I can't help but be annoyed about this game, even days afterwards. A new formation from the opposition seems like a flimsy excuse for our poor opening. It's not as if they traveled 100s of miles across an unfathomably dry desert to surprise us from the east while we were all looking west. I understand the need to adapt your game to find new spaces but these are experienced, international footballers who have surely been surprised by an unexpected formation before and must be adept enough to see that with the middle jammed up and Alexis and Ozil tracked man for man, we needed to make space on the outside. That being said, the narrative emerging in the wake of this game: Spurs dominate opening period and Arsenal being flat and out of ideas, is a bit ridiculous.
We adapted slowly to a new set of circumstances, but by no means were they dominant. We really, mainly canceled each other out, the Kane header and the Son run past Mustafi being the exceptions. Although, we did have a couple of dangerous moments ourselves. Operating between the lines, in small pockets of space between defenders, means that we're often a pass or run away from a clear chance, which to me is as good as a shot saved or flying just past the post, and I feel that this was the case several times in the first 25 minutes. This fact is easily lost in the stats and so we're never credited, although you can see why, the headline: SECOND TO LAST PASS MISSING FOR GUNNERS IN CLOSE OPENING PERIOD isn't very sexy.
Iwobi missed the chance to play in Alexis, putting Theo on a horse on the overlap instead and then not long after fluffed a terrific chance after incisive play by Alexis and Ozil. He really, really should have scored. At 20 and in a monster match, he has every excuse and I still think he'll be an important player for us, but watching him Cruyff turn inside more experienced opposition and pluck balls out of the air with masterful control made his miss so frustrating, so much evidence showing he is capable of putting that shot away instead of straight at Lloris.
After that, we crushed them. We were dynamic and our movement off the ball was impossible for them to keep up with. Had Wanyama been booked for clobbering Theo on the back of the head like he should have been, he wouldn't've been able to foul his way through the rest of the game, a sign that they just couldn't keep up with us. Theo smacked the post from 25 yards when maybe he could've run past the defender to get in one v one instead and Ozil couldn't control the follow up with his right foot. Ozil and Alexis both had chances to make better chances. We scored towards the end of the half, something to give us momentum moving into the second and what a goal it was. I absolutely LOVE a Spurs own goal, it's one of my great hateful pleasures. This nonsense about players behind him being offside is absurd, I don't even want to talk about it. The goal correctly stood and it came not long after Vertongen tried to rip off Xhaka's shirt in the box, far more of a penalty than the one they were later awarded. Incidentally, I thought Xhaka was very good. We probably should've carved out another couple of good chances in the first half and maybe pinched another, but we looked satisfied with a half time lead that was most definitely deserved.
In the second half, the game was pretty even keeled with each team being a bit stifled by the other, both midfields being frustrated. This birthed a run by Dembele, where he was allowed to carry the ball a bit too far, but eventually was surrounded by defenders. Going nowhere, he turned his back to Koscielny and went over a moment before he was going to lose the ball to one of the other 3 defenders on the scene. Clattenberg pointed to the spot immediately, which in real time was an absolute shock. Having watched the replays several times and listened to Howard Webb's load of shit about it being the right decision, I'm still incensed. No way in a million years was that a penalty, it was tactical fabrication by Dembele and the fact that the story is that we were lucky to be awarded our goal and they were well rewarded their penalty is so fucking annoyingly anti-Arsenal it does my head in.
I honestly don't understand the pro Spurs movement in the popular press. Yes, they have some young exciting players. Yes, they have a young, new breed manager. And yes, we have a stubborn old economic philosopher and have done for 20 years, and yes, we're often a player or two away from mounting a proper challenge, but these facts should by no means paper over the fact that Tottenham cheated their way into stadium rebuilding rights, sack manager after manager and have SPENT FAR MORE MONEY than we have in the past decade. Still we finish above them every season. How it is that they're lauded as the little, good guys I have no idea.
My hatred for Tottenham and my disdain for the dumb, illogical narrative to the Spurs - Arsenal story aside, drawing this game is a problem for me. I understand that we can't win every game and I understand that we're still in a very good league position, there is cause for optimism. But these are the games that title winning sides win. There were periods and phases of play where we should've done a lot better and been much more incisive. The Ox, particularly guilty of spurning opportunities to get at them and get in their box. That boy needs to get his shit together, he's a monster talent and if he can't get out of his head his career won't be what it should. Title winning teams step up in those instances, they don't send easy crosses into the stands, they don't defend free kicks so badly that they elude everyone and hit the post, they see that Wanyama is grabbing, clobbering and kicking every player he gets near so they send Sanchez and Ozil into his space to tease him and get him booked. They stand up, they play smart, they play collected, they win these games.
Early days of course, plenty of games to play and we're only a couple points off the top, but I think we need to raise our standards to win the league. God I hate Tottenham.
We adapted slowly to a new set of circumstances, but by no means were they dominant. We really, mainly canceled each other out, the Kane header and the Son run past Mustafi being the exceptions. Although, we did have a couple of dangerous moments ourselves. Operating between the lines, in small pockets of space between defenders, means that we're often a pass or run away from a clear chance, which to me is as good as a shot saved or flying just past the post, and I feel that this was the case several times in the first 25 minutes. This fact is easily lost in the stats and so we're never credited, although you can see why, the headline: SECOND TO LAST PASS MISSING FOR GUNNERS IN CLOSE OPENING PERIOD isn't very sexy.
Iwobi missed the chance to play in Alexis, putting Theo on a horse on the overlap instead and then not long after fluffed a terrific chance after incisive play by Alexis and Ozil. He really, really should have scored. At 20 and in a monster match, he has every excuse and I still think he'll be an important player for us, but watching him Cruyff turn inside more experienced opposition and pluck balls out of the air with masterful control made his miss so frustrating, so much evidence showing he is capable of putting that shot away instead of straight at Lloris.
After that, we crushed them. We were dynamic and our movement off the ball was impossible for them to keep up with. Had Wanyama been booked for clobbering Theo on the back of the head like he should have been, he wouldn't've been able to foul his way through the rest of the game, a sign that they just couldn't keep up with us. Theo smacked the post from 25 yards when maybe he could've run past the defender to get in one v one instead and Ozil couldn't control the follow up with his right foot. Ozil and Alexis both had chances to make better chances. We scored towards the end of the half, something to give us momentum moving into the second and what a goal it was. I absolutely LOVE a Spurs own goal, it's one of my great hateful pleasures. This nonsense about players behind him being offside is absurd, I don't even want to talk about it. The goal correctly stood and it came not long after Vertongen tried to rip off Xhaka's shirt in the box, far more of a penalty than the one they were later awarded. Incidentally, I thought Xhaka was very good. We probably should've carved out another couple of good chances in the first half and maybe pinched another, but we looked satisfied with a half time lead that was most definitely deserved.
In the second half, the game was pretty even keeled with each team being a bit stifled by the other, both midfields being frustrated. This birthed a run by Dembele, where he was allowed to carry the ball a bit too far, but eventually was surrounded by defenders. Going nowhere, he turned his back to Koscielny and went over a moment before he was going to lose the ball to one of the other 3 defenders on the scene. Clattenberg pointed to the spot immediately, which in real time was an absolute shock. Having watched the replays several times and listened to Howard Webb's load of shit about it being the right decision, I'm still incensed. No way in a million years was that a penalty, it was tactical fabrication by Dembele and the fact that the story is that we were lucky to be awarded our goal and they were well rewarded their penalty is so fucking annoyingly anti-Arsenal it does my head in.
I honestly don't understand the pro Spurs movement in the popular press. Yes, they have some young exciting players. Yes, they have a young, new breed manager. And yes, we have a stubborn old economic philosopher and have done for 20 years, and yes, we're often a player or two away from mounting a proper challenge, but these facts should by no means paper over the fact that Tottenham cheated their way into stadium rebuilding rights, sack manager after manager and have SPENT FAR MORE MONEY than we have in the past decade. Still we finish above them every season. How it is that they're lauded as the little, good guys I have no idea.
My hatred for Tottenham and my disdain for the dumb, illogical narrative to the Spurs - Arsenal story aside, drawing this game is a problem for me. I understand that we can't win every game and I understand that we're still in a very good league position, there is cause for optimism. But these are the games that title winning sides win. There were periods and phases of play where we should've done a lot better and been much more incisive. The Ox, particularly guilty of spurning opportunities to get at them and get in their box. That boy needs to get his shit together, he's a monster talent and if he can't get out of his head his career won't be what it should. Title winning teams step up in those instances, they don't send easy crosses into the stands, they don't defend free kicks so badly that they elude everyone and hit the post, they see that Wanyama is grabbing, clobbering and kicking every player he gets near so they send Sanchez and Ozil into his space to tease him and get him booked. They stand up, they play smart, they play collected, they win these games.
Early days of course, plenty of games to play and we're only a couple points off the top, but I think we need to raise our standards to win the league. God I hate Tottenham.
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