Arsenal vs. Sunderland - The silver lining (Part 3)
The most important headline however was the way both centre backs operated effectively for the entire length of the game. Arsenal has failed to find a suitable replacement since the advent of Tony Adams and perhaps Sol Campbell in his heydays. In all fairness,
the players that took over at the heart of the Arsenal defence were more than handy in possession and were always ready for a good forward run.
Kolo Toure started his career in football as an attack minded player before finding his true calling in central defence. Quite often in the past, a trailing Arsenal saw William Galas being promoted up ahead of the field in a centre forward role to offer
a focal point for attack. Thomas Vermaelen gave good proof of his attacking ability as he was the top scorer for Arsenal in the early stages of the 2009 season.
The only problem that all of these ‘footballing’ centre backs exhibited was their inability to dominate in the air. Often criticized for being baby-sized for their position, the North London team has often paid heavily for their central defence’s lack of
reach; often undone by looping high balls. New recruit Laurent Koscielny, featuring in his 4th competitive premier league game in Arsenal colours literally reminded the travelling fans exactly what the team missed for the last so many years. The
10 million pound signing was outstanding at the back, winning header after header to keep a lurking Bent away and distributing the ball with increased confidence and calm. Moreover, his partnership with Sebastien Squillaci was commendable – a sort of telepathic
understanding that usually develops after years of playing-time together.
Manuel Almunia, subject to a lot of criticism by not only football pundits worldwide, but from his own team’s fans, responded with a solid performance. The most remarkable difference was the way he was guiding his defence line and often literally taking
matters into his own hands as he came out to claim, punch and parry all goal bound and aerial crosses close to his goal. The Spaniard also made a remarkable save in the dying stages of the game when he quickly came off his line to slide out a dangerous ball
that had the Sunderland striker clear.
Samir Nasri was also a prominent contributor. The former Marseille midfielder came extremely close to extending Arsenal’s lead when his free kick grazed the top of the bar. It was also the French international’s dancing run into the box that led to the penalty.
While Tomas Rosicky missed the resulting spot kick, it was tribute to Arsenal’s attacking threat despite defending for most of the game.
It was heartbreaking for the travelling Arsenal fans when Sunderland equalized deep into stoppage time – an attempted clearance by Gael Clichy that rebounded off Laurent Koscielny and bounced kindly for Darren Bent who was blindside of goal. It was most
unfortunate, agreed. However, it could not be pinned to either a goal keeping error or a lapse of concentration.
There were many Arsenal fans that dismissed the game on the end result. Calling it ‘same old Arsenal’; with respect to the club’s inability to grind out results in the end. While the Gunners have often failed to ensure 3 points on an off day in the past,
this was clearly different. There was a collective effort on behalf of the manager, substitutes and the starting eleven to hold onto the slender lead with ten men for virtually an entire half of football. The maturity level and the work-rate exhibited something
that Arsenal has often lacked post-FA Cup 2005.
On a concluding note, it is worth remembering that every team has an off day one time or another in a season. Manchester United drew 3-3 to Everton last weekend after leading 3-1 for more than three-quarters of the game.
Whether one takes pride in accepting the 1-1 draw that featured a fight till the end as shown by Arsenal or agree upon the same one point that saw United throwing away a 2 goal lead; that is for the reader to decide…
Win or lose; it’s how you play the game!
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