4 Thoughts From Arsenal’s 4-0 Win Over Coventry City

Arsenal eased past Coventry City 4-0 at the Emirates on Friday night to book their place in the fifth round of the FA Cup. Here, Gunner333 gives us some thoughts from the game.

A vital indicator of any team’s success is their progress in cup competitions as well as being competitive in their domestic league. It seems Arsenal are valuing the FA Cup more than ever this campaign as Arsene Wenger fielded a strong side against Coventry City on Friday night.

As the rain poured down in North-London hints of frustration for the away side showed in the early stages, Christie aggressively hacking the ball into the air, only for the Gunners to re-emerge and pile men forwards.

Although Arsenal went with just the one up-top, Bendtner was seldom isolated and the majority of Gunners were getting involved in the attacking play. Oxlade-Chamberlain blazed one over from 30-yards, just after Podolski did the same from closer range.

The home side looked relentless and did get their opener, via the firing German.  Mesut Özil’s divine through-ball set up Podolski who skipped past Murphy and converted.  Coventry had certainly been warned, as many more goals were sure to follow.

The flood-gates were open and signs of desperation showed from Steven Pressley’s side, with all 11 men playing behind the ball. Gibbs’ cross deflected out for a corner, resulting in Podolski grabbing a second from the set-piece. A goal straight from Germany. Gnabry’s corner flicked on by Per Mertesacker, before Podolski nodded home. It was the perfect start but, despite some competent pressure, it remained 2-0 at the break.

Surprisingly the first quality second-half chance broke for Coventry striker Clarke who got beyond the defence to find himself one-on-one with Fabianski, but the Pole’s back-leg diverted his effort wide.

Bendnter unleashed a wide-effort moments before Coventry’s Daniels missed a sitter. The away side’s tiring legs produced an inevitable outcome towards the end. Two Gunner subs finishing the game off in the final ten minutes of the game. Gibbs’ trademark pull-back set up Giroud, who pounced with a drilled effort for 3-0. Moments later Cazorla made it four and polished off a solid night’s work, volleying home after Jenkinson’s effort was saved. Unlucky for Coventry, who did not deserve the mauling they received but a great shift from the Gunners.

Here I will analyse four stats/facts from the game;

1) Even More Youth, Please!

As many big clubs do, we fielded a reasonably young side in this game – with Gnabry the pin-point of the future revolution. The German midfielder has proven that it pays to go with youth and I can certainly see him possessing the ability to become a permanent fixture within the group.

Although we’re looking to win this competition, we could have taken the chance to play 3 or 4 kids in a game like this – against lower league opposition at home – and it would certainly have been interesting to have seen both Zelalem and Miyaichi starting. This game produced a very attacking feeling from both sides so it could have been a good opportunity for the youngsters to shine.

2) Goals galore – More in League?

While this season has been an extremely successful one so far, there are still some issues which must be addressed. In this match we hit four goals, but against a team two divisions below us. Our victories in league matches are commonly dictated by a solid defensive performance and one or two goals, while our main title rivals, Manchester City, are regularly hitting 4, 5 and 6.

We haven’t really ‘battered’ a team in the league yet. With the league as tight as it is, it would be devastating to miss out on the title because of something like goal difference, so let’s try and turn our dominance in games into more goals. Obviously a world class striker could help in this department. over to you Arsene….

3) Gibbs And Christie – Fantastic Battle

Both Kieran Gibbs of Arsenal and Cyrus Christie of Coventry supplied this game with adventurous full-back displays and it was an interesting battle between the two throughout the game.

Gibbs tended to be the victor most of the time, but Cyrus shows Premier League quality all over. With Sagna ageing and Jenkinson still raw, I feel we could do worse than to look at Christie as a possible new recruit. He’s young, consistent, fast and energetic, with an over-whelming eagerness to play. At a club like Coventry, he is sure to have a reasonable price tag and is sure to be susceptible if a club like ours comes knocking…

4) German Delight

We fielded four Germans in the game and have more of this nationality within our squad than any other Premier League side. Podolski fired an inspiring brace whilst the other three (Gnabry, Özil and Mertesacker) were impressive in their own rights also. Just take a look at the Bundesliga and you will see how successful German football clubs are and why our potential transfer business seems centred around the country.

Mertesacker’s strength at the back is paramount to our success, while Özil is obviously our main creative force – meaning our German influence is greater than ever. Could Draxler be next?

Thanks for reading and feel free to comment below…