As expected even with no midfield presence Arsenal still had enough in the tank to get past a battling Twente side.

Twente had a plan and the stuck to it, coach McClaren knowing Arsenal had a weakened midfield wanted his players to pressure Arsenal into mistakes and keeping control of the game tempo.

His players followed the plan and, were it not for a some poor finishing the would have a 2 goal lead by the hour mark. It was Arsenal through the Gallas who eventually opened the scoring.

A free kick by Van Persie went past everyone and should have been cleared by the goalkeeper who instead chose to stay on his line. His defence went missing and allowed Gallas to bungle the ball home fron 2 yards out.

The first goal was scrappy, the second was what is expected from the Gunners. Theo Walcott made a well time run, his pace unhinged the twente defence, to latch on to a through ball from Denilson. Walcott cooly laid the ball of to Adebayor who predictably slotted the ball to the goalkeeper’s left side for the goal.

Overall it was a pleasing result for Arsenal, they were outplayed in the first half but had a much better second 45. Our defeciencies in midfield was conspicuos, Wenger must now have no choice but to by a defensive minded midfielder.

Almunia didn’t have much to do, but when needed he did the job well.

Gallas and Djourou was good, the offside trap was beaten on occasion and we fell into the old habit of querying the decision instead of hustling to save a goal.

Sagna and Clichy was below par, possible the worst display I’ve seen from either fullback.

Walcott was poor in the first half but was much improved in the second

Eboue was non existent, I am more convinced that Eboue has something on the boss.

Denilson was good I am not worried about him, but he is a replacement for Cesc, not a partner.

Ramsey performed admirably, a few mistakes that hopefully will be eliminated in time.

Van Persie and Adebayor was average, we didn’t have enough of the ball to get anything out of the strikers. Ade was caught offsides on a number of occasions, when is he going to learn?

The subs were to late in the game to make any impact, although Bendtner almost scored with his first touch.

Taking home a 2 goal advantage at this stage makes the tie much easier, it could have been much worse just ask the scousers.

There were positives to take from the game.

The lack of bite in the middle is pressed home to Wenger, hopefully it will force him to make a move sooner rather than later.

Djourou got an opportunity to make a case for himself.

Ramsey got some experience in a game that mattered.

Denilson showed that he is a capable understudy to Cesc.

The team got another workout before the season starts in earnest.

While we may be short in some areas, the team that played last night has the quality to win against half the premier league, and thats reason to be positive.

Tags: Arsenal, Arsenal FC, clichy, Match reviews, sagna, Theo Walcott, van persie, wenger

This entry was posted on Friday, August 15th, 2008 at 17:41 and is filed under Match reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.