Reading 2 - 5 Arsenal: *insert Santi Cazorla name pun here*

For most Arsenal fans, the wait for this game would have been far too long. Not because they were looking forward to the prospect of playing the bottom side in the league, but because Arsenal weren't playing well and they just wanted to get the game out of the way.

The big news in regards to the team news was that Theo Walcott finally got a chance to play centrally. He would be flanked by Lukas Podolski and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, while the rest of the team was as you'd expect.

First half

Arsenal's attacking in the first half was perhaps the best it has been in a long time. While in most games this season we've been left frustrated by the team's lack of movement and incisiveness in the final third, there was an abundance of it tonight; Wilshere and Cazorla taking turns in going forward, Chamberlain and Podolski coming off their flanks, full backs overlapping, etc.

It helped, of course, that Reading had a pretty big weakness to crosses into the box. All of Arsenal's first half goals came from crosses and from players actually getting into the box to make the most of those crosses. Gibbs' decent cross found Podolski, left unmarked by the Reading defence, who finished clinically. Podolski then turned provider, whipping in a very good cross to be met by the head of Cazorla, of all people. Cazorla got his second when Walcott crossed in from the right and Gibbs nodded down from the back post.

All three goals are good examples of the benefits of getting players into the box. It's something Arsenal should do more often.

Arsenal were playing very well for once, creating plenty of opportunities and getting shots in on goal.

Second half

Even though Arsenal were up by three and looking very comfortable, the game was still not won. It was a very good opportunity for Arsenal to rack up a few more goals and it looked like it would go that way when Cazorla sealed his hat-trick; incidentally, it came from yet another cross.

But of course, it's Arsenal and they're always liable to make things hard for themselves. They gifted Reading a goal when Gibbs played a poor pass inside, and then they gifted them another goal with their offside trap backfired. It allowed Reading a way back into the game and for a while there were fears that we were going to *bleep* this up somehow. This was so annoying since it was so damn unnecessary.

Thankfully, we managed to calm things down and grab a fifth goal; one that Walcott deserved given his overall performance on the night.

Walcott down the middle - yes or no?

This is something that has been debated a lot. Tonight, we saw the good and bad points of Walcott playing centrally.

The good is that it creates doubt in the mind of opposition defenders. Defenders know that they cannot afford space in behind because Walcott will exploit that all day long. As a result, they drop deep and make sure there isn't any space. This, in turn, creates more space for the midfielders to do their stuff. With a big striker like Giroud, you don't always get this because teams aren't afraid to push up against him.

On the other hand, I still doubt Walcott's ability to hold the ball up, to bring other people into play and to make things out of nothing. He did some of this well tonight, but up against the worst defence in the league. A better defence would get tighter to him and not give the other players so much room.

He needs more opportunities to show he can do it against tougher defences, and I'd say he's earned them. Hopefully he'll still be around for us to see them.

Lets not get carried away

Arsenal were much improved but the standard of opposition was poor. Reading's defence is terrible and with only two in midfield they gave our midfield far too much room. You can only beat what's in front of you, of course, but as much as Arsenal were good, Reading made our job a lot easier. Better sides won't give our midfield so much room or be so vulnerable defensively.

Last week, we put in a good performance against West Brom, so their are signs we're improving, Bradford game aside. We've got Wigan, West Ham and Newcastle to come, the latter two at home, and if we put in performances similar to this one or the West Brom one then there's no reason why we can't put a good run of results together. Arsenal must remain grounded though and must find some consistency.

Santi clause

Cazorla, Arteta and Wilshere

Hmm 2 points off 3rd (Chelsea have a game in hand). Suddenly we're looking pretty good.

Althouhg i wish the defending was a bit better. Sometimes it looked like we'd concede another but Vermaelen saved us a couple of times.....

Anyways great win! I'm really happy because this performance goes to show us that this team IS capable of playing really good football.

Santi

Poldi

My fantasy team

The Verminator wrote:Hmm 2 points off 3rd (Chelsea have a game in hand). Suddenly we're looking pretty good.

Still long way to go, but atleast one step in the right direction.

Oh boy, did we need this.

Godolski 5 shots ,4 chances created, 1 goal,2 assists,84% pass accuracy,2 aerials won

Arsene:Theo convinced me in training that he could do it (playing CF)

Wonder what Gervais is going to get his new best friend the bench for xmas?

Good team performance..
I dont remember any Arsenal player other than RVP scoring a hatrick in the near past.. Cazorla.. i think the difference was they didnt mark him and they paid for it..
Wilshere and Ox were also great.. Gibbs and Podolski dominated the left side completely..
Everyone played well except for Walcott.. He didnt try much and was outmuscled.. He was hoping that his marker will miss the ball all the time.. I hope this makes him understand that CF is not easy.

walcott proved me wrong today, he can play upfront very well, we holds the ball up better than giroud because of his quick feet. moreover, he causes the opposition team to think twice about pushing men forward, walcott upfront is a win. need to get his contract sorted asap. having a big target man upront is so overrated, you dont need it! just play the ball on the floor ffs.

Wilson37 wrote:I dont remember any Arsenal player other than RVP scoring a hatrick in the near past..

Wasn't the last player, besides Rapey, to score a hat-trick Bendtner?

Sina wrote:Godolski 5 shots ,4 chances created, 1 goal,2 assists,84% pass accuracy,2 aerials won

What a flop

Wilson37 wrote:Good team performance..
I dont remember any Arsenal player other than RVP scoring a hatrick in the near past.. Cazorla.. i think the difference was they didnt mark him and they paid for it..

answered ur own question mate, that why i have not gone full hyper ventilated..

we all know what ahppens when our midfield is actually marked

Arsenal forward Theo Walcott after playing as the Gunners' main striker and scoring their fifth goal: "I showed what I can do. I was quite happy with the performance and running into space and creating space behind me."
On his contract situation: "It's one of those things which will take time. I've said in the past I want to have more opportunities to play up front." BBC SPORT

srigooner wrote:Arsenal forward Theo Walcott after playing as the Gunners' main striker and scoring their fifth goal: "I showed what I can do. I was quite happy with the performance and running into space and creating space behind me."
On his contract situation: "It's one of those things which will take time. I've said in the past I want to have more opportunities to play up front." BBC SPORT

deserves a shot for sure

Just to put a damper on things, I think Reading made it so much easier for us by not adopting the tried-and-tested Arsenal-beating gameplan of sitting deep, staying compact and hitting us on the counter. I still have doubts about our ability to counter that.

That aside, much needed performance and win.

Walcott fid decrmy, bit if you watch his goal, youll see that ajy decemt keeper wouldve stopped that, though Podolski wouldve smashed in the follow up. Podolski and Cazorla were the reap bright spots. What an underatanding they have.

Was just thinking.....Wasn't there a period where Arshavin had to play upfront alone? I mean i remember we all said that it wasn't working and all that stuff so i was wondering is Walcott gonna work down the middle if Shava couoldn't? Shava was technically better, although Walcott has better movement i reckon....and pace...

Arshavin didn't work up front because his first movement was to come deep or go wide to get the ball and not run in behind. It left us devoid of any focal point.

That, and he just didn't have the work rate to continue to make runs and hold the ball up. Walcott is much more willing to do that.

Theo can work against mobile, attacking teams like Reading, Southampton, Swansea, etc who allow space at the back, but imagine if we played Stoke today - I just can't imagine he would be as effective as Giroud. It's all about picking the right player for each particular game, or possibly partnering them. Hopefully this convinces Arsene not to pick Gervinho in these types of games anymore though.

GoonerJay29 wrote:Arshavin didn't work up front because his first movement was to come deep or go wide to get the ball and not run in behind. It left us devoid of any focal point.

That, and he just didn't have the work rate to continue to make runs and hold the ball up. Walcott is much more willing to do that.

+1

Arshavin didn't want to play upfront. Theo's dream is to play upfront and will do everything to make it happen

We'll have to see more of Walcott upfront... especially at home when lower teams come at Emirates, sit deep and defend or against defensively better teams in general.

It's just a matter of picking the right striker against each side really.

Better than Gervais though in every single way... obviously.