The late kick-off on Saturday saw an all London affair as Arsenal hosted a manager-less Crystal Palace after Tony Pulis left the club by mutual consent on Thursday.The game was built up as Arsenals opener in a season where many havepredicted the Gunners to battle it out for top honours. Their championship credentials were certainly put to the test in the game with Palace taking the lead against the run of play.Wengers men, however, came through the test, although without any flying colours. Here are are five main talking points from the encounter:
#1 Slow and predictable Arsenal
With all due respect to Crystal Palace and their tenacious efforts, it is hard to imagine how much difference it would have made had Arsenal been on the pulse of the game and playing with their renowned verve. That was the main story of the game: Arsenal looked disjointed going forward or even going from one flank to the other. The whole thought process behind their attacks looked slow and their movements seemed uncoordinated and easily anticipated.
Santi Cazorla looked a shadow of himself on the left wing, while Alexis Sanchez huffed and puffed but never could deliver the telling ball that could put Palace into a predicament. Oxlade-Chamberlain failed to set the pulses racing as well when he came on.
There was not much from the central figures of Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey, not until the goal at least. Ramsey especially looked a step slower and failed to get into the box on many a vital occasion before finally doing so for the winner. Ramsey even said, “We were discussing that we couldn't find options in front of us, so we were taking an extra touch which slowed our game down.”
If Arsenal are to truly give a push for the title, they need to be on the action mode rather than on the reaction mode they were on for this game.
#2 A morale boosting win
Scrappy late winners are worth their weight in gold in any title race. Not every win comes in a mesmerizing display of footballing prowess for any championship contender and so it proved for Arsenal today. The Gunners looked blunt and disjointed but they got what they took to the pitch for. At the end of the day, that’s all that matters.
Arsenal, after a number years look set to win challenge for top honours and in order to do so they will be challenged to have to go through games like these, games where they are missing their ebb and flow and still come out on top.
This was winning ugly as it comes and the Gunners responded to the challenge and it will certainly work in many ways to boost their psyche going forward.
They know now that they have the ability to get the work done even if it’s not the true route they had envisioned it through.
#3 A story of 3 set pieces
Going into the game, few would have thought that it would take three set-pieces to settle this one. Even fewer would have bet on Crystal Palace taking the lead and making Arsenal work for their money’s worth as they did.
But, that’s football and that’s the Barclays Premier League, where any team can give the other a good run for their money on any given day. While Arsene Wenger is sure to be left disappointed with the team’s inability to create clear-cut opportunities, he should be enraged with team’s defending on set pieces.
Not only was a set-piece responsible for rocking them back, the whole team looked a mess whenever the ball was floated in from a set-piece. Zonal marking didn’t seem to work as Palace players found spaces to run into quiet easily and get that extra step to jump the highest in the crowd of players.
If Wenger was to be enraged, Keith Millen is probably tearing his hair out. Set-pieces were the last thing that Millen would have predicted his side to get beaten by. They would have accepted a defeat at the hands of Alexis Sanchez’s solo brilliance or an Aaraon Ramsey thunderbolt. But two set-pieces? Not likely.
During Palace’s fabulous late run of form under Tony Pulis, the Eagles had conceded only one goal from set pieces. With Pulis not on the sidelines for this one, there seemed to be something lacking for them, an authoritative figure barking out the orders from the technical area.
#4 A Pulis-esque performance
Football is a funny game: Tony Pulis was Premier League Manager of the Year last season and not in the dugout for the opening game of the next.
Pulis, however, certainly has to be given the credit for turning the fortunes around at the club. Even though he wasn’t there at the Emirates, his presence was strongly felt through the dogged and determined performances that Palace players put forth for the game.
One of the key aspects that helped Palace escape the drop last season was how they played as a unit and scrapped for one another. While Pulis has seen his last day as boss at Selhurst Park, his lasting impression on the team chemistry remains.
It was on full display on Saturday as Palace harried and hustled and forced Arsenal into committing silly mis-passes all day long. It was not only the defence and the midfield. Marouane Chamakh and Frazier Campbell defended the line from the front with Chamakh especially putting in an excellent defensive shift playing in the hole behind Campbell.
While the result might take a few days to recover from, Palace is now in a much better place than when Tony Pulis took over. Whoever takes over at Selhurst Park certainly has something to build upon.
#5 What Arsenal still need
Many observers have been keen to point out Arsenal’s lack of a midfield enforcer. While I would certainly agree that, a robust defensive midfielder would do Arsenal well, it feels like they are still short of one world-class striker up front.
When was the last time a team lifted the Premier League without a top-notch striker in their ranks? Even the 2000-01 Manchester United side, which saw Teddy Sheringham top score with 15 goals, had the likes of Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to pump in the requisite number of balls into the net.
While Arsenal will certainly look to their midfielders for help in the scoring department, the team still feels one prolific goal-getter short of truly punching its weight amongst the big boys at the top.
Can Yaya Sanogo or Olivier Giroud be that top man? While Sanogo is still in his fledgling years, it is hard to envisage Giroud answer in the affirmative for the above said question.
