Wigan 0 – 4 Arsenal: Vermaelen is a defender with a poacher’s instinct
101 comments December 5th, 2011
Gervinho celebrates his third Arsenal goal
Wigan 0 – 4 Arsenal
Match Report | Highlights | Arsene’s reaction
Arsenal are finally sharing the goals around…
Although Robin van Persie did grab his expected goal, he was joined by three other less familiar names on the scoresheet. Gervinho, Arteta and Vermaelen are all players capable of lessening the burden on the Dutchman, and it’s fantastic to see them finally beginning to do so. One only wishes that Park and Chamakh were capable of doing the same.
Thomas Vermaelen has a poacher’s instinct…
It’s remarkable that one of the players we’re looking at to take up some of the goalscoring burden is a centre-back. But then, Thomas Vermaelen is a remarkable footballer. Over his entire Arsenal career to date, he has a strike rate of almost a goal every four games. One need only see that when Arteta’s long-range strike hits the net, it is the Belgian who is following up in case of any rebound. The man simply loves a goal. As Arsene commented after the game, “I still don’t know if he came to replace Toure or Adebayor”.
Gervinho’s goal was much more than a tap-in…
Admittedly, it was a simply finish – and one which the erratic Ivorian almost miscued – but in some respects this was a spectacular goal. Excluding Ali Al-Habsi’s parry on Robin van Persie’s shot, this was a move that included a mammoth 33 passes. Take a look:
WigvArs 33 passes by Vineeta_Nair
Admittedly, Wigan’s defending is poor, but our use of the ball is as good here as it has been all season. Promising indeed.
Theo Walcott is becoming a true team player…
His unselfish square for Van Persie spoke volumes, as did his obvious delight at getting an assist. Walcott’s good form has been one of the highlights of our season thus far, and one only hopes he and Van Persie can remain fit enough for their fruitful relationship to continue. Walcott has now assisted 11 goals for RVP – that’s as many as Dennis Bergkamp provided for Thierry Henry in their entire time at Arsenal.
Szczesny is part of a new core…
I expect by now you’ll have seen the clips of Wojciech Szczesny singing Arsenal songs at the top of his voice in the aftermath of Saturday’s game. His love for the club is palpable, and along with the likes of Vermaelen, Wilshere, and Frimpong, he is helping to forge a new spirit in the squad. These players seem to take genuine pride in representing Arsenal, as the treatment dished out by Frimpong towards deserter Samir Nasri shows. It’s heartwarming stuff, but there’s a serious side to it too – it’s a sign of the kind of spirit you find at many trophy-winning teams.
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Arsenal fly to Greece later today for their dead rubber tie with Olympiacos. I won’t be able to watch the game live, but I’ll hopefully provide some thoughts once I’ve caught up on Sky+.
