game. We showed great character and desire to keep fighting right to the end but, had it not been for Everton tiring so severely, we wouldn't have taken anything from this match. If we are serious about our ambitions of winning the Premier League, we need to start playing much better.
So, after a match which has been so positively influenced by Giroud's contributions, I'm left musing over why it is that he bears the brunt of so much criticism from the Arsenal fans. While Giroud is not without weakness, I suspect that there are some other frustrations and misconceptions which contribute to this disproportionate criticism.
Firstly, Giroud is our only option as a centre forward. It may be that Alexis develops into the role, and Sanogo might be able to do a job there soon but, so far, both have failed to convince. My feeling is that it is Sanogo and Alexis that need to improve in the centre forward role, not Giroud, if our squad is to become complete. Either that, or Wenger needs to sign another centre forward to complement Giroud.
While Giroud offers a lot of qualities to our forward play, he is very different to previous Arsenal centre forwards, and very different to Suarez and Aguero, who have recently been the best centre forwards in the Premier League. Giroud lacks pace, which means that he can't break beyond defenders in the same way that Henry and Anelka used to do, and he can't play in such an opportunistic way as Suarez or Aguero. Let's not criticise Giroud for not being Suarez or Henry - after all, this criticism could be directed at every player in the Arsenal squad, and most other forwards in the Premier League.
Having said this, Giroud's lack of pace definitely caused us big problems last season, particularly in the games against the other top 5 teams. It seemed to be a common theme in these games that teams would play a high defensive line to compress our midfield, with no fear of Giroud breaking away from their defenders. This was particularly effective with Walcott out injured, as our midfield struggled to maintain possession when tightly pressed as there was no out-ball; no one to capitalise on the space left behind the opposition's defenders. It is clear that if Giroud is to be our centre forward then we need to have other players with searing pace in the team, so that the opposition can't play such a high defensive line and our midfield has the space in which to play. I feel that a front three of Alexis, Giroud and Walcott provides a good balance; Giroud offers the physical presence, heading ability, and ability to hold up the ball and play in midfield runners, while Walcott and Sanchez provide the pace, movement, directness, crosses and finishing.
Giroud has looked a bit rusty so far this season, with several missed chances and poor finishes springing to mind, particularly against Besiktas. However, it is the mark of a good centre forward that they keep getting in the right positions and getting opportunities to score, and Giroud has certainly been doing this. Also, his record of two goals in two starts so far this season is not to be sniffed at. As his match fitness returns, so will his sharpness and confidence.
One of Arsenal's strengths last season was the consistency with which we picked up points against teams lower down the table. Previously this had been a weakness, but Giroud gives us the physical presence required against those teams. I think it's worth highlighting that Giroud played exceptionally well at start of last season and consistently worked very hard for the team, but he tailed off in the second half of the season when he was overplayed. This remains a problem for us as, while we have gained Alexis, who may develop into a possible alternative to Giroud, we still lack quality cover.
So, while our striking options have plenty of room for improvement, let's consider not just Giroud's weaknesses, but also remember all the qualities that he brings that our other squad members lack: Physical presence, strength, ability to hold up the ball, heading ability, powerful shot, instinctive finishing, etc. If you're still feeling dubious, have a look at the three videos below. After all, Giroud was heavily involved in my two favourite Arsenal goals from last season, and scored another decent goal, with an instinctive finish, against Tottenham:
- Goal vs. West Ham
- Build up play in Wilshere goal vs. Norwich
- Goal vs. Tottenham
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