The best possible time to start a new blog on the subject of Arsenal FC would probably have been on Saturday evening after our destruction of Roman Abramovich's plaything. All was rosy in the Arsenal world. We had won five games in a row since our forgettable loss at White Hart Lane (the DVD should be out soon, incidentally). Going back to the Blackburn game, we had won eight of our nine fixtures since that day. Robin van Persie was on fire, Theo had been magnificent at Chelsea, and, most enjoyably of all, John Terry had finally decided that being a Premier League defender was no longer for him. That he chose to retire in the exact same moment that van Persie snuck in behind him to latch on to Malouda's hospital ball was the icing on a thoroughly delicious cake.
However, since then, we have had the less-wondrous experience of Marseille at home. I was at the game, and, frankly, it was pretty tedious. From a footballing point of view it wasn't terrible, just average. Defensively we were OK, we kept Remy and Ayew fairly quiet, despite a shaky first ten minutes. It is lovely to see Vermaelen back, it goes without saying that we will be a better team once he has conquered these injuries once and for all. Mertesacker, after being out-shitted at Stamford Bridge only by John Terry, had a solid game, stepping in a few times in our box in what could otherwise have become dangerous situations.
It was in the midfield, though, that we seemed to suffer. Perhaps it was weariness after the exertions of Saturday, perhaps it was just one of those nights, but there was certainly very little incision going forward. Neither of the two forward-lying midfielders, nor Walcott or Gervinho, seemed to want the ball enough, and there was little of the attacking commitment that characterised our walk in the park at the weekend. Park tried to get into goalscoring positions, but grew understandably frustrated as time and again the ball didn't arrive.
I have to say that I do not think the atmosphere helped. The crowd was kept fairly subdued by the travelling Marseille fans, who were excellent. What was noticeable were the constant groans of frustration and the loud admonishments every time the ball went from midfield, into a dead end, and back to Mertesacker or Vermaelen. Bear in mind that we were not losing possession. We were recycling it fairly intelligently against an organised, well-drilled side. Quite where some of the sheer exasperation in the stands came from I'm not sure. At one point an older gentleman in front of me stood up and screeched: 'for God's sake Ramsey, go forward- terrible, TERRIBLEEEE!!!' in the manner of a flamboyant priest attempting to exorcise a child-eating demon. Such frustration is understandable when players go backwards with thirty seconds to go when we are a goal down. When trying to find a way through a defensively-minded side, at 0-0, maintaing possession is just common sense. I'm all for gung-ho attacking football, and we did seem a little stale last night, but i'd rather be stale with the ball than without it.
As a performance then, it wasn't fantastic, but the result really wasn't that bad. We drew to a decent side who we have already beaten away. We are still likely to go through and probably have to remain favourites to top the group. If you are panicking, if you were calling for van Persie to be sold after he failed to score last night, please remain calm.
To summarise, despite the loss in momentum brought about by yesterday's dull affair, and despite the general grumpiness and annoyance that is already creeping back into the Arsenalsphere after last night, I still see us as a team on the up. We have, including last night, five home fixtures this month, and a run of winnable (gulp) games in the league. Although we are in seventh place, the teams directly above us are looking down nervously. After West Brom on Saturday, I hope to regain some of that momentum that will be so important in getting us back to where we belong.
Until next time,
Joe
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