Arsenal can't score because they have the ball too much? Is that too Irish?

Arsenal can't score because they have the ball too much? Is that too Irish?

By Myles Palmer

THE THREE principles of play are possession, support and penetration.

Arsene's team have more possession than ever before, more support than ever before.

But less penetration.

Support, as you know, is the happy habit of running towards a teammate who has the ball, so that he has passing options.

Why do Arsenal now play that way?

Because a Gilberto-Fabregas midfield can't win the ball as often as Vieira & Petit & Parlour did in 1998.

Today's team doesn't have the power to dominate that area and win the ball early and break with two passes and penetrate and score.

So they do it another way : by playing keep-ball and having three dribblers making runs off each other.

Rosicky is a great player who will score goals in the future.

Hleb is a great player who will not score many.

And Fabregas is a great young player who is getting in the face of referees a bit too often for his own good.He does that because he gets frustrated.

But he is a very intelligent boy and he will moderate his dissent because he knows that getting sent off is very bad for his team and for the manager who gave him a colossal opportunity to play and learn and catapult himself into the Spanish national team.

Also, referees watch TV and talk to each other.If they see Cesc Fabregas abusing a ref on TV they won't like and they'll note it. The lad has a No.4 on his back and that means he is an established player and will be treated the same way as any established player, not as a young boy to whom refs sometimes give the benefit of the doubt.

Arsenal will beat Hamburg on Tuesday night because they have a lot to play for and Hamburg are out of it.

I hope they score early and open the game up.And I reallly hope Arsenal don't have 70% possession because a siege becomes monononous.It's boring to watch the crowd will get fed up and that will affect the atmosphere. So the fans have a big role to play, again.If an early goal does not come, the fans have to be patient and believe that a goal will come in the next ten minutes.

Senderos will replace Gallas, who is out with a thigh muscle injury for several weeks.

In yesterday's piece I was saying that Arsenal can't score because they have the ball too much.I know that sounds a bit Irish, a bit Danny Blanchflower.

However,they beat Porto 2-0 and I expect Arsenal to beat Hamburg by 2-0 or 3-1.

By benching Henry for half the game against Newcastle, Arsene was saying : Hamburg is more important than Newcastle. But the subtext of that is : I expect Thierry to perform like a superstar against Hamburg, a game we have to win.

FULL DISCLOSURE : I'm half-Irish. My Dad was born in Dublin, Mum near Edinburgh. But I was born in England.