Typical game vs Stoke today: tough, physical, not a lot of chances, one goal made the difference. I am very pleased with the result. This is the type of games we need to win and i am glad we got it done! And considering that Stoke came here to fight for a point, not to try to win the game, it's even more satisfying we squeezed this one out.
It was obvious from the beginning that we are not attacking as fluently as we had the last few games. A big reason for that was that Stoke had 10 people back at their own half for most of the game. They tried to make it hard for us and for big parts of the game they succeeded. At times we passed the ball a bit too long and resorted to crosses instead of trying to be a bit more decisive and have more through balls and shots from distance. Regardless, we created 3 very good chances in the first half and Begovic did brilliant to save all three. First in the 31st minute Oxlade got the ball 3 feet from the goal line after a corner kick, and kicked it right at Begovic. A foot in either direction and that would have been a goal. Three minutes later Theo crossed the ball right onto Giroud's head who for some unknown reason didn't shoot on goal but played the ball across the penalty area, luckily we crossed it again and this time Koscielny forced Begovic into a second great save. 40th minute, Wilshere gave a great through ball to Oxlade who was again denied by the Stoke keeper. If it wasn't for the Bosnian, we could have been at least 2 goals up by half time.
It was obvious from the beginning that we are not attacking as fluently as we had the last few games. A big reason for that was that Stoke had 10 people back at their own half for most of the game. They tried to make it hard for us and for big parts of the game they succeeded. At times we passed the ball a bit too long and resorted to crosses instead of trying to be a bit more decisive and have more through balls and shots from distance. Regardless, we created 3 very good chances in the first half and Begovic did brilliant to save all three. First in the 31st minute Oxlade got the ball 3 feet from the goal line after a corner kick, and kicked it right at Begovic. A foot in either direction and that would have been a goal. Three minutes later Theo crossed the ball right onto Giroud's head who for some unknown reason didn't shoot on goal but played the ball across the penalty area, luckily we crossed it again and this time Koscielny forced Begovic into a second great save. 40th minute, Wilshere gave a great through ball to Oxlade who was again denied by the Stoke keeper. If it wasn't for the Bosnian, we could have been at least 2 goals up by half time.
The second half we struggled to create the same chances. The introduction of Podolski and Cazorla definitely woke us up a bit. Even though we got lucky with the free kick deflection, we deserved a goal this game. Stoke hadn't done almost anything offensively, they had one shot on goal for the whole game. I was also pleasantly surprised that Wenger made some changes, starting with Diaby, Arteta and Oxlade. This way he gave a break to Cazorla and Podolski and some very needed minutes for Oxlade. Diaby's size was also a good choice against a physical Stoke team.
Defensively we had a good day, but in all honesty we were rarely under pressure. Szczesny had almost nothing to do all game long so it's hard to judge his performance. Sagna was solid and very active going forward. It was the perfect game for Mertesacker: Crouch as a main striker, who is slow like him and a team that doesn't really have fast guys who try to attack. So, Per did very well today and was rarely under duress. Unfortunately for the German, most teams in the Premier League will be way more aggressive than Stoke were. Koscielny was very, very good. He was all over the pitch and was very decisive in his tackling. That was great to see after his blunders against City. And now to the new guy: Nacho Monreal. First, thank god Wenger showed some common sense and bought a left back. He keeps saying that Santos is an option and is not a bad player but we all know he is fucking horrible as a left back. I really liked what i saw from Monreal today. He looked very comfortable the whole game. Showed good speed and control with the ball in his feet. One of the things that impressed me the most was his positioning. Even though he was going forward, he was very good at recovering and covering his side defensively. One game is not enough to make conclusions, but i am very happy with what i saw today.
As i mentioned earlier, i don't think we were as good going forward as the last few games, but with so many players back, Stoke made it tough for us. I thought Oxlade had a very good game, he was very active, gave some good crosses, and had some great chances to score but today wasn't his day. Arteta did well in his first game back after his injury. He didn't seem rusty at all, which was good to see. Diaby was good as well. Nothing flashy or breath taking from him, but he was controlling the middle of the pitch. Maybe he could have been a bit more effective going forward, but i am just glad he is playing games for us. I though Wilshere wasn't as good as the last few games, but he still created some great chances for Oxlade and Giroud. He always gives you a 100% , so even when he is not playing brilliantly, he is still very good!
Theo was very active on the wing, some of his crosses weren't great but he did put the ball right on Giroud and Koscielny's heads on a couple of occasions, they just didn't take advantage of it. Wilkinson was being very physical with him the whole game, so i am glad he finished it without injuries. Giroud was relatively quiet today, compared to the last few games that he had. He didn't have too many chances, and the few that he had, he should have done better. Anyway, this was a great win for us. Let's hope we can build on this and take care of Sunderland a week from now.
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