After providing me with one of my worst memories as an Arsenal fan with that 4-4 comeback earlier in the season, Newcastle have now handed us something of a lifeline in this title race.
Do I think we’ll take it? Not really, but that doesn’t mean I don’t expect 110% effort from these players until the end of the season, especially in tonight’s North London Derby, where there will be other scores to settle.
Along with the collapse at St James’ Park, the home defeat to Spurs is up there as the embarrassment of the season and needs rectifying tonight. You’d have to go back a long way the last time Spurs did the double over us. If we see that tonight we’re looking at slipping into a fight for 3rd place, as well as giving Spurs a real opportunity to claim a Champions League spot for the second successive season.
It was annoying seeing them go further in Europe than us, even if their thrashing at the hands of Real Madrid was pretty enjoyable, and it would be even more annoying to see them qualify again. I hope we can put a serious dent in that possibility.
The one change desperately needed to help that happen tonight is bringing in Alex Song for Abou Diaby. Diaby was rubbish against Liverpool, hogging the ball and killing our attacking moves as a result. It was strange that bringing on Song, essentially a defensive midfielder, allowed us to attack better against Liverpool, simply because he knows his job is to keep the ball moving onto the more creative players. Diaby will just try to take everyone on and end up falling over himself, and we really don’t need to be gifting Spurs possession tonight. Song’s presence would also hopefully keep Luka Modric relatively quiet.
Along with that, there is a case for maybe starting Andrey Arshavin, who looked decent on Sunday, far better than Theo Walcott anyway. The problem with our wingers, though, is that they’re so erratic you never really know who’s going to be a pleasant surprise or a disappointment. Walcott was hopeless against Liverpool’s 17-year-old left-back, but we know what we can do in the right circumstances. Perhaps Samir Nasri, whose form has seriously dipped since the first half of the season, could make way and learn that his place is not assured.
Even if there’s not a great deal up for grabs tonight, a derby win is always important. Time to restore some pride.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
