He scores when he wants;
Mathieu Flamini,
He scores when he wants!"
Arsenal secured safe passage into the fourth round of the Capital One Cup after a Mathieu Flamini brace saw the Gunners beat Tottenham 2-1 at White Hart Lane. The win, Arsenal's 75th over perennial rivals Spurs, put a end to a run of two consecutive away defeats in Europe and in the league, and it came at a venue where we had lost our last three matches prior to yesterday night. It was Spurs' boss Mauricio Pochettino third North London derby, and he was unbeaten going into this one after a win and a draw in last season's corresponding fixtures.
THE LINE-UP:
Arsene Wenger had suggested he would rotate his squad once again, and he made no less than 10 changes to the side that started last weekend's game at Chelsea. David Ospina, seemingly Arsenal's cup goalkeeper this season, played in goal; there were expected changes at full-back with Debuchy and Gibbs coming into the team and Per Mertesacker made his first appearance in a month alongside Calum Chambers. There were enforced changes in midfield owing to the absences of Santi Cazorla (suspension) and Francis Coquelin (knee problem), with club captain Mikel Arteta and, perhaps surprisingly, Mathieu Flamini making his first appearance of the season. Quizzed on his team selection after the game, Arsene said he wanted to strengthen his side in the middle of the park, no doubt conscious of the quality of the opposition:
"First of all I wanted to rotate the team a little bit and he (Flamini) had worked very hard recently. I saw in training he was focused and had come back to a good level and I also thought I wanted to strengthen a bit the midfield with Arteta who had not played in a long time. I wanted a second player to strengthen a bit defensively and that meant Flamini and Arteta together gave some defensive guarantees."
Joel Campbell also made his first start of the season and only his third start for the club overall, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain providing width from the left and Olivier Giroud as the lone striker.
THE SET-UP:
As was expected,Spurs' high press posed problems for Arsenal's midfield. With the home side playing a high line there was precious little space for the Gunners to put those passing combinations together as is the norm. Figures show that this was possibly Arsenal's poorest game in possession, posting a passing accuracy of 71% while we normally average 84%-90%. It's for that reason that I had opined in my match preview that, tactically speaking, this game would perhaps have suited Theo Walcott more, and especially so after realizing that Spurs fielded Federico Fazio (who is over 6' 5'' tall and really slow) and Kevin Wimmer at centre-back, which is a largely untested defensive pairing. We also struggled to keep possession in Spurs' final third, a side-effect of having to play without Mesut Ozil and Cazorla. Ramsey was given Ozil's no. 10 role yesterday, and the difference was clear to see. Ozil prefers to float around the pitch, keeping possession and knitting our attacking play together while waiting for moments to pick a final pass. Ramsey, meanwhile, only really came alive in an attacking sense with the introduction of Alexis Sanchez halfway through the second half. He did create four chances overall, which isn't bad.
One positive for Arsenal's attack was Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who I thought provided a great outlet with his pace and power. His directness has endeared him to the Gunners' faithful, and it was evident here yesterday with seven successful dribbles, by far the most of any other player (Debuchy was second with three). Say what you will about his end-product though, which was again wanting yesterday. There was a brief cameo when Chamberlain turned Andros Townsend inside-out before leaving Erik Dier for dead, then played a cross-field pass which went over everybody and out for a throw-in. Sums it all up really.
Defensively, the raft of changes made by Arsene Wenger perhaps told on the team's overall defensive play. Spurs preferred to make in-roads down the flanks via Andros Townsend on their right, and Danny Rose and Nacer Chadli down their left. General consensus has it that Debuchy at right-back had a poor game as Danny Rose gave him trouble to no end especially in the first half, exposing the French defender's poor positional awareness time and again. Joel Campbell did leave Debuchy exposed at times as well, perhaps a by-product of the lack of understanding between the two players given their limited playing time. However, such was Spurs' preference for attacking wing play that Debuchy actually finished the game with six tackles, more than any other Arsenal player. Spurs' dominance down our right also told as Campbell was second on tackles completed, with five. Overall, Arsenal made only six tackles in central areas (Mertesacker-0, Chambers-1, Flamini-2, Arteta-1 and Ramsey-2), but sixteen tackles in wider areas (Debuchy-6, Campbell-5, Gibbs-4, Oxlade-Chamberlain-1).
THE GOALS:
“I tried to be a bit creative today. I had the opportunity, I felt that there was maybe a possibility so I went forward [for the first goal] and the ball came back to my feet. I scored with my left foot, which was also a nice surprise.”-Mathieu Flamini.
One of Oxlade-Chamberlain's trademark dribbles saw him go past Erik Dier (it was a theme) and take aim, and his only shot on target the entire game proved too difficult for Michel Vorm to handle. The Spurs' keeper could only parry Chamberlain's attempt and Flamini was on hand to sweep the rebound into the roof of the net. 1-0, and aren't we all glad that he gambled and it paid off. This goal meant that we have now scored in 40 of our last 41 North London derbies.
"He scored two good goals, especially the second one. I think on the second one he made an early decision to go for it and just focused and finished with a great goal."-Arsene Wenger.
I'll be the first to admit, the last person I would want a volley to drop to would have been Flamini. As it were, the ball fell to him just outside the box after an up-and-under clearance from Fazio, and Flamini connected sweetly with his right foot as he volleyed in first-time at the near-post. Chambers was unfortunate to score an own-goal in between our two goals, but fortunately it counted for precious little.
"The two goals were for them (the fans). They’ve always supported me, they’ve all been behind me and they’ve played a big role in my career. It was important for me to celebrate with them and nobody else. It was the first time I’ve scored two times in a game. It’s good to score against Tottenham in a derby in such an important game for Arsenal and the fans."-Mathieu Flamini.
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH:
Could only be one guy, couldn't it? Mathieu Flamini scores a brace, his first in Arsenal's red and white, his second definitely a contender for Arsenal goal-of-the-season, and he scored with his only attempts on goal, a lesson on efficiency for Giroud and Walcott. But it goes beyond this for me. In his post-match interview on Arsenal Player, Arsene Wenger pays homage to Flamini as a "fighter and a winner", saying:
"He is a fighter and he is a winner as well. I told him at the start of the season it might be difficult for him to be a starter but he decided to stay and he did fight. I fought to keep him but he is at an age where you always consider what it is important at that age, which is to keep focused and stay in the team. If they do not manage to do that it is better you let them go, but he wanted to stay."
We've now been drawn away to Sheffield Wednesday in the fourth round to be played some time next month. Enjoy this one Gunners, we go again on Saturday at Leceister. Till then :-)
*Quotes and images courtesy of Arsenal Media*
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