The game was drifting to a goalless stalemate as a resolute and dogged (boring and shite) West Ham side frustrated the Arsenal time after time. Chances came and went and we were running out of minutes. At that point Adrian chastised Alex Song for his inability to possess the finesse needed to unlock the Hammers’ defence (who had not only parked the bus they had turned their end into a coach park) during his forward play.
Be patient, I told Adrian, Song will come good. We are far more calm in our attacking play this season and he should restore his faith in Song, I said. The rest is history. Good old Alex pops up with two minutes to go and snatched the vital three points needed to maintain our place at the top table for the time being.
I legged it after cheering myself hoarse so had to make do with a gloating text to Adrian (AKA Mr Monktash) on the train back to Bognor. He was waiting for it and took a bit of stick with good grace. I genuinely hadn’t given up on us snatching a win. Even with two minutes remaining you know we are going to have up to three more chances when you throw in injury time.
Most around me in the East Upper thought that our luck had dried up when Theo hit the post. But we kept on playing our football and displayed a large measure of patience which is a real sign of maturity. The energy levels of our players are quite extraordinary.
The team and the manager and coaches must be congratulated on a brilliant period in which we have seen off Money City, the Toon and now the pie-and-mash-eaters.
On Song, AW has observed: “Now he is a good trainer but that was not always the case. This season he has improved his engine. In the past, he needed a rest when he won the ball, so he was a bit too late when we went forward. Now, because he has more stamina, he is on the move as soon as we win the ball and able to arrive in the box at just the right time. He came here as a centre-back and will end up as a centre-forward. But I have to say his haircut doesn’t help him at all!”
The player himself harked back to the loan spell at Charlton in his post-match interview. He said: “That was a bad time for me but I never gave up. You have to learn from your mistakes and now I am more mature and more confident. We have a lot of players at Arsenal who have grown up together since we were boys.
“When you play in one team for a very long time, with the best manager in the world, you want to give your best every day and everyone can see that. We worked so hard to beat Manchester City in our last league game, so it was important we didn’t drop points here. It was a very difficult game against a West Ham team who defended very well. We had to keep pushing to the end and when Gael Clichy put a great ball in to the box, I was able to get in the header to score.”
One would assume that AW will rest certain players for the game in the Ukraine against Shaktar Donetsk. I’d take a point and no new injuries now. Then it is on to the Toon next Sunday. No doubt they will come to defend and frustrate and with big Carroll up front they are more than capable of snatching a goal by hoofing the ball up to him in the box. We must score early and settle down and we’ll be fine. I am already looking forward to it.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
