Last night’s 3-1 win in Belgrade in the Champions League against FK Partizan cheered us all up. Łukasz Fabiański was faultless in goal, confounding many expectations including mine. Jack Wilshere showed his rapidly emerging talent once again. Andrey Arshavin also shone in patches. Fabiański and manager Arsčne Wenger are both fully entitled to stick two fingers up to the rest of us this morning.
Unfortunately too much of our defending was not up to scratch against a moderate FK Partizan side. Both penalties were needlessly conceded. A note of caution too on the goalkeeping. Łukasz Fabiański put in a faultless performance at the Boleyn Ground in the third round of the FA Cup last season back in January, making two excellent saves and handling well, before the wheels dropped off for him and us once again in the following round up in the Potteries.
Still the result last night was the right one. Shakhtar Donetsk’s win against SC Braga in Portugal leaves FK Partizan and SC Braga both six points back. Only two games out of six have been played in the group, but they’re now both playing catch-up with us and the Ukrainian outfit. If we can beat them in the next match at home in the Champions League we’ll have one foot in the round of sixteen once again. Let’s not count our chickens however. I thought our team selection last night was risky. Clearly the manager decided to rest some players prior to the League programme this weekend. I’ve always thought it’s a mistake to worry about anything but the next game.
We need to put all that to one side now however. On form, Sunday’s visit to Stamford Bridge in the Premier League will be our most difficult game so far this season by some margin. Both Thomas Vermaelen and Cesc Fàbregas are struggling to be fit for selection at the weekend. I wouldn’t risk either if they’re not completely fit or very, very close to it, certainly not from the start. We’ve done that before and lost players for an even longer spell.
Chelsea losing at Eastlands at least kept the gap down to four points. We’ve got to go for a win at the Bridge I think. The way we play we’re simply not constructed to park the bus and try and hit them on the break. Our best method of defending is to hold possession for as long as we can and press the ball when we lose it as high up the pitch as possible.
Roberto Mancini seems to be constructing a team very much in the tradition of George Graham and José Mourinho at Manchester City – organised and defensive. They aren’t the finished article by any means but they’re become increasingly difficult to beat. They’re going to have to jam on the brakes financially very soon if they want to play in Europe – assuming UEFA has the stones to apply the financial fair play rules as they’ve been agreed. That will work to our advantage over the next four or five seasons.
I’m far more interested in us addressing our problems though. We need to work VERY hard on our team defending, tactical awareness and mental toughness and discipline. We can’t afford to forget the lessons that the Baggies taught us last Saturday. Chelsea isn’t quite the side it was but they’re still the best team in this country by some margin in my view. Carlo Ancelotti has done an excellent job with them. They’re far more powerful going forward than they were, although they have problems with the form of Petr Čech in goal. He doesn’t look close to the outstanding keeper he was until recently. John Terry is also increasingly being found out as a good but not great defender.
Much as I despise him as a human being you have to say that, absent the odd error that any player will make from time to time, Ashley Cole is amongst the best left-backs in the world at the moment. His fitness is excellent; he’s good going forward and has turned into an excellent defender too. A pity he’s such a greedy, classless twat. He displayed a truly heroic lack of empathy and self-absorbedness with his famous, “They’re taking the p**s!” outburst on his mobile phone to his agent when he heard of our (in his view) pitiful offer of “only” £2.86 million a year to renew his contract at Arsenal.
Let’s hope he and all his Chelsea colleagues are crying in their post-match mineral waters after the game on Sunday.
Finally a plug for the upcoming Arsenal Independent Supporters’ Association (AISA) annual general meeting which takes place next Thursday evening 7 October 2010 at 7.00pm at the Chapel Bar, 29a, Penton Street, Islington, London, N1 9PX. Sandwiches will be laid on.
The venue is about 7-10 minutes walk from The Angel Underground station on the City branch of the Northern Line. The 153 bus stops a couple of blocks away in both directions, on Barnsbury Road southbound and the second stop on Tolpuddle Street outside the Police station northbound. Bus routes 4, 19, 30, 43, 56, 73, 205, 214 and 476 also stop nearby at the Angel Islington and/or on Pentonville Road and Baron Street. The 274 stops on Tolpuddle Street in both directions. There is free off-street parking after 6.30pm.
If you’re coming from the north be aware that the boundary of the Central London Congestion Charge Zone is Pentonville Road. Cross over Pentonville Road before 6.00pm and you’ll be liable to pay the daily £8 charge. This has to be paid before midnight on the day you enter the Zone. It goes up to £10 if you pay by midnight the following day.
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