Tempo

Another odd week for Gooners. First the 4-4 with Spurs, which I watched with two Arsenal-supporting friends in a pub filled with Halloween-becostumed students, only to experience our own nightmare (paralysed with horror, knowing Spurs were going to equalise); then the defeat at Stoke, all-too-inevitable against Pulis's giants; and then the Fener 0-0 which I didn't bother to try to see, or even catch highlights.
Arthur said that I should revise my 'Endgame' post and validate the doom-scenario instead of looking on the brighter side, and this week, I would have thought he was right. Yesterday's result doesn't change that, of course. I have thought since the start of the season that we would play well in games against Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool this season. These games are not the problem. It's Stoke, Fulham, Hull and Sunderland that are the problem. Why?
1. the inconsistency of a young and physically quite small side that doesn't have strong leadership in the team, and who over-rely on Cesc as their engine and talisman, who is not on great form;
2. as Hull boss Phil Brown has just said on Radio 5 Live, the fact that we still don't take enough of our chances;
3. tempo. I think this one is the most important. The Arsenal miss Flamini not because he was an effective 'destroyer' or because he sat in front of the back 4; he didn't. He was in some ways a classic box-to-box player. No, they miss Flamini because of the tempo, the energy of his game. When Arsenal set a high tempo for the game, as they did against United, they have such movement and technical ability that they can out-manoeuvre and pass around defences. Physicality is therefore not so much of a problem. However, when they start slowly (as Brown thought they did against Hull), it becomes much more easy for opposing sides to sit back, close down space, cut off the angles, dominate through physicality and set-pieces, take advantage of lapses in concentration. Yesterday United came to play an open, high-tempo game and they were beaten.
This is why Alex Song is a very bad fit for Arsenal. He's a languid player, much more suited to Italian football (La Liga would be too high-tempo for him too) or international football. Denilson must keep his work-rate up, as he did yesterday, to avoid the same problem.
Arsenal cannot rely on technique. They must play with energy and aggression. I like a mobile 4-5-1 for the current squad, with Cesc-Denilson-Diaby in midfield, flanked by Walcott and Nasri. This has pace, technical ability, movement, and shooting prowess. Adebayor is a far from complete player, but I would play him, when fit, as a lone striker, as he can run the channels, but if a better option became available (Torres at Liverpool, for instance, shows that a player can be effective in this role without having to be a massive physical presence) I would pounce. The problem for Arsenal's current strikers is this: Eduardo (when fit) and Vela are excellent finishers, but are physically small and need to play off a bigger partner; Bendtner is big but is more of a Crouch-type player rather than a target-man; RvP is too flaky and individualistic. The Internet suggests that the Arsenal have signed a 20-year old Brzilian striker called 'Lenny' from Palmeiras on a pre-contract agreement; he will no doubt go to Salamanca, and at 5 foot 8, he's not large either. We don't have an effective alternative to Adebayor in the squad for the lone striker role.
So, my friends, expect more of the same. The yoof squad will probably beat Wigan on Tuesday and go into the Carling QFs; but there will be unexpected and mighty wins, and terribly deflating draws and defeats, before season's end.