Thursday, March 22, 2012

Third Place!

A huge 1-0 road win over Everton today was only the first piece of good news, in an almost perfect day for the Gunners. Chelsea blew a 1-0 lead on the road to Man City, thus putting a temporary wrench in their resurgence after the sacking of AVB (six points behind). Liverpool somehow blew a 2-0 lead to lowly QPR (13 points behind, surely dead and buried). And in the second best news of the day, Tottenham could only muster a late equalizer and one point against Stoke (1 point behind). And thus Arsenal has clawed their way back up to third a few weeks after being down 2-0 to Tottenham and on the brink of the worst season ever under Wenger. And yet now we stand in a wonderful position and with a win on Saturday will gain a further advantage over Tottenham, Chelsea or both (if they draw). 

Arsenal has somehow changed their late season narrative of the past few campaigns, after things were starting to unravel in the new year. They are coming from behind (the last four games before today). They are winning ugly when necessary -- after looking lively early they held on against an Everton side that seemed intent on equalizing. They are actually getting some important calls go their way (the incorrect offsides that disallowed the Drenthe goal in the first half; though to be fair a pretty clear penalty was not called in the second). And they are moving up, rather than down the table as the season nears its end. But for the two game hiccup in the first leg of the UCL and the FA Cup, they look like one of the stronger teams in the league, and with a few additions this summer could be a real threat in the EPL and Champions League next year. And they seem to have the meddle on both sides of the pitch that has so often failed them in the seven-year drought. When the defense needs to stand up, it seems to of late and we have scored more late winners than I can ever remember. 

As to the game itself, we looked lively from the onset and could easily have put the game out of reach within the first ten minutes. Ramsey missed two good opportunities before Vermaelen scored his sixth of the season with a nice header surrounded by four Everton defenders. Van Persie missed a nice chance and Sagna, Walcott and Rosicky all looked strong (Rosicky was denied by a nice save from Howard early in the second). The defense held up nicely as well, with Vermaelen having several important clearances, Koscielny looking strong and Song and Arteta playing further back effectively in the second half. While Sagna did have some problems with Fellani, he held up and I believe the team has improved since his return -- particularly moving forward. Walcott looked good early and even had a couple of important defensive plays. And even with at least two missed opps by Van Persie, we still sealed a tough victory at Goodison. Ramsey looked a little better today, though I really do think he should have scored, and maybe created a little competition for the spot. I would like to see Santos back on the pitch though, as I believe he is more of a threat on the left side than Gibbs and he actually has more successful tackles than anyone on the squad. 

In the other games (which I cruised through via my DVR) ... Chelsea looked set to pull off a shocker today that would have given United a solid lead after Cahill scored on a deflection in the second half. But a hand-ball penalty on Essien was wonderfully taken by Kun Aguero and then a spectacular one-two by Nasri and Carlos Tevez (yes the guy who went AWOL for the past several months was on the pitch and maybe saving City's title run) created the late winner. Watching the game I couldn't help but notice Clichy causing trouble on the left side, Nasri scoring the winner, Cahill opening things up for Chelsea and thinking all of those players could be with Arsenal at the moment. But I'm not sure Cahill is better than either Vermaelen (no way) or Koscielny at the moment, and I do believe Clichy is passed his prime. But Nasri had one of his best games for City in some time and could be the hero if they do pull off the late surge to win the title. Tottenham is lost and while I'm sure third place is not guaranteed, Harry and the squad seem to be doing their annual late season fade. Saturday could be very telling in their attempt to "right the ship," or fade even further behind. The reality is the FA Cup tie might be the most disappointing result of the season for us, as the way we are playing right now we might have been favored to win it; but a third-place finish in this season of minor and major nightmares would surely be satisfying for Wenger, the team and us fans. Go Gunners!

P.S. Congratulations to the NFL for meting out serious punishments to the Saints coaching staff in the wake of the bounty scandal. While the NFL is inherently violent, for the coaches to actually sanction hurting opposing quarterbacks is just the latest example of the moral vacuum that pro sports too often reflects. And on a semi-related note, what are the Jets thinking signing Jesus-freak Tebow. We already have a quarterback with a delicate soul and now we have one of the least innately talented players at the position breathing down his neck? Shame on Rex Ryan and the management for taking a team with a lot of potential and attempting to flush it down the toilet. The curse of Namath may just continue into eternity (we haven't been back to the Super Bowl in 40 plus years, for those who don't pay attention). 

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