Rosicky started for the first time this season. Nacho Monreal was got in to play at CB to replace Calum Chambers who desperately needed some rest. This was a QPR side who were yet to get a single point away from home. Seemed 3 points were destined to be in the bag for Arsenal.
Arsenal started much the brighter side with some superb bit of trickery by Sanchez to first deliver a brilliant cross to Giroud and then win a penalty, which he took and missed. This was the first ever Christmas game Sanchez was involved in. Giroud then produced a decent save of Green via a free kick. Arsenal finally took the lead via Sanchez who made up for his miss with a diving header assisted brilliantly by Gibbs. The 2nd half began in similar fashion. Suddenly the game took an adverse turn when Giroud reacted badly to a push by Onouha by headbutting him and getting a red. Just 53 minutes on the clock and Arsenal had to defend a 1 goal lead with 10 men. However Alexis Sanchez took away 3 defenders on his stride and passed to Rosicky for an easy finish to give us a 2 nil lead. However QPR got a chance to get back in the game when Debuchy, perhaps harshly, was adjudged to have fouled Hoillet which gave away a penalty and Charlie Austin did not miss. But the gunners showed great defensive resilience to finish the game with the 3 points in the bag. Onwards and upwards. Up the Arsenal. PLAYER RATINGS 1: Wojciech Szczesny (6): Had nothing to do whole game but picking the ball from his net once. 2: Mathieu Debuchy (7): A decent performance both defensively and offensively. Harshly deemed to have given away a penalty. 4: Per Mertesacker (7): Much better than against Pool, but the QPR attack hardly tested him. 18: Nacho Monreal (7): Playing at CB again and did a decent job alongside Per. 3: Kieran Gibbs (6.5): Very fortunate to not give away a penalty in the dying minutes of the game. Other than that was quiet decent both offensively and defensively. 20: Mathieu Flamini (6.5): Constantly pointing and shouting as usual albeit with a 97 percent pass completion. Not shocking because majority are to Per. 7: Tomas Rosicky (8.5): It had been so long since he played it would not surprise you if he had forgotten how to play. However a very good performance from our Mozart who took his goal well. He played like a player wanting to prove a point. 19: Santi Cazorla (7.5): Excellent once again. He seems to be thriving in a central position. 23: Danny Welbeck (5): He just kept running, but that's about all he did. 17: Alexis Sanchez (8.5): Missed a penalty but still managed a goal and an assist. Brilliant player, what a signing! 12: Olivier Giroud (1): Showed a lack of temperament which is not expected from an experienced player like him. SUBSTITUTES: 34: Coquelin (6): Put in a few challenges and took a yellow card late on. 21: Calum Chambers (6): Brought on to increase the numbers in defence. All the pre match talk was about last seasons reverse. A 5-1 thumping at the hands of Liverpool whilst topping the league. But this time last season it was Louis Suarez FC, as much as pool fans would like to argue about that, since he left it's plain for everyone to see how the club is performing (Sturridge obviously injured not helping). But this was an under pressure Arsenal team with it's defensive failings open for exposure by the Pool attack. Chambers returned from suspension but had to play at RB as Debuchy was preferred in the centre. The rest of the team was the same as last week.
In the reverse last season Liverpool were up 4-0 within 20 minutes and the way they started it felt like it would be the same thing. Chance after chance fell Liverpool's way and a player like Markovic who struggled all season suddenly was playing like Ronaldo, causing all sorts of problems to the team. Ultimately Liverpool deservedly took the lead when Coutinho fired them ahead. However Arsenal, very fortunately, got a lifeline when we scored off a set piece (shocking!). Debuchy scoring his first ever Arsenal goal. At half time Arsenal very fortunately went in level. The second half was a better performance but still Pool being the better team. This half Arsenal had chances via Santi and Giroud with the latter surprisingly giving Arsenal the lead by an assist by the former. Liverpool had chances before that but were not efficient enough to take control of the match. Arsenal sat deep and tried to defend the lead with Wenger even taking off Giroud for Monreal. Borini sent off as well for 2 stupid fouls and he had the audacity to spit towards the bench as well! Liverpool with 10 men and Arsenal with 5 defenders. You would be normal to think it was the 3 points in the bag. However far from it, nemesis Skrtel was back again scoring in added time to gibe 10 man Liverpool a deserved point. However Arsenal, poor, very very poor. I read an article recently that stated the number of points we have lost from winning positions this season. It says we would have been a point behind Chelsea had we not lost the points. Can you believe that? 1 POINT! Whatever the reason for this pathetic defending Wenger should sort it out, because we all know he will not be sacked. Hopefully a few signings to give us all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Up the Arsenal! PLAYER RATINGS 1: Wojciech Szczesny (8): Made some fantastic saves to give us a point. My MOTM easily. Been long since he produced such a dominating display. 22: Calum Chambers (3): Had an absolute shocker. Made a flop of a player seem like one of the best players in the world. He desperately needs a rest but no backup. Shocking. 2: Mathieu Debuchy (7): A decent performance in a make shift position. 4: Per Mertesacker (3): I'm out of words for him. He has been our worst player this season along with Flamini. Either needs a drop or some rest but again no players to replace him. 3: Kieran Gibbs (5): Meh. 20: Mathieu Flamini (4.5): The only reason he even gets a 4.5 is because of an assist. Would not waste my time abusing him, Gary Neville did that for me! 15: Oxlade-Chamberlain (4): Seemed well off pace and struggled to get into the game. Very obvious that he was not ready for the game. 19: Santi Cazorla (7): Best player offensively. Got an assist. Had a great chance in the end which he should have passed rather than shot. 23: Danny Welbeck (3): Another meh performance. His worst that I can think of. 17: Alexis Sanchez (4): Seems exhausted at the moment. That pathetic Pool defence did not have to worry about anything at all. Needs more rest by the looks of it. 12: Olivier Giroud (6.5): Everyone's complaint was his inability to score against the big teams. Well he has scored against City, Utd, Everton and now Pool! Had a really poor game but still worked well for the goal. SUBSTITUTES: 28: Joel Cambell (4): This was like that "Hey you I pity you so go play" kind of substitution. Did nothing noticeable. 34: Coquelin (5): Put in a few challenges and ran around. Was brought to help defend but preferred running in front. 18: Nacho Monreal (N/A): Another Meh! A German world cup winner. 121 caps for Germany at the age of 29. 31 goals and 17 assists in 55 starts for Arsenal. Why he is not he played enough? That's the mind boggling question in every Arsenal fan's head before every game. I mean his stats, that too for a player on the wings for the club is brilliant. So why doesn't Le Prof see what we Arsenal fans see? Let's have a look. EARLY DAYS Lukas Podolski was born on 4th June 1985. He was born to Waldemar Podolski and Krystyna Podolska, a former member of the Poland National Handball team. In 1987, when Podolski was two years old, his family emigrated from Poland to West Germany and were given Aussiedler status as a result of his paternal grandparents having German citizenship prior to World War II. Podolski grew up in near Cologne. There he was spotted as a youngster with a lot of potential by FC 07 Bergheim where he played until he joint 1. FC Koln in 1995. Podolski continued playing for the youth teams till the age of 18. Cologne fell with an injury crisis and Podolski was suddenly asked to train with the first team. "The right man is the one who seizes the moment." Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe And boy didn't Poldi seize the moment. Although he could not save his team from relegation he scored 10 goals from 19 games. The best ever tally by an 18 year old. You could tell right there that Germany had a gem in their hands. He got called up to the Euro 2004 squad at that tender age. Big clubs came calling, but he stayed at Koln. Earning them promotion back to the Bundesliga by top scoring with 24 goals. Again in the Bundesliga Koln struggled and were expecting too much from the young shoulders of Podolski. He scored 12 goals but could not save the club from relegation. But right now this was a player who was the fulcrum, the nucleus around whom the national team was being built. So he could not afford to try again to lift his team from the second division. Lot of clubs manifested their interest in him. Teams like Real Madrid, Liverpool etc were desperate for a young superstar. He eventually joint Bayern Munich for around 10 million Euros. Did you know? At the 2006 World Cup, Podolski was voted Young Player of the Tournament ahead of the likes of Messi and Ronaldo! BAYERN MUNICH Probably his biggest mistake to date was joining the Bavarian club. He initially took time to settle in, not helped by his own team mate van Bommel injuring him. He managed just 7 goals in 34 games often having to play out wide. Things took a turn for the worse when Luca Toni was signed by Bayern in 2007. This made it all the more difficult to cement a place in the team. He struggled to find form at the club. He scored just 26 goals in 100+ appearances. However at the same time he was flourishing for the national team scoring a goal every couple of games. From 2006-09 he played 49 times for Germany scoring 27 goals. To date it was his best form for Germany. However due to lack of playing time and unfavourable position he was made to play, he left Bayern Munich to join his home town club Koln. Did you know? Podolski is affectionately called 'Prince Poldi' in Cologne due to his celebrity stature there. RETURN TO KOLN Podolski was assured by German manager Joachim LÖW about his place in the National team even if he joint Koln. He returned to Koln for the amount Bayern initially paid for him. Koln had a very unconventional method to try and generate funds for the transfer. Köln created a website where people were able to buy pixels of an image of Podolski for €25 per 8x8 pixel square, in order to gather €1 million to reduce the cost of the transfer; Formula One driver and Köln supporter Michael Schumacher bought several pixels for €875. Having just moved from Bayern Munich, Podolski had a poor first season at Köln, scoring just three times the entire season. One of his goals however, came from a free kick against his former club to salvage a draw. He struggled to replicate his pre-Bayern form initially. He had a better 2nd season at the club, scoring 13 and assisting 7. In his 3rd season however, after being given the lone striker's role he began to flourish. He scored 18 goals in 29 league appearances but unfortunately could not save the club from relegation. Out of respect for his loyalty Koln retired the number 10 jersey as long as Podolski is actively playing (However this season they gave it to another player). Podolski in turn to show his love for the club got the logo of the club tatooed on his arm. He signed for Arsenal towards the end of the season being the 2nd German National team player to join after Mertesacker. Did you know? On 14 April 2008, the Gunners forward's longtime girlfriend Monika Puchalski gave birth to their first child, Louis Gabriel Podolski. In April 2011, they got married in a civil ceremony in Cologne , Germany, followed by a church wedding in Kamionna, Węgrów County, Poland. Monika is not a typical WAG, and like her husband, stays away from limelight. ARSENAL SO FAR Podolski signed for Arsenal in the same season as Olivier Giroud and the season when van Persie left the club. He was given the 9 jersey. Although he initially played through the middle, he was shifted to the left to accommodate Giroud in the centre. He had a very decent first season at the club, scoring 16 goals and providing another 11. He struggled with injuries in his 2nd season at the club. Still managed to score 12 goals in 27 appearances showing what a clinical player he was. He helped the team to end the 9 year drought with an FA Cup win. Where has it all gone wrong? Every time he plays it almost looks certain he scores. But where does the problem lie? Looking at Podolski reminds me a lot of Arshavin. Oozing talent, lack of effort and some may say being played out of position. When the enigmatic Russian joint us the whole world were afraid that we signed possibly the best play maker, ended up playing on the wing for some reason. He provided the numbers. Many assists and many goals (4 in one game!), yet watching him was so frustrating. He often let the team very exposed on the flank he played. Granted being an attacker defence isn't really your job, but look at Sanchez and players like Rooney. That extra effort makes them world class (though Rooney is not!). It's quiet often the same case with Podolski. I watched a few of our games that he played in and almost always attacks from opposition end up from the side where he is playing. Even Theo who initially could not care lesser about defending suddenly would show a lot of defensive ability by dropping back, closing down etc. But Podolski could not show lesser effort on the defensive side to be honest. Let's take a look at some of the defensive stats from his 1st 2 years at the club. Even though it's fairly obvious he is lower in every single stat it begs to show why Arsene wants a player who offers more protection. We are a team who play with wing backs more than full backs. For those who do not know wing backs are given much more license to attack, but if the player ahead of you does not do his defensive work it leaves you very much exposed. I can definitely agree with Wenger on this one as a reason for not picking Podolski in matches. Also to quote Arsene himself "You always have the feeling that he is 80, 90 percent there, but you want him to give 100 per cent and then he’ll be world class. There’s more to come from him." Sadly that is not being shown enough. Let's see what he brings on the offensive side to the team, Looking at his stats show one thing very clearly, he is not the type of player who creates too many chances for his team mates via key passes and through balls. When he creates chances they are usually through crosses. Crosses obviously mean he should be a direct winger, one who runs with the ball and gives those crosses. But he neither has the pace nor does he have the defensive ability to be a winger. So does that mean no solutions at all?
There are a few solutions available. As Arsene went with an almost traditional 4-4-2 early on this season to give more attacking prowess to Sanchez we could go 4-4-2 with Poldi along side Giroud. His finishing is the best at the club and Giroud will help in creating chances. We could go this way in games against weaker sides. He could be used more often as a super sub in games. His best position has been as a striker but for some reason Arsene vehemently disagrees. Whatever happens Poldi is a player I'm sure we all love and whatever expectations we have, he simply will not fit in the present formation. Change in the formation or a change in his role is required for more game time. Else it will be too late to keep him as he has already voiced his frustrations many a times. Whatever happens I love you Poldi especially for the comments on Tottenham and you have all the Gooners cheering for you everywhere! I got this image from 7amkickoff which compares Cazorla and Podolski, interesting and also justifies Wenger playing Cazorla more than Podolski. |