A Whole Lot Of Nothing

There are 11 days until the next Arsenal game with nothing to distract us apart from boring internationals and the chance to look back over the season so far and, in the coming days, look ahead to the next batch of games we face.

Going back to Sunday again and a point that was made by Lee Dixon on Match Of The Day 2 and here:

"Some of the passing and movement was as good as I have seen from any team in a long time. It was breathtaking stuff at times and a pleasure to watch.

But being ultra critical, a question mark against their defending that reared its ugly head again. They are such a forward-thinking team they even get themselves in trouble from their own shots.

Blackburn's second goal was a perfect example. Both their full-backs went forward at the same time and it led to them falling behind 2-1. Bacary Sagna went to close down the ball on the right-hand side of Blackburn's box, while Gael Clichy was also in a forward position on the other flank.

El-Hadji Diouf cleared and Blackburn suddenly had a 3-versus-2, with Arsenal defenders Thomas Vermaelen and William Gallas the only players between the ball and the goal. Chelsea push both full-backs forward at the same time, but they are able to do this as Michael Essien drops back from midfield to make up the numbers. In this situation he would have made it a 3 v 3. Arsenal's holding midfielder Alex Song is not Michael Essien but he has similar qualities. He has the physique, is strong, quick, gets around the pitch, breaks opponent's attacks down and he can tackle.

I like Song a lot but he is still young and learning that role. He wants to attack but he needs to learn quickly there are times when he has to rein himself in. The Gunners need to be a bit more savvy and stop giving goals away to these teams."

It’s a fair point and I mentioned it yesterday. Most teams will not be so generous in giving up a lead twice and if Arsenal defend like that against some of the bigger teams it will be a disaster.

I do think the only area where Song is lacking is that he is just a little too slow in that position. Watching some of the top defensive midfielders around they seem to have a sixth sense in sniffing out danger and are capable of popping up everywhere on the pitch and at times Song seems a bit sluggish. Perhaps his positioning will improve with experience.

I do rate Song but he’s about a seven or eight out of ten in that position, the way we play we need a ten. But then it comes back to who is out there that is a ten, are they available and can we afford them?

Maybe I’m just feeling nostalgic as I finished Vieira’s autobiography yesterday and I wonder if we will see him back in January, especially as Song is probably off to the African Nations. Not suggesting that Vieira is still a ten in that position but it would give everyone a massive boost. I certainly hope it’s not Chelsea as lazily suggested in some papers today, after Vieira was spotted at Stamford Bridge on Sunday watching their game against Liverpool game.

The players are obviously still getting used to the new formation but there are a few members of the squad who it should suit down to the ground. It seems like we have quite a few players who are not quite wingers and not quite forwards so the 4-3-3 should be perfect for them. One of these is Theo Walcott and he says:

“I think this formation gives you more license to go forward so I should be among the goals a bit more this year.”

Theo, Arshavin, Rosicky are all probably are more suited to this formation than a straight 4-4-2 and it’s probably no coincidence that we have had 15 different scorers this season. Also the centre of midfield looks much more comfortable with three of them in there than just two. If we could just get the defensive side sorted we would be deadly, but then again isn’t that always the case?

It's just been announced that Theo has been called up to the England Under-21s. Makes sense I guess, he's fit and needs match practice. Let's just hope he returns fit.

For a touch more nostalgia, check out these pictures of Thierry Henry's visit on Sunday. 226 goals in 370 games. Legend.