Match Preview: Arsenal v Wigan; Premier League Match Day 34
This has all the makings of a QPR waiting to happen unless we are absolutely careful and committed. Wigan look beatable and admittedly when I look at the lineup I ask, how did this squad beat Manchester United. But they did. And any Gooner who thinks that this match will be a cake walk.
When Arsenal thrashed Wigan 4-0 at the DW it really looked for all intent and purposes that Roberto Martinez’s men were going to be on their way to the Championship. In lesser clubs with lesser leadership an owner or a board would’ve sacked the manager and been done with it. Just ask Wolves. Well, that hasn’t happened. Wigan Chairman Dave Whelan has stuck by his man and Roberto Martinez has Wigan on a run of form almost similar to the Gunners. Hell, if we’re honest they were very unlucky to come out on the losing end against Chelsea.
Martinez has his men committed to playing the right way. You can classify that as you want. But he wants them to play football and being from a region that is better known for its Rugby side, he is earning fans. Like we mentioned previously, Wigan before January were relegation fodder and one of the clubs instantly earmarked for going down. Sure, they are only two points out but with all the results from the weekend in the books, they are safe – for now.
But the task for Wigan has gotten harder. They take the pitch against an in form Arsenal side. Arsenal have 27 from 30 points and are scoring at will and with ease. Furthermore against Wigan, the Gunners have only lost 1 time in 13 Premier League matches. And to make matters worse, Arsenal have won all 9 games against Wigan that have occured on the Gunners home pitch.
Right now, I am not sure this Arsenal squad needs any introduction. They are playing more like the team we had hoped for all these years that we seemed (may or may not be true) to have an abundance of talent. They are controlling games and putting in a workman effort into every match they play – save the blip at QPR.
If Tottenham fans are blaming Arsenal for their sides current poor form (and they are, oh boy they are), then Arsenal have Spurs to thank for their run of form. Whilst, Arsenal had been turning around before Spurs, it was that match that set the tone for their run in. The usual March crumble was replaced by a focused effort to overhaul their neighbours and get back to playing like the club they are with the heritage and pedigree of Arsenal. Should Arsenal win they will open up an eight point lead on Tottenham and Newcastle and 10 points on Chelsea – with none set to play a league game until Saturday.
All Arsenal need to do at this point, is maintain the status quo. Take one game at a time and focus on that game. Additionally, any thought or desire to overlook and opponent should be put aside and the team should only be reminded of the epic failure at Loftus Road. That wake up call happened at the right time in my opinion and focused this team.
However, Arsenal need to maintain that focus. I thought in a few games like Villa and last week’s Wolves match when playing an opponent that was dead in the water, we resorted to cutsey passes, little tricks and less direct play. As good as Arsenal is and has been lately it needs to learn one final thing – when you have an opponent on the mat – you don’t take your foot off their throat. When Arsenal get cute, the lose focus, shape and purpose, things slow down and it allows the opposition to get behind the ball. It also allows the opponent thoughts of jumping back into a match. After 10 minutes at Wolves it should’ve been lights out. But there a few chances to come from the 10 men side.
Should Arsenal jump out to an early lead, it can ill afford to let Wigan back in. This match, and the one on Saturday versus Chelsea can pretty much lock down the Champion’s league qualification. Wenger’s men need to know this and focus on it.
How the Match Should Play:
Why break that which ain’t broken? Arsenal are at home, a virtual focus. They’ve lost only twice there and since the turn of the year have not conceded any more than two goals a game. The fast passing, direct movement and full team pressing combined with their scoring prowess has made the Emirates a virtual fortress this season. Arsenal need to just stick with the game plan that has brought them so much success. When they do it and do it well, there are very few teams they can’t beat. Wigan are still hungry to move further out of relegation danger. I do not suspect they will be your typical away team and play with only one man up top. They will come to play (just ask United) Arsenal need to know this and play to it because it plays right into their strengths. Overall I suspect a really good match. Still, I can’t see anything other than an Arsenal win at home.
Players to Watch:
Arsenal: Mikel Arteta. Raise your hand if you were scratching your head about this deal at the transfer deadline? All Arteta has done since day 1 is show a work rate we could all be proud of and a performance in an Arsenal shirt that says maybe his best isn’t yet beyond him.
Wigan. Ali Al Habsi. Besides buying into Martinez’s system, Al Habsi has to be the biggest reason why the Latics are doing so well. He’s just been tremendous for the resurgent Wigan team.
Projected Starting XI:
Injuries and Suspensions:
Arsenal: Koscielny (suspended – 1) Diaby (hamstring) Coquelin (hamstring) Frimpong (knee) Mertesacker(ankle) Wilshere (ankle)
Wigan: Pollitt (elbow)
Leading Scorers:
Arsenal: Van Persie: 27
Wigan: Di Santo 4, Moses 4, Gomez 4
Last Meeting (EPL):
Arsenal: 4
Wigan: 0
Goals For:
Arsenal (home): 2.2
Wigan (away): 1
Goals Against:
Arsenal (home): .8
Wigan: (away): 2
Last Five:
Arsenal: WWLWW
Wigan: WLWWD
Goal Difference:
Arsenal: 25
Wigan: -26
Match Official:
Referee: Andre Marriner (Matches 17, R5 Y61)
Broadcast Information:
US: Fox Soccer Channel 3:00PM
UK: Sky Sports 1 2000 GMT
GAMEDAY CHAT: It’s Open!!!!!!
www.youaremyarsenal.com/gamedaychat
YAMA Prediction:
Arsenal: 2
Wigan: 0
The Last Word
With the Fabrice Muamba and Stylian Petrov medical ordeals, we were reminded of the fragility of sport. We were further reminded of that this past weekend when Serie B side Livorno midfielder Piermario Morosini died of a cardiac arrest after collapsing on the pitch. Mario was 25 and left behind no family except a disabled sister who he acted as guardian for. In a supreme act of giving and kidness, Udinese Captain Antonio di Natale and his club have promised to make sure that Mario’s sister is permanently cared for. It is acts like this that remind that even with all the crap and selffishness of the modern day sports star there are those that rise above that and show their class. We doff our caps off to di Natale and Calcio di Udinese.
The FA Cup final is set, Liverpool v Chelsea. And I am okay with that. At least I won’t feel compelled to root for a team I can’t stand, I under no way wanted Spurs to get a chance at the cup. Anyway, I felt bad for David Moyes and Everton, if ever a manager and a club deserved a shot at the cup it was their side but unfortunately a mistake led to the eventual winner and Liverpool, the most expensive cup team in the league, goes through.
Chelsea go through after a trouncing of Spurs. There is a lot of dispute about the 2nd goal and whether or not it was completely over the line and Martin Atkinson calling it in favor of Chelsea. This is the second week in a row that Martin Atkinson has had a howler of match. The first you might remember was Easter Sunday at the Emirates. Secondly it definitely screams out for video technology. There are a few images floating out there and the evidence is inconclusive. Video evidence like Hawkeye would’ve been able to confirm whether or not it was a goal. Still though as we all said the ‘phantom goal’ doesn’t change the fact that for the last 20 minutes of the match Spurs were an utter shamble. And now I can take glee in the fact that Spurs fans everywhere blame Arsenal for their steady decline into their normal positions.
That’s it for this one. We’ll try and be in GDC (workload permitting).
Until then. . . Stay Goonerish!!!
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you have to enjoy Wenger… a f*cking genius, isn’t he?
Complaining about Wigan wasting time?
REALLY?
Is that what this is down to? We lose a match we had to have against a team
with far less talent… and Wenger is going to complain about “time wasting”…
well, they scored their goals after what? 8 minutes?
So with time added on, we had about 85 plus minutes to tie the match.
Arsene, get a freaking clue… stop with the stupid moans when we lose, and just ACCEPT DEFEAT… it happens to everyone, except the Invincibles.
both the result and the performance were disappointing. arsenal had a great chance to put more daylight between themselves and the rest of the pack. but they blew it like the 18-0 patriots (sorry stag).
like dag alluded to, i watched wigan’s match against chelsea and completely agree that chelsea were lucky to win that game. but it let me know that wigan were going to be tough. moses was as good against chelsea as he was against arsenal. wigan applied the same tactic that villa tried. one obvious exception, wigan committed four players every time they countered. arsenal were exposed because of wigan’s commitment to numbers forward and their attacking players were faster. well done to martinez.
another observation: over the past month, arsenal have been slow to get the ball forward. slow build-up to attacks mean teams have time to get their defensive shape behind the ball. as a result, arsenal have been forced to play a lot of crosses. anyone notice benayoun, van persie, vermaelen, and even rosicky heading shots on goal lately? since when are arsenal that kind of team? as a result, van persie’s goals have dried up.
do arsenal need to make a deliberate effort to change that? should arsenal buy a #9 in the summer? if we’re going to follow in this mold, should chamakh play more? that’s what wenger get’s paid the big bucks for. it’s his call. one thing’s for sure, arsenal are becoming awful predictable while failing to create many good scoring chances with their possession. something needs to change or finishing in the top four may be difficult.
btw, don’t sleep on newcastle. i think they’re more likely than spurs or chelsea to get it right in the end.
@joshuad, while I certainly respect the Patriots, and their dynasty… I am actually not a Patriots fan… but this Arsenal team has Zero in common with the Patriots! LoL
I really don’t want to go all doom and gloom, but yesterday’s match was a horror. Arteta looks done for the remainder and the rest of the group showed why we need him so badly. THIS was the match we needed to win and we couldn’t. A point would’ve helped too….(And still we couldn’t)….
Chelsea have the small matter of keeping Barca at bay on Wednesday, but, it’s not really the hardest thing, nor is it a physically taxing duty. (Barca, currently partying with RVP, will be happy “establishing” the pattern of play for the 2nd leg, knowing they can win it at the Camp Nou….) Chelsea know that winning on Saturday (assuming they can win their game in hand) puts them within a point of us and on the right track to nip in for one of the CL spots.
It’s POSSIBLE that we could draw or even win that match but the smart money would have to be against it. Let’s be clear, once Arteta went down and they scored their 2 quick goals, we were almost completely bereft of ideas, hopelessly static and unable to change the match in our favor. Yes, there were a couple of nice turns from Rosicky and RVP after they’d baited their markers to come for risky balls in, but they were the exception, not the rule. And when Wigan played more conservatively they looked like they could defend all day. In fact, they probably should have gotten a 3rd goal but Moses went all Theo-ey when he was one on one with Sneezy.
Chelsea MAY come in and (foolishly) try to throw their resources forward thinking that only a win will do. Certainly that seemed the pattern in our match with them at Stamford Bridge–they generated all the pace but it (eventually) worked against them. Yesterday we looked sluggish with the passing and only vaguely threatening with the dribbles. Theo did nothing, Ramsey stayed rooted in Arteta’s deep position and Benayoun and Santos, playing comically central (narrow), are not going to make the highlight reels with their slow-mo stepovers. Gervinho and Ox-Cham showed a hair more verve, but final balls too often led to turnovers.
The “Heart” of the team looked really poor, a case of too many come-from-behinds taking too much of a toll. Vermaelen’s goal was well taken and he pushed and pushed (at least for the first hour) but Sagna and Song looked jaded in the extreme. Shit as he is, we really missed the sharpness of Koscielny’s passing and quick intervention on defense. As the match wore on there was little “positivity” out of our own half and Wigan was able to hold the ball those two or three passes longer, making each turnover that much more costly. LK6 returning is (maybe) a cause for some hope, but (like the player himself….) a rather slender one…..
Maybe if we set out responsibly for that match, knowing that a draw would be a fine result, get inspired and do a bit of Barca style pressing of our own, etc., etc., we might (possibly) bait them into recklessness and do something good on the counter. It sounds good, but are such tactics (and work-rate) plausible given the personnel at hand (squad AND manager)? The first goal will be key, but we give those away like birthday presents. (Speaking of which, my boy turned 10 yesterday, and luckily we had a few other gifts to make up for the match result….)
Spurs are (were) in free-fall but we’ve thrown them a lifeline. Chelsea can do the job themselves. Arsenal? Well, as much as I hate to say it, I wonder…..
@HighburyTerraceSteve,
You have basically aid it all my friend so not much to be added. We lost our shape defensively when Arteta got injured and paid the ultimate price by conceding 2 goals. We then lost our composure in the in the 2nd half and spent more time complaining about time wasting than focusing on the task.
This team still needs a lot of growing up to do.
Outworked, Outclassed and Outscored. Although if we beat Chelsea on Saturday then that should rule them out of 3rd place and we can go 8 points clear of tottenham before they play. This is a setback, but I think we should recover from it. Only problem is arteta’s injury
Oy vey…
not a peep today from the masses.
well, it should really be a dramatic finish at the top and bottom of the table, as we let a big chance to bury a CL spot go by the boards.
we love to do things the most difficult way possible…