First up today i'm gonna have to come clean and at the same time ask a favour. Please don't use this as a source for advice when placing a bet on Arsenal. Yesterday I said:
Going on previous encounters with Ronald Koeman's teams I wouldn't expect a high scoring affair...
Well Arsenal certainly showed me and they certainly showed Ronald Koeman and his team. These were the Dutch Champions last season? The Dutch league is certainly not what it once was. But in truth I think Arsenal would have beaten anyone playing as they did last night. The first may have been a bit of a soft, albeit well-placed, shot from Cesc but all it did was calm the nerves and open the game up. The second came from a neat pass from Arshavin to Nasri, who turned the defender before finishing nicely for his first goal of the season. A lovely through ball, again from Arshavin gave Cesc all the time in the world to finish high into the net for the third.
The fourth was a lovely flowing move of the type that Arsenal used to score from quite regularly a few years ago. Nasri won the ball from an AZ throw in deep in our half and it fell to Diaby who flicked it to Ramsey who fed it into Eduardo who then produced a lovely back heel for the scurrying Arshavin who then cut back and played a through ball to Diaby who had run around 70 yards. After one touch to control the ball he finished neatly across the goal keeper.
I had a good moan about Diaby yesterday for his performance on Saturday but last night was much, much better. The pace of the game in Europe seems to suit him so much better but he seemed to keep things simple last night, tried to stay central and the result was a much better overall display. I was thinking about his performances this season while at the game last night and it occurred to me that perhaps his presence in the team alongside Song is liberating Cesc to join the attack whenever he can. Knowing there are two other central midfielders in the side allows Cesc to make runs forward without having to worry too much about holding his position. And going on last night and recent games this is paying off.
I would still like to see Diaby more careful in position and be more content to play a simple pass and hold his position. It doesn't help that his natural instincts seem to be to attack but if he can be Cesc's insurance policy and keep it simple and stay fit then hopefully he can produce more performances like this one. Four goals for Abou this season is a decent return.
Arshavin created three of the goals last night and I know there has been some discussion on whether he looks happy or is 100% right but I simply think he is being asked to do much more work in this formation than he has been used to previously. He found himself in the left back position at one stage, covering for Gibbs. To create three goals in one game is pretty good going, even for an Arsenal player at home, where we seem to be banging them in at the moment. If this is him not looking quite right, I will take it.
The only slight disappointment was the late goal we conceded but it wouldn't be an Arsenal game without a goal conceded. It was a break from a corner, we were 4-0 up at the time and it was a bit of a mis-hit I think which caught Almunia out and while I wouldn't get too worried about it when you have scored four I always like clean sheets and it was a shame we couldn't keep one here. Let's get all the silly late goals out the way now before the kncok-out stage where they may be crucial.
The other big news of the day is that Stan Kroenke has bought a further 200 shares in Arsenal taking him to 29.9%, just below the 30% level at which he would be forced to make an offer for the remaining shares. The question now is will he increase his stake and buy the rest of the club? Or is he done for now?
I have a feeling that Mr Kroenke will be satisfied with his 29.9% stake for now. If he was going to launch a full takeover why hasn't he already? Also part of today's share acquisition came from the current chairman Peter Hill-Wood. Seems like a strange time to sell if a full takeover is about to be launched. Could it be that Mr Chairman is helping Stan get to the maximum shareholding he can achieve without launching a full takeover?
It seems like the board, which now includes Kroenke, want as many of the shares in their control. The reasons for this and what Kroenke actually wants to do with Arsenal is a matter for pure speculation. As always with this type of stuff it should never get in the way of what happens on the pitch and let us hope it never does.
One more game before the international break, away at Wolves on Saturday. I'll talk about that more tomorrow.
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