Daves On Soccer

I see that in Landry's recap below, he's graciously left it to me to recap the Arsenal victory over Norwich. And so... I shall.

Obviously it was a comfortable day for the Gunners, and rewarding to as the match saw them into second place in the league thanks to Brad Freidel and the wastefulness of the Man U attack. 4-1 could have easily been more, though with four goals it's hard to be picky.

All credit to Norwich as they came out of the gate looking for goals and trying to score. But they were just outclassed, and Arsenal dominated posession for most of the game. Norwich have not looked ready for the Prem this season; they have the willingness but not, unfortunately, the skills. Still, they were able to keep it interesting through the first half, and the 2-1 score, while certainly lucky for them on the merits, was a testament to their belief and hard work.

It was however disappointing to see Norwich's goal. To be fair, it was a great strike by Darren Huckerby. But he had all kinds of space to take it, thanks to Robert Pires' lackluster challenge. And Lehman didn't help his cause either, leaving his line to argue with the ref before realizing that the ball was still in play. I'm not sure that he would've been able to stop Huckerby's fine shot anyway, but as it was he gave himself no chance.

However, the Arsenal attack was a beautiful machine, holding loads of posession and making it tell time and again. What can you say about Thierry Henry? His combination of touch, pace, and shot strength are simply unmatched. The hat trick was well deserved and he could have had more goals besides. Freddie had a nice gimmie goal too, rewarding an excellent cross from Lauren.

Individual comments:

• Welcome back, Thierry. Glad to have you. You're, uh, pretty good.
  
• Wecome back, Gilberto. You theme song is now "You're Gonna Miss Me When I'm Gone." His game hasn't received the plaudits of any of the midfielders around him. But I think his quiet focus and excellent read of the game have been badly missed by the Gunners.
  
• I wish I knew why Robert Pires has these games where it looks like he's lost focus. I'm sure he doesn't plan it that way... but it certainly happens.
  
• Sure looks like Reyes will be moving on after the season. He's just not communicating well with the other players. I really like the guy; he works hard, tracks back, and plays with a smile on his face. But I'm beginning to think he'll find his true success elsewhere.
  
• Cheers for several good performances yesterday: Gilberto, Lauren, Cole, Reyes (mostly) and Cesc Fabregas did well. Oh, and that Henry fella.
  
• Also cheers to both teams for playing a clean and flowing game. The only card came in the 89th minute, and it wasn't a tremendous foul either (Cygan was just being a bit, well, cyborgish). Huckerby was whining quite a bit, though.
  
• And finally, cheers to Norwich for coming to Highbury with the intent of playing some football. I see no way that they stay up this year, but they're fighting to the death, and I salute them for it.

So that's it for this week. Arsenal travel to Middlesboro next week. Norwich are home to Manchester United. Take some points from the Devils for us!