Arsenal at Marseille

Arsenal at Marseille

Champions League Match

Oct. 19, 2011

I initially liked the lineup of Van Persie centering Arshavin and Walcott. But in the first half, both players showed only an average performance. Walcott showed some flashes by breaking away a few times, but then tossed lame duck crosses that were casually eaten up by the keeper. Arshavin attempted a few darting runs moguling through trees, but he never got past the second tree. In fact Arsenal controlled in much the same way they do when they’re on, but they weren’t on. Meaning Arsenal seamlessly rotated players. All of their centers and midfielders interchanged, and defenders like Santos and Jenkinson would charge up on counters, almost playing wing for a few than jumping back down. The problem is Arsenal made nice runs but then terrible crosses. They made that nice last move to get open, but missed the shot. They just couldn’t break through the Marseille defense to finish. Unfortunately this matter, coupled with the typical Arsenal defensive woos, lead to a heart-stomping experience for the Gunner fan. 

Their was the matter of the handball. As a Arsenal corner kick led to a Marseille player hitting the ball with his hand well inside the zone. It should have been called it wasn’t, but it didn’t really seem like an injustice. The fact was Marseille had chances themselves, they had a nice lofted shot themselves that could have gone in and even though Arsenal held a firm grip on possession and had way more corners, they only had a few more chances. There was a header by Van Persie, of course the handball, and then several Walcott runs that really led to nothing., but that was it. 

The second half started much the same. For the most part they stumped Marseille, then pushed up on counters. Arshavin had a nice break from leftwing, but his cross produced only routine work from the goaltender.  

Past the 60th, Arsenal seemed to be creeping past the Marseille defense. Arshavin successfully moguled through three trees, setting up for Song who made a nice pass to Van Persie, but again Van Persie couldn’t get his best foot on it. Walcott had the best chance all game in the 63rd minute. Positioned in the middle he broke past a defender, who really flubbed his attempt at a tackle; but wound up too close to the goalkeeper to flip one past. Marseille got a few shots on net, but few real chances. Most of their shots were routine for the 20 year old Scieszny. 

If I can give anyone credit in this game, it has to be Koscielny. I have ripped him often, but he had a great game. Playing with Mertesacker in a dual centerback position, it looked as though Koscielny was the experienced one, not the old dog Mertesacker. He was the most aggressive receiver of all of the corners in the 1st half and he played a stout defense. He came to the rescue a few times by holding position in the middle crushing any crosses or players that came through. 

Coming in late Gervinho also looked lively. He came in for Walcott and made more quality chances in his 15-20 minutes than Walcott made in his 65. He made a great move and pass to an open Van Persie in the 90th minute, but the goalie was in position again and Van Persie couldn’t squeak it past him. Then in the 92nd minute, Arsenal’s consistant pressure in the 2nd half was finally rewarded right before the whistle. Wenger certainly looked like a genius on this one as his three 2nd half substitutions, Djourou, Gervinho, and Ramsey, were the last the last three players to touch the ball on way to goal. It was a Djourou cross from left that was tipped by Gervinho to a wide open Ramsey. The 19 year old then stuck the ball in with an authority and confidence that would not tend to be associated with someone so young.

In the end this was an amazing result for Arsenal. After Olympiakhos upset Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal finds themselves in first place at the half way point of the group stage in Champions. They also have both Marseille and Dortmund at home in the second half with only the weaker Oympihikios to play away in Greece. Also, Arsenal did look decent at defense. There were a few chances by Marseille, but Scziescny never had to make any hard saves. Koscielny helped out on a few dangerous crosses, but the closest Marseille ever came was the lofting shot in the 1st half.

Arsenal knew it needed to get to this point. If they can continue to push on in the Champions League, as the get farther on they should get healthier. Although they could never compete with the likes of Manchester United or Barcelona at this point, if they can get themselves another player or two, Hazard from Lille would definitely fit, they will hopefully get Vermailen and Sagna back in January, and Wilshere about a month after that. That would create a lineup that would still be the underdog against such aforementioned foes, but it would give them a chance.