Yes! We beat the Scum, and about time too.
The club that haven’t won a trophy since 2008. The club that has not won the FA Cup since 1991. The club that believes it’s bigger than us, despite having far less trophies and fans than we do.
We beat them. And we beat them well.
This was an excellent performance from top to bottom.
We pressed them, denied them space, and Kane/Alli were snuffed from the game.
How/why we won
We were more up for it. From the start, we looked to harry them, get in their faces, and deny them space in the midfield. And it worked, spectacularly.
Spurs’ game is based on power and pressing in midfield, but we did it to them. Xhaka and Ramsey were the equal of Sissoko and Dembele, and neither of that lot could contain our player. Whenever Kane and Alli got the ball, we looked to close them down even quicker, and it was our tactics and application that won it for us.
Moreover, the defence looked strong. Koscielny, Monreal, and Mustafi were all very strong, and looked able in containing Kane and Eriksen. The latter destroyed the Irish, but was absent here against us.
Wenger, using demergent non-Standard English, out-tacticted Poch. Yes, Poch. The next great manager. The progressive one, versus our own dinosaur. Yet, he’s won f-all, and he got schooled by the dinosaur today (when he won a major trophy only a few months ago, whilst Pochettino finished runners-up and put the pressure on…..)
The first and second halves were all us. Spurs had a few chances, but then nothing major to bother Cech or our defence. He made a good save in the latter second half from Dier, but didn’t have much else to do.
The major talking point of the first half was the non-foul from their Sanchez on our Sanchez. It was not a foul, and the supposed Arsenal hater Mr. Dean gave us an advantage. And one that we capitalised on well, as Mustafi scored from it. The Spurs defence really should have defended it better, and also Sanchez’s goal from close range.
Lacazette was good today, though his finishing on occasion was not the best. Coquelin came on towards the end to shore the midfield up, though in both halves we bossed them.
Impressions/player ratings
This was a stellar performance, and in many ways.
Firstly, we bettered Spurs’ commitment, intensity, and pressing. We denied Kane and Alli chances, and their strong midfield looked weak.
Moreover, our front three looked pretty fluid and caused Spurs many issues. They looked rattled at the back, and I believe even if Alderweirled was there, they would have struggled. Tottenham looked mentally stunted, and the supposed tactical master didn’t get much joy today. He was thoroughly out-matched in that sphere by Wenger.
This thus begs the question, why the f-ing hell can we not play like this more often? We’ve proven we can when it matters. The Man City and Chelsea cup games in 16/17 were testament to how we CAN play. The Chelsea game, and today, were examples that we can handle the top teams.
Yes, Kane didn’t play well today, as he was injured. Alli was poor, as he has been for much of the season. But it was apparent from the start that we were looking to harry them, and it worked to a tee.
And it was good to see Mr. Dean change his supporting allegiance. Welcome to the Arsenal family, Mr. Dean. It’s good that you’ve seen the light, and had a Damascene conversion.
We closed down the channels to Kane, and when he did have space, he never threatened much. We just cannot mess up now vs. Burnley. However, we won today, and won well.
And we beat the scum. They can continue going nearly sixty years without winning the league, and 26 years of not winning a decent trophy. If they still believe they are a bigger club than us, the prior sentence is one of numerous reasons why that belief is comically inaccurate.
Cech 8, Bellerin 6, Kolasinac 7, Kos 9, Mustafi 9, Monreal 8
Cech and the defence did well, all of them. They contained Kane and Alli, and cleared all that Spurs could provide. Bellerin was OK, but his final ball wasn’t the best.
Xhaka 8, Ramsey 9
They matched them for effort here in the midfield, and greatly stifled Sissoko, Dembele, and ultimately Alli and Kane.
Alexis 8, Ozil 9, Lacazette 8
The front players all were top, with Ozil being the best. He needs to be more consistent.
The subs (Coq and Iwobi) didn’t have time nor did reason to do much, but overall all players had great games today.
Man of the Match
Ozil was named thus by Sky Sports, and I agree he was stellar. Though for me, it was Aaron Ramsey.
I believe he contained their midfield well, and like Ozil is inconsistent in his performances.
Honourable mention – Mr. Wenger
Yes, I’ve critiqued him in the past, and stated he should leave. I don’t think he should have stayed another two years, though I revere and respect him for his achievements and legacy at our club.
Nonetheless, he bossed Pochettino, and is showing that he can be tactically flexible. The issue now is consistency. If we perform like we did today for 70% of the games this season, we will get top four.