Six Blade Knife

---

It’s important not to get overexcited about what happened yesterday, but it’s still important to enjoy it because it was sheer bliss. No matter how this season turns out, we still play the best football in the country bar none.

Of course, it could easily have been one of those understated 1-0 wins or even goalless draws we became accustomed to last season, had it not been for the breathtakingly inept performance of Messieurs Lescott & Yobo. They spent the whole 90 minutes wobbling nervously on a figurative high wire between two outcomes: a) backing up, holding a solid line and inviting our forwards onto them, and b) backing into Tim Howard, holding a blazing row and inviting our forwards into a vacant six-yard box. The latter very nearly came to fruition at one point, when Howard’s remarkable grip on the ball prevented a wild-eyed Cesc from turning a 6-1 home defeat into something really embarrassing.

That isn’t to say that our players didn’t excel. Van Persie was exceptional, providing an uncanny impression of a Dennis Bergkamp performance, and Cesc would still have been superb without the goals, such was his authority over the middle third. Bendtner, Denilson and Song all impressed, and the two centre backs had a great game.

Gallas has been consistently solid since he lost the captaincy, and I still admire his resilience for handling the punishment so well. The Gallas who broke down in tears and sat petulantly on the Birmingham turf as our title challenge collapsed in February 2007 was expected to seek out a transfer this summer, but he chose against taking the easy way out and has got the fans back on his side. While the Birmingham incident, coupled with the way he pursued his move from Chelsea, betrays an attitude that persistently shames modern football, you can’t say he’s not committed to the cause.

Vermaelen enjoyed about as impressive a debut as a centre back can have. That we were aerially dominant against the likes of Tim Cahill was unexpected, but that our 5’11 new boy is largely to thank was pretty surprising. He showed great strength throughout, demonstrated the kind of influence in defence that only Gallas has shown in the last few years, and showed hints of well-channelled aggression. He has a terrifying look about him that only Nemanja Vidic can rival.

Speaking of which, it is still fairly difficult to judge our progress over the summer with regards to set pieces. We scored two from headers at free kicks (one by Vermaelen) but Everton’s marking was literally nonexistent. At the other end, Verma didn’t handle Fellaini particularly well at a corner – with the score at 1-0, Fellaini’s header would have equalised had it not been for Denilson’s block – but marking a 14 foot tall Screech was always going to be a baptism of fire. Aside from the heading, van Persie and Fabregas played pin-point deliveries in both cases.

Arshavin was quietly industrious, but contributed to a couple of the goals with neat passing. He completed an effective triangle with Bendtner and van Persie which I’m hoping to see more of this season – the three of them looked very comfortable playing together. Bendtner really is one of the most underrated players in the league; his runs are clever, his understanding of the game is excellent and his targetman build, while an integral part of a diverse attack, is deceptive. Song and Denilson, interestingly, were both effective in midfield, shutting down Everton plays and giving Cesc license to roam. Wenger must notice, however, that Cesc still wants to drop deep even with two defensive midfielders alongside him – this is how he plays at his best, and pushing him into the hole behind the forwards prevents him from providing service to them.

Conceding in the dying minutes took some of the gloss off the win, but the way in which we let Saha score was more than an irritation. Clichy was on mixed form last season and made some costly mistakes (thinking he was Ronaldo 30 yards out from his own goal with only Almunia behind him, and with Jenas and Lennon closing him down, was one I won’t forget in a hurry) and had Everton’s goal been of more importance he might have suffered for his contribution. Although he defended superbly throughout the game, and typically provided consistent support to the attack, he was largely to blame for gifting Louis Saha with a square mile and an open goal. With a shot heading straight for Almunia, and Vermaelen coming to his aid, Clichy abandoned Saha and sprinted straight for the closing gap between them. What in God’s name he was trying to do I will never know, but Saha didn’t stop to ask. Although the opportunity was a tad fortunate, I can’t deny that his finish was very good.

I’ll end this post on a needlessly bitter note – yes Ade, you’ve got the better of me, it’s funny what a few extra million can do for motivation. I didn’t see Adebaywhore play once for Arsenal like he did yesterday, not even at his peak in 2007/08. He begged for our sympathy a few weeks ago by asking us if we could turn down 30 pounds when all we have is 10 pounds; evidently now that he’s finally on a liveable wage he’s ready to commit himself on the pitch. He was energetic, would turn on the ball rather than just hold it up for someone more dedicated, and even played some clever passes. Today showed why a replacement for Ade would be utterly pointless, but proved what we always suspected: that playing football with his best friends, on a massive contract at a top club, isn’t good enough for him; but triple that contract, stick him in mid-table, and he’ll play his heart out for fear of going back to such squalid surroundings.

---