What I took from the Spurs match

A disappointing 2-1 loss Spurs culminated in us finishing the game 7 points from them. Here are the things I took away from the match:

Szczęsny is struggling - His performance was poor today. Watching a quality keeper in Hugo Lloris at the other end definitely highlighted his issue. Now there is no denying that our defence was to blame for both goals but there is a point where you look at Tottenham’s one-on-ones, there wasn’t a single time where it was thanks to Szczęsny that we didn’t concede. When Bale scored Szczęsny had the opportunity to sweep up the loose ball but was too slow to react. For the Lennon goal you see that he clearly committed himself too early. In comparison Lloris swept up all the loose balls that passed his defensive line and on many occasions prevented our strikers from getting away a shot as a result. This was one of the clear differences between our team as we both play high lines and both have one slow CB. Now I’m not saying Szczęsny is a poor keeper –For his age he is actually one of the best in the world - but the fact of the matter is that age is no excuse and – due to no adequate back-up - he is currently undroppable. You’ll hear all the pundits say it time and time again but it holds truth that if a keeper has several poor games in a row and has no fear of being dropped it can prevent growth.

Tottenham are not unbeatable – Despite their current run of form I actually think they looked like a fairly average team. A recurring theme this season has been that we have switched off for a few minutes and quickly conceded. Tottenham quickly took advantage of this, but for the first 30 minutes we were by far the better team. After we conceded two goals in quick succession, it was almost plain sailing for them as they could sit back and counter. That said, if they play the way they did today against Chelsea and Man City they will almost definitely lose.

The Jenkinson substitution was a huge mistake – Walcott disappeared for large portions of the game and Jenkinson was the only player on our team that was able to provide any kind of attacking threat down the right hand side. I think the idea was to create an attacking threat by throwing on another midfielder, but unfortunately what kept happening was that Spurs forced the ball down their left (Our right), running down the clock as nobody was effectively protecting that side.  Furthermore Rosicky had a quiet game and our threat down the right hand side was effectively finished as a result of the substitution. Jenkinson was one of the few players in our defence that actually impressed me today and as a result I am beginning to see him being able to become a quality player in our team.

As the game finished I was extremely disappointed and actually put off writing this post to stop myself from slating our attacking options too much. Giroud is clearly in a slump of form and needs to rediscover his shooting boots to show himself as a great striker, his ability to get into positions is still very good but without a final product he will continue to look mediocre. Vermaelen actually looked very impressive at the start of the match making a number of good tackles, but once again a couple of lapses in concentration cost us, and severely marred his performance.  I could continue to give a critical appraisal of our team but unfortunately it doesn’t mean too much. After a result like this it’s easy to get down in the dumps and forget that it is just one game. It does sting, but you have to take the good with the bad.

Dealing with Bale

When Walcott signed in 2006, apparently Arsenal had a choice between signing him and Bale. One of our better players this season, Walcott's performances have massively improved, but his form has been nothing like Bale's showings for Tottenham.  Though he wouldn't admit it, I think this stings Wenger a little inside. Anyway, whether Arsenal are able to get a result on Sunday will no doubt be dependent on Wenger's ability to neutralise Bale's threat. Yesterday, Bale epitomised his importance to Tottenham - single-handedly  bringing down the West Ham team. So the question remains - how can Arsenal deal with Bale?

Now let me be clear here, I'm not claiming to be a tactical genius or that I have a fool-proof method to deal with him. Bale is one of the best players in the Premiership and, as such can tear apart any game-plans a manager might make. That said, there are some key factors that will come into play on Sunday which will determine whether Bale has a stormer or a quiet game.

Jenkinson or Sagna : If Sagna is fit he will likely play. On the surface the experienced Sagna should clearly play over the inexperienced Jenkinson, however in Jenkinson's defence he has played fairly well this season after a difficult debut season with the club. Furthermore Jenkinson's pace is clearly a factor that could play into the game as Bale's own pace will clearly pose a problem to Sagna who, as a result of two leg breaks, has clearly lost a step. That considered I would probably still pick Sagna  - for the first 60 minutes at least. Sagna's experience should not be understated as, against a world class player, a cool head is far more useful than quick legs. Psychologically the concept of facing 90 minutes against Gareth Bale would be far more daunting for Jenko than Sagna, who has been there and played against the best. Jenkinson is fairly tireless and I could see him bombing back and forth for the last  30 minutes in a manner that Sagna simply cannot.This would pose serious problems for the Tottenham defence and would also limit Bale's ability to run forward, as the joint threat of Walcott and Jenkinson would force him to stay back. In the last few games in  particular Bale has really thrived in the final periods of the game - so this could really have a massive impact on our ability to contain him.

Walcott - Obviously it is very important that Walcott tracks back to provide protection to the RB - that's a given - but what is equally important to keeping Bale quiet is the level of attacking threat Walcott poses against Tottenham. Neither Kyle Naughton nor Vertonghen are slow, but neither can match Theo. Given that Tottenham like to play a high line Walcott would have the potential to expose the Tottenham defence. With that in mind, should Walcott succeed in exposing Tottenham Bale would be required to stay back for extended periods. Obviously this is not a given, and would definitely require some luck on our part, as AVB could easily chose to drop the defensive line in light of Walcott's pace and Walcott may struggle to impose himself in the game or may even be played centrally. If (A big if) things pan out the right way for Arsenal on Sunday though, we could see Walcott being the stand-out Southampton graduate in the North London derby.

Arteta/RDM - In the 1-1 game against Manchester United, Bale struggled to impose himself. This was in no small part down to Ferguson's use of Phil Jones as a Defensive midfielder slightly to the right of center. This resulted in a restricted ability of Bale to cut inside, and also provided support to Rafael. Bale struggled as a result of this and posed no serious real attacking threat for any sustained period in this game. The issue Arsenal have in this situation is that we don't have any defensive midfielders in the mould of Phil Jones. Last season Alex Song would have been able to complete the task with consumate ease. Unfortunately due to his sale we are left with the relatively inexperienced Coquelin and Mikel Arteta, who is proficient but unfortunately not at his best in this role. My inclination would be to deploy Arteta in this role due to his calmer head, but unfortunately neither really instil a great confidence in me and an area we might struggle to contain Bale with may well be the inside-cut.

Anyway this is all I can come up with at this moment in time,
Feel free to leave any ideas or opinions in the comments.

Henry, Spurs and Do we need a Striker?

News reports recently seem to suggest that Arsenal legend Thierry Henry is looking to return to the club in a coaching role at the end of his contract at New York Red Bulls. Is this a good thing for Arsenal? Simply put YES! When Henry joined the club on loan last season he certainly made an impact - on the pitch and off it. Walcott in particular has spoken of the positive impact that Henry had on his game last season, and also was key in the contract talks. Being able to talk to a player who has seen and done it all will definitely have a positive impact on the youngsters in our team. And who knows, maybe he could even have a word with Gervinho. Call me a romantic but seeing Henry come home and link up with  Wenger would really add to the family feel that the club has created between the players and staff - one of the things I love about this mighty club.

In other news - Spurs are playing West Ham  tonight - a game I will be intently watching. More for the result than as a scouting mission though. The Hammers play nothing like the Gunners, but, Spurs' approach will be interesting. Will they risk Bale given the virtual 6-pointer on sunday? He is clearly their best player and quite frankly their only real source of goals in recent weeks. Even if Bale does play it'll be interesting to see if Tottenham are able to break down a West Ham team, who despite having an average season, are no fools defensively. Despite them being clear favourites I can see the spuds dropping points tonight and hopefully allow us to overtake them this weekend.

Finally, my main topic of discussion today; I hear a lot of Arsenal fans complaining about our need for a better striker to replace Van Persie. After Saturday's match against Aston Villa there was a lot of criticism of Giroud's performance - and rightly so; he squandered chance after chance and was nowhere to be seen after numerous Walcott crosses. With that said if I was Wenger a new striker would be bottom of my shopping list. Giroud is clearly a good finisher; say what you want about Ligue 1 but no striker could be it's top goalscorer without being able to finish. He has been at Arsenal for around half a season now, and we can often be quick to dismiss players as poor - understandable though, given our history with signing strikers. As a target man Giroud's play depends on his understanding with other attackers in our team. He has been with the team for 6 months. If great understanding was built in 6 months Real Madrid would have won everything season after season for several years now. We should also finally be able to play Joel Campbell who has struggled to gain a work permit, but has looked fairly impressive for Real Betis this season. Chuba Akpom has also made huge strides in the U18s this season; unnecessarily signing a striker like Falcao ( Not that I think he'd join us) would almost definitely end their potential for the first team.

So there you have it folks, feel free to leave a comment on your views.
Lets hope the spuds blow it tonight.