Do Not Sell My Personal Information
It’s been some weekend to be an Arsenal supporter, wouldn’t you say? On Friday, embattled boss Arsène Wenger came out swinging, telling the media he would "sign up" for another twenty years of finishing second. I’m not sure he meant that literally, but I think when he asks why it’s a "disaster" that we’re second, he’s got a point. Obviously, there are other considerations too, but I do think the level of criticism aimed at him over the last few weeks has been hysterical, in some cases nasty and over the top.
We then had Peter Hill- Wood describe the AST’s "considerable disappointment" statement at the end of the week as "stupid comments from silly people". I can understand his frustration with the comments, but I think he has to understand that while he is sitting on his rug in the boardroom, joint (ok, cigar) in his mouth, telling the world, "Nothing is fucked here", that there are people jumping around screaming, "The goddamn plane has crashed!" They may be wrong, but supporters that invest considerable time, effort and money in this great football club of ours are never going to appreciate being described as stupid and silly. I daresay it’s a little stupid and silly of him.
You have to wonder, too, whether this outburst was really appreciated by majority shareholder, Stan Kroenke, who- oh my God- is in talks to take control of the club. According to Sky "sources", Mr Kroenke has reached agreement with both Danny Fiszman and Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith to purchase their shares- a purchase which would take him to 62% of the shareholding and could be confirmed to the London Stock Exchange as early as tomorrow morning. I don’t know how this is going to play out, so I’m not going to go on about it here. Especially as, finally, we have some football we can enjoy talking about this evening. Yes, after what seems like a lifetime, but is actually only 3 league draws- we went to Blackpool this afternoon and put three points on the board this afternoon.
Just watching Ian Holloway on Sky Sports and, although he was uncharacterstically circumspect, he undoubtedly feels that two Laurent Koscielny challenges should have resulted in two penalties. I’m not going to disagree with him, though I do think that- in terms of chances created- we were well worth our win. Had we been a bit more clinical in our finishing, we may even have got close to matching the six we put past Blackpool on a Sunday afternoon last August. As it was, we had to settle for three. The first came after 17 minutes and lots of Blackpool pressure on our flanks. No doubt they were keen to test back up right back, Emmanuel Eboue and the "pensioner" in goal, Jens Lehmann. Jens replaced Manuel Almunia after the Spaniard sustained an injury in the warm up, I suspect that’s the last we’ll see of the Spaniard and I’m pretty happy about it. Jens, for his part, didn’t have too much to do- aside from catching crosses and a vital block on the line- but will be very grateful that Taylor Fletcher tapped in the loose ball after he cleaned out DJ Campbell six minutes into the second half. Advantage played and we were 2-1 up, rather than being 2-0 and facing a penalty with our goalkeeper gone and no replacement on the bench. I won’t say this very often, but well done Lee Mason.
I started to talk about our goals, didn’t I? The first goal came when Diaby was a little slow in possession, lost the ball, but won it back well and drove forward- the ball eventually went out to van Persie on the left who ran away from the defence before squaring the ball across goal for the Frenchman to bang home our first shot on target. Diaby had turned defence to attack in a Vieira-like instant. Yes, I know, I’m sorry, but he did. Number two came just minutes later when Eboue played a little give and go with Wilshere, drove into the box and positively battered a left footed shot past Richard Kingson in the Blackpool goal. With Blackpool’s line so high, we were getting in almost at will, Fabregas chipped a pass through for van Persie who controlled it beatifully but shot straight at the keeper. Next, Nasri was sent through but saw his shot blocked, when Fabregas found him again, his over the shoulder volley clipped the post and bounced away. A combination of van Persie and Diaby then conspired to somehow pass up a golden opportunity after Kingson did an Almunia and raced from his goal.
The leg of Lehmann and the coolnes of Cesc prevented Blackpool from reducing their arrears before half-time, though they didn’t have to wait too much longer. Arsenal, so superior till then, began to feel the heat. Though it should be said that Blackpool still weren’t managing to create much in the way of direct threat, well, apart from when Keith Southern completely miscued his header from close range anyway.
Theo replaced a subdued Arshavin and we began to get back on the front foot again. Just as I was lamenting the fact that it clearly wasn’t van Persie’s day- he’d just volleyed a wonderful Fabregas pass over- he sealed the game up for Arsenal. In true Arsène Wenger fashion, the move began in defence, Squillaci making a great tackle in our area, the ball ran to the impressive Diaby, who waited, waited, checked his watch, combed his hair and then fired a pass down the line, Fabregas volleyed the ball on into the wide green space in front of Walcott. Nobody was catching him and he squared the ball into the area where van Persie tucked it away first time.
So a rough week ends with the sun shining and Arsenal seven points behind United with a game in hand. Aspects of this performance will have thrilled Arsène Wenger, defensively resillient (if a little lucky at times) and a passing game in some stage of recovery. It’s difficult not to conclude that better opposition might have made us suffer, but I don’t care about that this evening. What I was pleased with, apart from the quality of the goals and the chances we created, was the fact that though we were tested- and we were- we came through it well. We started poorly and then we scored, scored again and took control, almost until they scored and then we clung on before making the game safe. I think a game like that will have done the players a world of good, it’s good to see them smiling again.
