Friday 11 January 2008

Cynicism

Young-Pyo Lee had a stonking game against the Arse. Yeah, he can't cross for shit, but few would argue against the fact he has been our most disciplined player for a fair while now. Does what needs to be done without being outstanding to the point of fantastic. Never going to be world-class, but is now worthy of remaining in the squad going forward. But you could argue he cost us a goal. I'm not talking about the deflection off his tackle and onto Walcott’s hand. More the case of the play leading up to that incident.

O'Hara was slow to see Bendtner make a run and with Lee already committed to tracking Walcott, King was left holding the area in front of Eduardo but also looking at the run Bendtner was making at which point Bendtner is on his own and in a superb position to receive the ball in a dangerous position. With O'Hara tracking and Lee having committed himself to Walcott, King was caught for a split second in no-mans land - which way to go? What to commit too?

It's here that Lee could have saved the day. Had he focused he could have played Walcott offside as everyone was a step up as Eduardo threaded the pass. Lee plays Walcott on. The rest is history.

But if you take a few paces back, all this could have been avoided.

Gilberto, middle of the park skips round Jenas. What does Jenas do? Nothing. What he should have done is what any Arsenal player would have done in the same situation. Hacked him down, taken the yellow card with pride. Play dirty WHEN you need to. I'd stop short of the play acting theatrics, mind. Cynicism could have given us a 1-0 lead going into the second leg.

Ramos, considering he came from La Liga, will surely with time drill this home to the players.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

He isn't good enough for whatever plans Ramos has for the future if we are serious about becoming a seasoned Top 5 club. The fact he is so limited when getting forward is just one problem with the little man.