As Arsenal prepared to meet Swansea on Saturday, there was much excitement in anticipation of seeing a quintet of new players make their bow for the Club. Gunners’ fans were treated to an unheard of end to TDD (that’s Transfer Deadline Day, in case Jim White didn’t bellow it loud enough the first 700 times). Wenger signed 5 players in the wake of the 8-2 mauling at Old Trafford and the reasons for this are debatable. Two of those signings started the match, with German International Per Mertesacker starting in central defence after the unfortunate injury to Thomas Vermaelen, ruling him out for around 2 months. In midfield, Mikel Arteta donned the famous red and white for the first time – an experienced Premier League player with almost the perfect characteristics to play at Wengers Arsenal. Other new signings Park, Benayoun and Andre Santos were named as substitutes, £15m Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain failed to make the squad and there were further injuries/suspensions for Wilshere, Song, Jenkinson and Gervinho.
The match itself was an entertaining affair and one which was a little more end-to-end than most fans would have expected or, indeed, hoped for. Swansea were left without their influential manager Brendan Rodgers after the sad passing of his father the previous night. They did however, stick to their principles and played a passing game, a brave act at the Emirates. Arsenal were clearly lacking in confidence after their last game but started the game well with new man Mikel Arteta showcasing his talent.
How did we do?
To start with a positive – we didn’t get anyone sent off! That is a first in the Premier League this season, as is the 3 points we received from this game.
There are ongoing concerns with our defending with hopes that the addition of Mertesacker will help to strengthen our defence. He did at times look as though the pace of the game was something he was struggling with, hopefully he will adapt quickly and become more assured. His partner in central defence was Laurent Koscielny who is something of a Jekyll and Hyde player in that he looks to be extremely inconsistent and always has a mistake in him. His naive challenge on Sinclair conceded a dangerous free-kick which we were fortunate not to be punished from. Looking back to the Barca game at the Emirates Koscielny was a Goliath and looked worthy of a place in the starting line-up. He needs to re-discover that form and produce it with some regularity if we are to cope well with the loss of Vermaelen.
Our midfield had good balance with the ever-improving Frimpong still learning, Ramsey looking a little more comfortable than in previous games and new signing Arteta starting brightly.
Arshavin scored the winner and made some good passes in the final third but had a reasonably quiet game. Walcott got away a couple of shots and looks determined to score in every game this season, although he did get booked for retaliating to the attentions of Taylor. He could have been red-carded for this and needs to be careful given our struggles with discipline so far in the campaign. van Persie had a solid game and was a bit unlucky not to score.
Szczesny had a brilliant game and produced the goods whenever he was required to do so.
This performance had much to be satisfied about with no injuries, no suspensions, a clean sheet and 3 points in the bag. Although we didn’t see a glut of goals I am certain the vast majority of Gooners would be happy with our ‘first’ game of the season (according to Arsene).
As for Swansea, they should take heart from this performance. Yet to score there first Premier League goal, Graham was unlucky to come up against the inspired Szczesny, who was equal to anything the former Middlesborough man could produce. At the other end, they defended fairly stoutly and were only undone by a freak error.
Spanish Playmaker Mk II
The game was arguably won in midfield, with Arsenal holding the lion’s share of possession – 59%. The efficiency of the Arsenal midfield meant Swansea struggled to sustain meaningful possession . Arteta was central to this and the former-Everton man had a very solid debut. Arteta completed 71 out of 80 passes against Swansea. The chalkboard below shows a comparison of Arteta v Swansea and Fabregas’ performance v Blackpool at the Emirates from last season (obviously we didn’t play Swansea last season and Blackpool were a newly-promoted side with a similar style of play to Swansea).
The chalkboard highlights the passes made by each player, with Fabregas completing 37 of 43 attempted passes (although he only played for 62 minutes whereas Arteta played the full game). This is not the most comprehensive form of analysis and neither is it intended to be, but the comparison of the stats shows Arteta is capable of replacing Fabregas in the midfield in terms of his passing ability. Furthermore, the comparison of tackles shows Arteta was successful in 3 of 4 whereas Fabregas failed to make a single tackle. This is an important element as we need to spread responsibility on our defensive failings throughout the team with more emphasis on the midfield role in breaking up opposition attacks and working back to provide numbers when under attack.
Man of the Match
The MOTM award goes to Wojciech Szczesny. In a game where Arsenal struggled to score, it was essential that the opposition were kept at bay. Szczesny proved that a quality ‘keeper can win you points and one suspects had we lined up with Fabianski or Almunia in goals we may not have seen such an assured performance. The highlight of the game was his stunning save from Graham’s well placed header early in the first half. Top class.
Talking points
The most controversial element to emerge from this game was not the performance of the team, but that of the fans! Match of the Day commentator Steve Wilson failed to endear himself to Gooners as he criticised the atmosphere at the Emirates and claimed the Swansea fans were the only contributors.
“If it wasn’t for them [Swansea fans] it would be louder down at Islington Library than it is here”.
This met with a vociferous response on Twitter where the general consensus was that the highlights had been edited in a somewhat unflattering manner. Indeed, when watching the highlights you can clearly see and hear Arsenal fans enjoying the game.
Selected Wenger quotes
On Arteta: “He is a class act... there is all the ingredients there to be a perfect Arsenal player”.
On getting over OT: “We try to move on because sport is what’s coming next. You could see it was still in the system today”.
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