» The Gooner World

Before going for the match analysis, I would like to draw the attention of fellow gooners to a few incidents in the week preceding this match. After a goalless draw with West ham at home, things were certainly looking a bit on the lower side for the gunners, considering the fact the villa are playing with great consistency and were not willing to let the Champions league spot go by.




Then a good news arrived in the form of Arshavin signing for the gunners. What impact he would have on the Arsenal style of play or to their trophy ambitions was not known, but still it brought a cheer to the face of supporters who were a bit let downby their team. Also the news that we will have our injured players back sooner than later was an added reason for joy. On Saturday that is on 7th feb Villa got a deserved win against Blackburn and took their lead to 8 points. However the good news was that Chelsea drew with hull and their lead was of 6 points. With these positives in mind the Arsenal team was ready to take on the spurs at White Heart Lane.



There were some changes in both the teams. Keane started as the captain of Spurs after his short love affair with the Reds, and Chimbonda made way for Corluka in the second-half. For the gunners RvP got a start ahead of Nick Bendtner (who replaced an injuried Adebayor), and Song started for the injured Diaby. No Start for Arshavin yet. While some people may be disappointed with this, this was the right thing to do considering he had not played a match for 2 months. Spurs started the game going on the aggressive front and forced to gunners into making some saves from the corners and free kicks won in the first few minutes. They were clearly the dominant team at that moment of time, however in term of chances the better chances fell to the feet of Gunners. The first one came when a beautiful through ball from Rapreleased Éboue and after a good run there was no one in the box to take his cross.



Second chance came when Corluka trying to be smart gave the ball to Nasri in his own box and clichy sent a cross which adebayor missed by inches. However the chance of the half was when RvP failed to control a ball and eboue running behind him took the ball and shot it towards the goal. Ade and two spurs defenders were at it and the ball fell back to Eboue who took it and shot it into the net,but by that time the eefree had blown a whistle for foul by Ade on Woodgate, and hence the goal was disallowed. In the meantime Almunia had to make some saves from Modric and Palacios, who was the best player on the pitch today. Two incidents in the first half turned out to be Arsenal's undoing. First Ade pulled a h amstring and he had to be stretched away. Bendtner came in to replace him. And then Eboue who was already on a yellow for a foolish act, got another yellow for yet another foolish act and was sent off. He had completely lost it and brought the gunners down to 10 men. Suddenly the draw which would have been a poor result for us, looked like a good result.



The First half ended at stalemate. In the 2nd half there was a tactical change of strategy by wenger and Nick played as the lone striker and RvP moved to the left and Nasri to the right, making Song and denilson play in more central roles. In terms of possession the 2nd half was better for gunners than the 1st half. To the credit of spurs Arsenal won their first corner in the 2nd half only. It was from a corner itself when the gunner’s best chance came in the 2nd half. A beautiful corner kick by RvP fell to the feet of Song and had he aimed it better the ball would have found the back of net. Also there was a very good shot by Bendtner which was saved by Gudicini. Meanwhile Spurs had chances of their own, and they went in vain sometimes due to brilliant defending by The defenders and Almunia and sometimes by the wasteful conversion by the spur strikers. The save of the match was made by Almunia in the dying moments of the match, when Modric just had him between the ball and the net. Clichy was replaced by Gibbs owing to the head injury he received while colliding with Bent. At last the game ended in a nil nil draw, and what would have been a disappointment in the beginning of the game turned out to be relief for the gunners. Only if there were 11 players for them on the ground, only if Eboue had kept his senses and not got the foolish red card, only if we had the pace of ade to trouble their defenders more. But then Rather than talking about negatives, why not talk about the positives. The players on the ground did tremendous work for the gunners. Another Clean sheet for us and the unbeaten run continues.



Alumina was superb, and made some really wonderful saves. The Back 4 played very well, and barring a few mistakes by Toure were very good. Bendtner, came in for Ade, and did a tremendous job as a lone striker. RvP could not produce his moment of magic today, but was overall very good with his play. Nasri, the creative spark in the midfield. Was trying to create chances. Denilson, not very good, but still good enough. Showed good commitment and worked tirelessly. Song, fGor me the performer of the match for the gunners. The screen in front of the back 4, and worked doubly hard when the gunners were down to 10 men. Also I would like to have a special mention for Palacios and Modric. Palacios was the player of the match with his tackling, with his shots, with his passing and is certainly a very good buy for the spurs. As far as Modric is concerned, he certainly is a very good player but he also seems to have mastered the art of Gamesmanship in football. Going down every time even on a faint touch, even the better dive masters would be put to shame by his display today.


So still 5th Place and 5 points behind Chelsea will be not seen as a good sign for our Champions League qualifying hope. Villa better by 7 points and We cant expect Chelsea and pool to drop points so easily. But then there are 13 games left and a whole 39 points to play, mind you 39 points. Anything can happen. And stranger things have happened. This is not the end of the road, by no means. The last part of the Premier League is the most crucial part and we have more easier games than rest of our competetiors. Also we have a whole lot of talented players ready to play or play again. So rather than being getting disappointed its time to cheer the gunner Spirit. It is the most Dark just before the Dawn. Cheers.


This article was written by Akshay from the Arsenal Orkut community.