That game between Chelsea and Manchester City.
Although Chelsea won, both teams were left to rue missed chances, balloon shots, silly refereeing…you know the works.
However, while watching the game, you know, with the hope that both teams bludgeon themselves and leave us only Liverpool to contend with, I couldn’t help but think of Arsenal.
Sting Your Opponent From The Start
If you noticed, both teams ‘showed their fangs’ from the start of the game.
Passes were direct, quick and movement was fluid; there was an intent to score.You could see both teams looked sharp especially Chelsea going on the counter.
And if Lady Luck didn’t go on tour of the Cayman Islands, Chelsea might have come out with 3 goals at least.
Arsenal can learn from this. We’re sometimes undecided about what we want in the first half of our games…
It’s like we’re thinking- Should we just keep passing the ball till we tire them out? Should we wait till they come at us? Should we try to score?
We need to be more decisive in our game play in the first half. We can’t dilly-dally like we do against quick, ruthless teams like Bayern, Barcelona, Madrid, PSG and the like.
And for those of you who are quick to say the teams I mentioned are world-class teams, a quick precise Chelsea would pose a problem as well.
Don’t Be Afraid To Take Chances
Did you see that Ivanovic strike? The only person I can think of of the top of my head that’ll have taken that chance is Carzola…and maybe Wilshere.
Sometimes, we don’t have to get into the final third to take a chance. You can see the hesitancy when it comes to who’ll take a shot just outside the final third when the opponent ‘parks the bus’.
When you see a chance, take it!
Arsene Wenger Needs To Find A Way Around This
Around what you say?
Wenger needs to get around the issue of our lacklustre performances in first halves.
@MisterSpruce1 It’s a bit of a mystery. Personally I believe it must have something to do with the way we prepare for games.
— Messi Minutes (@MessiMinutes) January 29, 2014
I discussed this on twitter with Messi Minutes and we both couldn’t for the life of us figure out why we seemed uninterested, complacent and sometimes unsure of ourselves most of the time in the first half.
What if we met with a team whose manager gave the instructions – Annihilate them in the first half – what do we do then? Make a comeback from 3 goals down? It’s not impossible but it’s difficult; Man-City showed us that.
I’m sure Wenger has noticed this. I’m not sure if it’s part of his game plan or if it’s an issue he’s trying to solve; I hope it’s the latter.
Also, when we look at the matches we’ve played, it seems we’re content scoring one or two goals; after that, we go with the flow. Think I’m lying? See here from 17/08/2013
Manchester City, although not in this game with Chelsea, seem to be more goal hungry. It’s like they say to themselves – “We’re either winning the league on points or on goal difference”. We need to be like that as well.
Jose Mourinho Is A Friggin’ Whiner
Err… that’s just the reiteration of a fact carved in stone. *wink*
What do YOU think?
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