Saturday, November 19, 2011

Norwich - Arsenal post match analysis

Another win for Arsenal, and another goals for Robin van Persie. The Arsenal skipper drove Arsenal forward once more time, with his two goals bringing Arsenal back from 1-0 down to 2-1 victory at away game in Norwich City.

1. Per Mertesacker still need time to adjust in England.
It was Norwich City who took the lead even though Arsenal was dominating the game. Last-day signing Per Mertesacker was the one to blame in this goal. His hesitation to clear the ball resulted the ball stolen by Steve Morrison, and he netted the ball, 1-0 to Norwich. He waited the ball instead of nonsensely cleared it. What a costly mistake, despite Arsenal could still win. It's the third time Per made mistake leading to goal after his bad first half on 5-3 victory against Chelsea on Stamford Bridge. To be honest, Mertesacker is a good defender, he has excellent game reading, as well as great aerial ability. However, he still hasn't really in to the game of English Premier League. He was used to play in lower tempo back then in Germany with Werder Bremen. Despite being not too swift, he should able to take decision quickly. He would need one or two month before really settled with English's tempo.

2. van Persie to rescue again
How many times Arsenal need to be rescued by van Persie? Arsenal wouldn't have had winning streak if it's not because the Dutchman. Who would be able to do a hattrick in Stamford Bridge? He led by example, not only leading the team in terms of being a captain, but also contributing in the game by scoring goals. The first goal was an easy goal, but the second goal was a world class goal, chipped above the keeper. He is unstoppable for now, with this hot goalscoring rate over the last few weeks, but clinging on one person in football is not a wise thing. Arsenal really need to find plan-B, just in case van Persie isn't playing.

He just can't stop scoring. (photos from Arsenal.com)

3. Gervinho can't miss a scoring chance like that again.
Two times Gervinho has a you-have-to-score golden opportunities, which unbelievable missed by the Ivorian. You can count it as three if you count the miss on van Persie's equalizer, which he could've scored instead of the captain. Then, One-on-one with John Ruddy on the first half, he should've been able to pass it through the net. On the second half, he already rounded the keeper, but still failed to scored, blocked by the keeper. He made handful of clever runs, though. Fortunate for Gervinho, that his miss didn't cost Arsenal a lot, as Norwich City failed to equalize. However, in big games, this mistake is a little bit untorelable, especially for players with class like Gervinho. He need to refine his final touch, and he would be much better than he is now.

4. Theo Walcott is showing his potential
He has been labelled as a player who is yet to show his potential. However, it seems that this season he started to showing his real potential. After a superb show in the Stamford Bridge, he was average on the match agains West Brom, but played well again in this match. Clever run, combined with his explosive pace, was always a constant threat for Norwich City, both from the left and right flank. His intelligence is also improving, as he several times fed van Persie upfront, and made smart one-twos with team mates. He also shows great composure in the beginning of the first half, as he faked Norwich defender, before shot it to the goal, which unfortunately cleared by another Norwich defender. What he needs now is not only a good performance in a match only, but a series of good performance. What Walcott needs now is a consistency

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