Do not let the highlights fool you – this was no easy game.
Arsenal’s bright start led to Santi Cazorla having a left-foot shot saved by Ruddy. This would set the tone for Ruddy’s day. Despite conceding four goals, the Norwich keeper can throw his hat into the ring for man-of-the-match. He pulled off some excellent saves but when the Arsenal found their way through with some pinball wizardry, he had ruddy no chance.
The goal was sublime. Santi carried the ball in from the left (as he does) and then it happened. Santi – Wilshere – Giroud – Wilshere – Giroud – Wilshere – stroke it home – the world applauds. If you’ve seen it fewer that thirty times, you’re neglecting you position as an Arsenal fan.
Having fallen victim to such a pillaging, a lesser side would have rolled over, but Norwich didn’t want to play that role. A spirited fight-back saw the underdogs apply their own pressure and forced a save or two from the in-form Szczesny. Arsenal withstood and it was 1-0 to the Arsenal at the break.
Chris Hughton’s men came out in the second half in fighting form. They were “going for it”. The problem with “going for it” against a team with such a proclivity for counter-attacking is that if you don’t score, you’re screwed. And screwed they were. When Santi strode into the opponent’s half, it was only Olivier Giroud in front of him. Giroud pulled wide and it looked like the move may have been in trouble. Meanwhile, from the left came the run of a young man who wasn’t going to be left out of another fine Arsenal move. Cazorla rolled it wide, Giroud played a delectable chip straight on to Mesut’s head and the German nodded home to make the game secure. Or so we thought.
Norwich got the goal they no longer deserved. Arsenal had seen off the uprising but, because things are never as easy as they could/should be, Norwich got one back. A shocking attempted clearance from Per spun off his foot and across the Arsenal box. Jonathan Howson took a touch which would have allowed Kieron Gibbs to close down any shot attempts had the mood taken him. Instead, Gibbs tried to cover the angles, leaving only the front post at which to aim. Howson let fly with an excellent strike and the Canaries were back in the game.
Ramsey, who had replaced a dizzy Flamini in the first half, was playing well. He’d had a couple of efforts on goal and looked like he desperately wanted to get on the scoresheet. From the edge of the box, he faked a shot, leaving two Norwich defenders on their arses. Having enjoyed that so much, he did it again on his left side. Another planted posterior. At this point, another dummy would have been cruel. Ramsey spared the blushed of Norwich and finished coolly past Ruddy. If Ramsey wanted to, he could have put their whole team on their arses but our Aaron is decent and merciful young man. 3-1.
From the left side of the box, Tomas Rosicky chipped a ball to the merciful one. Ramsey knew exactly where Ozil was and he knew what the outcome was going to be if he could just touch it to him first time. Ozil had the whole goals to aim for and, just to rub salt in Delia’s wound, he placed the ball through the legs of the defender on the line. 4-1.
Sagna said afterwards that this was not a 4-1 type of game. Norwich showed a lot of belief and ability to cast doubts over our sensational run continuing. Class prevailed and the three points went to the magnificent Gunners.
I’ve really just covered the goals, the real talking points are where you come to the fore. Please feel free to comment and tell me what I should have written. That is what makes this site the finest forum out there.
Thanks for reading,
Up the Arsenal.
Positively Arsenal 
mmmmmm xmas tree
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and i also would like to laugh with all the comedians we have in blogs who think giroud upped his game because we were linked with strikers this summer…. ahahaha… its always something else isnt it? its never the quality of the player the allowance said player needs to acclimitise to the epl or the training from wenger…its always something else….
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“Frank Sidebottom RIP.
The best thing to come out of manchester in decades.”
The Timperley Troubadour DC ? What a man, what a talent, what a huge papier mache head – and about to enjoy a significant revival with his starring part in Irving Welsh’s Filth ( If you ain’t seen it boys and girls get to it)
Strictly speaking however and speaking as a pedant DC Frank was not Ivor Biggun, – Ivor is a chap called Doc Cox, well known to our older posters and That’s Life fans like me (ahem)
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klopp is a likeable manager. and i really want him to progress in the group and maybe draw madrid in the next round and knock them out again. he has said a lot of good things about us and our manager which i also like. he’s had his impression on his team style of play and the way he likes to recruit relatively unknown young players. all i can wish him is good luck… after tomorrow.
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Desi Gunner [http://desigunner.wordpress.com/] always does a good post-game analysis, taking his time so as to be objective. He touches on several points debated here. One thing that strikes me most is his observation about the reliance on rhythm in Wenger’s current set up in trying to explain the dip in our performance after Flamini’s injury. This team is like a tightly knit jazz band and it is no surprise Wenger doesn’t tinker much. It won’t surprise me any that vs Dortmund, if Flamini cannot play, it will be the same 13 players used on Saturday.
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After a game and a goal or 4 like Norwich, the one person I would really, really like to hear 2 words from is dear Frank, something like, oh I dunno, “country mile” maybe.
Wherefore art thou Frank?
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Yes, Shotta, it will exactly the same as before Santi’s departure, no doubt on that. Arteta OR Flamini and Aaron. Mesut, Santi with Jack to the left. Giroo top. 4-2-3-1, sort of, in the theory of the thing, although lord knows these Arsenal players, except Mikel/Flamster, can be found these days anywhere, it’s anarchy I tell you. Giroud up the right wing to cross for Mesut. Aaron at the far goalpost steering one back to a striker. Mesut helping out Gibbs on the left, or Sagna on the right, or somewhere centre. Santi covering a big triangle, ranging left and right. Jack working one in from the wrong side, right-side? Uh? Sky pundits make little digital drawings to show “where players are” only for Arsenal players to ignore it. What will become of football as we know it?
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Great review and comments. Only thing missing was a mention of the dummy on Gibbs by the less then merciful Ramsey as he celebrated his goal. mean lean picked up on that little gem in his review.
Haven’t read the post Shotta refers to above yet but when the Flamster came off it did disrupt momentum. I thought Wilshere wasn’t happiest moving to the left side just before halftime? Then you also had two players out there on their way back to full fitness, Arteta nearly there and he ended the game well as far as I could see. A good reference is when Cesc F-word and Van Eeeedjiotman* returned after their delayed pre-seasons following the 2010 WC. The team was playing well at that moment but a little bit of the fluency was lost for a few games as those two were reintroduced.
Shotta thanks for your kind words the other day, I should add that I know very little. I do know that Flamini could be out for two to three weeks, but like most players he’ll probably rush himself back quicker then that. So Arteta it is for Dortmund, and I think the Norwich game was just what he needed to get up to speed. Only the best DM in the league last season! If he wasnt the best he wasn’t far off.
Oh. Crumbs. AFC are D**Med. D**Med!
–
I know there are many fans of the Fast Show on this forum. RIP Felix Dexter.
Legend.
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I think Flamini will get first choice over Mikel, oh the horror, in certain CL tricky ties. I’ll never forget his contribution in Italy, back in the day. Was it Inter? Every channel they chose to pass and pour into, bloody Flamini would appear and say non, non, non mes amis! Pas aujourdhui, peut etre a demain, or something French.
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Can we agree no “end of era” jokes.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha …..
… oh, it’s kind of funny, all the sour sanctimonious seriousness, the inevitability replete with funereal arrangements and obituaries all but written, the speculation on who will take over and rejuvenate (ha ha ha ha ha …) our beloved club.
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This was the Felix Dexter link/sketch I was looking for above:
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The problem with trophy-based desultory fan-hood is always and forever that it denies the supporter the thrill of all the epic moments along the journey that keep Arsenal football life alive and interesting. Your joy must always be kept in check, lest we don’t win a trophy and all reverts to hair pulling tomorrow. Yes, we know we’re only ever as good as our next match, but don’t neglect to enjoy the last one if you don’t mind!
These comments are directed to no one here, you understand, just sounding off.
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You’re wicked Fins!!
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Great Felix Dexter Fins
I see our French lads have a stiff couple of games in their knock out qualifier for the Wold Cup against Ukraine on the 15th and 19th of November. Fortunately the second leg is in Paris which will make the post tie recovery a little easier. I suspect Southampton will be quite pleased who face us on the Saturday.
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Arsene says Flamini will be fit for the weekend.
I think the biggest aspect of playing Arteta and Flamini together is that it allows our full backs to get further forward and maintain our width, which in turn frees the wide midfielders from doing so and facilitates all the fluid movement and interchanges we have seen decimate Napoli and now Norwich.
Having just perused a few ‘Average Player Position’ maps from recent games seems to back it up. When Flamini was paired with Arteta (Napoli, West Brom), Sagna/Jenkinson’s positioning in particular was much more advanced and both wide players were very central. When Ramsey was one of the CMs (Stoke, Swansea, Sunderland) then Sagna/Jenks was 10-20 yards deeper over the course of the match and only one of the wide midfielders took up a central position, the other staying much wider and a little deeper.
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Anicoll
I stand (sitting actually) corrected.
Ivor Biggun it is.
My untrained ears can’t quite differentiate all those northern nasal twangs so well.
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This team is playing a kind of football that’s beyond hysterical fist pumping and tribal screams. It brings forward the kind of laughter that only Bergkamp goals can do, you know, when you can’t quite believe what you are seeing. But of course that’s only the top of it. This team is so much more.
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So Norwich played well and the goal difference doesn’t quite reflect the game. Yet ruddy had a great game and we could have scored more. Deduction must be we have become very lethal in the final third.
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And vertonghen can fuck off
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When we play Flamteta and Artini, it basically means no opposition team can get into Arsenal’s half of the pitch, even on counterattacks – where we have had our fair share of sucker punches in recent seasons.
As some of you have correctly noted, the wing backs can pump forward and feed the attacking mids and Giroud.
It’s simple but deadly.
We have other combinations and team formations that work too – but this is a good one for the first 45 to 60 mins of a tight game.
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