Reports by Rupe, Derek, Paul. Arsenal (0) 0 - 0 (0)Highbury. Saturday January 9th 1999FA Carling Premiership
Arsenal:
Manninger
Dixon Keown Bould (Upson) Grondin
Parlour Petit Vieira Overmars (Garde)
Anelka (Wreh) Boa Morte
Not the most exciting game ever. Despite Arsenal having most
of the attacking play, I always felt more nervous about their chances
of grabbing the winner than excited about ours.
Liverpool defended deep, and weren't nearly as adventurous going forward as one might expect from a team featuring Fowler and Owen. But the route one "hoof it" tactics always have a chance with someone like Owen up front, and this brought them the best chance of the first half. Dixon intercepted a pass inside the Liverpool half, and the ball fell into the path of Parlour who somehow lost it to Berger. His long pass forward found Owen who homed in on goal. Fortunately Bould got over just in time to put him off enough to see the shot hit the side netting. They had a couple of other chances in the first half. A free-kick just outside the box, won by some tricky play by Heggem, was struck straight at the wall which did not buckle. And a powerful first time shot from Harkness forced a great save from Manninger. Despite having more of the game, our actual goal chances were not so good. James came out to meet a chip forward by Petit, and had to head it clear of Anelka as he'd come dangerously close to the edge of his area. The ball came to Boa Morte who had to hit it quickly to take advantage of James's excursion, and put it just wide. Overmars also saw a shot go wide in the same place, but James probably had it covered. After limping for a while after a bad foul, Bould had to go off. Upson did well in his place, linking up particularly well with fellow youngster Grondin on the left. Grondin also impressed. If anything we dominated the second half more than the first. They had maybe one shot in the the whole half, and one half-hearted penalty claim when Owen ran into Upson. At the other end we continued to find it hard to break through Liverpool's massed defences, and most of our chances were blocked before they got near goal. At one stage we had three chances blocked in quick succesion, all from within the box (the second actually hit the back of one of our own players). There were a few crosses that people just failed to make contact with, and a few more that didn't find anyone in the box at all. I watched the whole thing through a haze of flu, so I apologise for any of the above which was merely my own hallucination, and for anything important I may have forgotten! There were a quite a few draws today and Leeds lost, so we've moved up to 3rd and only lost any ground on Chelsea, who move to the top of the table. Man Utd play West Ham tomorrow.
Result : Arsenal (0) 0 Liverpool (0) 0
Scorers:
Arsenal: Manninger, Dixon, Grondin, Bould, Keown; Vieira, Petit,
Parlour, Overmars; Boa Morte, Anelka
Subs: Upson (Bould 32), Garde (Overmars 84), Anelka (Wreh 87),
Mendez, Lukic
Booked: Bould, Keown
Liverpool: James, Carragher, Babb, Staunton, Heggem, Harkness,
Berger, Ince, Redknapp, Fowler, Owen
Subs: Matteo (Staunton 62), Riedle (Owen 88), McAteer,
Friedel, Thompson
Booked: Babb, Ince, Redknapp
Att: 38107
Ref: Graham Barber (Pyrford)
A fairly predictable goalless draw on Saturday. Liverpool came to
Highbury defending an 11 game unbeaten run against Arsenal, and it was
clear that they intended stretching that run by making sure they avoided
defeat. A 5 man defence, and a 2nd half policy of neglecting to attack
ensured that the visitors were successful. After a first half which was
fairly even in terms of goal chances, Arsenal got up a head of steam at
the start of the second, but when relentless pressure failed to provide
the breakthrough the game dwindled away to a rather sterile draw in the
final 15-20 minutes.
Arsenal had Overmars and Anelka passed fit to play, but Bergkamp still out injured so Boa Morte partnered Anelka in attack, and Grondin made his league debut at left back with Winterburn & Vivas out through injury and suspension respectively. The Gunners started off quite brightly, and early on Vieira beat Ince to a loose ball in midfield and stabbed the ball forward for Petit to run on and strike a shot from 30 yards which was well hit but curled a couple of yards wide of James' left hand post. Overmars then went closer with a long range effort. He turned brilliantly on Grondin's pass out on the left near the halfway line, and left Heggem floundering in his wake before cutting in along the edge of the area to hit a low shot which went inches wide of the near post and into the side netting. At the other end Liverpool's main tactic was hitting long balls over the top for Owen to chase, and it almost paid off when Berger's clever pass and a superb first touch allowed Owen to get the wrong side of Keown and streak clear down the left. However, one of the wonderkid's weaknesses is his left foot and with Bould closing him down he chose to try an angled shot with the outside of his right foot and put it harmlessly into the side netting. Heggem also had a couple of good runs down the right, one of which took him past 3 opponents before Bould decided enough was enough and tripped him on the edge of the area. Berger's free kick deflected off the wall for a corner. Arsenal were still dominating possession though, and after a good linkup with Anelka, Parlour had a shot from the edge of the area which was superbly struck but straight at James. The keeper was in more trouble soon afterwards when he dashed off his line to head a Petit's forward chip away from the edge of his box. Parlour quickly knocked the clearance down for Boa Morte, but the latter's lob from 35 yards went a yard or two wide of the unguarded net. Midway through the half Arsenal lost Bould who went off with apparently damaged knee ligaments following a challenge by Redknapp who slid in rather recklessly studs up. Upson replaced him and almost immediately had a chance to give Arsenal the lead. Babb fouled Dixon out on the right hand touchline and Petit swung in the free kick which Owen inadvertently flicked on to present Upson with a header on the 6 yd line, but he too put it straight into the keeper's arms. Towards the end of the half Liverpool nearly took the lead. Owen got away down the right and put over a long cross which reached Harkness as he ran in unmarked at the far post. The wingback hit a superb first time volley from the corner of the 6yd box, but Manninger produced an equally brilliant save, beating the shot away. Arsenal started off the second half in determined fashion and for about 20 minutes completely dominated and produced some good football which looked likely to break through the massed Liverpool rearguard. Early on Petit curled in a free kick from the right which Anelka just failed to get his head to and Boa Morte, following in behind also somehow failed to get a touch as the ball bounced across goal inside the 6 yard box. Another free kick almost produced a goal a few minutes later. Upson nodded the ball down for Anelka who was forced back out of the area, but turned to hit a left foot shot. It was mishit but deflected, a defender scrambled it away, but the ball only reached Upson who fired a shot goalwards from 15 yards which I think actually hit Boa Morte. The rebound then fell to Keown, and his left foot shot was goalbound until Ince desperately threw himself in the way a couple of yards in front of the line. Parlour then did superbly, getting away down the right to put over a lovely cross which picked out Anelka in space at the far post. He seemed to mistime his jump though, and his header from about 15 yards looped harmlessly over the bar. Another good move set up Petit for a shot as he charged into the area, but running in at speed he blazed an ambitious volley well wide. Boa Morte then did well to cleverly play Parlour in to the byline, but his cutback was claimed at full stretch by James. At the other end Liverpool barely ventured over the halfway line. The only moments of danger came from a 30 yard free kick from Redknapp which Manninger saved in overly spectacular fashion, and a few minutes from time from a penalty appeal when Owen ran into Upson as he chased a long ball into the area. The ref rightly waved play on as Upson was merely slowing down as Keown came across to cover and I think didn't even realise Owen was behind him. The initial contact was outside the area anyway. In the end a somewhat disappointing result, though the team didn't play too badly as a whole and tried their hardest to make the breakthrough, apart from the last 15 minutes or so when they seemed to settle for the draw. We probably missed the ability of someone like Bergkamp to break down a massed defence, and with Anelka also looking a bit rusty and Overmars not completely fit lacked the necessary sharp instrument. The only other disappointment was the failure to really test Liverpool's supposed aerial weakness in defence. With none of our forwards being noted for their aerial ability, the main chance was with the centre backs forward at free kicks and corners, but the delivery of these was never consistently good enough to really test Liverpool.
Manninger 7.5 Made a couple of very good saves, and looked somewhat
more confident than at Preston, but then wasn't tested
with crosses in the same way.
Dixon 7.5 A fairly solid game overall, and got forward fairly
well on occasion.
Grondin 6.5 A fairly assured league debut for an 18 yr old, but I
thought he was caught out rather a lot by Heggem in
the first half, with a tendency to drift too far inside
being his main problem. Improved as the game went on,
though Liverpool hardly attacked in the 2nd half.
Keown 7.5 A typically solid and belligerent game, spiced up by a
running battle with Fowler. 5th booking means he misses
the Wolves game.
Upson 7.5 Remarkably confident and competent display.
Bould 7.5 Typically reliable.
Vieira 7.0 Slightly subdued by his standards.
Petit 7.5 Another typically all action and all round display.
Parlour 7.5 Tireless again, and I thought his final ball was better
on the whole too.
Overmars 7.0 Had a couple of dangerous runs, but with his lower
thigh bandaged probably wasn't fully fit.
Anelka 6.0 A couple of sharp turns, but otherwise looked somewhat
rusty.
Boa Morte 7.5 Had a pretty good game overall I thought, though he's
not really the answer as a standin for Bergkamp.
The big question remaining after Saturday is whether we will ever beat the Scousers ? There must be a few of you out there who have never seen us defeat Liverpool - you'll just have to believe me when I say that it has happened before and I'm sure it will happen again ! Maybe next season ? After a season characterised by injuries, suspensions and vicious gossip in the papers, the players who have managed to play regularly deserve credit for keeping us at the top end of the table. None more so than Bouldy and 'van' Keown who really typify the Arsenal spirit. To keep within a few points is a major achievement considering that the other title contenders have been playing - according to the pundits anyway - at the top of their respective games recently. Saturday's match summed up our season quite nicely - total domination for a major part of the match with few clear chances created and no goals scored, several players out injured with another player going off with a serious injury during the game (Bould). But there was something to cheer about on Saturday - the emergence of the new breed at THOF. Look at the team - Alex in goal, David Grodin at fullback and Upson at Centre Half. Patrick in the middle of the park making Ince look third rate and Super Nic up front with Boa Morte on the wing. Without looking at the player profiles I think all these players are under 23 years old, which is surely good news for the future. I want to concentrate on the new 'Defenders' of the (Arsenal) faith - Alex Manninger, David Grodin and Matthew Upson. Seaman's deputy has come in for a bit of stick over the past few weeks. We've all heard commentators stating that Seaman has nothing to worry about, saying that Alex's form is not as good as when he was forced to deputise last season - blah, blah, blah... What a load of c**p ! We all saw the treatment that Alex was subjected to last week at Preston, where it would appear that the old fashioned approach to barging the goalie is still allowed ! I would agree that at times he has not looked as surefooted as last season but I think it's all part of the learning process and he will be the #1 Arsenal keeper for a long time to come. Long live Alex ! Saturday's match was the first time many of you would have seen David Grodin at left back. After a nervous start, when he was given the run around by Heggem, David settled down and did extremely well against a top class front line. Wenger has been very canny in keeping him under wraps, getting him used to the Arsenal way. For an 18 year old, he looked amazingly composed in such a high pressure match. I expect David to be Nutty's successor, when the old iron lung eventually runs out of steam ! I did notice that David doesn't appear to use his right foot too much, so there is hope that he is the ideal replacement for Nigel in the coming years ! Matthew Upson came to Arsenal from Luton for £2m over two years ago. At the time this was a hell of a lot of money for an eighteen year old, and he hasn't really had the chance to show what he can do on a regular basis. When he came on for Uncle B I really thought that Owen would tear him apart with pace. How wrong I was. Matthew seems to have benefited from his (long) apprenticeship in the reserves. He appears to have all the attributes to be the complete modern centre-back and now looks ready to take his place in the first eleven. When all we hear is Rio Ferdinand this, Rio that..., isn't it good to know that we have a player at least as good as Rio. The one-two with Petit after his interception, followed by the dummy leaving Berger on his backside, and completed by his pass to Overmars was delightful. This lad has real potential, I just hope that he has the opportunity to show it in the coming months. With St Patrick in the middle and Nicolas up front, we have the ingredients in place for the future 'backbone' of our side. Add Stephen Hughes, Freddie Ljundberg and the 'ancient' Marc Overmars (at 27/28 !) , stir gently for five minutes and you have a half decent football team. Compare the current situation at Arsenal with that at Sperz and Chelsea Village. Do Spurs have any young players coming through apart from that young defender and the keeper ? Do Chelsea have anyone under 27/28 - years not £k per week ? It's not looking too good for them is it ? Many football clubs are currently skating on very thin ice. It's all well and good to spend £50m on players (transfers or wages) but you had better win something otherwise your investment looks a bit poor. I think we still need an extra quality striker, and this could cost us big money, but it is far more important to get good raw talent and develop it through the club - ensuring that the player is on a long contract - than to rush out Gullit or Vialli style and buy it, ready made and about as loyal as our mate Teddy Sheringham. The Arsenal board are doing a fine job in the Youth development area, and in Liam Brady they have the right man running it. It is up to the fans to be a little patient for the rewards of the scheme to show - or we could just blow £20m on Carlos Kickaball, to quote a dodgy computer salesman, and win bugger all. Until next time, following a couple of good away wins I hope ! Other reports
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