Unlike our trip to Blackburn two weeks ago, most Gooners expected all three points against Bolton yesterday. This wasn’t a test of character in the same ilk to that on offer at Ewood Park, but nonetheless, we had to work hard to ensure victory. With United’s dramatic draw with Everton earlier that day, a win against the Trotters became all the more vital.
Despite the lack of Robin Van Persie and Theo Walcott, the team should have still had enough ability to slot a few goals past Bolton. The only decision that briefly raised some eyebrows was the choice to field two different full-backs – Eboue and Gibbs. But with Vermaelen out, I can only think that Wenger wanted to experiment with what was roughly our ‘second-choice’ back four. Gibbs and Eboue hadn’t played much this season, so a home match against Bolton seemed a wise choice to give them a run out while simultaneously resting Sagna and Clichy. Their selections were vindicated to, as both players, Gibbs in particular, turned out solid performances.
Koscielny continues to confound me. One second he’s powering in to give us the lead, the next he’s providing a smooth assist for the opposition’s equaliser. Such have been his overall performances for Arsenal thus far, some glittering defensive displays dotted with some real howlers. But I put this down to nothing more than lack of experience, and if Koscielny’s career proves anything – it’s that he’s a fast learner. I look forward to seeing him advance through the season. Something else I look forward to, after watching Squillaci’s debut, is the prospect of seeing Seb’ play with Vermaelen, Sagna and Clichy – it’s a defence that suddenly seems rather solid.
In midfield, Jack Wilshire made another start in that slightly deeper role, often alongside Alex Song. While I agree that Wilshire put on a decent display, I still maintain that he’s not ready for ‘top level’ Premiership games. I enjoy seeing Jack start against teams like Bolton, but would be nervous if he started an away game to any side in the top eight. If he’s happy playing the odd game at home to some of our ‘easier’ opposition, then that’s fine, but I’d have preferred to see playing regularly on loan somewhere.
We saw some other sterling performances in midfield from the likes of Song, Fabregas and Rosicky. Song played excellently, breaking up the opposition play with his usual composure and scoring quite an impressive goal, Wenger’s 1000th in the league incidentally. Fabregas appeared to be getting back into top form, sliding passes through Bolton’s defences with outlandish ease – the first should have probably resulted in a goal from Arshavin. And, in somewhat of an apology for forgetting him in my blog last week, credit must be given to Tomas Rosicky. His vision was as sharp and clever as Cesc’s and he carved open Bolton almost as many times as the captain did. If not for the Spaniard’s two assists, the MotM award could have easily been split among these three midfielders.
Overall, most Gooners should be pleased with the teams performance at the Grove yesterday. Like Blackburn, Bolton marked us tightly and were “committed” in their tackling – but their strong-arm approach wasn’t enough to stop us winning by a comfortable three-goal-margin. Ten goals from two home games is a pretty healthy statistic, as is the fact we sit above United in the league on merit of our points, not just our goal difference. One rather strange statistic though, is that of our four games played this season, three have ended with the opposition being down to ten men. I won’t make a guess as to why this is the case, but I just hope we don’t forget how to close off a game against a full team!
I made a simple forecast, before the season started, that when we travelled to Stamford Bridge in early October, we’d be heading there level on points with Chelsea. I still believe that will come to pass, and with Van Persie and Walcott potentially marked for a return at that time, I’m expecting a thrilling encounter. Before that however, we have the small matter of Sunderland, West Brom, two Champions League ties and a Carling Cup clash against the Spuds – so one step at a time, ey?
Whatever mishaps or blunders we’ve seen until now, I think we’re far enough into the campaign to confidently say that we’re ‘enjoying a bright start’. Let’s not speak too soon but just keep our fingers crossed that this trend continues.
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