FA Cup Round 3 -Arsenal vs Hull – 04 Jan 2015
After the disappointing start to the 2015, it seems Arsenal are back again to the winning ways. Arsenal are a team to watch when Plan A works perfectly. Everything goes south when Plan A does not work. Arsenal played some beautiful football against Hull. Though the score is only 2-0 it does not say the complete story. Arsenal could have scored 3-4 goals in the first half alone. The artistic and beautiful flow of football was visible during the first half of the match.
Match Summary
Arsenal Started the match with a strongest possible 11. Though there were couple of changes no surprise inclusions or omissions. Joel Campbell, Walcott and Coquelin were the only non-regular starters included in the starting 11. The team looked very strong with youngsters sitting on the bench. Traditionally Arsene wenger used to field few of those youngsters but luckily Arsene is quite serious about retaining the FA cup. We fielded a strong and started brightly unlike our opponents.
We started the match well. Joel Campbell made some intelligent runs. Coquelin kept things neat and tidy. Ospina was really solid when called upon. The Plan A of Arsenal style of Play really worked against Hull. Arsenal enjoyed lots of possession and always threatening to score goals in the first half. Sanchez, Cazorla and Rosicky really combined well. Run from Rosicky made our midfield very fluid and instantly triggered our attack once the ball reached his feat. Team really looked good and almost everyone were doing their job. The game looked much simpler.
Midfield
Sanchez was our man, he was everywhere. He kept the Midfield together. He was the all action star of the Arsenal team. His work rate never keeps him away from midfield, defense and attack. Arsenal team always plays through the middle. He was the key through the middle. He is a defender, midfielder and centre forward packed into one player. Its like having an additional player on the pitch. His work rate is mind blowing. We also need to rest him sometime. Hopefully the trio of Ozil, Walcott and Giroud will step up.
Wings
Monreal and Bellerin played well. Bellerin is an exciting player, he is really brave, fast and technical too. If he improves on his defensive side then we will have one hell of a player for years. Joel and Walcott had some wonderful chances. They also made some interesting runs into the box. The understanding between the wingers and full backs were lacking during the attack. The exchange of passes were not so great or may be it was completely overshadowed by our centre midfield. Wing play was completely ignored and there was no one in the box to receive the crosses from our exciting right back. The wingers understood their role and were always trying to cut inside and exchange places.
Defense
The Defense looked solid. Ospina looked assured. Hopefully he will start next few games and prove to be our number one. Chambers, Mertesacker, Bellerin and Monreal were good. Chambers, BFG and Coq were really solid. Apart from few misplaced passes Coquelin looked very assured. Hopefully his confidence will increase with this clean sheet performance and improve him as a defensive midfield player.
Goals
Some of the amazing chances did not produce any end product in the first half. Mertesacker headed home for our first from a corner. The man of the match Sanchez turned and fired the second goal to send us through to the next round.
Transfer Window
Arsenal fans were always ambitious when it comes to the transfer window. They fall for every rumour and feel disappointed at the end of the transfer window. Though Arsenal did well during the summer transfer window, their shortcomings were clearly visible. Does the Arsenal squad needs any replacement. After watching the Hull Match it might feel like we may not need anyone. At least one position requires a top quality player. Arsenal team would benefit from a really solid and strong DM player.
Role of CDM at Arsenal
The match against Hull was the perfect example why Arsene does not fancy a traditional strong Defensive Midfielder? Its also a match where the Plan A worked completely. Arsenal Struggle only against big teams who over run our midfield with pace and power. Coquelin did well against Hull. He was good in the match. In the overall match the role of coquelin/CDM was quite limited. There was hardly any counter attacking from Hull which made Coquelin look like an Arteta replacement rather than a Defensive midfield Player. Role of Arteta is underrated, he is the organizer and passer coordinating between the defense and attacking midfield. So, as per Arsenal style of play we do not need a Defensive minded midfield player. We only need a very good leader with passing skills.
Why Arsenal needs a Destroyer?
One Stone can cause a ripple effect.
Arsenal will continue to struggle against teams that gets little physical. Too many nice and soft players are already in our team. Arsenal definitely needs a destroyer who can put their body on the line to test the physicality of our opponents. Currently Flamini does that role for Arsenal, but does he have the legs to do it during counter attack?
Our flow of football can be easily disturbed by pushing one midfielder into the ground. Physical teams does it every single time. Big teams hurt us with counter attacking. Jose Mourinho has a text book method to defeat Arsenal easily. BBC MOTD highlighted this year how chelsea players kicked Arsenal players every now and then to disturb our flow of play. Once our flow is disturbed then its easy to win games against Arsenal. The easier way to win against Arsenal is to disturb the flow of football.
Whole Arsenal team and squad is prepared to play the football in only one way, the Arsenal way. Too many similar players. Does it really hurt to have a midfield destroyer with limited technical ability. I strongly believe one midfield destroyer can become vital to our squad. A world class DM would be really good but realistically I do not believe Arsene is planning to replace the club captain. A DM can help us against bigger teams and smaller physical teams. DM can also be handy in protecting the lead during the final few minutes. Its not surprising to see that we cannot defend our lead consistently. It would not hurt Arsenal to have someone like Cheik Tiote in our squad.
Cheick Tiote Bargain deal – The Real Arsene Way 🙂
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