Last night saw Manchester United come back from two goals down to score four in under half an hour to further increase the gap between them and Arsenal to eight points as the Gunners were playing the late match. Chelsea, meanwhile, surprisingly struggled to break down a resilient Stoke City side and only managed to come away from the Britannia with a 1-1 draw courtesy of a Didier Drogba header, responding to an earlier strike from Jon Walters. As a result, their title defense looks to be all but gone.
The late kickoff saw Arsenal play Blackburn at the Emirates. Arsene Wenger welcomed back the likes of Alex Song and Theo Walcott back from injury. Cesc Fabregas was left on the bench. Robin van Persie managed to shrug off a knock he suffered in the qualifier against Hungary to lead the front-line. Manuel 'safe hands' Almunia started in goal, again.
The first 10 minutes or so was typical Arsenal football. They zipped the ball at ease and managed to get an opportunity when Walcott was in the box. Paul Robinson managed to smother it for a corner. Blackburn Rovers defended admirably and also mustered an effort on goal themselves through Martin Olsson, and Almunia was more than lucky as his diabolical handling only managed to fumble the ball out for a corner. It seemed that everytime the Spaniard got anywhere near the ball, or the was a cross/shot on the way, the defenders and all the Arsenal fans had their hearts in their mouths. Talk about instilling confidence.
The match went on until the referee blew the whistle to end the first half. The Arsenal players lacked some pace, and maybe creativity to unlock the Rovers defence. The second half went on in the same fashion, and Chamack was on. It did not result in much of a change in terms of the way they played, though the amount of crosses into the box by Arsenal was more than surprising to say the least. The Blackburn trio of Robinson, Samba and Nelsen dealed with the Arsenal 'aerial' threat with ease. Kudos to Blackburn and Steve Kean. The second half, however resulted in more chances for the Arsenal, but, to no surprise, they failed to convert them. The only other notable action from the game was the red-card to Steven Nzonzi for a a rash challenge on Laurent Koscielny. Even with 10 men, Blackburn managed to secure their rear-guard with relative ease.
In the end, the only thing Wenger said was that the performance was a 'worry', adding that their game lacked their usual pace. It was really disappointing to watch the Arsenal players unable to do anything to slice through Blackburn Rovers defense and to top it all off, the had relatively, their full team out there, bar Thomas Vermaelen and Johan Djourou.
The result left them 7 points behind leaders United, with a game in hand. For Arsenal to now win the title, they'd have to win all their remaining games, plus hoping Chelsea defeat the Devils at Old Trafford in May. It is practically impossible to think that Arsenal can achieve this task. The last three games have seen them drop six points in total, with consecutive draws against Sunderland, West Brom, and now Blackburn. With wins in these games, they would have been right on the tail of United, being a point behind with a game in hand. But all this is a case of "If's" rather than the here and now.
The performance left much to be desired, though the goal was not forthcoming. In order to challenge the likes of United, Arsenal cannot, at all costs, afford draws against the so-called 'lesser clubs'. United, though poor in the first-half at Booleyn Ground, managed to muster four goals, courtesy of some help from Wayne Rooney, who by the way, managed to notch his first hat-trick of the season. The bottom line is, I personally do not see Arsenal being able to challenge United for the title. In order to prove me and the fans wrong, Arsene might have to come up with a different system to counteract teams like Blackburn who come to the Emirates and park the old bus in front of goal. Maybe a revert to the old 4-4-2 or a 4-1-3-2 formation might help, putting Chamack alongside Van Persie from the off, and going at teams from kickoff rather then leaving it too late. In this formation, two off either Arshavin, Song, or Walcott might have to be dropped from the starting line-up, but knowing Wenger, he might not be bold enough to make such a decision. Plain and simple, teams these days know how to play Arsenal. Just give them the ball, sit back and soak up the pressure, and hit them on the break.
That being said, this will still, I think, be one of the closest seasons ever, both at the top, and also the relegation fight.
Till next time,
Goodbye
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