Narrow Arsenal Need Fresh Ideas For Cup Final

Match Review: Arsenal 0 Sunderland 0 - Premier League 20.05.15

The Arsenal steam train has well and truly hit the buffers. Having won ten of eleven, we’ve now taken two points from three games and are at risk of losing all our momentum before the cup final. In fairness to Sunderland, they defended wonderfully and you cannot blame them for doing what they needed to do to secure their survival. But it is slightly worrying for us that we both failed to break them down and looked vulnerable to conceding on the break.

After six games without changes, Wenger finally rotated a bit, but not as much as some had thought. At the back, Gibbs replaced Monreal, while Wilshere made his first start since November, replacing Coquelin. Other than that though, the team remained the same, with Ramsey moving central and Wilshere going out on the right.

So began the long and frustrating quest to break through the Sunderland defence. The away side set up with Graham left up front and then a narrow, packed defence around the area and six yard box. As with against Swansea, we just seemed to move the ball too slowly and just allowed Sunderland to keep their shape and sit back. There was no running at them from deep and any quick passing move eventually hit a brick wall at the edge of the box.

We had a couple of moments, with Wilshere, Özil, Alexis and Giroud all having chances to shoot, but failing to hit the target. We were at our most dangerous when we drew them out and countered or when we managed to find a runner from deep. I don’t think we did enough to try and pull the Sunderland defence out of shape and with both Alexis and Wilshere cutting in from the flanks, things did get very narrow and congested at times.

As with the Swansea game, things opened up a little in the second half, but only a little. Giroud tested Pantilimon with a near post flick and Sunderland also had some decent chances on the break. Certainly Steven Fletcher should have scored twice, once when he was one on one and tried to chip Ospina and then from six yards out when it looked more difficult to miss than score. A better finisher on the end of those and we could have been in a world of trouble.

The introduction of Walcott did bring us something slightly different in attack, if at the expense of some defensive solidity. I did wonder whether we may have been best to start Chambers and Walcott down the right, as he did seem to have the pace and directness to trouble them. But it would have been difficult to drop Bellerin with the form he’s in and what he brings at right back. One player that I definitely would have started was Rosicky. When he came on he put together some nice combinations with Walcott and the others round the area. Maybe his impact was enhanced against a tiring Sunderland team, but he’s a busy player who can worry opposition defences.

I’m minded to give a lot of credit to Sunderland for the way they nullified us. They clearly looked at the way our wide players like to cut in and made sure to pack the areas they were looking to run into. In the end, when a side needs a point to survive you cannot begrudge them doing what’s necessary to protect their status in the league. We, however, need to start working out different ways to break teams down. Maybe the team were mentally tired, but they looked very short of ideas and got bogged down by Sunderland’s tactics. In just over a week’s time they’ll be contesting the cup final at Wembley and that is not the place to run out of ideas.

Teams

Arsenal (4-2-3-1)
Ospina, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Ramsey (Y), Cazorla, Wilshere (Walcott 67’), Özil (Rosicky 81’), Alexis, Giroud
Subs
Szczesny, Monreal, Gabriel, Flamini, Rosicky, Walcott, Coquelin

Sunderland (4-5-1)
Pantilimon, Jones, Coates, O’Shea, van Aanholt, Larsson, Cattermole, Johnson (Buckley 75’), Wickham (Rodwell 45’), Defoe, Graham (Fletcher 45’)
Subs
Mannone, Rodwell, Fletcher, Reveillere, Giaccherini, Vergini, Buckley

Player Ratings

Ospina - 8/10 - Made a couple of crucial saves to keep a clean sheet
Bellerin - 7/10 - Had a good game, defensively as well as going forward
Mertesacker - 7/10 - Did a good job, wasn’t really troubled
Koscielny - 9/10 - Absolutely superb, aggressive in the tackle and read the game perfectly
Gibbs - 7/10 - Not a bad showing on his return to the side
Ramsey - 6/10 - Returned to the middle and struggled to unlock the Sunderland defence
Cazorla - 6/10 - Looks very leggy, I would rest him ahead of the final
Wilshere - 7/10 - Unfamiliar position, a fairly steady performance
Özil - 7/10 - Not his best game, but still pulled off some incredible passes
Alexis - 7/10 - Still losing the ball too much, but amazing industry in his 50th game
Giroud - 6/10 - Marked out of the game, could have made a few more runs
Subs
Walcott - 7/10 - Defensively brainless, but troubled Sunderland at times
Rosicky - N/A - Not given enough time for me

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