Two Points Lost | Gervinh-woe | Classless Stoke

Another game and another goalless draw for Arsenal, which makes it two out of two in this new Premier League season. Today it was at the hands of Stoke City, and whilst historically it’s been a fixture in which we’ve struggled, it was definitely a case of two points lost rather than one point gained in a game that was, as a whole, rather dull.

Pre-match thoughts centred largely around the fact that Vito Mannone was making his first League start for three years, replacing Wojciech Szczesny who sat this one out with a rib injury. But any concerns about the young Italians starting birth were redundant, with the 24-year-old largely untroubled throughout the game, and looked more than comfortable when dealing with the aerial threat that Stoke posed.

The only other change from last Saturday’s stalemate against Sunderland was up top, with Theo Walcott dropping to the bench in place of Olivier Giroud, who took the middle position of the front three with Lukas Podolski and Gervinho patrolling the flanks.

The first half was a rather one sided affair, and aside from an early disallowed goal for offside, Stoke offered very little going forward. It was Arsenal, and in particular Santi Cazorla, who were pulling the strings and making things happen. Although for all the pretty passing and good movement, actual chances were few and far between. Cazorla fired a free kick into the wall from just outside the area, and Podolski took advantage of a defensive screw up inside the Stoke area only for his shot to be blocked by Andy Wilkinson’s arm, which went unnoticed by Lee Mason.

Cazorla was again at his best, and thankfully came through the match unscathed.

Things opened up a bit in the second 45, as our passing became a bit looser and sloppier, and we appeared to drop off a bit physically allowing Stoke more into the game after seeming the stronger of the two sides earlier on. Chances were still a rarity though, with Abou Diaby and Mikel Arteta failing to work Asmir Begovic, and Giroud attempting an audacious late chip from distance, when squaring to Aaron Ramsey seemed a better option.

And there it finished. On the face of it, a 0-0 draw at the Britannia Stadium isn’t a terrible result, and you only have to look at Stoke’s home record last season to see that. But there was clear frustration after the game, as both Man of the Match Arteta and Arsene Wenger both lamented our inability to make the most of our chances.

It’s a fair enough observation, but as I alluded to last week you can’t expect too much too soon from the new signings. It will take time, as Wenger mentioned yesterday, and we’ve seen it in the past too. The likes of Henry, Bergkamp, and even van Persie all took several games to get their Arsenal accounts up and running. I’ve certainly seen enough from both Giroud and Podolski to suggest that they will be successful acquisitions for us, however I do still believe we’re light up front with Nicklas Bendtner likely to leave this week, and Maroune Chamakh also a probable departure. Wenger has admitted that transfer activity is possible, and hopefully another striker is up there in his priority list.

The decision to start with Gervinho over Walcott was generally approved pre-match (by myself included), but those who gave any initial approval quickly became bemused, as the Ivorian had another one of those days. The sort we grew infuriatingly use to last season.

Another disappointing showing from Gervinho today. Time running out?

Nothing seemed to work for him today. He couldn’t get into the game, struggled to utilise his greatest strength of beating his man, and as usual failed to create any kind of opportunities in the final third. It’s a curious case of a player who can sometimes offer so much, but on occasions such as today could only make up the numbers, and even that looked a battle. He was criminally wasteful and after a brief scan of my twitter time line post match, it appears most are starting to give up on him. I still think he’s worth a bit of faith, as his skill on the ball is apparent, but if this form continues then so will the woes surrounding him.

In the midfield we controlled things very well for the majority of the game. Cazorla, as already mentioned, ran the show to great effect, and the way he has confidence and trust in his ability with the ball at his feet is a joy to behold. The fact we got him for an initial £12m fee in today’s market still astounds me, and at this rate his worth is set to be far greater than that come May.

But whilst Cazorla rightly attracts plenty of plaudits, it’s important we don’t forget the impact of Arteta, correctly named by Sky Sports as Man of the Match today. The finely haired Spaniard is operating slightly deeper than he was last season, and the protection he’s offering the defence has been outstanding in the first two matches. He covered fantastically today, and broke down Stoke’s forward play on several occasions, whilst still performing aptly in his role of linking our own play between defence and attack. It’s the sort of football that goes unnoticed until it goes missing, and since “his” departure to Manchester United, I’d suggest that Arteta is the first name on the team sheet.

Arteta had a fine game for Arsenal today.

Like Gervinho, Abou Diaby was another curious case today and his performance split the opinion of many Arsenal fans post match. I personally thought he did OK, although the amount of times he lost the ball is a concern (28 times in total according to some). Bearing in mind this is a player who is almost as new as a signing, I think we should allow him a few more games before we totally judge. But his movement and strength is obvious, and particularly in the first half he looked in good control of his game.

Defensively there was little to fret about. Kieran Gibbs had another good game despite being caught out of position once or twice, and Carl Jenkinson too was excellent, and is so far proving any of his doubters (of which there are several) wrong. Per Mertesacker and Thomas Vermaelen were again solid in the middle, and it’s going to be a welcomed headache for the Manager to decide how to fit three very good centre backs into the side, when Laurent Koscielny returns from injury.

So whilst it was disappointing not to get all three points, it’s another game unbeaten with a clean sheet. It’s worth noting that we also failed to score in our first two League games last season, and that included a certain Dutchman (before we got to see his true colours), so any panic at the moment is a bit unfounded in my opinion.

Before I conclude, I would hate for this opportunity to pass without mentioning what a set of absolute recto bites Stoke fans are. We have rivalries with Man United, Chelsea and T*ttenham that are all historical and/or geographic, but our rivalry with Stoke is purely a result of what a set of cunts they are. It’s nothing to do with the football, which is very rare and I can’t think of another team that I share that thought/disgust with.

Utter pricks.

It’s a set of fans that spent most of the first half booing our fluent passing, clearly frustrated with the lack of throw-ins they were getting, and also probably slightly embarrassed as to how we were out muscling them early on. This was overcome not by chanting their support for their own side (I only heard their trademark ‘Go-arn Stoke’ twice I think), but actually by placing their full attention on howling at Wenger, a man who has on several occasions mentioned of his distinct lack of interest in their six fingers and the obsession they have with him. And the way they celebrate winning throw-ins, free kicks or even misplaced passes as if they’ve scored is also totally fascinating. They truly are a different breed of human (if you can call them that).

It was capped off with their booing of Ramsey when he was brought on for Cazorla, which suddenly turned into rapturous support in favour of Ryan Shawcross, the man who broke Ramsey’s leg two years ago. It’s classless beyond belief, and has added a whole new meaning to a fixture that three/four years ago had very little associated to it. It would’ve been delightful to stuff them today, but I guess that’s a moment we’ll have to reserve until they come to the Grove in February.

Next we travel to Anfield, and quite simply we need to up our game if we want to take anything from that. They looked good going forward in their 2-2 draw against Man City, but also vulnerable in defence so I’m sure it’ll be an open game with plenty of chances. By then we’ll know for sure which 25 players we have until at least January, and if Wenger’s quotes are anything to go by then we can expect a busy week of rumours, speculation and hopefully some new faces at the end of it.

That can’t take emphasis off the work that is needed to be done on the training field, although it’s definitely game time and playing together that is what’s best for Arsenal right now. It will come together, and when it does it’ll be magical. I still believe that Man United are there for the taking; that Citeh will find the defence of their title tough going; and that Chelsea are sure to go through poor patches too. And all three have conceded two goals in a game already this season, whereas we sit pretty with two clean sheets, although admittedly having played weaker opponents. But even though winning the League is a bit too much to ask this year, a second place finish and a trophy is very possible if we keep key players fit.

But that’s a pretty optimistic long-term view. The next game is the most important thing right now, and three points against Liverpool would give the team a much needed boost heading into a series of difficult League fixtures.

Let’s hope they get it done.

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