Where to now for Arsenal?

[IBK]

First of all - can I say that I'm still buzzing from Saturday's result. I just think that its now time for a little analysis.

Much as the spirit and togetherness that our team showed was wonderful to see - I think its fair to say that we always knew that Wenger's teams can perform going forwards when they are allowed space to play in. Chelsea defended like we do with an incredibly high back line - so I suppose that the game was much more like we train to play, and it showed.

Recently, we have enjoyed 'surprising' results against teams who have had the balls to play football against us - The Chavs in December last year; Barca at home in February; Manure in May, and now the Chavs away. In our nightmare period from March to the beginning of September the teams we founfd it difficult to score against were rather less cavalier.

Having been spanked by Citeh, Manure shored it right up last weekend with a defensive display and shut out Wolves until their penalty. Setting aside our result up there as a freak - how would we cope against the more defensive-minded Champions? If our team's and Newcastle's current incarnations were to play at St James' Park, how would we cope against the best defence in the EPL?

Ironically, last weekend will have done us no favours in terms of teams wanting to limit themselves to playing counter-attacking football against us - and we haven't exactly done much to dispell the accepted wisdom that we are there for the taking with free kicks.

So do people think that Saturday might turn out to be a bit of an attacking one-off in optimal conditions, or do we think that with the Gervinho's talent, and an improving Walcott and inspired captain we can continue to wreak havoc? Do we think that our new found confidence will inspire the team to go out and get results in trickier circumstances or will it dissolve if we have another stinker? And do you think we will realistically see a more effective defence, or is this bound to remain an Achilles heel?

[gunsofashburtongrove]

I think last week and some of the other big results have been taken out of context. I don't think teams come out thinking they will attack and out score the other team. Most of these scores have come, when the big teams which are not afraid to play, has been pitted against each other some of these teams Chelsea, Manure and us are not defensively that solid nor organised. We will still get teams coming to Emirates trying to keep shape and attack us on the counter which will make games less direct and slow, that said i think we will cope much better than in the recent past as our counter attacking has improved

[IBK]

I think last week and some of the other big results have been taken out of context. I don't think teams come out thinking they will attack and out score the other team. Most of these scores have come, when the big teams which are not afraid to play, has been pitted against each other some of these teams Chelsea, Manure and us are not defensively that solid nor organised. We will still get teams coming to Emirates trying to keep shape and attack us on the counter which will make games less direct and slow, that said i think we will cope much better than in the recent past as our counter attacking has improved

Yes - that's how I kind of see it. What worries me a little is that I feel the majority of teams we play will sit very deep, not be ambitious going forwards and basically seek to rely on set pieces - that have been shown to be pretty effective against us. They will be the ones wanting to counter attack, not us, and when the tempo drops and it becomes more of a war of attrition, will we be effective enough going forwards without space; without being great at set pieces ourselves and with little room to operate in?

As welcome as our recent rennaisance is, this is still a concern, IMO.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

I guess the assurance to that concern is that so far we have won four out of five at home, some of those just about eeked out but wins nonetheless - that is where teams are more likely to try and be stoic, shall we say. Not winning at home consistently enough last season was one of our major problems.

The teams you mention might want to counter-attack but we can of course counter-attack to that(!) and hopefully more effectively than we have been able to do in recent seasons, especially as logically counter-attacking a counter-attack should mean more space. And at least we now know we have the variation we might not have had previously.

[Syn]

Assuming (and it's a big assumption) that we truly have sorted out the work ethic and the players have grown some balls; ready to fight when conditions aren't easy etc. I still think we're missing a bit of quality to get to the level of Man Utd or Chelsea (forget Man City...there's no comparison).

I think to get to the next level we have to be hoping a couple of players really step up; putting in monumental performances consistently.... really bossing games and making the difference as Nasri was around this time last year. But they need to continue it for a whole season not just for a purple patch. I think there are 3 players who can become important to Van Persie-esque levels. Ramsey has got a lot of talent and could realise it this season. Gervinho could start getting a lot of goals. And I think we could see Song emerge as a strong attacking asset - getting goals and assists quite regularly. Playing Arteta has at least provided some licence for Song to get forward more and he is very underrated on that front. He'll give the ball away a few times but then he'll do something ridiculous. That turn and pass to Santos for our equaliser on Saturday was effortless but many so-called top premier league attacking mids would've fucked that up.

[gunsofashburtongrove]

Yes - that's how I kind of see it. What worries me a little is that I feel the majority of teams we play will sit very deep, not be ambitious going forwards and basically seek to rely on set pieces - that have been shown to be pretty effective against us. They will be the ones wanting to counter attack, not us, and when the tempo drops and it becomes more of a war of attrition, will we be effective enough going forwards without space; without being great at set pieces ourselves and with little room to operate in?

As welcome as our recent rennaisance is, this is still a concern, IMO.
The weakness at defending set pieces is a valid concern. Despite the fact that our defensive game will improve this could remain a weakness. I don't think the strategy of relying on set pieces to score against us and then shutting shop at the other end is going to work that effectively against us this time around. Our counter attacking more effective and like Maccy pointed out we are quite capable of countering the counter attack. If we can be organised as a team(as displayed from the Chelsea game last season) and then mix up possession and directness like we are doing now we should be fine. I think its possible

[IBK]

Good replies - and last nights's match was very interesting as a marker. I'd far rather have a draw with a clean sheet than otherwise - and the fact that Marseille were many times better than last time round, yet their clear cut chances were restricted has to be a good sign - as they say titles are won on defence, not attacking play.

But it was also something of a reality check after Saturday - because for me it showed that Chelsea flattered us as an attacking force. That said - I agree with Syn that there's reason to be optimistic that Ramsey, Gervinho and Song can make a Nasri-style step up. And for once I think that fatigue (in terms of mental fatigue at least) was a valid excuse given that getting over our awful start to the season has to have taken a toll.