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Editorial
Gunners squeeze past Bolton - Arsenal 1 - Bolton 0
It took 84 minutes, but eventually Arsenal broke the Great Wall of Bolton, in a game that was turned by an insightful move by Arsene Wenger to introduce Carlos Vela, writes Gooner and WeLoveCamden reader Christian Kent.
There is not much to say about the first half other than, fairly dull.
Arsenal dominated with what must have been about 80 per cent of the possession, but although the passing was neat and tidy it was side-to-side and not penetrating. Bolton were playing for a draw and had ten men behind the ball at all times creating an impenetrable wall (strengthened greatly by Danny Shittu) making Arsenal's training-field style play (left to right, one-two, back to keeper, out again, pass one, pass two, lose possession, get it back again ..... and start the training drill again, and so it went for 45 minutes) useless and quite frustrating for the fans who sighed rather than cheered.
Robin Van Persie had the best chance of the half when he volleyed over the bar from a Nasri pass. Providing a little excitement, the floodlights on the west stand went out midway through the half. Fortunately, play continued and the problem was fixed fairly swiftly.
After 15 minutes or so into the second half, Wenger switched Nasri and Diaby, placing Nasri in the centre of midfield where he is most effective. In the 64th minute Vela was introduced for Diaby. These two tactical changes impacted the game greatly and ultimately led to Arsenal winning the game.
Arsenal's football became penetrating and attacking and the crowd were given a reason to stay in their seats, despite the temperature being minus three degrees. It really was freezing. I definitely spotted a few Bolton fans 'playing in skins' though.
The game had opened up and with the injection of a little bit of pace from Vela, Bolton for the first time were on the back foot. It was not long until Vela put a ball into Nasri who in turn sent a fantastic ball into the area for Emmanuel Adebayor - one-on-one with the keeper, he hesitated, took two touches and then squandered what was by far the best chance of the game.
An opportunity a player leading the Arsenal attack should never miss in that way. The chances began to flow - Clichy set up Adebayor, but his shot lacked any power, Van Persie hit the post and Toure (captain on the day) produced a great effort when he ran from inside his own half to strike hard and low at goal - flicked on by Van Persie but well saved by Jaaskelainen. Unfortunately it remained 0-0....until....Nicklas Bendtner came off the bench. He missed his first chance, a header, but slid in brilliantly to score in the 84th minute from a well placed pass from Van Persie.
Bendtner had saved the day - you don't hear that very often. It's a tough one, he scores goals, especially when they are needed, but at the same time he has such a tendency to miss. Bizarrely, Wenger played Bendtner on the wing. Does Wenger have a plan to convert Bendtner into a winger, in the same way that Henry went from winger to striker under Wenger's stewardship?
It feels like Wenger should start the next game with Ramsey (came on in 88) and Vela (64), dropping Diaby and Denilson. For me Denilson has not proved himself and Diaby, a great player, plays his best football when tucked behind the front two. Ramsey and Vela are young and Wenger likes to nurture his young players but without Fabregas, Walcott, Eduardo and Rosicky - some flair is needed and these two could be the answer.
Bolton really did nothing from an attacking perspective. They looked more like an under-16 high school team than a premiership club, booting every ball up the pitch to....no one. Men of the match for me were Van Persie and Nasri, and Vela looked very promising. The official attendance was over 60,000 - mysterious given all the empty seats...
Transfer news is thin. Tevez has been rumoured, but more likely is Arshavan - but with their war chest in place will Man City out-bid any Arsenal offer? Or is it just a rumour - easy to link City with every decent player.
2 Comments
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Wenger has to spend in the window, doesn't he? I take your point about Man City having the money now to be able to spoil any purchase Arsenal (or Chelsea and Man U for that matter) go for though.
Arsenal will end up doing what they always do, buying a player 'in transition' for pennies, so the bigger clubs won't be interested anyway. They'll turn him, into a world-beater eventually, but what about this season?
With Fab out we need a replacement, we need someone to light the spark, otherwise the likes of Aston Villa (who with a couple of injuries could run out of steam anyway) could be up there come the end of the season.
Would missing out on Champions League football mean the end of Arsene? And, would that be such a bad thing???
Ah well, at least Spurs lost, Defoe will probably go to Wigan now. -
Enjoyable report Mr Kent. One of the main problems was that Arsenal's movement was akin to that of a table football team...Nasri moving to the middle changed the game.