Arsenal v. Tottenham 1-1 9/Jan/

I was getting used to winning and getting annoyed by a tie or very upset by a defeat. I was in the mood of a winner; nor like previous seasons, a survivor. Arsenal have played vary great matches so far showing a pure display of quality with such a young side, but in the other hand games such as yesterday's or against Middlesbrough showed the ineffective measures that a unhandled match can sustain. This game was one of them. Arch rivals handed out a very natural style, attending to the strength of their midfield and relying on players such as Berbatov or Jenas. The quality of the Spurs has never been put in question, but is for certain that the mediocre Martin Joll would not take the team to the height thy have reached with Juande Ramos. Spurs played well the entire game, it has to be admitted. The Gunners played in different tempo and intensity, which eventually lead to the tie and the resolve of this match at their ground. It will be an even tougher game at White Heart Lane, and Mr. Ramos has some secrets pending.
Again in ESPN's Latin American edition the innovative and entertaining style was shown. I have to say that due to the lack of narrative options in Mexican football media (after the quit of Jose Ramón Fernández and the late Don Ángel Fernández) me and my brother began looking for options such as Fox Sports which features Argentines Diego Latorre, Gustavo Cima, Javier Tabares et al. ESPN's English commentators such as Derek Rae and Tommmy Smith are quite favorable and good but not as much of The cople of Argentines that has a lot of Mexican sports chronic tradition. They deliver a pure and singular way of narrative in the game, even with strange and funny facts such as the origin of the name of Steed Malbranque or the comments on Bendtner's style or Alex Song' relatives.
Regarding the formal events of the game the overall was a bad game. In many ways the Spurs could have take a chance to win through Berbatov as their best man. Previous seasons his appearances showed improvement to the pint of Real Madrid asking for his price. A extreme hyperbole although he may worth it, how is the actual state of football in which clubs overrate their players and the best example on this is Boca Juniors' latest transfer Ever Banega. The quantity paid for him by Valencia was enormous and even he is not the player that may reach the 5m euro deadline. No wonder why Wenger prospected Berbatov in his time at Leverkusen.
The defense was a mess. In the first half Fabianski showed a great deal of safeness, although confidence went down on the second half particularly in the set pieces in the first fifteen minutes. He has a lot of future but the defense really din not help him. The chaos with this part of the field, came with the election of the tandem Senderos-Djourou. This couple does not resemble in any way the Touré-Gallas combine which complements each other. At the first stages of the match the combined Swiss center back showed a good start, with synchronization. The remaining seventy minutes were a complete disaster. The 'synchro' was completely overrules until Djourou was replaced by Hoyte. Even though the offside trap worked during some plays. But as Spain in the Germany's World Cup played the offside trap against France, it was obvious that with a player like Berbatov or a filtered pass by Jenas this little recurrence will fall ot. Time and time again when the arm was lifted a peculiar analepsis occurred; Tony Adams famous offside trap, a trade mark of Arsenal's defense through out a decade. This trap ended on the goal by Jenas who in previous seasons has become the undertaker of the gunners many times, this time in the 37'. Traore appearance was not like in previous. He was shy, and not many arrivals preceded, all of this because Aaron Lennon's ability to scoop beyond the line. He has been a very difficult asset in the latest encounter, with Gaël Clichy performing a cover all the game. In the other side Justin Hoyte assured his position as the most predictable player in the pitch. He seemed unwilling to participate on that flank and with his switch to the center back he showed nothing but laziness at the time of set pieces and one to one engagements. The change in defense, which was abnormal knowing Mr. Wenger procedures, was not by the bad performance of Swiss Djourou but for a groin injury as wel as van Persie. The Dutchman has simply being out of rhytm. After a long sideline of injuries including knee ligament damage, muscular strains and even a flu, his quality is still untouched but he may focus on fitness ahead the EURO. The same with Gilberto. An antithesis in last season game is crearly depicted by the Brazilian skipper. The midfield was diluted, the same as the big names featuring Mr. Wenger squad. Denilson had great chances in set pieces, all dismissed. Although he played a very neat game showing interest he was unnoticed. Diaby had an average start followed by a very good initiative match; he seemed the only one along Bendtner to have the equalizer. A very positive attitude instead of a provocative.
Regarding the forward Niklas Bendtner showed why the boss is always pending on him. His disposition to sacrifice and the effort made to assist and recover, even if that is returning into midfield, showed is will on remaining a first choice. Walcott is a rare player. Nearly a Mexican archetype. He can shine with a brilliant play or can stay outside the game for great spaces of time. In the late equalizer he was lucky enough to had the rebound in his chest. A good thing, although not a very good idea, was his transition between winger. he did many times this in the first half moving through a 4-4-2 to a 4-3-3. Edoardo, who has been very criticized on this blog, was very accurate in the assistance and has proved that he is capable of delivering the extra boost to the Arsenal attack.
The trademark on this game was the lack of game play typical of Arsenal in the last seasons; touch, possession and brilliance. All of this is encouraged by what I call the 'fantastic four'. This group has been predominant in all of Arsenal's game and responsible for the game flow. Mathieu Flamini, Cesc Fábregas, Tomas Rosicky and Alex Hleb. Certainly would have been a different game if any of these players had been in the pitch.