VIEW FROM THE SOUTH – Birmingham City vs Arsenal

Despite the fact that this match was going to be televised, I’ve always felt that there is no point in having a season ticket to watch our beloved lads play if the moment that the match is on the television one stays home in the armchair. So it was that I met up with Will and his Gooner mate, Alex in Guildford for the journey north to Birmingham. Jonny, my elder son had of course, spent New Year’s Eve in an alcoholic haze in Bristol with his mates. He had resolved to drive up to Birmingham separately with Elliott, a long-standing school chum of his who also happens to be an Arsenal supporter. It is usually Jonny or Will who are tardy but in Jonny’s absence, Will’s time-keeping was out by twenty minutes, he says, because Alex was late! I always say that it’s a good job none of them ever served in the military like I did because they would all have spent their whole time in clink! 😀

The journey back home from the Manchester United game 72 hours earlier had been very difficult for Will because of the intense fog on the motorway. I’m glad to say that the weather was somewhat kinder and the visibility much better for our journey up to Baginton to meet up with Chris at The Oak Pub. Will and I stopped for a restorative pint and a steak sandwich before joining Chris the short journey to St Andrews. We called in as usual to the George pub where Chris grabbed a quick hog roast bap before the game. Jonny and Elliott eventually joined us for a pint but by the look of the pair of them it was a case of “the hair of the dog!”

In recent times, games against Arsenal seem to have been very contentious. This match was to prove no different. Like many in the 24,000 crowd, I was looking forward to a sterling performance against a very talented Arsenal side that contained eight changes from the one that faced Wigan Athletic on Wednesday evening. Arsene Wenger had gone back to the team that so comprehensibly defeated Chelsea the game before. In the early exchanges, a robust tackle by Roger Johnson on Cesc Fabregas following a heavy touch by the centre half left the Spaniard writhing around in agony despite the fact that Johnson had clearly won the ball. Roger Johnson’s momentum had clearly hurt the Arsenal player but in no way was the tackle malicious. The commentator on Match of the Day made ridiculous and stupid references to the Eduardo incident involving Martin Taylor. This Pavlovian response is inappropriate, as was his further comment that it was a poor challenge. Whilst I can accept that despite winning the ball the incident still warranted a free kick because of the follow-through into the player, I do not agree that the yellow card brandished by the referee at the behest of the baying Arsenal crowd was necessary. This early incident served only to give the match a sour edge and this was increased by the manner of the first goal to the visitors on 13 minutes. Robin van Persie running away from goal in the inside right channel clearly dived as he ran across Scott Dann’s path. The linesman rightly made no reaction and there was a pause as play continued before Mr Walton, the referee finally decided that a free kick should be awarded. This produced bedlam and indignant protest from the home crowd. The perpetrator of this injustice then immediately sprang to his feet to strike a fierce left footed free kick against Lee Bowyer whose unlucky deflection carried it past the helpless Ben Foster in goal. This is now the second game running against these opponents that one of their centre forwards has cheated to gain an unfair advantage that was not rightfully theirs. I refer of course, to the award of a penalty kick at the Emirates earlier in the season when Chamakh went down in instalments before remembering that he needed to drag his foot on the defender’s when virtually horizontal. The present incident and the past misdemeanour resulted in an unpleasant and hostile atmosphere for the rest of the match.

Four minutes later, Sebastian Larsson curled an excellent free kick from 25 yards over the Arsenal wall towards the far corner. Only an excellent save by Fabianski prevented the equalising goal. Play was fairly even for the rest of the half but Birmingham were having to work very hard off the ball to contain the dangerous Arsenal midfielders who as we all know pass the ball for fun. However, Blues did create chances the best of which fell to Roger Johnson just before the break. A headed flick on by Cameron Jerome dipped invitingly for the defender 8 yards out. His side footed attempt flew over the bar when it was easier to score. This was a glorious chance which Birmingham would come to regret squandering. On 35 min, Robin van Persie clearly handled the ball as he came across from a corner. Everybody in the ground saw the offence except it seems Mr Walton and his linesman. This was a cue for angry booing from the understandably incensed home support.
If the first half was feisty and competitive the second proved to be completely one-sided and a master class from Arsenal in just how good football can be when played at pace with dazzling movement and nonchalant finishing. Blues were simply cut to pieces by a rampant Arsenal midfield containing Theo Walcott, whose cross to the back post was teed up for Jack Wilshere by Samir Nasri. This breathtaking move did not yield the result its brilliance deserved as unfortunately Wilshere put a side foot volley into the crowd just over the bar and Blues escaped. They did so again when Johnson carelessly gave the ball away and the outstanding Nasri set off from the centre circle straight at Foster’s goal. He raced right into the area with Stephen Carr and Scott Dann flailing in his wake but Foster stood up brilliantly and managed to get a hand to his shot. A second goal was inevitable as Birmingham were systematically dissected by the remorseless Arsenal machine and so it was in the 58th minute, Nasri and Fabregas exchanged passes in midfield to slice open Blues again and Nasri, just outside the area, rifled in an unstoppable shot to the bottom corner as Scott Dann back pedalled when an attack on the ball was called for. Things worsened in the 66th minute when Nasri and Fabregas again ran rings round Blues. Nasri was shepherded into the outside channel but it made little difference as from an acute angle at the near post his powerful shot beat out by the overworked Foster resulted in an agonising ping-pong between Dann and Johnson as the ball rebounded off the latter’s shins and over the line.
The three nil score line hardly flattered Arsenal who in the second half were so superior in every department of the game that it was both depressing and embarrassing to watch equal measure. The cruel chants of the Arsenal crowd “you’ve got Lee Bowyer, we’ve got Cesc Fabregas!” just about summed up the reality of the situation Blues found themselves in. This was a comprehensive trouncing by a side containing players the like of which I do not believe Birmingham City could ever aspire to possessing in my lifetime or probably ever. The taunts from the opposition fans also highlight the unhealthy nature of the professional game in this country. The top teams concentrate the vast majority of the truly class players leading to ultimately a lack of competitiveness in the game where only the rich and powerful can prevail at the expense of the also-rans. The Premier League only has to do cast its eyes north to Scotland to appreciate that ultimately the public tires of the product, the money runs out, the mercenary drift away and the quality of the game collapses at domestic and international level. On a positive note, young Wilshire celebrating his 19th birthday and Walcott played their part in the destruction of the Birmingham team and at least they are English. However, most of the truly top class players in the Premier league come from foreign shores.
Birmingham commence the year in the bottom three and despite the fact that we have one or two games in hand on our rivals, our lack of form is deeply concerning. The fact that we lost to arguably the best pure footballing side in the Premier League is not the issue; it is the fact that once again we completely failed to test the Arsenal defence which is acknowledged to be suspect in its centre and to be backed up by one of the most dodgy goalkeepers anywhere around. Apart from Sebastian Larsson’s free kick in the first half and one or two crosses in the last 5 min of the game when his blushes were saved by one or two generous free kick awards in his favour by Mr Walton, Fabianski may as well have been sitting next to his manager or indeed his manager could easily have deputised as Arsene Wenger flaps his arms around equally effectively!
I confess to being somewhat concerned at this stage given that teams around us for the last two games appear to be getting their acts together especially West Ham United who are picking up points and despite their dire predicament before the Christmas period have hauled themselves up to 15th place whereas we now reside in 19th. The season so far is becoming reminiscent of that three years ago when we were relegated not only because we weren’t good enough but because we drew too many games especially at home. My younger brother who follows Birmingham from his home in Houston Texas has always said to me that you have to beat the teams you should beat and some of the worst performances so far have come against West Ham, Wigan and Wolves. Two points out of nine from these three games especially as two of them were at home is wholly unacceptable. This total is least five points short and represents the difference between a relegation place and a top half of the table position.
Finally may I pass on to all of the Bluenose nation best wishes for a peaceful and prosperous New Year and the hope that the team that we follow will buck up their ideas and survive to fight another season in the top flight.
The Good: The outstanding display of the Arsenal midfield particularly Nasri and Walcott who were a joy to watch even if it were at the expense of my team. The performance of Ben Foster gave him a deserved man of the match accolade from the home faithful despite conceding our heaviest defeat in recent memory.
The Bad: Birmingham gave the ball away far too cheaply and made far too easy for the Arsenal team to cut through them will. The defending was not up to the usual standards and our two centre halves, normally so assured and solid looked like rabbits in headlights.
The Ugly: the melodramatic writhing around on the ground of a number of the Arsenal players; van Persie, Nasri and Fabregas being the worst offenders served only to break up any momentum or rhythm that the home side did produce and van Persie’s dive is particularly reprehensible as it is just plain cheating.
Birmingham City: Ben Foster 8, Stephen Carr 6, Lee Bowyer 5 (Nikola Zigic, 5, 69), Roger Johnson 4, Liam Ridgewell 6, Seb Larsson 4, Craig Gardner 5, Cameron Jerome 5 (Phillips, 5, 80), Barry Ferguson 6, Scott Dann 5, Jean Beausejour 6 (Alexander Hleb, 6, 59).
Subs not used: Maik Taylor, Matt Derbyshire, Keith Fahey, Martin Jiranek.

Bookings: Johnson (7), Dann (50)

Goals: None

Arsenal: Lukasz Fabianski 7, Bacary Sagna 7, Cesc Fabregas 8, Laurent Koscielny 7, Samir Nasri 9, Robin Van Persie 7, Theo Walcott 8(Andrey Arshavin 7, 80), Alex Song 7, Jack Wilshere 8 (Denilson 6, 80), Johan Djourou 7, Gael Clichy 7.
Subs not used: Wojciech Szczesny, Tomas Rosicky, Sebastien Squillaci, Emmanuel Eboue, Nicklas Bendtner.

Bookings: Djourou (34)
Goals: van Persie (13), Nasri (57), Johnson (OG, 66)
Referee; Peter Walton (Northamptonshire) 4: a very poor performance in this game; he was conned by van Persie for the free kick that led to the first goal, he missed the same player clearly handle the ball just before the break which could and should have resulted in a penalty to the home side and he also failed to spot Lee Bowyer’s disgraceful stamp on Bacary Sagna which for any Gooners reading this I do not condone. This incident should have been a red card. He should be cited for this and correctly punished; no doubt he will be. In the first half, Mr Walton did give a number of free kicks in Birmingham’s favour after the first goal which I believe was an attempt to right a wrong. This is not good officiating as mistakes should be left as just that and not a yardstick to even things up.
KRO SOTV