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Carling Cup Review: These players are much better than Spurs

Add comment December 20th, 2007

Abou Diaby and Lassana Diarra grew up together playing football in the streets of Paris.  At Ewood Park on Tuesday night, they looked as if they’d never left.

Their performances were typical of the attitude of our players who took to the field against Blackburn.  They were determined to go out there and ignore any intimidation Mark Hughes’ side might resort to.  Instead, they simply played the game they love to the best of their capabilities, with occasionally spectacular results.

All three goals were works of art.  The first saw a fabulous through-ball from English debutant Mark Randall play in Nicklas Bendtner, whose cross was looped home by the left foot of Abou Diaby.

Both of our other goals were scored by the most experienced outfield player on show, Eduardo da Silva.  The Croatian international has looked out of sorts in recent weeks, but on this occasion showed how deadly he can be with two superb finishes.

 Winning the game was one thing, but winning the game after being pegged back by an aggressive Blackburn side who were probably playing for their only real chance of silverware is something else entirely.  These players no longer warrant the somewhat pejorative tag of ‘Carling Cup Team’.  These are fully capable first-team players who are simply yet to find their place in the regular side.

There were outstanding performers all over the field.  In goal, Lukasz Fabianski gave a display that was assured and confident, despite the co-commentator on the game’s constant insistence that he “looked nervous”.  When he was plucking crosses from the air with his 6’3″ frame he didn’t look particularly nervous to me.

 At full-back, Armand Traore showed off some fearsome runs forward and an ability to cross that probably exceeds that of his compatriot Gael Clichy.  When he sorts out his positioning, he’ll no longer be an awesome prospect, but an excellent left-back. 

On the other flank, Justin Hoyte showed that whilst no Cafu going forward, he is a becoming a very solid defender.  One double block in extra-time almost defied belief.  God forbid Bacary Sagna should be injured, I’d rather see Hoyte in defence than Eboue.

Philippe Senderos captained the side from centre-back, and remains more solid than dependable.  Indeed, the Swiss international was outshone by my hero of the night, Alex Song.

A lot of people didn’t think Song was capable of the kind of performance he put in on Tuesday.  He was everywhere.  Playing at centre-back, he saved Senderos’ skin on a couple of occasions, with one clearance when the goal gaped for Roque Santa Cruz particularly impressive.  However, he married this defensive sturdiness with his attacking instincts from his midfield days.  He made a couple of storming runs through the midfield which left Blackburn’s defence in tatters, and it was one of these, followed by a delicious left-footed through-ball, that played Eduardo in for what turned out to be the winner.

On every occasion he’s played this season, Song has been nothing less than excellent.  I’m of the opinion that this has less to do with his transformative loan spell and Charlton, and more to do with Arsene switching him to a position which suits him far better than central midfield.  Song began his career as a left-back, and whilst he doesn’t necessarily have the unerring ability to keep the ball under pressure that our midfielders require, his strength makes him a promising centre-half.  Even with Johan Djourou returning from Birmingham, Song has a claim to a starting spot when Kolo Toure goes off to the African Nations.

I’ve already talked about Diaby and Diarra, and the two pals were brilliant.  It’s clear they still enjoy playing with each other as much as ever, and the likes of Savage and Reid simply could not get near them.  Of all the players we saw on Tuesday, these two are arguably the closest to a regular starting spot.  If they don’t get it soon, we may struggle to keep them.

Denilson put in an excellent performance until a rather silly sending off, and Mark Randall showed that there is genuine English talent coming through at Arsenal.  His technique and vision was reminiscent of a certain David Bentley’s early appearances.

Upfront, we’ve already discussed Eduardo’s brilliance at the business end of things, and he ably assisted by Nicklas Bendtner, who is now showing the work ethic to support his rather extraordinary talent.  The future, needless to say, is very very bright.

The semi-final draw sees us going up once more against Spurs, with the possibility of a rematch of last year’s final at Wembley.  Mouth-watering.