Kevin Whitcher
It was an industrious Arsenal that took the field at the Hawthorns and for much of the game against West Brom worked hard as a unit to press Steve Clarke’s side. It was refreshing to see, but begs the question as to why such an approach is not seen more often, as the rewards are tangible. There are suggestions that Steve Bould is being allowed more input in training, or perhaps Arsene Wenger’s throat problem - that meant Bould did the pre-match press conference - saw Bould give the team talk and fire up the players. Whatever the reason, three points were crucial and the side worked hard enough to earn them.
Certain players shone – especially in midfield. Rosicky scored two rare goals in the position which suits him best and Aaron Ramsey is finding much better form in a more natural role. It is interesting to note that the team seems to be performing better without two of its biggest stars – Wilshere and Walcott. Some players had less impact. Cazorla played a key pass in the move that led to Arsenal’s opener, but otherwise did not seem to influence proceedings greatly. Olivier Giroud hardly featured.
But a win’s a win and that’s exactly what the Gunners need right now. If we ignore the cup games of recent weeks, Arsenal have won six of their last seven Premier League fixtures, Spurs away being the exception. A very decent run. The Gunners are winning the matches one would expect them to, and if they had done this all season, they would be 14 points better off. Mertesacker’s dismissal around the 70 minute mark with the attendant converted penalty naturally changed the flow of the game. West Brom enjoyed two very good chances to equalize. It was frustrating that Wenger’s team, when it needed to, could not hold onto the ball for any length of time, and Giroud became very frustrating in this period with his inability to buy time for his team-mates. Granted, being a man down is a huge handicap, but possession is what the Gunners do on the training pitch day in day out. Even a man down they should have been able to exert a little control instead of retreating and inviting West Brom to bombard their goal. By the end of the game, they were hanging on, a little fortunate to escape with all three points.
Lukasz Fabianski had a fairly good game, although this was blighted by a couple of Flapianski moments. Old habits die hard and it was a salient reminder that he is not the top quality keeper there were once hopes he might turn out to be. There is a debate to be had about the quality of goalkeeper coaching at the club. Whoever is between the sticks, there are simply too many avoidable errors and misjudgments for this viewer.
Arsenal continue the season with winnable home matches against Norwich and Everton before a trickier visit to Fulham and the arrival of Robin van Persie and Manchester United. In the meantime, the results of Spurs, Chelsea and Everton pre-occupy our thoughts. Some are even dreaming of second place, in the event of a Manchester City collapse. Such a strange turn of events, however unlikely, would be a huge vindication for Arsene Wenger. ‘Look – we don’t need petrodollars. League position is the true measure of success’. However, selling Robin van Persie to Manchester United will be the decision that decided this season’s Premier League title. United, having played a game less, are 21 points ahead of Arsenal. There was a time when it was the Old Trafford club’s results that pre-occupied our thoughts…
The current issue of The Gooner will be on sale outside the stadium for the games against Norwich and Everton. Before the Norwich match, 80s defender Chris ‘Chalky’ Whyte will be signing copies – details to follow this week. The issue can also be bought online here. The Gooner is also available in digital form, through The Gooner App on iPhones and iPads, the Exactly App for Android devices and now Kindle Fire owners can also get their fix by searching the Amazon App Store for The Gooner. The Gooner app is free and you can download the first few pages of each issue as a taster before deciding whether or not to purchase the whole thing.
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