Kevin Whitcher
Without wishing to sound like Myles Palmer and giving you the minutiae of my family life, this has to be written in approx 20 minutes, so please excuse the brevity. After years of earbashing from my better half, in 80 minutes’ time, I am headed for Gatwick with the family for a week in the Canaries for some winter sun. Burglars should note that the keys are under the doormat, but best not to break in at 7 in the morning and evening as the neighbours will be feeding the cats. I haven’t packed yet.
The game. There was certainly an air of foreboding pre-match outside the stadium. The fans have been burned too many times of late by the visits of United and Chelsea and the prospect of Didier Drogba with a point to prove did not augur well.
How wrong we were. Arsenal made five changes and critically, the inclusion of Djourou, Fabregas, Walcott and Van Persie made for a very different team from that which failed to impress at Old Trafford two weeks ago. The first half saw one decent chance for the visitors, but otherwise domination from the Gunners. Critically, the Chavs did not know what to do with Theo Walcott, and Ashley Cole’s booking was possibly a game turning moment. When the first goal came, it was well deserved. I ventured at half time that another goal was key as there was no way Wenger’s current Arsenal could win 1-0, and the ecstasy that followed the second and third goals has been seen all too rarely in recent seasons at the Grove.
Of course, Arsenal being Arsenal they had to give the opposition a sniff. Having blown it two up against Spurs, could they manage to give away a three goal lead against Chelsea? The visitors’ goal was a fairly typical one conceded by this team and the reason any set piece conceded strikes fear into the hearts of Gooners. Still, let’s not dwell on the negatives, last night was a fantastic delayed Christmas prezzie and the team saw the game out without inducing any heart attacks.
If Arsenal played with this kind of determination and quality on a regular basis, they would have won the league at least once since 2004. Can they now use the result as a springboard for a consistent run, a series of victories that will give them as good a chance as they enjoyed in 2008 and 2010? The visits to Wigan and Birmingham will certainly tell us plenty on that score, both venues where previous title challenges have come unstuck.
On that note, being away over the next seven days, I cannot see me catching the Wigan game in any way, shape or form as I doubt I will have much of an opportunity to get online. I should be able to catch the Birmingham match in a bar somewhere though, and will make every effort to visit an internet café the following day. How easy this proves will determine how regularly the site is updated between now and the Man City game. Simon Rose and Cannon Lore will hopefully fill the gap with their blogs if I am not able to do much on my hols. There will be a piece by Joe Mardon on last night’s game posted tomorrow to keep things ticking over.
Issue 211 of The Gooner with a free 2011 calendar was due out for the Chelsea game, however, it has been delayed because of the postponement of the Stoke match and will instead be on sale for the Man City match on January 5th.
Let’s hope 2011 proves as enjoyable as December 27th 2010.
Adios for now…
