I've purposefully stayed away from my blog and other sites to reflect on the game yesterday. The reason being that even die hard Rafa fans, like myself, have their moments of questioning things, especially after such a torrid run.
After some reflection though I believe the tactics employed for the first half were spot on. I expected Rafa to play Masch and Lucas, and they did exactly what was expected of them. Which was to break down Arsenal's attacks and prevent their sublime passing game. Arsenal looked shell shocked in the first half and really struggled to compete against our pure intensity. We played that well that Wenger 'lost it' like never seen before by established players. For 45 minutes we played them off the pitch.
However with two defensive midfielders you're not going to create many chances. One of our problems being that we didn't take the ones created, especially the Gerrard / Torres one (although Torres in fairness is coming back from injury - be honest, a few games under his belt and we all know the result would have been different).
After going one up and already having your best defensive options on the pitch it's natural to expect us to sit it out and play on the counter attack. Something which Gerrard and Torres were doing relatively well in the first half. Although they do not appear to have quite 'clicked into place' like last season yet.
But as if we hadn't had enough bad luck this season, it was an own goal that effectively ended the game for us. With confidence already fragile and luck always seeming to run against us (beach balls, injuries and refereeing decisions anyone?) we looked like a frightened fighter who had just taken a sucker punch. A punch that led us to quickly losing the intensity, which had seen us convincingly terrorise Arsenal for the first forty five. While Arsenal came at us with a renewed vigour, the flea in the ear from Wenger echoing no doubt. As the half went on hope really diminished as the players returning from injury faded.
The good news is that there were times when the team showed some of the promise of last season. Short periods of quick passing football with vision. But balls though were sometimes just not quite getting there or passes were being played for a run when the player wanted it to feet. The hallmarks of a side which has faced tumultuous changes and is just our of sync at the moment (but with an underlying potential).
With a run like this you ask yourself questions. I have said that Rafa is not beyond reproach and he should not be. I stand by my reasons for giving him more time though (injuries, form of key players, bad luck etc.). The reason I haven't changed my mind since yesterday is that tactically I think his decisions were right. Masch and Lucas won that first half battle for us and he tried to bring in additional creativity after the two Arsenal goals went in. We lost to the bad luck of an own goal, a superb strike from Arshavin and a team with key players just getting back from injury. The tactics were right, the team selection was right; but bad luck remains while our confidence continues to be knocked.
However, three games we should and must win coming up. If we lose any of them (without us losing half the squad through injury or illness) well I think even the most die hard Rafa fans will be starting to ask questions.
You'll Never Walk Alone
