Before starting my look at Arsenal’s performance against Blackburn on Saturday I must apologise to the fans and readers of football fancast at having suggested in my last article that Theo Walcott could find himself in the lower leagues of English football after Arsenal’s disastrous performance at Fulham few weeks back. Well it was a normal reaction on my part given the performance on that particular day but there has been no denying of the fact ever on anyone’s part that Walcott is a special talent and as an Arsenal fan I was the happiest to see him destroy Croatia on a memorable English night at the heart of the Croatian capital Zagreb.
Nowadays it’s a bit hard to find real English heroes playing for Arsenal with Theo being the one but not the last surely.
After a week of grueling international fixtures, we are back with club football this weekend and Saturday started with a huge kick-off between Liverpool and Manchester United with the Reds getting past their great rivals from the city of Manchester 2-1 in Rafa Benitez’s first Premier League win against United.
Visits to Blackburn Rovers are always considered tricky and Arsenal certainly expected the same. Rovers’ physical game added to a boisterous Ewood Park support had on many an occasion provided Arsenal Wenger unwanted headaches. The last corresponding fixture ended 1-1 a year ago but this match was important for the Gunners to stamp their authority in the Premiership and one could feel that there was no more scope for slip-ups, particularly after the loss to Fulham. Arsene Wenger, on the eve of the clash, had insisted on resting England’s crowned hero Walcott before launching a tiring Champions League campaign away to faraway Dynamo Kiev but an injury to Samir Nasri made him alter his plans and the 19-year old former Southampton starlet ultimately started the match and what a match the teenager had completing a wonderful personal week. It was eye-catching right from the word go and Arsene Wenger’s men served up a match full of attacking displays, pacy counter-attacks, breathtaking individual moments, solid defending and goalkeeping and above all a true professional display that only prospective champions can put up.
Theo Walcott was the architect of the devastating 4-0 Gunners win over Paul Ince’s hapless Blackburn side as he set-up the victory by creating Arsenal’s delightful eighth minute opener when he kept out a host of Blackburn challenges to provide a fine pass for Robin Van Persie to finish expertly past Paul Robinson. Blackburn looked a threat going forward but some good defending by Kolo Toure and some good reflexes by Manuel Almunia prevented the hosts from scoring but there was something about Arsenal’s approach yesterday that made the fans believe that the North London side would not let Blackburn dominate in front of the Ewood Park faithful.
The time has arrived to forget the Emmanuel Adebayor transfer saga in the closed season and if any fan has any doubt about the Togolese’s commitment to this club, please forget and forgive. There was no question about Adebayor’s ability and he scripted a memorable day for Arsenal with a timely hat-trick to end his Premier League goal drought this season. How important it is for Arsenal to see Adebayor hit the target three times going into a very busy week with the Champions League season getting underway this week.
Lots of positives have come out since the loss to Fulham. Two heavy wins against Newcastle and Blackburn have renewed hopes that Arsenal still possess that sensuous football that once saw the Gunners go a whole season unbeaten. Well, that’s not going to happen this season but enough attacking options added to a strong bench with exciting youngsters such as Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere and Carlos Vela have given hopes for silverwares this season at N5. Although I do feel that Arsene Wenger could have used the transfer window to add a bit more weight to his midfield but as always the ‘professor’ has backed his instincts by relying on his trusted youth policy with Mikael Silvestre being the only experienced addition from Manchester United.
It was a memorable afternoon for 16-year old Jack Wilshere as he became one of the youngest players in Premiership history when he replaced Dutchman Robin Van Persie in the 83rd minute. Aged 16 years and 256 days, Englishman Wilshere has the potentials to follow in the footsteps of Wayne Rooney and Theo Walcott and now it remains to be seen how Wenger utilizes his rookie.
With Arsenal just one-point adrift of Chelsea and Liverpool, this is the time when the youngsters from the Emirates stadium cannot afford to lose focus. One thing is for sure Arsene Wenger has seen and experienced enough over the past few years to avoid dropping points during crucial stages that could turn out to be fatal come the end of the season. So let us all hope that the Gunners continue with this authoritative performance week and week out in all competitions to cap 2008/09 season a memorable year for the red half of North London.
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