Ashburton Grove
Referee: Mike Dean
Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham Hotspur 26 February 2012
Sagna [40] Saha [4]
Van Persie [43] Adebayor [31 pen]
Rosicky [51]
Walcott [65, 68]
Sagna [40] Saha [4]
Van Persie [43] Adebayor [31 pen]
Rosicky [51]
Walcott [65, 68]
For various reasons I have missed the last 3 matches down at
the pub. Before Sunday, the title of my latest entry has been kind of mocking
me. Ok, not kind of. Remorselessly fucking mocking me. Never give up. Right. After each cup defeat I was sorely tempted to
post something to address the irony of my conclusion in that previous report to
the subsequent performances [or lack thereof].
Knowing that I would in all likelihood be unable to view this
North London Derby didn’t help the pre-match tension, I have to say. With Mike
Dean in charge and Phil Dowd between the two managers, there was even less optimism.
7amkickoff noted beforehand that we have never won a NLD with Dean in charge.
Still, I dutifully rose on Sunday morning, with time enough before
kick-off to stretch the Van Persie shirt over my head, put on a pot of coffee,
and fruitlessly hunt for a stream to watch. After thirty minutes, two cups of
coffee, a jammy deflected goal for Saha, an undeserved penalty for that
cheating Dr. Zaius, and a tapestry of obscenities that would make Ralphie’s
father proud, I came to the conclusion that I would be ‘watching’ this match on
Twitter. Nothing like a two-goal deficit to add a little urgency to refreshing
tweets on the mobile. I nearly did give up. But I am a masochist. And
obsessive. You know, a Gooner.
It’s amazing how you can go through the range of emotions
that I did just by watching words appear on a tiny little screen, and the
affection you can feel for people you’ve never met face to face, whose names
all begin with the @ symbol, and who can keep you ahead of the mainstream
outlets’ live texts by a country mile. Special mentions go out to @ladyarse for the emotion, @arseblog for the frequency,
and @arsenalist for the
remarkably quick uploads of goal highlights and major incidents.
My return from the weekend away roughly coincided with the
Arsenal Player posting time for match footage on the official site, and I settled
in to re-live the action for the first time, if that makes sense. As an aside
here, there’s something I’ve always loved about the footy highlights over the Sportscenter
style ones we get for American sports: context. You get to see a little
build-up play and action leading up to the chances, goals, saves, etc.
So, while I had seen the goals via those arsenalist clips
earlier, when they did arrive my anticipation was heightened because I could
see them developing. Certain players
performed as though they were possessed. Van Persie, Sagna, Rosicky, Vermaelen,
Koscielny, and Song stood out with magnificent showings for the full ninety.
Arteta was calm and assured, providing a constantly
available outlet in midfield. Gibbs put in shift that belied his return from
injury, as did his successor Jenkinson when the former faded towards the end.
Szczesny wasn’t busy, but he was focused when required and I just loved his enthusiasm
for Adebayor’s penalty. Gervinho and Chamberlain were brought on too late to
make any impact on proceedings, other than to give some weary legs a breather,
and in the case of Walcott, his due opportunity to soak up some applause.
What can you say about Theo yesterday? It looked like more
of the same recent form in the first half, with passes and touches going
astray, and a reluctance from the boy who would be striker to take a chance
himself. There’s no hiding my frustration with him most of the time, but he was
immense in the second half and the character he showed to reverse his performance
was just outstanding.
In the wake of Arshavin’s departure this week, I believe the
Arseblogger highlighted the desire he displayed to get forward for his fourth
goal at Anfield, making a blistering run to give Theo an outlet. It was the
kind of hunger and sheer will to win that we needed badly at that point in
time. Well, Theo showed the same spirit to get down the pitch to support Van
Persie for his first and our fourth yesterday. That was a crucial goal. His first two touches
were a bit clumsy, but he recovered incredibly well to dink a beauty over
Friedel that allowed the roar of a certain goal to precede the ball going into
the net.
If that was important to get us a two goal cushion, his next
contribution was equally so. The ghosts of Redknapp’s first trip to the Grove
as Spurs’ manager still linger, so much so that I don’t think there was a
single Gooner who wasn’t imagining just
such a collapse again yesterday. We have Theo to thank for putting paid to that
horrifying memory. Song’s pass was
another in a long line of beautiful chip shots he has played this season and
Walcott took it with aplomb. I didn’t post anything yesterday but had a spike
in traffic because of searches for Theo’s heroics .
Having listened to Lee Dixon bemoan the lack of characters
in the squad during the build-up to this match, it is interesting to note that
the goals came from four players who have been at the club the longest, and who
all displayed the kind of resilience and tenacity we have lacked in recent
months. Sagna, Van Persie, Rosicky and Walcott all played as if they had a
point to prove. And they proved it, along with the rest of the squad, right up
to the manager who made a bold decision with his starting XI that paid off with
the most handsome of dividends.
Obviously there is still a long way to go. We must travel to
Anfield this weekend to test the newly crowned Carling Cup champions after a mid-week
of unnecessary international friendlies. But the manner in which we dismantled this Tottenham
side and that we did so without Gervinho or Chamberlain gives us some hope of a run-in revival, and such a win just might freshen up some weary legs from the
relentless travel of the last few weeks. For now, we can just bask in the
afterglow of an incredible team display. Hats off to the entire squad. Just
tremendous.
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