SATIRE: Why Arsenal were bang average against Norwich – Tactical Analysis

In what was one of the most disorganized and tactically poor performances from Arsenal, they somehow managed to grab all three points and cemented their place at the top of the Premier League table. But did Arsenal deserve the win? Although they won 4-1 at home, the score line exaggerates their prowess and dominance.

When we analyse each goal, we actually discover some glaring, and sometimes obvious, errors of judgement and poor thinking from the Gunners. I take a look at each goal and underline these issues which must be sorted out sooner rather than later for their sake.

Goal 1 – Jack Wilshere

How selfish was Wilshere for this goal? After having taken the ball in the Arsenal half and skipping past a tackle, he found Gibbs on the left flank and passed it to the left back. But instead of just sitting back and watching the play unfold, Wilshere made a run into Norwich’s half to give Arsenal an extra man in attack.

How dare he! Cazorla has just come back from an injury and should have linked up with Giroud and either scored or assisted a goal. But noooo, Wilshere had to make that run and interrupt a freely flowing Cazorla and make things even more difficult.

After a half a dozen 1-2s with Cazorla and Giroud, he managed to squeeze past four Norwich defenders to score with his first touch. What gives? Isn’t the basic rule of football to find space and not go through the heart of the defence? In doing so, he made it not only tough for himself but also for Giroud! And also, being a left-footed player, he scored with his right foot, thereby putting the entire move in jeopardy!

And don’t even get me started on Giroud! If Robin van Persie was still a Gunner, he would have taken one touch, made space for himself and put it away like any one-man-army striker should. But Giroud? He wants his playing style to be as beautiful as his looks and made not one, but two flicks to allow Wilshere to score. What is wrong with him? He hasn’t scored in the league after scoring in the first four games! Does he want Wenger to think about signing another striker? Or maybe starting Nicklas Bendtner?

Yes, Arsenal are known for beautiful football. But even this bordered on the ridiculous! And it makes one wonder how a trophy-less club can take the limelight away from players like Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani, who had both scored fantastic individual goals on the same day!

Goal 2 – Mesut Özil

Again, a bizarre move that saw Arsenal score through Özil. After Koscielny won the ball, he passed it to Ramsey who in turn released Cazorla through the middle. If you look at the picture below, Özil is nowhere involved in the play. He is behind Ramsey. But we see him making a lung bursting run into Norwich’s half.

A few seconds later, Cazorla feeds Giroud on the right and makes a run towards the edge of the box. This is the perfect opportunity for Cazorla to score. But wait! Look who’s there to interrupt what could have been another flowing Arsenal move? Mr £42.4m Mesut Özil himself.

As you can see from the picture below, he is now way ahead of Ramsey. Was he trying to tear his hamstring? Hasn’t he learned anything from his compatriot Lukas Podolski? Here, he is about to enter the box as well. Giroud is now confused. This is not how Arsenal have played in the past. They have never had two midfielders make a run into the box, let alone one, in the recent past. So why make drastic changes now, huh?

It was so perfectly set up for Cazorla but Özil had other plans and Giroud decided to give him the ball instead of either setting up Cazorla or playing a ’1-2′ with him. He floated a cross to Özil who had never scored a header in his career and the German managed a glancing header which nestled into the bottom corner.

You are here to assist, Mesut! Not surprise the opposition by scoring with a header.

Goal 3 – Aaron Ramsey

Here we see Wilshere out on the left with the ball, waiting for some movement from the Arsenal players. Firstly, he has no business being out there on the left! If we still had Gervinho, he would have at least beat the defender marking him, dribbled to the goal line, and then forced Norwich into conceding a corner, thereby getting the 60,000 fans at the Emirates to applaud the move!

Instead, Wilshere fails to spot Gibbs’s run and finds Ramsey pleading for the ball. Feeling sorry for the Welsh midfielder, he gives it to him. Ramsey then does what Samir Nasri did against Fulham by selling Norwich two dummies before putting the ball past Ruddy and into the back of the net. Meh! Talk about not having any originality, eh?

Also, look at the number of Norwich players on the ground after he scored. Who does Ramsey think he is? Zinedine Zidane? How dare he emulate his moves and skills like that at such a young age? And Arsene Wenger’s thumbs-up? Ha! That wasn’t his sign of approval! It was actually meant for Mikel Arteta, who was asking him if he could play for 90 minutes.

Goal 4 – Mesut Özil

This was again such a risky move that should never have been attempted in the first place. Rosicky has the ball at the corner of the box. Look at Bendtner, free as a bird, a few yards away from him. Just one short pass and we could have seen The Greatest Striker That Ever Lived score a thunderous volley past the goalkeeper and into the top corner. Or Rosicky could have played a ’1-2′ with him and got a goal for himself. Are Czech Republic and Denmark not on talking terms? Because I fail to see why he wouldn’t pass to him.

Instead, he floats in a curling cross into the far end of the six yard box where an onrushing Ramsey feeds Özil first time, who in turn scored with just one touch. Seriously, when does Arsenal ever cross the ball like this? No, wait. When does Arsenal ever cross the ball like this so accurately?

This is not the Arsenal way of playing, right? Looking at the entire game, Arsenal’s midfielders were never confined to one particular zone on the field. Where is the discipline? Where is the element of normalcy? Where is the predictability of the Arsenal we all know?

Norwich will feel cheated by this new strategy employed by the Gunners.

DISCLAIMER: This is a piece written for humorous purposes and should not be taken seriously.