Optimistic Days

Welcome all,

I know its been quite some time since I last posted, shortly before the Carling Cup first leg against Ipswich I think. As I mentioned in my last blog, I have been very busy lately and simply haven't found the time in the day to post a blog. Even as I begin to type this one I can feel my eyes closing. I know we take on Wigan tomorrow at the Emirates but I'll hopefully remember to post a detailed preview on that in the morning. For now though I want to concentrate on the latest ongoings at the club over the last few weeks.

We'll start with the horror show at Portman Road not so long ago. It was a game I went into fully sure that our boys would be pumped for and determined to kill it off in the first leg but then I remembered that's not the Arsenal way is it? We have to make everything seem like a challenge. Basically the game was crap. You would have heard pundits and football fans alike praise Ipswich for their "magnificent performance" and so on but the truth is, we were just awful and didn't deserve anything from the game. Obviously we didn't have our strongest side out but we shouldn't have needed to. Ipswich were on the back of a 7-0 mauling from Chelsea a few days before hand. The least I'd have expected would have been a scarppy 1-0 win but to lose and to do so by rarely threatening the opposition was not acceptable at all. Not only did we lack creativity but Ipswich looked like they could score everytime they hoofed the ball forward. Eboue looked more like an attacking winger than a right-back. He was caught out of position countless times. Koscielny clearly has difficulty dealing with balls over the top. He's an expert at beating his man to the ball but loop it over him and he's in trouble. Djourou put in another top notch display. This man has grown to be a fan favourite recently, amazing what hard work and determination can do for you. Anyways, this was not a good day for the Gunners and a response was a priority and I was sure we'd get one. We always do with this Arsenal side.

Usually going into a game against a team in the relegation zone at this stage of the season you'd be pretty nervous because you know your going to have to battle for the three points. Ahead of this game I was quietly confident. The players, I know would have been determined to make up for the defeat to Ipswich. My confidence was further boosted by the news that Scott Parker would miss the game. For me he has single handedly kept them afloat up to now and I knew his absence was a major blow for them, particularly because we are masters at over running teams in midfield.

It didn't take us long to come bursting out of the blocks. Thirteen minutes in Samir Nasri let a Theo Walcott cross run through his legs fooling defender and the ball fell to Van Persie who tucked it away beautifully with his right foot. You could tell by his early touches that he was regaining his sharpness but that just summed it up for me. It should have been 2-0 not long after. This time RVP set Theo through on goal, he chose to shoot with his left foot and just didn't catch hold of it at all leaving Green with an easy save.

West Ham were very nearly gifted an equaliser courtesy of a rare error from Johan Djourou. He made a balls of an attempted back pass to Szezesny but the Polish keeper saved his arse by spreading himself and pulling off a great save. Van Persie was presented with the opportunity to make it 2-0 just before half-time but his shot crashed against the post and came back out. We were now controlling the game, the second goal seemed inevitable. My only worry was that we would lose our momentum at half-time and the Hammers would come out fighting like they did in this fixture last season. Thankfully, that didn't look like being the case this year as Van Persie found himself in more space in the box, he cut the ball back to Walcott who fired home to make it 2-0. Wayne Bridge who was making his debut for the home side was being tortured by Theo down the wing.

In the second half we maintained our high energy performance. We didn't give West Ham time on the ball or give it away cheaply. I have to say I was very impressed because usually we'd switch off and offer the opposition routes back into the game. You could see how much the players wanted to see out this one. The Hammers did well to get a sniff on goal when Freddy Sears forced Szezesny into a fine save. There was to be no comeback this year though as with just over ten minutes to go Wayne Bridge topped off his awful evening by bringing down Walcott in the box. Up stepped Van Persie to cap off a great day for him and he did so with a fine finish. 3-0 and we were untouchable if that's not too strong a word to use. We got the job done and I have to say I'm delighted to see us keeping clean sheets these days. Let's hope we can keep it upand more importantly avoid injuries.

 There was no time to dwell on this performance. It was brilliant, yes but we've been guilty of not being able to maintain these sort of displays. Do so against Leeds and the confidence would be brimming through the squad. There was a lot of talk before hand about the hostile atmosphere the home fans would provide. I wasn't worried, we've been there before and come out on top. The only thing I was worried about was that we'd turn up with the wrong attitude. The boss made some changes as expected. Plenty of players with points to prove came in. Denilson, Bendtner and Arshavin to name a few and Sagna returned from suspension.

Similarly to the West Ham game, we came out firing on all cylinders and took the lead after only five minutes when Nasri latched onto Arshavin's pass before cooly slotting home. Chamakh's header was somehow kept out by Schmeichel. Shortly after the same man made a darting run the right wing before sliding the ball across the box to Arshavin who once again made scoring look like an impossible task. Arshavin was presented with a second opportunity soon after and this time forced the keeper into a smart save.

It was left to Bacary Sagna to show the frontmen how its done as he drilled home from the edge of the area. It was a stunning goal which the keeper could only get fingertips to. Just as we thought we'd seen the goal of the night, up stepped Leeds left-back Johnson who blasted home from about 30 yards out. He couldn't have hit it any sweeter. It was always going to take something speical for Leeds to get back in the game and thats exactly what they got. The home fans now had something to cling onto going into the break.

We had to approach the second half in the exact same way we did in the West Ham game at the weekend. Give Leeds no time to breath on the ball and don't allow them to gain momentum. Again, we achieved that as the midfield worked their arses off in closing down every white shirt. Song's work rate in particular was so impressive. Arshavin's night was topped off when he blazed the ball so high over the bar it literally left the stadium. With just under twenty minutes left the boss decided to introduce Fabregas and Van Persie. Two players very much in form. Their impact was immediate as both got on the ball and made it even more difficult for Leeds to win back possession.

Shortly after their introduction we killed the game off. Bendtner who was iffy all night provided Van Persie with a beautiful cross and the Dutchman met it with some conviction as he powered home the header leaving the keeper with no chance. Job done again Arsenal. Brilliant men!

What is crucially important is that we put in these sort of performances every week. Its not impossible. Barcelona do it and Guardiola dosen't do much rotating so the only way I can see our season plumetting is if we get raped by injuries again. I've said quite a few times about how I felt we'd learned our lessons from complacency and I'd been proved wrong because it was only two weeks ago when we turned up at Ipswich with the completely the wrong attitude and were beaten. Have we learned our lesson now? Who knows? What I do know is that we are faced with another massive test tomorrow as we entertain Wigan at the Emirates. A win is a must. Another good performance would be nice too. I should be back tomorrow with a preview.
Till then.