Arsenal Wins!

A much needed victory for Arsenal, but less than convincing. What can you say any more? This team is really average since the Birmingham loss last year. The thing that is most annoying is how often we don’t even have our best team on the pitch. Why isn’t our most exciting player at present (besides Van Persie), Chamberlain, even playing in a game we need to win? Why did we spend money on Park if we are never going to use him? We clearly need to be active in the transfer window and hope we can put some victories together to stay in the hunt for fourth. A report card of the game:

Free kicks: Can we please get a free kick on goal (and please never let Walcott kick one again)? I wrote this before Van Persie’s saving FK, but really, it is a troubling trend overall.

Arteta: what happened to our big signing? He started with some promise but seems to get worse with every start. His corner kicks were too low, his free kick too high and when he has an open shot in front of goal as time is running low (around 70 minutes) he completely scuffs it. On top of this, a silly foul led to one of Sunderland’s only chances (which Seb Larssen converted; as he promised, one should note).

Gervinho: up and down performance from him. He is starting to look more comfortable and could become a real danger. What I have trouble understanding is why we so infrequently get it out on the wings. We play too much in the middle without a Fabergas or replacement to do the effective distribution that used to make us so dangerous.

Walcott: is a really, really average player with an ego that almost matches Bendtner (who actually does have talent, as far as I’m concerned). He thinks he can run around defenders and often just ends up losing the ball, his free kicks are almost always terrible, his crosses generally average and his decision-making really pathetic (note: a foul in the box near the final whistle could have drawn a whistle and equalizer from the spot). As many Arsenal fans write, he just doesn’t seem to have a good football brain; or to put it more directly, sucks in the final third. He has glimpses of brilliance, but they are often based on service from others. If Juve wants him, I say we bid him a fond adieu and let Chamberlain start or move him to the center.

Benayoun: please go back to Chelsea!

Rosicky: his best days are gone. It’s still nice to watch him dance around, but it never appears to amount to much anymore and he rarely shoots when he is open near the net. We need Ramsey to be in that position and perform better than he did against Totti.

Santos: bad free kick, but solid going back and overall once he came in. Might end up being the best signing besides Chamberlin this summer. Gibbs was fine, though not spectacular (didn’t do much going forward).

Mertesacker: better job for him, though he does telegraph his passes too often, lumbers going back and did have an error that would have led to a second Sunderland goal but for a great save from Szczesny. But I do believe he’s starting to grow into his role in the middle. Koscielny was fine, nothing much to report – which is good news for our centre backs.  

Jenkinson: I’m still not convinced by the player, but was pushing to go forward and did a good job defending, though his services weren’t needed that often. It’s incredible how far Sunderland have fallen without Bent.

Arshavin: second best player on the pitch once he came in. Danced around four defenders and almost scored, a nice cross, decent shot, drew the foul that allowed Van Persie to win it and showed the creativity and danger largely missing from this side these days.

Song: maybe our most solid defender, even as he returned to his holding midfield role. But too many of his forward passes were not completed today. Needs to work on that aspect of his game. But has become a favorite of mine of late.

Van Persie: our MVP week after week. Without Fabergas and Nasri, there is just such a lack of creativity it’s sad to watch this once great team (and we’re talking about 8 months ago really). Even without great distribution, he scores twice and maybe saves our season.

Howard Webb: actually had a decent game. I mention him because I often think he is one of the worst refs in the league. A couple of missed calls here and there, but good job overall. Given how often the refs have a say in our games, we should thank him for a job well done.  

We have some winnable games coming up and need to grab more points to qualify for the knock-out stage of the Champions League, but I feel the key for us right now is to move forward in the Carling Cup and push our way up the table. News in recent weeks has included the realization of how far we’ve fallen: Martin said no thank you to a January transfer, long time target Hazard appears set to go to Real Madrid instead and, of course, there was Mata who also said no thanks to Arsene (along with a host of others this summer). If we need evidence of our decline, it is the young players who no longer are drawn by the prospect of tutelage under Wenger, going for the bigger money and better teams. Rumors have also started to spread on some possible replacements for Wenger if he does step down (or is given the boot). Among them are Bergkamp and Ancelotti. I would take either, really. The key is to do something to give this team a winning spirit again. There is just a sense that the team feels much as the fans do – waiting for something bad to happen even when we’re ahead. But a win is a win and something to build on. Go Gunners!