Arsenal’s 44 attempts against Tottenham allowed the modern assumption that crosses are aimless punts, not a skill worth savouring, to take over once moreCross 1, from Héctor Bellerín on the right, loops harmlessly towards the penalty spot. Cross 5 from Kieran Tierney is pinged low and tapped away by Eric Dier at the near post. Cross 7 forces Harry Kane into a scrambling clearance. Crosses 12-15, delivered in quick succession between 43 and 44 minutes, are all headed away. Cross 19 hits Steven Bergwijn and goes out for a throw.Like all the best performance art, Arsenal’s attacking display against Tottenham revealed itself only in stages: slowly building us a universe, generating its own mesmerising, percussive logic. Cross 30 from Willian...
The young manager has done plenty of good things in almost a year in charge but he has not addressed the lack of central creativity in Arsenal’s squadIt is perfectly normal for a manager to protect his players after a high-profile defeat and Mikel Arteta was happy enough to leave himself open after Arsenal were held off comfortably by Spurs. “In terms of performance they did everything I asked them to do, absolutely everything,” he said. “We played in a way that I believe we had to play this game.”Arteta knows perfectly well that half of the players who passed, passed, crossed, rinsed and repeated for long periods of the north London derby have no place in a functioning, progressive...
Another resurgent Frenchman for Chelsea, Mourinho has Kane purring and there was a Zaha masterclass to savourThere were long years when it seemed José Mourinho had lost his touch as a man motivator of star players. At Real Madrid, relations broke down with the club’s galácticos; his alliance with Cristiano Ronaldo was lukewarm at best. Second time around at Chelsea, there was frostiness with Eden Hazard, while Paul Pogba and Mourinho cold-shouldered each other at Manchester United. At Tottenham, Mourinho made it his business to get close to Harry Kane, and the results have been scintillating. In the same style that Mourinho made Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba into Premier League greats, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic flourished at Internazionale, Kane brims...
It would hard to find an attacking pair anywhere that takes such obvious pleasure in their own rampant chemistry. Kane and Son have made Tottenham title contendersTrue love will find you in the end. Is there an attacking pair anywhere that takes such obvious pleasure in their own rampant chemistry as Harry Kane and Son Heung-min?On a chilly night in north London, Tottenham Hotspur went to the top of the Premier League table with a pared-back 2-0 defeat of a possession-heavy Arsenal; a victory that raised the tantalising possibility this Spurs team could become the first to play the full 38-game season engaged in an expertly managed relegation battle, only to look up and notice they’ve won the league. Related:...
The Arsenal manager’s troubles run deeper than a chronic shortage of goals but the derby could offer some respiteAn evening in the life of Mikel Arteta usually involves a stress-relieving walk with his dog, Arnie. Arteta revealed as much this past week and it was a relatively rare insight into the extracurricular pursuits of a manager who, during his first year in the job, has proved adept at answering questions with a smile while giving little away.If only the same could be said for his team. Arsenal have been both hangdog and porous in recent Premier League outings, losing their past three home games and somehow surviving a pounding at Leeds. Related: Arteta angry at Pépé over 'unacceptable' red card...