Talking Points: Arsenal 1 – 0 Tottenham

Emirates Stadium

Arsenal hosted Tottenham in a much anticipated North London derby.

Tottenham was looking to exact revenge, having lost 5-2 in the same fixture, twice. The biggest topic of discussion before the game was the £100 million plus Tottenham had invested in the transfer window, as opposed to the negligible business Arsenal had done. Arsene Wenger has been extremely wary this time, adding only Yaya Sanogo and former Arsenal midfielder Matthieu Flamini, both on free transfers.

Tottenham, in contrast, have picked up 7 players, with Eric Lamela and Roberto Soldado both coming in at upwards of £26 million each. This was going to be a trial of transfer window extremes, where the adage “You can’t buy Class” was going to be put to the test.

Big Buying Spurs

Outspending everyone in the Premiership has to be a very big deal, especially when it isn’t Manchester City or Chelsea. But what Andres Villas Boas probably forgot was that putting together a starry team is never enough, and all of them must gel to actually create magic. His first warning should have been the team’s inability to score a single goal from open play in the Premiership. Both their goals have been courtesy penalties, and the victories may have been mistaken for dominance. Tottenham may have overbought to compensate for the Real Madrid-bound Bale.

Now having spent over a £100 million, plus another alleged move for Blackpool winger, Tom Ince, they are well and truly invested in the business and if this stock doesn’t rise quickly, AVB could soon need another job. If a club puts in that much money in a single window, certainly a fourth place finish wouldn’t do, and expectations will rise meteorically.

Olivier Giroud

When Arsenal picked up Giroud from Montpellier in 2012 for a reported £9.6 million, he was believed to be a valuable yet economical addition to the Arsenal attack. Known for his ability in the air, Giroud is also a physical player with acute finishing skills; making him a complete center forward.

He didn’t really come through last season, as he could accumulate only 11 goals in his 34 Premiership appearances. 11 goals are never a very good sign for a top striker, but he ensured he stuck to his guns. But this season, Giroud looks much like the player he was tipped to be, and he has scored 3 goals in three games already. Although 12 of his 14 goals have come at the Emirates, those still count just as much.

When Santi Cazorla found Theo Walcott making some space on the right, the Tottenham defense completely switched off, leaving Giroud the space and time to run past a clueless Hugo Lloris, and finish a sweet tap in. Walker, who fell away from the back line to check Giroud, was never going to get there in time. Giroud’s goal at 22 minutes was necessary to relieve tense nerves. Even Wenger looked very close to a wry smile. His contribution was immense in the game, firing occasionally at the backline, and even wriggling free of Dawson and Rose at one point to feed Walcott, who saw a diving Lloris push his effort away.

Unimaginative AVB

Andre Villas-Boas

It finished 1-0 to the home side, and AVB will need to go back to the drawing board to play around with the false 9. Even with Lamela, Sandro and the mercurial Defoe were introduced by AVB to push the tempo a notch higher, but nothing could slow down the Arsenal onslaught. Spurs do not have a back-up for Soldado, except for the diminutive Defoe. The English striker came on at the 70 minute mark, and never looked like the type of player who could feed off a false 9. He has always been a target man, and AVB cannot suddenly change that overnight. Defoe’s shot which deflected off Koscielny was probably the best shot on goal, and Szczesny ensured it didn’t do any damage. Andros Townsend seemed like the only other player except Defoe, to have successfully challenged the Arsenal keeper, with a cracker right at the start.

Both Chadli and Capoue looked like they meant business, but were never able to effectuate a happy ending. Soldado was another player who never found his feet, and couldn’t replicate his form from the last two outings. The Gunners were never in too much possession, and Tottenham saw over 55% of the ball possession but didn’t seem to doing much with it. In the dying minutes they piled on at the Arsenal end, as was expected of a losing side, but the Arsenal defense looked quite sure as they kept clearing the ball away from danger.

Walcott’s Supremacy

At 24, maturity seems to have set in to Walcott’s game. Always quick, Walcott has now added a solid temperament to his arsenal, pun intended. Walcott is no longer simply an agile winger who occasionally tip toes across defenses. He has improved immensely in his prowess and now looks to pull players away from the center, before skipping past them. He ransacked the Tottenham flank, making them scurry for cover every time he pushed forward. Walcott even juggled past a desperate Rose on one occasion, reinforcing the idea of a clear-headed star for the Gunners. His move which produced the goal was excellently orchestrated, as he pulled two defenders away from the center, and calmly crossed the ball to witness a smashing finish by Giroud.

The Return of the Arsenal Midfield

Only ‘Orchestrating’ will do justice to the way the Arsenal midfield pulled the strings throughout the match. Rosicky, Cazorla, Ramsey, Wilshere and then Flamini, were all at home with sweet touches and crisp passing. Walcott fed off the energy and pushed the bar higher. Greenhorn Carl Jenkinson and Gibbs were also a part of the rampaging forays, leaving Spurs to hunt for cover. Ramsey played out of his skin, pushing for the ball and actively looking for a chance to cut through.

Rosicky, in particular, is dropping to the center, and ensuring that we do not miss the injured Arteta for a moment. He did pick up a card though, but that was for a professional foul that stopped the opposition to hit them on the counter, after Lloris had just pulled off a spectacular sliding tackle on Walcott. He was everywhere, killing loose balls and creating movement. Wilshere came off just before the half, but reports say that’s due to an illness and not an injury. Flamini hit the ground running, and looked only short of game time when it came to creativity. Cazorla was a pleasure to watch, and almost pulled off a smart, low free kick right at the start. Overall, the Arsenal midfield showed where their Tottenham counterparts were lacking, and it was a happy day as Wenger decided to flash a smile.