|
|
TOWN FULL OF CHIMNEYS 16-9-05
Just three weeks ago I told a tale of how I, a humble 17-year-old student from the heavily industrialised Teesside town of Middlesbrough had undertaken one of worst weeks of my life. If that was one of the worst then this week comfortably qualifies as one of the best.
Again I'll make this brief. On Wednesday I passed my driving test. Thursday I went back to college to remove the sheer monotony of life during the six week's holiday. Friday saw me out driving by myself for the first time ever. And to look beyond the weekend, England won the Ashes.
And so Saturday came.
The fact was that before kick off, we had a truly awful record at home to Arsenal. And as with the game away at Spurs three weeks ago, the chance to extend my week of glory was out of my hands.
It was in the concourse before the game that it actually occurred to me that we had a genuine chance of getting something out of this game. An Arsenal team without Vieria, Campbell, Ljunberg and Henry suddenly becomes beatable.
And so it proved. But anyone who puts this result down to luck is clearly misguided, and more than likely a journalist from the BBC.
The fact is, they were outplayed on the day, and the better team won.
The system worked a treat - but more on that later.
Massimo Maccarone has been like a new signing for us since he came back and was the best player out there on Saturday.
Determination, belief and a clinical finish were rewarded with the kind of standing ovation never before heard for a player dubbed an '£8.15million misfit'. Ashley Cole is the world's best left back and Massimo gave him a very good run for his money.
The new signings were superb.
Yakubu's best position is at the head of a 4-5-1 formation as a lone striker. On Saturday we saw this first hand.
Kolo Toure is hardly a lightweight, but Yakubu out muscled him more than once. Away from home, particularly in Europe, he will be a huge asset.
Able Xavier had a very good debut. He was left exposed against Reyes once or twice, but that was a risk you have to take if you want to score goals against Arsenal. He coped admirably, despite his haircut.
Fabio Rochemback, what a performance. Not many will knock him off the ball and his range of passing looks excellent. His first touch was always immaculate on Saturday. At 23, he can only improve.
Maybe it's a blessing in disguise he can't play in Europe as we need might need his freshness later in the season.
Manu Pogatezt did well when he came on to shore things up in front of Franck. Although I didn't hear it myself, he was apparently booed by a section of the fans when he came on for comments he now denies making about the town. His arrival onto the pitch sparked a chorus of "Town full of chimneys, we're just a town full of chimneys". Oh, the irony.
Having only seen him the few times he has come off the bench, he looks a fiery player. Passion is very important to the fans and something we all like to see, especially at Boro, but its important that players keep their heads on the pitch.
He did on Saturday, but I just hope when we go away from home that he doesn't become a target for the opposition players and supporters as someone who can easily be wound up. He did, after all, break a player's leg in several places.
Adam Johnson looks like he isn't quite ready for the first team yet. He had a good debut, but looked a little overawed at times and was quiet for long periods. Definitely one for the future. His time will come.
The main factor in us beating the Arsenal was the tactics. They were spot on. Talk about learning from your mistakes, McClaren clearly learned from the Charlton game and has instantly found success.
Allow me to talk tactics.
Charlton came for a point with a 4-5-1 system, looking to nick a goal on the break. Our problem was that when Charlton got men behind the ball, we found it impossible to break them down. This was the challenge thrown down to Wenger and his team- break us down.
The reason we couldn't break down Charlton was that the gap between Viduka and Yakubu was too big, neither Boateng nor Parlour are gifted in the final third and neither ever really got over half way. Both wanted to sit in front of the back four.
On Saturday, Yakubu was left up front on his own which is how he prefers it, with Rochemback taking Viduka's place and playing in front of Boateng and Parlour. This filled the gap between midfield and striker and provided the rest of the midfield with an easy ball.
Johnson and Maccarone came in for the injured duo Downing and Morrison respectively. While it looked like they were at times not tracking back, they were in fact keeping the Gunners full backs Cole and Lauren from pushing forwards, as they like to do.
This left Arsenal with no real width as they faced with the prospect of breaking down a tough tackling three man midfield, a feat they struggled to accomplish after the opening ten minutes.
Yakubu provided the perfect outlet with his pace and strength, while Maccarone and Johnson were very good in their support of him. Rochemback drifted everywhere to offer an easy option.
And it seems like Mac got it right again last night, a 2-0 win to take to Greece in two weeks doing us nicely. More on that next week.
So next it's away at Wigan and 2-0 or 3-0 will do nicely. I think we will, now the ball is rolling.
Wigan, a game I'm going to, leaves Mac with a selection headache. Does he keep the 4-5-1 with Yakubu the lone striker? If so, how does Viduka fit into the team?
In my opinion, if it's not broken, don't fix it. But it's times like these I'm glad it's not me who picks the team...
Same time next week...
UP THE BORO!
BACK TO ROCKLIFFE FILES INDEX
|
|
|
|
