Learning your lessons

Results

Date	Time	C	Opponent	F	A	R	S
27 Mar	5:45 PM	P	Birmingham City (A)	1	1	Draw

Where were you following the Arsenal that day? I can tell you exactly what I was doing. As I got some very vivid coverage of that horrific, and, in hindsight, customary injury to one of our own, courtesy of BBC Radio 5 live, a nasty feeling loomed over me: things would not be the same for the remainder of the campaign.

Indeed, as I managed to catch the second half at a Brighton pub, I was right (somehow). And, having gone on to let the lead infamously slip at St. Andrew's that lunchtime (injury-time penalty, Gallas' tantrum and all that), we then embarked on a disastrously patchy run of form, which ended our dreams of title success.

Here we are today, ready for a new visit to a much more rejuvenated and improved Birmingham City. Still in pain. Still wondering where we would be today had Eduardo not been kicked out in such a manner, and had Clichy not contrived to give the ball to an opponent before knocking him over.

Anyway, to the here and now, and a lot has been made of our supposedly easier run-in. Well, I think by now, the semi-sensible would've realised that every match will be an intense battle of around ninety-five minutes, with goalmouth action sometimes right to that very last second.

This will be no different, and, having taken in the nuts and bolts of Birmingham's season and home form in particular, this promises to be possibly one of the toughest fixtures of our run-in. True, they haven't been firing on all cylinders lately, and true, they are certainly not at the level which gave them the luxury of home points against Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City this season. However, make no mistake, this is as big a mental test as our players will have faced since that ill-fated day just over two years ago. One that we are required to pass, or, we have no option but to pass, given the tightness of the situation at the top at the moment.

Wednesday night was simply an example of how this run-in is not for the faint-hearted. Up for the battle and ever-confident (although overly cautious) as the season enters its final furlong, I have to admit that even I felt a chill down my spine as I received updates of Chelsea's thrashing win over Portsmouth, officially marking the end of their "bad run" (a point off the top and apparently not up to it, give me a break), as well as Spurs' cup comeback against Fulham (top 4 AND FA Cup for the Scum, not a pretty image is it)!?

But, we must not lose track of what is ahead of us. The players must not lose sight of the goal. And that is, three points at St. Andrew's, by hook or by crook. That's right, it is this one match at a time and let's play to the whistle attitude that has given us six consecutive league victories.

Despite all the recent shenanigans that I have recalled, footballistically (God, I love this word), this match should be no different from recent ones. Another away match against a good, strong side, who do not give much away on their own patch, and when they do, they certainly have the stomach for the fight.
Birmingham are not playing particularly brilliantly at the moment. Indeed, they come on the back of two consecutive defeats. But this will spur them on to put on a show and get a result against us come the weekend. They weren't playing brilliantly in 2008, yet they managed it.

So, what to do in order to pass this test? What impressed me about the victory over West Ham last weekend was a dogged, steely attitude when down to ten men for a whole half. West Ham had their fair share of the ball, and indeed, threatened on one our two occasions. However, you somehow felt that we would see out the victory that day, and that is because we actually defended properly as a team, as well as imposed our own style at the same time, a combination that has befallen us often.

Of course, the Verminator will now (ridiculously) sit out a Premier League match for the first time since arriving on these shores, and that presents a conundrum. Conundrum being a profound understatement.

And, I think it is fair to say that 99.9% of us will be shitting a brick at the prospect of having a Campbell-Silvestre partnership to mark such an occasion. It is just a case of hoping that Wenger; the 0.1% of the population who matters the most is of the same opinion, and thus allows Alex Song to continue in the role he took on so maturely for that second half alongside Sol. With plenty of options in midfield now all of a sudden, it is an experiment worth trying, and one I feel that the boss will go with.

It will be interesting to see what kind of role Eduardo himself plays. Back then, Eduardo certainly looked like the project of a world class player. Funnily enough, I thought his response to the injury and eventual return to the pitch were fantastic. But those days are long gone now, and he has a lot to prove. I do still believe in his talent, and I do think he will have a lot to offer for us, despite his near-anonymous substitute appearances of late. With Eduardo, it is important to remember that he was drafted in as a main striker with the team hitting a bad run of form during late October, and with confidence being key, he just needs a bit of luck to get him up and running again.

Where better to start, than St. Andrew's, Birmingham?

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