The Aston Villa fans were shouting at their manager “you don’t know what you’re doing!” and I am going to be extremely provocative and say that if Denilson had not got a yellow card on Saturday, we would have lost to the Baggies. Why? Well Arsene Wenger has great faith in Denilson, a faith that isn’t shared by many Gooners, myself included. I was astonished to see the choice of this player who seems to be going backwards in terms of improvement, take such an important role in this away game. Remember with Squillaci and Almunia on the pitch, there was not going to be confidence in the defensive areas, a realisation which became only too obvious with the second Baggies goal. The positioning of Denilson in Song’s position was a risk too many to have taken in my view. Especially when Arsene Wenger decided to put in Aaron Ramsey, who is still off the pace.
Arsene Wenger got it completely wrong by putting Nasri out wide right in the absence of Cesc . When Fabregas is on the pitch, Nasri is well supplied and can drift inside, but most of Arsenal’s good work comes from Cesc retaining possession in midfield and having excellent retentive ball skills with in addition to the absolutely necessary good vision and pass distribution. Normally there is Song who has excellent feet, Sorry, but Denilson??? He is just not capable of being that player, and to place the burden of Jack Wilshere alone was unfair. Happily the hapless Brazilian was substituted at Halftime, a rare intervention by Arsene Wenger. The midfield was immediately transformed, Arsenal had time to build. Players were not put under unnecessary pressure by Denilson immediately off loading the ball either back to them or pushing the ball sideways.
Samir Nasri had the skills to create time and most importantly, it allowed our wide players to make runs and establish the kind of flowing movement required to break down defences. Had we not conceded such a ridiculous goal, we would have won the game. Chamakh works better playing a little deeper than van Persie and Arshavin’s goal was the touch of class which Arsene Wenger relies upon for his continued selection. Nasri’s flair alongside the energy and desire of Jack Wilshere led to immediate domination. Nasri controlled the forward play, and I argue that whilst Fabregas is out Nasri should be played centrally. Even when Song returns, Nasri should still play centrally for the Arsenal, for whilst our team seems not capable of being able to defend, they must not lose the ability to attack and create chances. So having made the wrong selection to begin with, Arsene Wenger finally was forced to do the right thing. On the face of the first half performance, I was less confident that we would win the league, but if we learn the lessons of the fight back, then all is not lost.
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