Ho Ho Ho–Wigan thoughts and a Christmas message from Wigangooner
on December 24, 2012 at 10:30 amIt will be a very merry Christmas this year. Wigan away is a tough game for any side and Saturday was no different.
Wigan lined up in their new 3-4-1-2 formation, allowing them to flood the midfield and forced us to try and play 4-5-1, with Poldi and the Ox dropping deep to add bodies in the engine room. This stifled our attacking rhythm considerably and the best play came from Wigan throughout.
(thank you Arsenal.com)
It was apparent very early on in the game that some of our key players were off the pace and oddly the biggest culprit was Theo, with Arteta a close second. Theo was consistently on his heels, running in the wrong direction and generally ineffective. If he is to be a centre forward, he needs a partner, his movement was very poor and on a day when he was a bit isolated he wasn
A really good write up WG, as always, and thank you for the Xmas wishes.
You have a super blog site, and your Posts are always top quality, and I would like to thank you for writing such great Arsenal stuff.
I am looking forward to reading more of your insightful Posts in 2013!
!!
Hi RA,
As always you flatter me so. Total and I were both saying what a wonderful gentleman you are and an absolute boon to anyone like us who needed help. You are my most cherished reader and ultimately the guy that keeps me going. Thank you for being there when I was a tiny, tiny site and helping me grow to this meagre, yet inspiring site.
Merry Christmas mate.
WG
The respect is mutual, WG, and you are, as usual, far too modest.
Both you and Total are admirably matched as being highly intelligent, knowledgeable and decent guys who I am proud to know!
To spare your blushes, I will wish you a Happy Christmas and a great 2013!!!
“What was good to see was how well the BFG and Vermaelen have improved their positioning this season”
Yes but the high line is concerning especially with Metesacker who has no pace.
Krone should have scored in the 24th minute.
Hi FcArsenal
Vermaelen should have been marking Kone and Mert should have taken care of the more sluggish Di Santo, but Vermaelen should have been calling the shots on that one.
Importantly, positioning is one of the hardest things to get right. Everything else can follow.
WG
I thought the ease with which Wigan outpaced our defense was a big worry, and because of that they were able to interchange their play from either side of the penalty box. Made me fret over the midfield support for our CBs.
The other observation I made from watching on TV, was that Wigan were excellent in closing down our midfield, staying very tight and hassling us when we were in possession, whereas our players stood off Wigan when they had the ball.
Flawed tactics or dozy players? Either way it was not good!
Hello Wiggy
Thanks for all your great blogging work this year – I would like to wish a very Happy Christmas to you and yours.
I agree with a lot of what you said in the report from Wigan, but I thought we were the better team (just) – as is born out by the match stats.
The fact is, Wigan have been shipping a lot of goals recently and they changed their set-up to deal with that. They played really well and worked phenomenally hard to deny us time and space.
But their only real serious attempt on goal until we sat back for the last 15 was that Kone chance.
I also thought Arteta was outstanding in both work rate and control – which just shows what a wonderful game footy is (in that we can both watch the same game and see it so differently!).
Hohoho, wG!
Love the report and agree with almost all of it. Many thanks for the kind words and the pleasure and respect are totally mutual!
The only thing I disagree with is your views re Theo’s movement. I thought he made some good runs and managed to get himself in a scoring position a few times. His finishing was not great and he also struggled to keep hold of the ball when the midfield were looking for someone to help them out. And you could well be right that he would function better in a 4-4-2 system with another CF next or in front of him.
WG, once again thanks for the hospitality and the great conversations about our beloved Arsenal. Let’s watch a game togeteher soon again!!
MERRY WIGMAS!!!!!!!