Talk about a match of two halves! The first was poor whilst the second was end-to-end stuff. Arsenal coped well with the dull first half and lack of goal of scoring opportunities. Wenger must have given them a stern talking to in the dressing room because they came out all fired up and got stuck in. Suddenly the pitch seemed twice the size and they passed the ball better. They looked like the believed they could score and started creating opportunities. It paid off in the last few minutes with an excellent goal taken by the hard-working Adebayor.
What Arsenal Need: Three points, Full stop.
Although we had to bite our finger nails for nearly 90 minutes, we were given the three points courtesy of a sublime Fabregas pass and confident finishing.
Oh and no injuries, they cannot afford to put any more men on the treatment table. There is very little depth in some areas such as up front and we need every man we can get over the Christmas period.
I was worried when Djourou went down in the penalty area as the replays showed him stressing the medial side of his knee. When Gary Lewin examined him Djourou was pointing at his medial collateral ligament (MCL). It was encouraging to see him finish the match but I wouldn't be surprised to hear Arsene say that he'll need treatment on it.
Things To Watch Out For: I rarely question Wenger's management of the team but I do wish he'd use the full complement of substitutes in a match. My argument is that after 70 minutes the wingers and strikers are often exhausted and fresh legs on the field are far more efficient that tired ones. Quite often he only brings on one or two substitutes leaving players like Baptista on the bench and I can't undertsand why.
Wenger waited a little longer than I'd have liked to bring on Fabregas and van Persie. The Dutchman had little influence on the game but the Spaniard grabbed it by the scruff of the neck and made it his own. He instantly looked to distribute the ball and tackled hard. Hoyte came on for Walcott in the closing minutes as it seemed that Wenger didn't want to bring on Hleb.
A classic example of this was at the Bridge where he only made one substitution. He swapped van Persie for Ljungberg after 84 minutes but left a tired Flamini and an oft-substituted Hleb on the pitch. Why not replace them with Walcott and Baptista and give them 20 minutes or so to impose themselves on the game?
I'm sure Arsene knows why.... but I haven't a clue!
Hopes For The Match: I hope Baptista gets the nod ahead of Flamini. I concede that the battling Parlour-esque midfielder was needed against the Russians but a different kind of presence is required tonight. Wigan will be looking for the win and there will be space for the Brazilian to run with the ball. If he doesn't get a run in the team during this period with Henry and Rosicky out then he never will.
I've been a strong advocate of the imposing Brazilian Baptista all season but once again his performance was poor. His runs were ineffective, his passing sloppy at times and he looked a pace short. If we concede that these are all due to him not being used to the pace of the game in the Premiership, we cannot use the same excuse for his poor first touch on the night. Time after time he lost control from simple passes to feet, which there is no real excuse for at this level of football. Flamini started the match and put in a workman like performance as usual.
I would play Djourou ahead of Senderos but Wenger does seem to favour the latter. I find it difficult to accept the argument that Senderos can play better than Djourou against the more physical striker. Djourou is a big man and a huge physical presence and has played almost faultlessly so far this season.
Djourou started the match and played well, although the Arsenal defence looked a little shaky at times and I think it misses the leadership of Gallas.
| My team selection for this game: Adebayor van Persie, Gilberto, Baptista, Fabregas, Ljungberg Clichy, Djourou, Senderos, Eboue Lehmann Subs: Almunia, Walcott, Hoyte, Hleb, Flamini |
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Unavailable:
Henry - Out with sciatic nerve pain and hamstring trouble.
Gallas - Injured his quadriceps taking free kicks in training and will be out for a few weeks.
Rosicky - Still out with a hamstring/groin injury.
Diaby - On course to return in January after suffering a fracture-dislocated ankle last season.
Lauren - Still rehabilitating from a knee injury that has kept him out since January 21st.
Long-term issues: This is episode one of a six part mini-series called "18 points are up for grabs" and its must-see-tv. These games will define the season and Wenger needs to rotate his squad approriately to ensure maximum points from this run. After tonights match Arsenal will have played the same number of games as everyone else and they need to be securing third spot, whilst keeping an eye on the top two.
With the first episode gone the mini-series can continue and Arsenal's run of wins has begun. One down and five to go.
Prediction: Wigan 1 Arsenal 2
Score: Wigan 0 Arsenal 1
