Arsenal v Basel review – Brilliant Gunners roll the Swiss

A brilliant first half saw Arsenal win this home Champions Leagure game against Basel by 2-0 with both goals from Walcott in the first half. We had a host of chances and some very good ones. We could and probably should have scored a lot more but it was still an imprerssive showing and a good win for Arsenal.

The Gunners were certainly fired up for this match and were off like a rocket from the start. To be fair to our Swiss opponents, so were they and they did their best to match our fast pace, but few teams could have handled the intensity and fluency of Alexis Sanchez, Iwobi, Cazorla, Bellerin and Walcott and they, especially the keeper, did well to only be two behind at the break.

It took less than 10 minutes for us to make the breakthrough and it was a superbly worked one, with Alexis latching onto a Cazorla ball over the top and chipping a cross for the onrushing Walcott to head home. Basel had a period after that but our defence was solid and the attackers continued to cut through them like a hot knife through Swiss cheese.

Their keeper made a string of saves to keep the scoreline respectable and only Walcott managed to add to the opener, Alexis bagging another assist as they played a one-two befoe Walcott fired a low shot into the corner. Despite the lack of goals it was a fantastic and dominant half of football from the lads.

The worry was that it would be a game of two halves and while that was not exactly the case, the second half was a lot less impressive and a bit more uncomfortable after another fast start from us. Having said that the concentration was good and Ospina and the defenders were up to the task.

And after we came through Basel’s best period intact, our technical ability saw us through and the last 15 minutes was like death by a thousand passes on the visitors. How it stayed at just two I have no idea. A few more goals would have been nice but I’m not greedy and Arsenal keep playing like this it could be a very happy season for us Gooners.

Bob.

Tags Alexis Walcott

31 Comments

    1. I swear. This is why Wenger should be respected . Cause of the believe he place in this players. Walcott worth every £140,000 a week. Sanchez can drop deep and walcott can flyi nto the box.

      Theo outstanding. he really gives me hope for OX and Wilshere. Wenger always says 27 is the magic age. I hope theo just entered that age of maturity where you become a man. I can see how Iwobi looks up to him already.

      1. Wilshere is a fantastic midfielder built in the mould of Modric and far better than the overrated Pogba, his problem over the years has been injuries, and in 2 of his 3games for Bournemouth he is getting back to his best form.
        ..
        Ox however, I used to think he lacks confidence in himself as Wenger said but it seems it’s something more, he looks uninterested.

  1. Mustafi and Kos yet to concede from open play. Today is Walcott – Sanchez connection. I love our pressing game. Shout out to their keeper for making some saves but we missed some chances as well. Sanchez did everything right apart from scoring….Get some rest boys before our game against Burnley. Walcott, keep up the consistency. Man of the match ..

  2. Astounding performance!

    Rue to few missed chances but the kept it tight at the back. Ospina had some great saves again!

    But Theo, damn. What have you been eating?!

    1. Great win lads. I admit I doubted if Theo could ever regain his form again… Boy! I’m so glad I was wrong.
      Anyways what did Perez do to Arsene…. Flirt with Ramsey??????

      1. Theo’s figures as a right winger is one of the best in the league. The problem all started when the stupid Striker talk began . Why play Theo as a Striker when he can score 20 goals from the wings. Very few players can score so much from the wings.

    2. Should’ve would’ve could’ve Twig! That’s not how the world works! Let’s be happy how it ended!

  3. All summer I wanted us to to sell Theo. I was dead wrong and happy to be wrong
    Theo has been brilliant so far this season.

  4. Great first half and it really should have been game set and match if Sanchez and Ozil had their scoring boots on.
    The second half was a complete joke tbh ?
    I would have took off Sanchez and Ozil instead of Walcott and iwobi.
    Did anyone notice if Walcott was limping when he came back on at the final whistle? or was that his bad boy bowl after scoring a double and basically winning the game for us?

    Big ups to Theo ? ? ?

      1. Men,, some of you will always complain. Its call saving energies and controling the game as we have a tough game vs Burnley away from home.

        basel are same team who have beaten United Chelsea and liverpool over the years. Beating them 2 nil and controling the game is brilliant.

        what else do u want people

        1. Maybe they want you to acknowledge you were wrong for writing a full article on dropping mesut, and can own up to your bad call. Could be a decent place to start.

          Credit when/where credit is due?

  5. Need an Englander to score goals for you?
    Vardy.
    Vardy who?
    Haven’t you heard of a certain Theo Walcott?
    Oh ya. New signing.
    Happy that he proves me wrong this season.
    When are we playing Sp*d?
    They are already shivering.

  6. Hell i wonder when OX will start using his brain, he couldve just played a one touch down to Sanchez rather he pushed the ball to side just to waste it…
    nice match though… our attack is looking deadly with each match.

  7. When Wenger started playing Alexis upfront, many screamed and called him names. We were all wrong, Wenger was right. This formation gives us raw pace upfront, makes us fluid in attack and very deadly on the counter. I don’t expect it to work in every single game, but I expect the manager to know which game to alter it (afterall he’s paid £8m to make such decisions). Next, we need to trash Burnley and then pray that we don’t pick up any injuries during the lousy int’l break.

    1. No the fans are not wrong. We haven’t yet played against a defence that sit deep (both Chelsea and Basel played high). It’s then you’ll see how important a traditional striker is. Sanchez won’t do well as a no. 9 in every game.

      1. Yep. Will also see just how much Theo has upped his game.
        Will be on Arsene to adjust his tactics as well and not be one-dimensional.

        Right now our back 4, and overall defending as an 11 makes me feel good about our chances every time we play. First time in a long time. Feels good.

  8. Missed the game, but Theo reborn? Great to see he’s finally stepping up. And Alexis at CF still seems to be the way to go. Well done lads, good result, we have a decent chance of finishing top of the group i think

  9. good win but we should have converted more, then the game could probably have ended like the Barca-Celtic game ( 7-0) Ozil needs to start taking his chances, n Cazorla should have taken his instead of passing to Alexis that was gonna get closed down on the left by that Basel goalie.
    more goals ll boost morale and confidence
    and also put fear into our future opponents.

  10. I’ll still point out negatives despite having a good winning run.

    Monreal, he has cost us many goals this season, because he just doesn’t stop crosses from coming in from his side.

    Walcot is playing good,I’ll tell you why. First he has improved his defensive game. Second he now knows there are good players waiting to pounce for that position now. If he didn’t have a good start maybe Perez could’ve taken that position already.

    We haven’t got killer instinct. you can’t just play 45 minutes and then not have energy for the 2nd half. We need to improve our fitness.

    1. @HA559
      Thank You…Teams will see this and know that all they have to do is absorb whatever we throw for 45 mins. Then take it to us in the second half…

      1. I didn’t see the game this way. Sure we should have scored 3 more goals, but in the second half we looked in control and there was no need to dig deep for another 45 minutes with all the games coming up. I thought we looked a bit more mature than last year.

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