Arsenal Get One Foot In The Champions League « Gillespie Road

Arsenal Get One Foot In The Champions League

Morning all. After last night’s rain, today seems a lot brighter and generally happier, and for Gooners this effect is augmented by last night’s win in Prague.

Another game, another Alex Hleb goal. Again in the 90^th minute. After the Belarussian promised to score more goals this season, he can certainly be considered a man of his word. Well so far anyway. Cesc too chipped in with a goal to give us the lead, before Hlebs strike earned us the win. That’s 2 away goals we take back to The Grove and although qualification is not guaranteed, it does seem very likely now. That’ll be £25m in the club’s skyrocket then. Mmmmm. Moneylicious.

It was another functional, if not dazzling performance that saw us walk away with the victory. We had to wait until Cesc’s 72^nd minute strike to break the deadlock, surviving good attacks by Sparta along the way. In fact, Sparta were denied a 9^th minute lead by a combination of Jen’s feet and the post, as the German ‘keeper looked to have put Sunday’s aberration well and truly behind him. The defensive line too, appeared to be on much better form than against Fulham and new skipper, William Gallas put in a Man of the Match performance. Perhaps this will go some way to dispel some of the doubt surrounding the Frenchman’s suitability to wear the armband?

However, it was not all sweetness and light. It was another result forged out of a gritty, ‘ugly’ performance and not played at a canter like we all know Arsenal are capable of. Again, we looked lightweight in the midfield without Gilberto, and RVP was isolated and starved of good chances up front. After all the hype, Tomas Rosicky was relatively quiet, and while he played well, he wasn’t the instrumental force that the Czech technician is capable of. However, it was a good team performance – one which rode it’s luck, was competitive to the last and one that again shows that Arsenal do need moments of individual brilliance from Thierry Henry to win matches.

If there is one player who can fill the void of match winner, it’s Cesc Fabregas. I think Cesc is truly a legend in waiting. Not only is he a quality midfielder who is blessed with touch and vision, but he’s also a right little bastard when he wants to be. And I love that. I love his attitude towards people he’s ‘supposed’ to have respect for. Because he doesn’t. What he said to Mark Hughes was genius in my opinion, and while he maybe shouldn’t have, he had a valid point. Last night, he showed that he’s prepared to get stuck in despite his diminutive size, by clattering former Spammer, Tomas Repka. When the Czech defender trudged off to be substituted after 40 minutes, Cesc was mimicking his limp. He knows that Repka would’ve seen it – if he didn’t someone would’ve told him about it. But the thing is Cesc doesn’t care. He knows that he is a better player than many, many others and he’s prepared to mix it up on the pitch and let his football do the talking. As the Spaniard grows in stature, both in football and physical terms, I truly believe that he will inspire the team towards titles and cement his place in Gooner folklore.

Also worth mentioning is Alex Hleb’s renaissance in the centre of the pitch. He has looked accomplished and has relished the chance to play in his favoured position at the tip of the attacking midfield, and one can only hope that he carries this form over to when he is asked to play on the right when Arsene decides to switch to a 4-4-2 for certain games. I think it’s no small coincidence that his 2 goals in 2 games have come from a period where he’s been playing his natural position.

On to Sunday then. The Blackburn game will be a real acid test as far as I’m concerned. They are up there with the Bolton’s of this world in terms of football ugliness, and typically they always approach our games with the mindset of booting us off the park. So far, we have had some tough physical games and come through them admirably. It remains to be seen as to whether this can continue against the likes of Blackburn, but I have a sneaky suspicion that there is more steel to this Arsenal team yet to be seen. I think a real turning point has been reached, and no more will teams be able to simply rough us up. I think an attitude of defiance has been instilled and the players will almost thrive off a little physicality. Last night and the Ajax game showed that there is more to the team than we’re being given credit for, and with each passing game, and with Eduardo and Adebayor still to return, I grow a little more confident that this season could be a great one for us. Not least because Man Utd look well off the pace, despite the outlay on Tevez et al, and Chelsea too are none too convincing so far.