Arsenal take another step in the right direction

Any win away in the Champion’s League is a good win. So it must be said that Arsenal’s 2-1 victory over French Champion’s Montpellier was in fact a good win.

Forget what some of the pundits will tell you. Some will say Arsenal were lucky to escape with the win, others will tell you it was unconvincing. Yet, you will find it as no surprise that I disagree.

First I give you the age old adage – good teams find a way to win when they have no reason to win. The story being, if a good team is outplayed then by all rights they should be good boys and lose. But they don’t because they are a good team and they will do whatever it takes to win a game.

So it was after the surprising penalty award in the 9^th minute. Surprising, not because it was or wasn’t a penalty but because the call was made so early in the game.  Belhanda, the home side’s PK specialist, chipped a wonderfully cheeky shot into goal after Mannone committed to his right. It was pure arrogance and beauty all built into one shot.

But it was from there that Arsenal turned it up. The first half was a display of how good Arsenal can be when they have the ball. They were in a word – rampant. And the buildup play to both the equalizer and eventual winner were a testament to that.

For the first goal Diaby and Cazorla as they have shown early in the season, displayed a bit of triangle play with teammate Lukas Podolski, after which Poldi leaves the triangle and bursts down the field in the open space with Olivier Giroud to his left.  Cazorla does a nice job of getting the ball into Giroud who gets his foot on the ball directing it to the German – who not picked up by the defense has a one on one with keeper and slots low to the right and equalizing.

It was solid, convincing and direct. Fact of the matter it was very Arsenal. It was the stuff that would’ve made Henry and his cohorts proud.

The second goal was no slouch either. Building up from the right, Gervinho worked the ball and releases himself into the box to connect on a wonderful low cross from Jenkinson. The same Jenkinson I should remind you who were plying his trade at Charlton only 2 years ago.

In the first half there were standout performances all over the place.  Cazorla was his resourceful self. Podolski as I have said before looks like he can’t live without the ball. And Gervinho well, I am not sure there are enough superlatives to describe how Gervinho has been for this team.

The result after the first half display was no more than the visitors deserved.

However, as we discussed previously in our match preview, underestimating Montpellier would’ve been a mistake. With the exception of losing Giroud, the club remains pretty much intact to the one that surprisingly won Ligue 1 last season. And their form and effort in the second half is a testament to that.

Resilient isn’t the right word. Committed probably is better. Whatever adjustments they made at half time, certainly paid off as Arsenal were kept on their heels for most of the second 45. Montpellier came out with a work effort that showed their quality. They closed down the passing lanes aggressively and forced Arsenal into a slew of errors. One particular one was Diaby trying to dribble his way out of the penalty box only to get stripped of the ball under pressure. The error resulted into a shot that went well high and wide of the goal.

In addition to their pressure, Montpellier upped the tempo of their passing game and instead of resembling a French side, were doing their best impression of Barcelona (as only a French side can). It resulted in a sustained effort to overturn the visitors lead. And it almost paid off, when Belhanda successfully side-stepped a sliding Mertesacker to get a shot in on Mannone from 8 yards away.

In the past, this is a game Arsenal would’ve lost or draw. The defensive structure never seemed to hold out against such sustained pressure. But this is the new Arsenal (I hope). It is one that is buying into a defensive philosophy.

I noticed switching and support and rotating back to cover player runs. Positionally no one looked like they didn’t know where to be. Overall even under so much pressure there wasn’t the frenetic, often times uncoordinated look of recent Arsenal defenses.

The team worked as a composed unit. When Montpellier applied pressure there were two banks of four working to keep Montpellier at bay. When they did close most of the shots were chipped or long shots trying to beat a committed defense.

And that’s what we have now. We see commitment and organization that is reminiscent of another era. It was good and effective and it has netted in Arsenal’s 3^rd consecutive win in all competitions. Additionally, Arsenal still have only allowed 2 goals to get past their keeper – one of the penalty.

What this result nets in other than the ability to hold their heads up high, still remains to be seen. But a foundation is being built. Success leads to success and any success even away in the Champion’s League has to be looked up with a bit of restrained pleasure – even this early in the campaign.

After coming home, we’ll see how well this foundation is setting. Manchester City coming off of a disappointing loss to Real Madrid, host the Arsenal  for a mouthwatering clash. As the momentum builds there is no reason why Arsenal can’t expect to get a good result and take another step in the right direction.

YAMA PLAYER RATINGS:

Mannone: 7
Jenkinson: 7
Mertesacker: 7
Vermaelen: 7
Gibbs: 7
Arteta: 6
Diaby: 6
Cazorla: 8
Podolski: 8
Gervinho: 8
Giroud: 6

Subs:
Ramsey: 5
Walcott N/A
Coquelin N/A

[donate]