Match Preview: Arsenal v Blackburn, Premier League Match Day 24

Earlier this week, I talked about seasons having moments. And in the draw to Bolton we seemingly let a moment pass us by – yet again. Well, once again whether the lads who take the pitch want to accept they are faced with another momentus moment.  They can either do something to stop the rot that has seeped into this club since the beginning of 2012 or they can let the collapse fully take hold. It is entirely in their hands what happens at this point.

The season has 15 matches left including this one. That’s 45 points to play for. In Arseblog today they point out the fourth place team in the last few years finished off at ‘10-11: 68pts – 09-10: 70pts –08-09: 72pts – 07-08: 76pts.’  That means for the Gunners to finish fourth at this point they need to finish the season in unprecedented form. The run to the end needs to be near perfect. Now you can never predict what is going to happen above you and it is why I am focused only what this team does for the remainder of the season. With the numbers in front of you, I am sure you can see how hard this is going to be.

If there is a good point the squad and first XI are getting healthy. Bacary Sagna is back fully and played 90 minutes in the mid week with ill effect. Kieran Gibbs is practicing with the team and will likely be on the bench. Mikel Arteta also returned to the squad and looked fit afterwards. Still Jack Wilshere is out with no return date set. Andrei Santos, Abou Diaby and Carl Jenkinson all remain out as well.

In Blackburn Arsenal have an opponent that showed how many problems the Gunners had. They let Yakubu bag a brace and scored a brace of own goals  to lose to the Lancashire side 4-2. It was Blackburn’s only win in their first 13 games and the upset of the season at the time.  Steve Kean’s side will be without the scoring machine Yakubu who is serving the final day of his suspension as well as missing their best defender in Chris Samba. Samba is a healthy scratch who sits ont eh sideline as punishment for his handing in a transfer request.

Blackburn are a side that have yet to keep a clean sheet all season in any competition. So it would seem that its the perfect side for Arsenal to face in order to begin setting things aright. But the big problem of scoring goals remain. As poor an outcome a draw was against Bolton was it was made even more so, because of the wastefulness in front of the net.  IN fact in everyone of their recent losses they out shot their opponent – with the exception of Swansea who just made the Gunners look silly (actually the Gunners made the Gunners look silly).

Wenger said he may rest some layers this week. But with every game now a “cup final” according to him I am not sure how he does that. He’s got no strikers on the bench who are as capable as Robin Van Persie. Gervhino is out with only the misfiring Walcott and young Oxlade Chamberlain on the wings. In fact Oxlade Chamberlain could miss out on the match as he is due to have a last minute fitness test.  if Chmbaerlain is out that means Wenger will once again turn to Andrei Arshavin the one player who already looks like he doesn’t want to be here.

I could go on but I think the point is made, the Gunners are thin at first team talent. They may have a big squad what it looks like they don’t have is a set of squad players able enough to fill in the gaps when injuries pop up. Sure, we can’t spend like City or Chelsea what we can do is spend shrewdly. There are quality buys to be had on the cheap.  If you look and buy shrewdly. Some how that ability has lweft Arsene who for the longest time was the king of that. Somehow that has seemingly left him. Now it is left to Jurgen Klopp and Walter Mazzari to do what Wenger was known for. Dortmund and Napoli are perfect examples of living on and competing  based on the old Wenger principles of shrewd buys and making stars.

If the club were at a crossroads in the mid week. I am not sure they are right now. They needed a performance like the second half against Villa and came out flat. One of their own, Mikel Arteta called the performances of late ‘not good enough.’  And they weren’t not for a club with aspirations of Champion’s League football.

The team is not a ‘one-man’ team as many would like to throw out there. But Robin Van Persie is the only who looks capable of doing anything. Aaron Ramsey has been hit and miss, which I think is a by product of his playing over-time without rest. Alex Song whom was having a good season has disappeared in the last few games and Theo Walcott, well Theo is back to being Theo. And that is one of the more maddening examples. Because for a while, he was showing major progress in his development. He was using his speed well, attacking down the flank and laying in good assists. Now he seems to have lost all that and is back to making some of the questionable decisions on the pitch. Again just another problem emblematic of everything going wrong with the club at the moment.

This is all together sad and frustrating because we all know that this club that went on that great run to lift it out of the bottom. The run from September to December was as good as any they’ve had in the last few seasons. It was Arsenal-worthy. They beat up on everyone they had and with the exception to a dodgy loss against Spurs and a hard fought loss to Man City they were so good.  What has happened since then remains a mystery. I am sure the lack of proper full backs had some impact. I’ll say it again but I find it of no little consequence that our scoring began to drop right after Andre Santos’ injury. He was the last of our real fullbacks to go out injured. As Bacary Sagna gets his game legs fully back (no pun there) it will be interesting if Theo refinds his form now that he has proper support on the wings.

I am genuinely glad that Sagna is back. He is the best RB in the league, and my favourite player on the team because of the joy and strength he seems to play with (I mean have you ever watched his face on the odd chance he scores that’s just joy). I am even glad it looks like Kieran Gibbs is back. But can they all get it together before it’s too late? That is the question. As we showed the margin for error is small.  The good thing is (as I mentioned on Wednesday) that the other teams around us aren’t in as great shape either.

How the Match Should Play Out:

Well, I expected a fired up performance in the mid-week and it did not happen. It wasn’t poor as the Gunners pretty much dominated but they didn’t finish. I expect to see much of the same control as Wednesday but hopefully with the end product in it. Blackburn after a mini-revival and slight escape from the relegation zone are back in it. The could very well be the worst squad in the league next to Wigan. Arsenal need to exact an ounce of blood and I expect them to come out flying to do so. In the end, Blackburn are the right tonic for Arsenal to face off against.

Players to Watch:
Arsenal. Robin Van Persie.  When Arsenal went on their great run, he put them on their back. He needs to do it again.

Blackburn. Anthony Modeste.  On loan to Blackburn from Bourdeaux, the 23 year old is quick, confident and good in the air.

Projected line ups:

Injuries and Suspensions:
Arsenal: Santos (ankle) Jenkinson (back) Diaby (hamstring) Wilshere (ankle)

Blackburn: Salgado (ribs) Grella (hip) Yakubu (suspended -1)

Leading Scorers:
Arsenal: Van Persie 19

Blackburn: Yakubu 12

Last Meeting (Premier League):
Arsenal: 2

Blackburn: 4

Goals For:
Arsenal (home): 1.5

Blackburn (away): 1.5

Goals Against:
Arsenal (home): 0.7

Blackburn: (away): 2.1

Last Five:
Arsenal: DLLLW

Blackburn: LDWLW

Goal Difference:
Arsenal: 6

Blackburn: -14

Match Official:
Referee: Andre Marriner (Matches 8, R1 Y33)

Broadcast Information:
US: ESPN 2 0800 EST

UK: ?????? 1300 GMT

GAMEDAY CHAT: It’s Open!!!!!!

www.youaremyarsenal.com/gamedaychat

YAMA Prediction:
Arsenal: 3

Blackburn: 0

The Final Word

What a week to be a Gooner eh? We are once again displaying the uncanny knack of eating our own. Lines are being drawn in the sand and tash bins are being placed over empty seats (maybe) to draw attention to empty seats.  That’s right you read it right. One erstwhile fan or fan group is trying to get fans to place black bin bags over empty seats to draw attention to the empty seats.  The poor individual(s) pulling together was soundly attacked on twitter for his attempt to shame the club.

Two problems with that though, first, the stadium will likely still be near capacity so the odd set of black bin bags might not really have an impact and two most fans who to matches still support the club. They may have issues with Wenger and with the board but they support the club its what they do and they won’t let anything get int he way of their support.  Come rain or shine, bad and good they are going to support the club. Because the club is bigger than the issues. They want the issues fixed and I think for the most part Gooners are now in tune with all the major issues and there is less and less that Wenger ‘can do no wrong’ and more of ‘it needs to get fixed.’ Obviously the argument is now who is the root cause of the problems but we’ll tackle that one on another day.

The point is I think the Black Bin Bag protest will fail because for the most part like American politics, most supporters fall don’t fall on the side of the ardent AKBers or most vocal WOB. Most are realists it’s just that the most vocal are the voices on the far right and left of the supporting spectrum.

I am still going to give Wenger my support for the remainder of the season and like the AST I will weigh at the end of the season what should be done. Of course I hold that statement in reserve. If the team fail arrest this decline than its clear something drastic has to be done and done immediately.

I got some stick myself this week in the form of some attempted humor. Word came out yesterday that Arsenal may have known about the extent of Wilshere’s new injury before the transfer window closed. The team didn’t move on a replacement because it was banking on the return of the Abou Diaby. Now let’s not get into the specifics of the silliness of this rationale by the club. Somehow though, the story made me think of the great line from Star Wars IV (or was it I) when Leia says “Help us Obi Wan Kenobi you’re our only hope.” It lead to the creation of the following image:

I picture Wenger in a dark hall looking over his shoulder to make sure the evil Darth Hill-Wood is not around and he leans down to his trusty droid Artoo Pat Ricetoo and sticks a message in and says ‘Help us Obi Wan Diaby You’re Are Only Hope.” Yes, I am probably the only one who finds this story amusing but its my blog so piss off.

Anyway long story short I was actually attacked for my attempt at humour. Not because it was bad humour which I expected but because I dared poke fun at a player. Is it really that serious? I will always call it like I see it. I will give praise where praise is deserved and criticise when it is warranted. Right now there is a lot to criticize and I feel its warranted to say such things as “Wenger if he hasn’t already is close to losing this team.” It’s akin to when the Gunners were on their great run and said “If you’re going to criticize Wenger for the early form you have to give him props for pulling it together to get us out of the rut.” I have always been consistent in how I view the club. I am a supporter. A bullish one at that. On game day regardless of what happened the previous match, I tune in hoping, anticipating a win. Only after the final whistle blows do I pass my judgement.

I am not saying my way is the perfect way or the right way. But is my way and like respecting the sometimes looney nature of an AKBer or the constant drone of vitriol spewed by WOBers, it should be respected.

With that, I am off to enjoy the match then enjoy a day at the auto show. I’ll be back later with some post match thoughts and hopefully an eye on the car I’ll never be able to afford in this life-time.

Until next time – stay goonerish!