So, we lost. We produced a bleak performance. We could have won, but we really didn't deserve it. This game had echoes of the Liverpool game about it, not the trumpeting horn of the Etihad win.
As is often the case after a loss, I'm in no mood to follow my usual structure. Instead, I think quoting myself and analysing what has happened yesterday through the prism of these quotes is the best possible way to present you with my review. So here goes.
The tactics and the squad
"I won't be surprised should we stick to a cautious approach tomorrow. In other words, I expect us to deliver something along the lines of City's game, only to a lesser extent, because Eriksen and Kane aren't nearly as scary as Silva and Aguero."
This is what I said two days ago when writing a preview for the game. And this approach was exactly the one we adopted yesterday. Only, however baffling it sounds, I'd rather we faced Aquero and Silva than Kane and Eriksen. We gave both time and space and paid the price for that. We dropped too deep after scoring the goal, thus inviting even more pressure. That was a mistake, both because we couldn't cope with that pressure and because we were woefully inefficient on the counter.
"Do they have an edge over the current Hispanic trio? The only edge I can think of is experience (in case with Chambers) and a better understanding of a derby atmosphere (Szczesny and Gibbs). But I don't think these are convincing enough reasons to omit Ospina, Bellerin and Monreal. If our Spaniards can do it at the Etihad, they can do it anywhere."
Seems I was wrong with at least one player: Bellerin. Maybe I wasn't watching too closely, but I don't think he had a good game. His starting minutes were particularly atrocious, as Spurs successfully pulled off a couple of attacks down our right flank. And I think it won't be totally off the mark if we blame him (at least partially) for both conceded goals. He failed to close Kane for the first, he allowed an easy delivery for the second. I'm not saying others couldn't have done better (Ramsey at marking Kane, Walcott for the cross), however, part of the blame goes to Bellerin.
I'm not so sure about what kind of game Monreal had (pretty solid, I guess), but in this case Gibbs could have fared better due to sheer enthusiasm and better understanding of how important a derby is. But I definitely was wrong about Ospina. This is what I said on Twitter a couple of weeks back:
"I think we'll never find out, how good Ospina is. Our defense is keeping it in great secret for a third consecutive game."
Well, yesterday our defense was shaky and Ospina finally got to show just how good he really is. He pulled off save after save after save and they were all gorgeous. When he finally succumbed to pressure, there was nothing he could do. He parried a hard shot in the attack when the equaliser was scored and Kane had a tap-in, and was left stranded with Kane's late header in the episode with the second. I rarely watch the highlights after a loss, but this time I did to enjoy the brilliance of our Colombian goalkeeper. I suggest you do the same.
"As such, I'd prefer to introduce Rosicky for Ozil, as Walcott can be devastating on the counter, something that'll play to our strengths. Rosicky, meanwhile, can compensate for Theo's defensive shortages in his usual manner: by harassing and tackling and pressing and intercepting and forcing mistakes and whatnot."
Wenger found a way I haven't thought of: he combined Walcotts' and Rosickys' strengths and put on Welbeck. And the Englishman rewarded the manager with a brilliant run for the first and the sheer drive and energy he put in. He also had the best moment of the second half with a venomous shot, but Lloris did well to parry. Had it not been Danny's first game upon returning from injury, keeping him on the pitch would have been a better idea than letting Walcott come on.
The conceded goals
"The concept of zonal marking always made me feel uneasy, but when it worked, it worked. The problem is that, when is doesn't work (like on Sunday) we suffer the consequences.
I also don't like the fact we no longer put men on posts during corners. Skrtel's header, as good as it was, could have been blocked or cleared off the line if somebody was just physically standing on the post. No one was there, so no one stopped the effort from going in."
This is what I said after we drew with Liverpool back in December. And once again our lapse on a corner proved costly. Not only did no one close down (or, indeed, marked) Kane, no one was standing on the post. I'm sure we wouldn't have conceded this goal if someone had the sense to cover the post.
Meanwhile, on the second goal:
"Seriously, how can you leave any midfielder in any team with so much time and space to make a pass? But the way the situation was handled after that still makes me want to cry."
It's the bit from the Southampton game, if you are interested. Then we let Warden-Prowse make a cross, this time it was Bentaleb. Walcott and Bellerin has given him way too much time and space and Bentaleb used it to great effect. But even when the cross was put in all was not lost: Kane had to beat Koscielny first. That he did is as much of a compliment to him, as it is a reproach to Kos.
The aftermath
This is what I said in the preview prior to the game:
"Tomorrow's game is a derby and derbies screw with the odds. They have very special atmosphere and rules of logic rarely apply to the results. You can go the whole season undefeated and then lose in a derby and no one will bat an eyelid, however good you've performed up to this point.The chips are down when a derby kicks off."
And this is yours truly on Twitter after the game:
"I don't think any definitive conclusions can be drawn based on today's game. Except that Ospina is a brilliant keeper. It's derby and, though having not been brought up in England, I will never fully grasp it's meaning, I do realise derby is a special occasion. Anything can happen during a derby. It doesn't mean that one team is sh*t and the other is a newly-crowned champion. And so I'm not going to chastise the Gunners for that loss. I will if they drop points on Tuesday, but not today"
With this taken into consideration, I still want to say that Tottenham were much, much better than us and fully deserved their win. They showed up with the right attitude, we didn't show up at all and so there can be few complaints about the result.
This loss sees us slide to 6th, one point behind Tottenham, but the situation doesn't look in any way dangerous. We are just seven points of second-placed City (who miraculously rescued a point against Hull yesterday), three behind Southampton (who miraculously nicked all three against QPR) and trail United and Tottenham by a solitary point, with United yet to face West Ham at Boleyn Ground today. Fingers crossed for a draw there and, in the light of Liverpool's draw in the Merseyside derby, we are not really threatened by them.
Now we need to bounce back quickly and that's why I'm happy we play on Tuesday. And, by the way, we face Leicester at home, while City play Stoke away, West Ham visits St. Mary's and Spuds go to Anfield. Thus we are presented with a chance to restore the equilibrium. Hope we take it.
And I'll be back with the usual preview tomorrow or on Tuesday.
Until then, don't hang your heads in despair
Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)
As is often the case after a loss, I'm in no mood to follow my usual structure. Instead, I think quoting myself and analysing what has happened yesterday through the prism of these quotes is the best possible way to present you with my review. So here goes.
The tactics and the squad
"I won't be surprised should we stick to a cautious approach tomorrow. In other words, I expect us to deliver something along the lines of City's game, only to a lesser extent, because Eriksen and Kane aren't nearly as scary as Silva and Aguero."
This is what I said two days ago when writing a preview for the game. And this approach was exactly the one we adopted yesterday. Only, however baffling it sounds, I'd rather we faced Aquero and Silva than Kane and Eriksen. We gave both time and space and paid the price for that. We dropped too deep after scoring the goal, thus inviting even more pressure. That was a mistake, both because we couldn't cope with that pressure and because we were woefully inefficient on the counter.
"Do they have an edge over the current Hispanic trio? The only edge I can think of is experience (in case with Chambers) and a better understanding of a derby atmosphere (Szczesny and Gibbs). But I don't think these are convincing enough reasons to omit Ospina, Bellerin and Monreal. If our Spaniards can do it at the Etihad, they can do it anywhere."
Seems I was wrong with at least one player: Bellerin. Maybe I wasn't watching too closely, but I don't think he had a good game. His starting minutes were particularly atrocious, as Spurs successfully pulled off a couple of attacks down our right flank. And I think it won't be totally off the mark if we blame him (at least partially) for both conceded goals. He failed to close Kane for the first, he allowed an easy delivery for the second. I'm not saying others couldn't have done better (Ramsey at marking Kane, Walcott for the cross), however, part of the blame goes to Bellerin.
I'm not so sure about what kind of game Monreal had (pretty solid, I guess), but in this case Gibbs could have fared better due to sheer enthusiasm and better understanding of how important a derby is. But I definitely was wrong about Ospina. This is what I said on Twitter a couple of weeks back:
"I think we'll never find out, how good Ospina is. Our defense is keeping it in great secret for a third consecutive game."
Well, yesterday our defense was shaky and Ospina finally got to show just how good he really is. He pulled off save after save after save and they were all gorgeous. When he finally succumbed to pressure, there was nothing he could do. He parried a hard shot in the attack when the equaliser was scored and Kane had a tap-in, and was left stranded with Kane's late header in the episode with the second. I rarely watch the highlights after a loss, but this time I did to enjoy the brilliance of our Colombian goalkeeper. I suggest you do the same.
"As such, I'd prefer to introduce Rosicky for Ozil, as Walcott can be devastating on the counter, something that'll play to our strengths. Rosicky, meanwhile, can compensate for Theo's defensive shortages in his usual manner: by harassing and tackling and pressing and intercepting and forcing mistakes and whatnot."
Wenger found a way I haven't thought of: he combined Walcotts' and Rosickys' strengths and put on Welbeck. And the Englishman rewarded the manager with a brilliant run for the first and the sheer drive and energy he put in. He also had the best moment of the second half with a venomous shot, but Lloris did well to parry. Had it not been Danny's first game upon returning from injury, keeping him on the pitch would have been a better idea than letting Walcott come on.
The conceded goals
"The concept of zonal marking always made me feel uneasy, but when it worked, it worked. The problem is that, when is doesn't work (like on Sunday) we suffer the consequences.
I also don't like the fact we no longer put men on posts during corners. Skrtel's header, as good as it was, could have been blocked or cleared off the line if somebody was just physically standing on the post. No one was there, so no one stopped the effort from going in."
This is what I said after we drew with Liverpool back in December. And once again our lapse on a corner proved costly. Not only did no one close down (or, indeed, marked) Kane, no one was standing on the post. I'm sure we wouldn't have conceded this goal if someone had the sense to cover the post.
Meanwhile, on the second goal:
"Seriously, how can you leave any midfielder in any team with so much time and space to make a pass? But the way the situation was handled after that still makes me want to cry."
It's the bit from the Southampton game, if you are interested. Then we let Warden-Prowse make a cross, this time it was Bentaleb. Walcott and Bellerin has given him way too much time and space and Bentaleb used it to great effect. But even when the cross was put in all was not lost: Kane had to beat Koscielny first. That he did is as much of a compliment to him, as it is a reproach to Kos.
The aftermath
This is what I said in the preview prior to the game:
"Tomorrow's game is a derby and derbies screw with the odds. They have very special atmosphere and rules of logic rarely apply to the results. You can go the whole season undefeated and then lose in a derby and no one will bat an eyelid, however good you've performed up to this point.The chips are down when a derby kicks off."
And this is yours truly on Twitter after the game:
"I don't think any definitive conclusions can be drawn based on today's game. Except that Ospina is a brilliant keeper. It's derby and, though having not been brought up in England, I will never fully grasp it's meaning, I do realise derby is a special occasion. Anything can happen during a derby. It doesn't mean that one team is sh*t and the other is a newly-crowned champion. And so I'm not going to chastise the Gunners for that loss. I will if they drop points on Tuesday, but not today"
With this taken into consideration, I still want to say that Tottenham were much, much better than us and fully deserved their win. They showed up with the right attitude, we didn't show up at all and so there can be few complaints about the result.
This loss sees us slide to 6th, one point behind Tottenham, but the situation doesn't look in any way dangerous. We are just seven points of second-placed City (who miraculously rescued a point against Hull yesterday), three behind Southampton (who miraculously nicked all three against QPR) and trail United and Tottenham by a solitary point, with United yet to face West Ham at Boleyn Ground today. Fingers crossed for a draw there and, in the light of Liverpool's draw in the Merseyside derby, we are not really threatened by them.
Now we need to bounce back quickly and that's why I'm happy we play on Tuesday. And, by the way, we face Leicester at home, while City play Stoke away, West Ham visits St. Mary's and Spuds go to Anfield. Thus we are presented with a chance to restore the equilibrium. Hope we take it.
And I'll be back with the usual preview tomorrow or on Tuesday.
Until then, don't hang your heads in despair
Follow me on Twitter (@AlexBaguzin)