A routine win and growing evidence that Arsenal are moving in the right direction.
The Starting XI
Suspension and injuries meant that Djourou, Ramsey and Andre Santos started in the only changes from the team that beat Man City on Sunday; whilst Wolves lined up in a defensive 4-5-1 formation, with the intent on damage limitation. Squillaci and Park made rare appearances on the subs bench for Arsenal.
Easy, easy, easy
Any hopes that Wolves had of snatching a point evaporated in the 8th minute when Bassong was sent off for upending Walcott in the penalty area. Unlike the debacle at Old Trafford, there could be little debate about the sending off, with Van Persie ending, by his standards, his goal drought to claim his 33rd goal of the season.
Theo Walcott soon added a well taken second goal following a neat one-two with Van Persie, which ended the game as a contest, with Wolves taking the opportunity to cheer at any stage they could – corners, free kicks etc – at one stage, even breaking into a comedy ‘if Walcott can play for England, so can we’ routine.
Arsenal’s dominance is reflected in the sheer number of passes made by the side – whilst the most passes attempted by a Wolves player was a lowly 43 (by Karl Henry), 10 – 10! – Arsenal players attempted more passes. The dominance is made even more apparent as the defence each made over 75 passes – (Djourou 75, Vermaelen 79, Santos 97, and Sagna 103).
Arteta and Song again dictated the tempo of the game, making 200 passes between them, with Song notching another assist this season when creating Benayoun’s goal in the second half.
The midfield three
It was refreshing to hear Sky Sports praise the Arsenal Three – Rosicky, Song, Arteta – as being one of the best midfields in the Premier League on Sunday – I am sure that all of the Arsenal faithful would agree that Arsenal’s renaissance is largely thanks to their increasing influence – particularly in tight games such as Sunday’s.
Rosicky was on the bench last night – more because of fatigue than being ‘dropped’ – which meant that Ramsey was afforded a start last night.
At the start of the season, expectations were high that Ramsey would break through and stamp his mark on this team. For some reason, this hasn’t happened with Rosicky being increasingly favoured over Arsenal’s number 16.
Ramsey was, again, quietly effective last night without being particularly eye catching. His pass completion rate was high – 91% - with over a third of these being in the attacking third. However, the feeling persists – if it is just a personal thought – that he may need to take his game to the next level to remain a regular next season – particularly with the return of Wilshere and possible signing of M’Vila.
Sorry Wolves, thrown to the…Wolves?
A word on Wolves. Since sacking McCarthy in February, they have drawn one, and lost eight games, a dismal run by anyone’s standards but a run that wasn’t ‘coming’ before McCarthy’s dismissal. It just shows in football that unless clubs have a plan, the only way is down.
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