North London Is Still Red

ARSENAL 5 – TOTTENHAM HOSTPUR 2

It’s difficult to put into words just how much I hate Tottenham Hostpur. It’s something I’ve often tried to do, and usually failed, as there is no one sentence that can truly describe it. They’re our noisy neighbours. That bunch up the road that thinks one decent season marks a power shift in our back yard. And today, we stuffed them 5-2 in an absolute thriller at the Emirates Stadium.

It didn’t go to plan in the beginning though. Our defence was left horrifically open, and Louis Saha’s deflected shot looped over Wojciech Szczesny inside five minutes. We then grew into the game, but whilst we looked dangerous going forward, we looked just as dangerous at the back.

And after a couple of decent chances for Robin van Persie, we found ourselves 2-0 down. From a brilliant defence splitting pass by Luka Modric, Gareth ‘World’s Greatest’ Bale surged into the box, and went down apparently after a joint foul by Kieran Gibbs and Szczesny. Penalty given, and Emmanuel Adebayor stepped up to convert.

It wasn’t a penalty. It was a dive. Mike Dean didn’t even seem sure himself, as he was miles back from the play and chose not to book the offender. Which, given the position on the pitch the ‘foul’ took place, he should have done. He didn’t have a clue (business as usual then), and we were seemingly heading for another defeat largely due to being shit out of luck.

That was the 35^th minute however, and from there onwards there was only ever going to be one winner in this football match. And it wasn’t the scumbags wearing white with a chicken on a basketball for a badge.

After a brilliant touch by Theo Walcott, van Persie hit the post and the ball fell to Mikel Arteta, who delivered a delightful ball into the Sp*rs area which Bacary Sagna headed home for his first goal of the season. 2-1, and game on.

Sp*rs just seemed to crumble after that, and our second was largely due to their own defensive faults. And a fair amount of magic from our captain too. Younes Kaboul and Benoit Assou-Ekotto both totally Squillaci’d their clearances, and the ball fell to RVP who, on the edge of the area, delightfully curled the ball into the top corner. 2-2, game on, and momentum with Arsenal heading into the break.

RVP curling in our equaliser.

All we really had to tell the players at half time was to keep on doing exactly what they have for the last ten minutes of the first half. And that’s exactly what happened.

Sp*rs brought on Rafael van der Vaart, and some twat in a gum shield at the interval, yet the Arsenal rampage went on.

Yossi Benayoun forced a great stop from Brad Friedel early in the half, but it was the excellent Tomas Rosicky who put us in front. The Czech captain led an attack forward, passed wide to Sagna, whose low cross was then flicked in by Rosicky, then celebrating his first League goal in over two years for the club.

The comeback was complete. The Emirates was bouncing. And we weren’t done there either.

Our final two goals were like the great counter attacking Arsenal of old, and both were superbly taken finishes by Theo Walcott.

The first was set up after some strong hold up play by RVP, who fed Walcott as he flew into empty space on our right hand side. Despite a poor touch, he still managed to chip the ball over Friedel, and our advantage had doubled.

Two minutes later, and the rout was completed. This time, an exquisitely timed pass by Alex Song was well controlled by Walcott, who found time in the box and fired home past Friedel for our fifth and final goal.

There was still time for Scott(y) Parker to see a second yellow card, to truly cap of a remarkable day for Arsenal. And one to forget, for Sp*rs.

ANALYSIS

In a season full of ups and downs, this has definitely been the highlight to date. Sp*rs came here on the back of a great win against Newcastle, pretty much a full squad to chose from, and a whole lot of talk to go with their ten-point lead on us in the League.

And we were on the back of dismal performances in two cup competitions and serious questions about the quality of the squad. I blogged yesterday about how poor our mental attitude had been against Milan and Sunderland, and how it was imperative to get that right against Sp*rs, or we’d be toast. Equally, the importance of the midfield, having seen it get completely over run in the past couple of weeks.

Well, both points were answered with aplomb. To come back from 2-0 down to win 5-2 in the North London derby requires a huge amount of mental and technical quality. Wenger made a surprising decision to start Benayoun out wide, instead of Gervinho or Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain, which showed how important he thought the midfield battle would be. He was right.

Benayoun was calm, collected and imperious going forward. He linked up exceptionally well with RVP, the midfield, and even aided Gibbs when he bombed forward down the left. Arteta and Song both dominated the central midfield battle. Parker was completely shown up for what he is, and his red card capped off a totally miserable day for the bloke rumoured to be favourite as next England captain. RVP himself led by example, scored a beauty, linked up well with those around him, and held the ball up well when he was required to.

But the Man of the Match for me was Rosicky. He’s had a bit of stick lately, including from myself as I called him a ‘useful squad player, but not going to change games’ in my blog yesterday. But he was incredible today. Probably his best ever game for the club.

Rosicky's first League goal since 2010. Worth the wait!

His work rate was exemplary, and his passion and desire was clearly visible from start to finish. It was the exact sort of dominating midfield performance that Arsenal have been crying for for weeks. He thoroughly deserved his goal too, and it came at the best possible time. And it was right at the start of one of the best halves of football we’ve seen at the Emirates in recent years.

Elsewhere, Theo Walcott deserves a huge amount of praise too. A poor first half prompted calls by some for him to be removed at half time. Luckily he wasn’t, and he came out in the second half a different player.

His off the ball movement, neat flicks, pace and two excellent finishes showed us why Wenger has continued to keep the faith in him. We all know he’s good enough to play at this level, and I believe the abuse he gets from some corners of the ground are more due to the frustration at his inconsistency than the belief that he’s shit. He’s very much a confidence player, and after today there’s no reason why he shouldn’t go from strength to strength during the run in to the end of the season.

Theo celebrating his first goal today.

Despite going 2-0 down in half an hour, our defence should get some credit too. Yeah, they totally ballsed up for the first goal. But after the second, they were very solid at the back, keeping Adebayor, Bale and co very quiet. And Sp*rs barely had a clear-cut chance once we pulled the first goal back. There are still issues and questions to our back four, but well done to them for getting through today, and aiding our cause towards victory.

Credit to the manager as well. As I said, he made some big decisions today and got them all right. Which shows he does still know what he’s doing, and knows a lot more about running this team than you or I sitting in the stand. Well done Arsene.

Sp*rs’ tactics surprised me. It’s like they just didn’t watch our previous two matches. Milan and Sunderland beat us by making it uncomfortable for us to pass and move. By closing us down. Sp*rs did none of that, and were happy for us to play our game and beat them comfortably in the end. It was great to see us pass the ball and counter attack like we know we can. And to see how devastating we can be when it works.

Sp*rs mob looking glum after defeat - ha.

I’m also very surprised that a manager as great and illustrious (ahem) as Harry Redknapp didn’t set up his side better. And allowed his side to get so comprehensively beaten, in such an important fixture. Sp*rs played well in the opening, but in reality it was our defensive shocker, a deflected goal, and a penalty which never should have been that put them 2-0 up. They have good players, but they aren’t all what some people claim they are. Tough fixtures ahead for them now too, with a visit from Man United next. Hopefully they’ll absolutely screw it from here, and we can still finish above them. Given how this season’s gone so far, I wouldn’t rule it out just yet.

But today was all about us. We bounced back in fantastic style after two very poor Cup defeats. Today was our third league win in a row, and we’re still in fourth place. Not bad for a ‘crisis club’ eh?

The pride, passion and desire were all there in force today. That’s what we need to produce in every game, not just the North London derby. The players ARE good enough, just haven’t been producing that lately. And from what they’ve done today, that should be the confidence boost required to hopefully get us to the end of the season and remain in the Champions League. Still a lot of work to be done, but it’s very doable.

It should also be noted that, despite his best efforts with the penalty, the Mike Dean curse is now over, and he didn’t totally screw us over in the game today. A dreadful penalty decision, and a couple of very harsh yellow cards (like for Koscielny, who he booked because Adebayor threw him into Microphone hair twat at left back for Sp*rs). So nice one Dean, although I’m still sick of the sight of you, and don’t want you refereeing for us again anytime soon. Cheers.

All in all, a very proud day to be a Gooner. The gap to Sp*rs is now down to seven points, and the dream of St Totteringham’s Day 2012 is still alive. The Canon will always kill the Chicken, and our history and tradition will always beat theirs.

52 weeks ago today, we had just been beaten in the Carling Cup final by Birmingham. The year we’ve had since hasn’t all gone to plan, but finally we’ve had a big win in a period that in previous years we’ve had crushing defeats.

Next, we go to Anfield to play Liverpool fresh after their Carling Cup final win against Cardiff City on penalties this afternoon. They’ll no doubt be buzzing after that, but hopefully we can catch them still in celebration mode and stuff them as well.

That’s all from me. Stay classy, and enjoy our celebrations. And when you eventually go to bed tonight, be sure to thank the good Lord (or whoever you pray to) that you were born into the red half of North London. Imagine how shit you’d feel tomorrow morning if not. Waking up to the fact that North London is still, always has been, and always will be, red.