Priorities

By: Tom | July 8th, 2009

It’s a measure of the progress we’ve made since last season that I felt comfortable in sending out the youngsters and the fringe players in the League Cup this season. Not because I felt confident that they would win the tie necessarily, but merely because getting knocked out at this stage wouldn’t be the end of the world. This stage last year, out of the Champions League already and well off the pace in the league, this competition was something to be taken more seriously, and represented one of our only real chances for success. I’m glad to be able to say that expectations and prospects have changed since then.

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Everton vs. Arsenal – League Cup, 4th Round
11th November 2009
English starters: 9 – Hoyte, Taylor, Lescott, Gibbs, Cattermole, Baxter, Randall, Wilshere, Sturridge

Goals – Guerreiro (42), Dawson (70)

Only Lescott and Wilshere remained from my first-choice eleven, and despite having a few experienced heads elsewhere on the pitch, we weren’t good enough against a full-strength Everton side. In fact, as you can see from the stats, we were comprehensively outplayed.

Arteta used his guile to get past Gibbs on the left and weight a perfect ball across for Guerreiro to smash home the first – the Toffees Polish summer signing drifting through a stationary defence.

We made a slightly better fist of it second half, but all hope of a comeback ended when Taylor was sent off and we conceded a second soon after. Guerreiro turned provider with a corner, and Dawson prodded in.

Oh well. Can’t say I’m too upset.
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Portsmouth vs. Arsenal – Premier League
21st November 2009
English starters: 6 – Foster, Lescott, Jagielka, Walcott, Young, Wilshere

Goals – Young (7), Adebayor (18, pen 21), Defoe (24), Utaka (60), Fabregas (78)

The big names were all back after the international fixtures, and picked up where they left off in the league. 3-0 up after 21 minutes and the contest looked over, but credit to Pompey, they took their chances and made a game of it.

Young opened the scoring with a close range header after some lovely build-up play, while Adebayor scored a carbon copy about ten minutes later. The Togolese grabbed a second from the spot, after a driving run from midfield by Young was halted by a rash tackle in the box.

We took our foot off the gas after that and were almost punished for it. Defoe scored an absolute peach to make it 3-1, receiving the ball with his back to goal outside the box, turning, and then lofting a perfectly weighted chip over Foster. Pompey kept pressing and got another in the second half when our defence switched off at a corner and Utaka rose majestically to put it away.

Thankfully, that was just the wake-up call we needed, and we ensured we’d be leaving Fratton Park with all three points thanks to a goal from our captain. Man of the match Adebayor drove into the area, taking three defenders with him, before pulling it back for Fabregas to slot home.

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PSV vs. Arsenal – Champions League, Group Stage
24th November 2009
English starters: 7 – Foster, Lescott, Jagielka, Cattermole, Walcott, Young, Gabby

Goals – Culina (13), Lescott (21), Afellay (30), Young (32), Adebayor (45+1, 47, 74)

As I mentioned I might last time, with qualification to the next round already assured, I shifted my formation a bit for this game. I dropped the AMC role and Wilshere, and instead played Gabby up front alongside Adebayor, making a 4-2-2-2 formation. See below.

Things didn’t start particularly well, as we fell behind twice early on. We were caught out by a smart cross, before Lescott went up the other end and did the same, but and then failed to properly clear a few minutes later as they scored a second.

Once more, Young replied almost immediately, curling a free kick into the top corner to make it 2-2. After that, it was all Arsenal. Adebayor gave us the lead for the first time in first half stoppage time, linking up well with Gabby, and then got two more after the break, both also set up by his new strike partner.

The two up front worked well then. We did seem a little more rushed in the midfield without the extra man, but not too much, and Adebayor was doing well enough in dropping a bit deeper to receive the ball. The defence conceded two bad goals for the third game in a row, but as long as the attack continues getting goals, I’m not overly concerned.

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Arsenal vs. Reading – Premier League
29th November 2009
English starters: 6 – Foster, Lescott, Jagielka, Walcott, Young, Gabby

Goals – Gabby (14, 79)

I was pleased enough with the 4-2-2-2 formation in the last fixture away to a side as decent as PSV, that I decided to try it again against lowly Reading in the league. The results were once again fairly encouraging.

The extra man upfront paid off with the first goal, as Gabby was on hand to finish after an Adebayor shot was blocked by the keeper. Although we dominated after that, we failed to get a second, and with Adebayor having a quiet afternoon bar his hand in the goal, I took him off and switched back to 4-2-3-1 for the last 15 minutes or so. The Reading defence were slow to adapt to the change, and we took advantage, with some good link up play resulting in a second for Gabby, rising high to nod home a Clichy cross.

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While 4-2-2-2 has been successful in these past couple of games, I don’t think I’m ready just yet to abandon my traditional 4-2-3-1. I think I’ll keep it in my locker for the games against the middling sides, but I’m not confident enough to try it out in the big games just yet. Nevertheless, it’s good to know that it’s a system that seems to make effective use of my players.

Having said all that, next up is relegation threatened Birmingham, followed by another meaningless Champions League fixture, so perhaps I’ll be sticking with it for a couple more games!