After a narrow defeat to the enemy, the media is awash with brash claims of a 'power shift in North London'- I'll address that urban myth later, but for now I'll cover the main points we can take from the game.
For me, what essentially decided the game was the ability of the respective defences to cope with the pressure they were put under. Both teams had a similar proportion of the play offensively, with Arsenal possibly even having slightly more of the play. However, when Tottenham put Arsenal's defence under pressure, we were simply at sixes and sevens, whilst their defence stoutly stood firm. This seemed to be down to key organisational errors in our backline- a lack of communication, a lack of cohesion in our offside trap- as well as the odd individual slip-up- such as BFG playing Bale onside for the first goal. I don't necessarily disagree with us playing a high line; I believe we are at our best when we condense the space in this way and put pressure on the opposition, but for this tactic to work effectively, certain defensively fundamentals must be executed precisely. Runners must be tracked (Hello Nacho!), the defence must step up as a unit, defenders must react quickly and communication must be clear. The tactic failed because none of these fundamentals seemed to be in place, allowing the likes of Lennon and Bale to exploit our high line with their pace at ease.
In regards to the defence as individuals, I was again disappointed with Thomas Vermaelen. His from really seems to have dipped since he became captain and I have a theory as to why. Before Vermaelen was made captain he usually had another centre-half next to him to keep him in check, and ensure that the brash, cavaliering side of his game was used sparingly. However, as captain, he is now tasked with leading and commanding the defence himself, with no-one to watch over him. In fairness, an experienced centre-half should be able to position themselves without a fellow defender instructing them, but Tommy has always had a tendency to go AWOL, and that tendency now seems to be going largely unchecked with him as captain.
The defence was clearly our main downfall, although I must comment on the fact that I believed we dealt with Bale quite well. Despite the media building him up as the ultimate do or die factor of the derby, he did little apart from score the first goal- albeit an important contribution. But considering that we were on the verge of being brainwashed into thinking that Bale was a demi-god by the pre-match serenading of his abilities, his impact was underwhelming. We dealt well with him in wide areas, double-teaming him and giving him little room to work- although he did find more joy when he moved more centrally.
So about this grand 'power shift'. Well, it simply isn't true that Tottenham are overtaking Arsenal as a force in North London. To say that them finishing above Arsenal for the first time in 20 years means they are a better side is ludicrous, and to suggest that they will maintain that grand feat is even more so. The resources of the two clubs have to be taken into account. Tottenham are probably performing as well as they can hope to with the resources they have available, whilst Arsenal are underperforming hugely, and have £120 million sat in the bank ready to spent as soon as the club eventually decide we want to compete for trophies again. So with a slight change of policy and a more ambitious regime at the helm of the club, Arsenal would ease pat Sp*rs and resume their rightful place as North London's dominant force, So I suggest that they do that open top bus parade soon, because their fun won't last long.
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