Let’s get one thing clear, despite everything that happened during yesterday’s derby loss at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur, there should be very little praise for Arsenal’s attack.
The genius Jose Mourinho knew exactly what he was doing in packing the middle of the pitch and allowing the Gunners to cross the ball. It was a tactic that the Reds fell for especially Willian, who played a staggering 16 crosses into the box with just two of them proving accurate.
That’s not the worse part. To make matters worse the Brazilian was then praised by some on Twitter. I mean, how can you after watching 90 minutes of the Brazil international swinging in meaningless cross and meaningless cross, then take to social media and praise the player.
Who was to blame for the loss to Tottenham?
Mikel Arteta
The Players
The former Chelsea man fell into the trap that was laid out for him. Mourinho packed the middle purposely in order to allow the Gunners time and space to swing crosses in, why? Because the defence and midfield for the north London side knew they’d win all the balls.
What has left me even more surprised is just how easily Mikel Arteta fell into the trap laid out by the Spurs manager. It’s fair enough if you lose a goal on the counter in a tight game, however, it was a move that the Lilywhites had previously used in the Premier League when they eased past Manchester City.
For a man who has roundly praised as being the next big thing in the world of management, he proved to be incredibly naive. So did the 32-year-old summer signing Willian, who was allowed time and space to pump aimless cross after aimless cross and fell into the trap. If Arsenal are to succeed in achieving their goal, they aren’t going to attain it by following the examples the two aforementioned men have set.
In other news, Peter Crouch lavished one player for his display after last week’s Europa League tie.
