West Brom 1, Arsenal 3: Chris Lepkowski's big match verdict
Mar 4 2009 by Christopher Lepkowski, Birmingham Mail
And then the Baggies do their usual. You can smell the defensive calamity. You don’t where it’s coming from but you know it’s going to happen soon. Who will it be next? It’s a free-kick so it could be anyone.
Andrey Arshavin floats in the 14th-minute free-kick-kick. Gianni Zuiverloon allows Kolo Toure to nip past him and head the ball past Carson.
Predictable, yet utterly avoidable. It could be Albion’s mantra.
So who’s next? Paul Robinson or Abdoulaye Meite.
Robinson, in truth, isn’t everyone’s cup of tea as he’s already found out to his cost this season with the occasional frank exchange of words with punters after games. His full-blooded nature does sometimes leave his challenges bordering on rash.
Yet there could be no blame attached to him for yesterday’s defensive debacle.
Perhaps if some of his defensive colleagues put as much conviction into winning their own challenges then Albion’s penalty area would be a far happier and less stressful place.
Take Abdoulaye Meite. Gary Megson certainly wouldn’t. The Bolton boss made some fairly disparaging and damaging allegations about Meite’s attitude and character last season.
You can’t help feeling Mego had a point as Meite is demonstrating time and again major flaws in his conviction and concentration, which a player of his experience and repute should not be succumbing to.
Against Newcastle he ducked out of two headers. Unforgivable. This time he was punished for wandering off up field as Toure sent a long pass towards Bendtner.
The Dane had time to turn and race towards goals. His finish, from 20-yards, gave Carson no chance.
Game over. Meanwhile, Meite was still ambling back.
This is no new thing. Since arriving at the club, Mowbray and his coaching staff have been unable to solve the team’s propensity for giving away soft goals. The nearest they’ve got to finding a defender who can perform the role without any nonsense is Jonas Olsson. And the sooner he’s fit the better.
Ryan Donk and Leon Barnett seem to suffer from inexperience and drift from competence to incompetence in the space of one game, often without warning and frequently to the detriment of the scoreline.
Gianni Zuiverloon is lacking the confidence and energy of his early season performances – he is easy on the eye when he has the ball but far too wishy-washy when he needs to win it back.
Elsewhere, Robinson shows plenty of spirit but is losing the battle due to rashness no doubt prompted through frustration caused by those around him. And goodness knows what all of this is doing to Scott Carson’s state of mind. He needs stability and reassurance in front of him but is lumbered with anarchy and chaos.
To his credit, Albion’s goalkeeper kept the score down in the second-half when Arsenal ‘ole-d’ the ball around the pitch and broke past the home side’s backline with far too much ease.
The worry is that if Arsenal can put Albion to the sword in such a manner then what will set-piece specialists and forthcoming Hawthorns’ visitors Bolton and Stoke make of it all?
Perish the thought.
ALBION: (4-4-2) Carson 6, Zuiverloon 5, Donk 5, Meite 4, Robinson 5, Morrison 5 (Menseguez 73), Koren 6, GREENING 8, Brunt 6 (Teixeira 72), Fortune 7, Moore 6. Not used: Keily, Hoefkens, Cech, Kim, Borja.
ARSENAL: (4-4-1-1-) Almunia, Sagna, Toure (Diaby 46), Djourou, Clichy, Eboue (Ramsey 67), Denilson, Song, Nasri (Merida 83), Arshavin, Bendtner. Not used: Fabianski, Van Persie, Vela, Gibbs.
Referee: S Tanner (Somerset).
