Five things we learnt this weekend
Add comment January 11th, 2010
You might have seen these sorts of posts on other blogs. There’s a reason: they’re time-saving, efficient, and allow me to get straight to the point. In a weekend in which there is a distressingly small amount of transfer news, all we can draw upon is this weekend’s limited action. Here we go:
Our defence do not trust Manuel Almunia
Witness one incident yesterday where the goalkeeper clattered in to and almost injured Armand Traore. Witness another where a corner came in and Traore was forced to slice the ball behind after not receiving a call as to whether anyone was behind him. Throw in a hospital pass to Bacary Sagna and a couple of erratic punches and it adds up to a long and rather damning list of incidents. It strikes me that Arsene considers changing the goalkeeper too unsettling to be done in mid-season. Pursuing with Almunia, much as I hate to see it, could be just as damning.
We’re going to miss Alex Song an awful lot
Something I had failed to appreciate about the new improved Alex Song mk II is how good he has become at receiving and keeping the ball under pressure. Without wanting to draw any undue comparisons, it was the skill that made Patrick Vieira so great. When Everton put Denilson under pressure, he struggled. Furthermore, with Ramsey and Diaby in the team we were a little too attacking, and often left the Brazilian isolated. Finding a new balance without Song is going to be tricky. If Denilson is out for any length of time it’s going to be even harder.
Abou Diaby is maturing in to a dominating attacking midfielder
Every time I praise Diaby I worry that I might jinx him. All it takes is one niggling injury and he could be back to the inconsistent sicknote that we’ve put up with for much of the last two years. In the meantime, however, he’s playing extremely well: his powerful running and skillful footwork is finally reminiscent of the man who tore past Michael Essien with such force in the Carling Cup Final of 2008. Let’s hope it continues.
We may still need a striker
Arsene Wenger does not trust Eduardo da Silva or Theo Walcott to play the central striker role. Andrey Arshavin, the current occupant of the position, is a dwafish dribbling playmaker. Many are hoping the return from injury of Nicklas Bendtner will solve our striking crisis, but Arsene has been hesitant to deploy Bendtner in that position before, instead choosing to play him on the right. Will Bendtner be given his head as the main man? Can we rely on him to remain fit for the rest of season? Big questions for Le Boss to answer.
We have a rare and priceless opportunity to win the league
Manchester United dropping points and Birmingham was typical of a league in which all of the top three teams have real and unavoidable faults. Chelsea were hailed as ‘invincible’ after beating us 3-0 but their form since then has given the lie to that myth. United, meanwhile, are a shadow of last season’s side. It may be some time before we have another season where the other big teams are so weak. We must do our utmost to take the opportunity available to us, and if that means spending a few quid then so be it.
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Nothing mind-blowing in there, but lots for Arsene to think about in the week before our next fixture – especially whether or not he dives in to the transfer market. Till tomorrow…
