I Heard The News Today Oh Boy…
Aug 19th, 2007 by 'holic
…Jens clumsy hands in Blackburn, Lancashire!
Sandwiched between a victory for Citeh in the Manchester derby, and a dropping of points by both Liverpool and Chelsea in a comedy at Anfield came the first suggestion that Arsenal will need to consider a change in a key area.
For the second consecutive away match Arsenal found themselves up against extremely physical opponents. As in Prague the visitors had to make enforced substitutions, and surprise, surprise, a central defender is going to be out for at least a couple of weeks. Captain Gallas has ‘gone in the fetlock’ and Arsenal, having loaned Djourou to Birmingham are now down to a total of two fit central defenders until the skipper gets the nod to return.
For some considerable time it looked as though we could celebrate three points from our first away Premiership fixture. Just eighteen minutes had elapsed when Friedel flapped at an Eduardo effort, Fabregas just failed to tuck away the loose ball, and Van Persie made no mistake.
From Blackburn’s most telling first-half raid Nelsen was denied by the post. The same player would earn the only sending-off of the contest when he collected a deserved second yellow card for a foul on Van Persie after the hosts’ fortunate equaliser.
David Dunn was probably as surprised as anyone to see his shot evade the grasp of Lehmann in the seventy-second minute. For the second weekend running the German number one has shown a terrible lapse of concentration at a key moment and could have no complaints if Wenger decides to give a run to Almunia, so impressive in pre-season.
At the final whistle Arsene was at his most prickly. “I felt there was a desire for violence more than commitment in some of the challenges. We were very resilient against a team that was over-physical.” The devil’s advocate in me would point out that a team with the limitations that hinder Blackburn Rovers cannot be expected to roll over and allow Arsenal to tickle their tummy!
It is frustrating at this early stage that a side of limited ability has denied us a full three points. With our major title rivals all stuttering we had a great opportunity today to lay down a marker. That opportunity has gone.
Look on the bright side, I hear you say. OK, we are seventh and have a game in hand over six of the sides above us. Liverpool, Manchester United, and Tottenham are behind us and we already have a game in hand over the latter two. We remain unbeaten and I am still convinced we are stronger than the neutrals give us credit for. That doesn’t alter the fact that once again our squad depth is being tested by injuries, and we still have a couple of weeks to bring in new recruits, for all the right reasons.
Do I really expect too much if I continue to dream of the new central defender and goalscoring winger? Have I mentioned that before? Sorry!
5 Responses to “I Heard The News Today Oh Boy…”
Goonerholic,
I’m with you for the most part. I don’t think we need another central defender.
I thought Eduardo was disappointing. RVP needs some help up front. I’d like to see Arsene pull the rabbit out of the hat that would be the goal-scoring winger.
It would be a moral boost if Arsene could unload Jens before the transfer window closes.
You expect too much, ‘holic 😉
Arsenal to win EPL if only they sign Nicolas Anelka to join Robin Van Persie up front.
Arsene`s young and restless team should be stronger, and Old Jens should stop failing them.
One thing i dont understand is why AW went on to reapply 4-4-2 when Hleb has more than once proved himself as CF?