Go again

I guess I can pretty much put a wrap onto things with that title and go home. But for the sake of ranting on at you a few hundred words’ worth, I won’t!

Having still not fully recovered from the bedlam of incredulous delight brought on by a fantastic display and dominant win over Chelsea, I guess it will be even tougher for the players. After all, those were the ones that, for once, fought and sweated out such a sweet win. So they will be physically drained, going on adrenalin, on memory, going merely on the kick brought on by the huge mental boost the win will have provided them.

However, success can be such a double-edged sword, and given the fair few rollercoaster rides we’ve been treated to over the years, the upcoming fixture at Wigan is a test of true character and quality.

Have we got what it takes to throw down the gauntlet, really ramming home our credentials? Or will we just wilt whilst on cloud nine, bringing everything and everyone crashing down to earth?

On paper, this is a non-contest. You have Wigan Athletic, deep in a relegation battle and with one or two key figures out with injury, with a wretched record against the "big" sides. And then you have us, buzzing from the derby win the other night and with the best away record in the league. Put two and two together, and what should come out is a straightforward Arsenal win.

But since when did the Barclays Premier League ever keep to script?

And in Wigan and their manager Roberto Martinez, you have arguably the most unpredictable side in the division. A team that can easily ship fives and sixes (nine on the odd occasion!), before going on and nicking the unlikeliest of victories at White Hart Lane! Such is their hot-and-cold nature that the manner of their 3-2 comeback win in this fixture last season; in April that instance; ending any already slim hopes we had of the title in 2010, is a case-in-point.

All points that will surely not be lost on wily old heads in Arsène Wenger and Pat Rice. And the message they transmit to the players must be clear and loud: forget about Chelsea; go all out for the win against Wigan in the same manner.

With the squad having arrived in the northwest with twenty-four hours to spare, there seems to be no let-up from the collective sense.

However, and with the ever-changing challenges that the Club and its squad face, this is yet another kind of test for this set of players: the ability to raise their game equally as effectively against lesser sides following a big win. And that is something that this bunch of players will have not yet come across, not during a packed festive programme, anyway.

As you’d expect, some rotation is very much on the cards tonight. With the Captain suspended, this will come as a welcome breather for Cesc, who would have probably been rested anyway to avoid the risk of unnecessary over-exertion having just returned. Likewise with RVP, whose contribution increased with every minute out on the pitch the other night, but is likely to make way for Marouane Chamakh.

Elsewhere, there will be several men vying for a recall, men who feel they will have points to prove, a la Nicklas Bendtner and Andrey Arshavin. Actually, I take that back, Arshavin will of course feel otherwise. But it is hard to see Wenger chopping and changing on Monday’s winning formula too much, although he may yet opt to rest the likes of Wilshere too.

As with ourselves, Wigan will be buzzing from an equally important win from their perspective, coming out on top in a relegation six-pointer at Wolves on Sunday. With a powerful striker in Hugo Rodallega slowly coming into form, and with nifty individuals in midfield in the shapes of Tom Cleverley, and of course, our scourge of last season in Charles N’Zogbia, as ever, you are talking about quality that can hurt you at any moment, and we will have to be on guard.

Enough quality to hurt and worry us, but safe in the knowledge that, with the same effort, the same belief and the same application as Monday night, and we should end 2010 on a real high, hoping to go onto bigger and better things.

After Chelsea, Arsène Wenger had stated that this was a match that completed the side’s transformation from boys to men.

Here’s hoping, as real men do it…and go again!