Football may be the world’s greatest sport, but it is only the odd match that captivates its audience for a full 90 minutes. Instead, the sport has become what it is today – a global experience that spans continents and generations – because above everything, it is such an efficient platform for constantly birthing amazing moments of skill, of emotion, of passion, of nostalgia…
Leeds came to the Emirates to play for a replay but Arsenal sought to have none of it. Sebastian Squillaci got a rare start alongside Laurent Koscielny at the back, with Francis Coquelin and Ignasi Miquel filling in alongside them. Arsene Wenger started his regular midfield lineup to support Andrei Arshavin, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Marouane Chamakh up front, and they controlled the game completely without being overly spectacular. Leeds were offering little in attack, and it was up to Arsenal to break them down…
Leeds, and the Arsenal back line
Leeds lined up in a 4-1-4-1 to match Arsenal’s three in midfield. Honduran winger, Ramon Nunez and on-loan Tottenham youngster, Andros Townsend, were billed to be the two key men for the Championship side and did exactly that – they were Leeds’ outlets on the counter and did their best to use pace and trickery against Arsenal’s makeshift fullbacks to craft something.
Townsend began the game on Leeds’ left, up against Francis Coquelin. Oxlade-Chamberlain, having been given a rare start, was eager to prove himself to Arsene Wenger and did a great job of shuttling back to track Townsend. Manager Simon Grayson was quick to swap his two wingers so as to give the Spurs’ loanee a more favorable matchup against Ignasi Miquel and Andrei Arshavin on Leeds’ right.
But, the odd forward foray from the wingers aside, Leeds created little of note. Ignasi Miquel sat back and was loath to overlap on the left (more on that in a bit), and the home side always had numbers back and sat deep enough to prevent the visitors from exploiting any space behind them.
Notably, Laurent Koscielny has been spotted in ridiculous positions up the field in recent weeks – with Arsenal lacking natural fullbacks to add numbers in attack, the Frenchman has been given a little more freedom to wander forward. He showed attacking initiative throughout the game and is a character to watch when he makes his runs.
Chamakh, and Arsenal in possession
Chamakh is not Thierry Henry. He’s certainly not Robin van Persie.
The natural expectation for a big forward on the field is that (a) he’s going to hold the ball up for the other forwards, or (b) that he’s going to bully defenders in the air in and around the six yard box. Chamakh does neither – and bear with me, for I have no intention of slander – but rather seems to fancy himself as someone who works best as the more advanced player of a two-striker system. Robin van Persie is comfortable dropping deep into the heart of midfield to pick up the ball and allow play to stream forward around him, but the Moroccan prefers to keep his markers engaged around the box.
The knock-on effect is that Aaron Ramsey is forced to play higher up the park and that the side then can’t rotate a midfield trio that has developed a fluidity in recent months. Throw in two makeshift fullbacks who are cautious in making forward runs (Coquelin wasn’t, but tweaked his hamstring after dashing sixty yards to overlap Oxlade-Chamberlain) and it encourages the two wide players to get narrower and narrower to help the side keep the ball.
Arsenal had no problems maintaining possession against their reticent guests, but when you get narrow against opposition that are sitting back in their own box, it becomes difficult to create chances without players like Van Persie or Thierry Henry, who are capable of the extraordinary within tight pockets of space.
But Arshavin and Ramsey had exactly the sort of games that compensate for missing your star striker. But for their wasteful shooting, their flair and movement around the box should have wrapped the game up comfortably for the home side. Danny Pugh, in particular, was given the run around by the little Russian but was the only one of Leeds’ back four who didn’t have a good game.
Chamberlain thrives on being offered short lanes of space on either flank – he struggled a little off the ball when asked to cut inside (as opposed to getting to the byline directly), and was justly substituted along with Chamakh after the hour mark. Nico Yennaris had a solid game at right-back to support The Ox, and will likely see more game time in coming weeks as Arsenal’s injury crisis in defence has gone from terrible to nightmare-ish.
Conclusion
From a purely footballing perspective, Arsenal v Leeds was a dull affair. Thierry Henry was expected to come on at some point in time to liven up the Emirates, but surely no one imagined that he would score the only goal of the game (and that too in the way that he did).
It was the fabled ‘magic of the cup’ rearing its wonderful head, and it made everyone who watched the game a witness to one of the most tearfully memorable moments in Arsenal’s history.
Second Opinion by Joss Bennett
After a hectic Christmas period, Arséne Wenger made several changes to a starting line up that saw youngsters Ignasi Miquel and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain got another chance to impress, while Francis Coquelin continued in his role at right-back. Reserve regulars Nico Yennaris and Damien Martínez also made the squad as Wenger continued the long-standing tradition of promoting young players for Cup games.
In terms of rotation amongst first-teamers, Marouane Chamakh was given one last opportunity before the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations and Sebastien Squillaci attempted to redeem himself after his match-losing error against Fulham.
First half: business as usual
It may have been a cup game against lower-league opposition and a chance for different players to impress, but the majority of the Arsenal players still managed to look tired and complacent for much of the first half.
The usually lively Oxlade-Chamberlain, who many – including myself – have been crying out for to get more of a run in the first team, was quiet and ineffective during the first 45 minutes. One thing the exciting winger did do well in the first half was tracking back; helping the inexperienced Nico Yennaris (on as a substitute for the injured Coquelin) to keep the tricky Ramon Nunez at bay.
Going forward, there were two players in particular with a point to prove – Andrei Arshavin and Marouane Chamakh had two vastly different games, however. On the one hand, Chamakh was his usual lethargic self – lacking in confidence and making very few runs behind. Instead, the Moroccan forward played almost the entirety of his time on the pitch with his back to goal – holding up the ball and trying to create space for others.
For any other player, this wouldn’t be a problem. The difference with Chamakh is the complete lack of confidence – not only that he won’t score, but that he won’t get to the ball in the first place.
Arshavin, meanwhile, was lively and determined – constantly looking to get in behind the inexperienced Leeds right-back on the left, or drifting into the space vacated by Chamakh in the central zone. Had one of the Russian’s six shots (joint-most with Aaron Ramsey)4 been more precise, Arsenal may not have needed the return of Thierry Henry to bail them out.
Second half: Arsenal more direct
Again, like many home games this season, the second half saw Arsenal dominate proceedings with The Gunners taking 15 more shots after the break (three on target, compared to none in the first half)4.
Whether it was Wenger’s half-time team talk, the presence of Thierry Henry warming up on the sidelines or the players sensing the crowd’s frustration at a dull first half, Arsenal suddenly kicked into life. Oxlade-Chamberlain in particular was a bundle of energy in the second half – coming close on one occasion after he cut inside and beat two players before dragging a shot wide.
The difference, for more than just his goal, was of course Thierry Henry. The France and Arsenal top scorer gave the whole side and crowd a lift and just as it seemed like the side was running out of belief and energy, Henry once again wrote his name into Arsenal memory-banks.
Almost immediately, Henry gave the Arsenal midfielders something to aim for – both in the box (with Henry contesting four aerial duels, and winning one4) and ‘behind enemy lines’. As Arséne Wenger duly noted, the aptly named “King Henry” forced the Leeds defence deeper and allowed Arsenal to take control of the game once more.
It only needed one pass and Henry was free. Of course it was him in that situation, and not Arshavin as it had been so many times before in the game. I may just as well list all the clichés that spring to mind, since there were actually very few events of tactical importance to make note of.
Conclusion: Henry’s return all that we could have hoped for and more…
… But that doesn’t change the glaringly obvious lack of end product. Against a struggling Leeds side, we really should have won by more than one goal – whoever that goal was scored by. A goal that special can only go so far to mask a frankly disappointing performance that needed a player only at the club for two more months to salvage a win from.
Aston Villa await in the next round, while Manchester United have drawn a rival once again, and Manchester City are already out of the competition. Should Arsenal progress, especially if Chelsea don’t, they will feel increasingly confident that they can once again go all the way and win the FA Cup.
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