Just watch the video. I can’t do it justice with words. This was a performance of breathtaking beauty, that but for a combination of substitutions and pity could’ve inflicted double figures on a shell-shocked Prague.Â
Theo Walcott showed his immense potential with two finishes of real quality, Cesc Fabregas continued his remarkable form, and Aleksandr Hleb showed just why he’s affectionately dubbed “The White Ronaldinho” in some corners of the Emirates. Granted, Prague crumbled in the second half, but only under the force of some genuinely astonishing football.
The pick of the goals was our sixth, and Cesc’s second. At this point, our football had reaches the crest of its extraordinary wave, and the way we tore from one end of the pitch to the other to put Prague to the sword was reminiscent of some of The Invincibles’ finest counter-attacking play.
With matches against Liverpool and Manchester United to follow, it’s a great boost that we’ll go into those games with confidence sky high. Walcott in particular has given the manager a tantalising problem: can he drop the teenager when he’s in such blistering form?
The atmosphere around the club at the moment is so good that defeat on Sunday would be a blip rather than a wrecking ball. Victory, however, could inspire this team to reach even greater heights.
“His injury is a medial knee ligament. At one stage we were scared it was a cruciate but we had good news and the scan was positive. But it is still a long injury.”
Granted, it is still a long injury, but it means an absence of weeks rather than months. In Van Persie’s continued absence tonight, Emmanuel Adebayor will probably be partnered by Eduardo da Silva, though Arsene Wenger suggested that Theo Walcott’s impressive cameo on Saturday could earn him a starting role. Intriguingly, he also intimated to a German reporter that Jens Lehmann would be on the substitutes bench. We shall see.
After Lassana Diarra spoke yesterday about being left out, Arsene moved to explain the selection difficulties he faces:
“There’s even competition for the subs’ bench and there will be world-class players not involved [tonight].”
That quote suggests that it’ll be a strong side tonight, and so it should be: Prague managed to score two goals in Seville and are no pushover. A win takes us within three points of qualification for the next phase, and William Gallas already has his eyes on trophies:
“I don’t know if we will win the Champions League or the Premier League but definitely we have to win something. We play good football but I have said before, you can play well and win nothing. If you don’t win anything there is no point.”
He’s talking a captain’s talk. Now it’s time to show us the walk. Over to you, William.
Arsenal News Review last night ran with a story suggesting that the club fear Robin Van Persie’s knee injury could be more serious that originally assumed:
“On Saturday I heard that the club is worried that van Persie may have damage to his cruciate ligament. If that is the case, he could be out for a long time.”
That would be nothing short of disastrous for our team, and would place an inordinate amount of pressure on players who are not ready to meet those expectation levels.
Van Persie is certainly the best striker this club possesses. He doesn’t have Adebayor’s power, Bendtner’s aerial ability or Eduardo’s nose for goal, but his sheer technique makes him a constant threat. He is able to make space for himself with remarkably quick feet, and finish chances off with an even swifter shot.
Saturday’s game with Bolton showed us that whilst he has looked impressive in his Champions League cameos, Eduardo is still adapting to the Premier League. Nicklas Bendtner and Theo Walcott, meanwhile, suffer from the inconsistencies of youth and irregularity of appearance.
A long-term absence for Van Persie would mean a huge reliance on Adebayor’s finishing, which could spell trouble. The Togolese has been outstanding this season (as he was in my eyes last year), but is hardly Ian Wright-esque in front of goal.
Here’s hoping the news on RVP’s latest scans is positive: an absence of even a couple of months could be enough to send our title challenge askew.
Lassana Diarra has expressed his frustration at a lack of first team opportunities in our jam-packed midfield. He certainly won’t be satisfied with filling in as a right-back:
“I can’t say I hate playing right back, but I prefer to play in midfield. I want to touch the ball and pass to people. Playing right back is just running up and down.”
The problem for Diarra is the form of Mathieu Flamini. I’m sure not even Arsene thought Flamini would force himself so firmly into the side. With Gilberto, Diaby, and Denilson all in the queue too, you feel something may eventually have to give. Will Brazil’s Copa America winning captain want to stay at the club if he’s still a substitute in January? We’ll have to wait and see.
Slavia Prague tomorrow. A win would take us within three points of qualification for the next round of the Champions League.
Bolton are not what they were under Sam Allardyce. Granted, they have the same overtly aggressive tackling and long-ball tactics. But they are now far worse at both. Their display yesterday was one of the most negative ever seen at the Emirates Stadium. With Nicolas Anelka missing, they lacked any kind of attacking impetus, and I can’t remember Manuel Almunia making a single save.
That’s not to say it was a walk in the park for Arsenal. Bolton’s sheer weight of numbers in their own half meant space was tight, and the shape of our front six was all wrong. Emmanuel Eboue started on the right, pushing Aleksandr Hleb over to the left, with Eduardo partnering Adebayor upfront, playing just to the left of the Togolese target man. Hleb’s tendency to drift inside meant that most of our width came down the right with Eboue and Sagna. However, with Adebayor playing more towards that side than usual, there was no obvious target at the far post.
I wonder why Arsene chose to change the set-up of the side. He could easily have begun with Hleb on the right and Diaby on the left. Instead, the lanky Frenchman and Slayer of El Campo was left on the bench until the last ten minutes.
The first half played out without any great incident, apart from a miscued Adebayor header which drifted wide of the near post. As the team’s ran out for the second half, it was clear Arsene had made an astute change, shifting Eduardo out to the left and putting Hleb in behind Ade. He later said:
“In the second half today I used Hleb in the middle because there was so little space and he’s the one who can. I wanted us to go through the flanks but first to attack them through the middle, and he can get the ball out of a very small space and play it through to the flanks, and we took advantage of that.”
Hleb immediately began to cause havoc in the Bolton defence with his neat control and incisive passing. Indeed, it was a wonder we didn’t take the lead after Emmanuel Eboue somehow blasted wide of the top corner. Eboue didn’t have his best game today, and with Tomas Rosicky close to full fitness, will struggle to keep his place in the side.
It was the introduction of Rosicky and young Theo Walcott that proved the crucial turning point. Eduardo and Eboue made way, and suddenly we had balance, pace, and directness on the flanks. Yet when our goal came, it was from a set piece – a layed off free-kick which Kolo Toure powered into the bottom corner from 25 yards. It had been coming.
Soon after, it should have been two. A Cesc throughball released Adebayor who took it too far beyond the goalkeeper before slipping and allowing the chance to pass by.
No matter. Inside the last ten minutes, Theo Walcott controlled a long ball expertly, before turning inside the box and firing the ball across goal. His fellow substitute Rosicky met it with a neat finish to net his third goal of the season. I think it’s fair to say the double substitution worked.
Walcott made a critical contribution yet again, and Arsene was quick to praise the teenage winger:
“It is just that now that you feel he has come back with his shoulder problem, he has found really the injection of pace he had before, his co-ordination is better, he uses his body better – his shoulders. Today, when you see what he’s brought, when he came on, you think ‘that’s certainly a promising striker’.”
I might aswell add an automatic signature which adds “We wouldn’t have won this game last season” to the bottom of every match report. But it’s true: we showed real patience to overcome a poor but very stubborn side who showed little ambition. Crucially, we go into the games with Liverpool and Manchester United with our lead intact. I cannot wait to see how we fair in those matches.
The big news ahead of today’s game is that Jens Lehmann has been dropped from the entire squad. Whether this is to allow him to escape the indignity of sitting on the bench or to punish him for recent comments remains unclear. Certainly it’s a clear statement from Arsene, and one that will probably push Jens even closer to the exit.
In defence, William Gallas will return in place of the injured Philippe Senderos. The midfield will probably be the same as against Sunderland, with Abou Diaby and Aleksandr Hleb flanking Player of the Month Fabregas and Flamini. Eduardo will partner Emmanuel Adebayor upfront, with Theo Walcott, Gilberto, and Tomas Rosicky all likely to provide able support from the bench.
Got to rush to the game now, but I really hope we beat them. Even though Big Sam has long since departed, I hate Bolton as much as ever.
That quote suggests that it’ll be a strong side tonight, and so it should be: Prague managed to score two goals in Seville and are no pushover. A win takes us within three points of qualification for the next phase, and 
Bolton are not what they were under Sam Allardyce. Granted, they have the same overtly aggressive tackling and long-ball tactics. But they are now far worse at both. Their display yesterday was one of the most negative ever seen at the Emirates Stadium. With Nicolas Anelka missing, they lacked any kind of attacking impetus, and I can’t remember Manuel Almunia making a single save.
