Arsenal FC 3 - Blackburn Rovers 0

It was the Jens Lehmann show on Saturday.
I know I come down hard on him but only rightly so - if he wants to be Germany's No.1, then he'll have to put in more performances like on Saturday night (Nov 26 2005) against Blackburn.
He pulled off one great save after another and didn't even fumble when cutting out a pass outside the penalty box.
It was certainly one of his more inspired displays.
Next to the German, Kolo Toure also deserves mention as well for putting in a sterling show at the back, shoring up the defence whenever Sol Campbell got caught out.
Though Campbell didn't play too badly, I feel he could do better - and again, should do much better considering the World Cup is around the corner.
I've noticed that his passing from the back has been dismal for some time now and is another area that needs to be looked at.
He and Pascal Cygan were constantly giving away possession and putting the team under unnecessary pressure time and time again throughout the match.
Cygan was horrendous yet again in the left back position. It was obvious that he's the weakest link in the defence chain and Blackburn were bent on exploiting that fact.
Luckily though, Jose Reyes was playing on the left flank and his defending skills came in quite handy when covering for the Frenchman.
In fact, Reyes is probably better at defending than he is at attacking.
I was chatting with a friend and we agree that Reyes is probably Arsenal's best stopgap solution to the left back problem.
They could put Reyes at the back and play with either Robert Pires or Freddie Ljungberg on left wing, preferably the former.
And not forgetting, Alexander Hleb is also close to a return.

The team really has to stop giving away possession as cheaply as they do now. If they can do that, it'll stabilise the team and their shape on-field.
That in turn helps build confidence, consistency and perhaps create more clear-cut chances.
Not like they don't make enough chances to score at the moment, but considering they enjoy walking the ball into goal and making life unnecessarily difficult for themselves, they'll just need more goal scoring opportunities.

In midfield, Gilberto Silva did just about enough to shore up the defence while Cesc Fabregas managed to score and excellent goal.
It's great to see him get on the score sheet from time to time and it'll do his confidence a world of good.
Other than that, he and his Brazilian centre midfield partner did sufficiently enough.
Pires was given more of a free role in midfield and showed up with a great pass that made Arsenal's second goal.
Though nothing must be taken away from Thierry Henry's finish, I feel it was the pass that made the goal.
Gosh, how I miss watching Arsenal pull off hits like that week-in-week-out.
The pass was beautifully weighted and Henry simply had to stroke it home inside the far post.
He made it look a lot easier than it really was especially with a defender closing down on him.
It was a perfect goal. Had Henry decided to take an extra touch to control the ball in any other way, the chance would have gone begging.
Dennis Bergkamp was mostly anonymous throughout the game but his replacement, Robin Van Persie, put planted a great goal to finish off the opposition.
He picked up the ball on the right wing, somehow managed to drift in between two Blackburn players, jinked into the penalty box and fired a curling shot into the far post.
My jaw dropped with I saw it go in. He simply had no right to score a goal from there. It was brilliant. It was beautiful. It was classy. It's got Henry smiling...and that's priceless.

FC Thun 0 - 1 Arsenal FC

Pires = Super-sub. I've said it before and I'll say it again. That's how I see him fitting into the current Arsenal team.
Though apart from the penalty kick, Pires had little else to offer on the night, as I've said, he still pops up with the odd goal or two that wins matches.
And that's why Arsenal must see his contract through.
The Nov 22 game away to FC in general was quite bizarre.
I don't know how Arsenal walked away with the spoils when they'd conceded a perfectly good goal.
The assistant referee wrongly saw a Thun player offside and ruled out the goal.
On the other end, I felt that perhaps Robin Van Persie went down a little too easily for the penalty call.
Though there seemed to be some amount of contact, I'm used to seeing the pleas for penalties from those incidents easily waved off by the referee.
But Pires despatched his kick with aplomb and we took the three points and at the end of the day, as unjustified as it may seem for Thun, the end result will be all that counts.

In defence, Pascal Cygan was crap yet again in his makeshift left back position.
He kept getting dragged out of position numerous times, leaving Reyes to pick up the pieces and track back really deep, and was beaten for pace on so many occasions that I lost count.
I held my breath each time Thun attacked on Arsenal's left side.
Senderos, who was standing in for the rested Kolo Toure, was a rock at the back.
Although not as pacy as Toure, he made up for it with his awareness and positioning, something Cygan knows little about in his current position.
Wenger, hopefully having seen enough, decided to switch him for Lauren in the second half which helped a lot with the pace.
Sol Campbell was not at his best again but there was an improvement in his performance compared to Arsenal's game against Wigan over the weekend.
But all in all, he pulled off a great performance when compared to Cygan.
Toure's international teammate, Emmanuel Eboue on the other hand, put together a sterling performance especially considering he doesn't get too many chances to play.
He has strength, speed and some nifty footwork that impressed.
He was giving the Thun left side hell with his dribbling skills but he lacked the maturity to work the ball well in the final third.
There were occasions throughout the match where Eboue dribbled past three defenders and into the penalty box but just didn't know how to get himself out of trouble.
Plus, with his size, I don't think going down in the box is going to win too many penalties.
I was quite impressed with him and getting a few games under his belt would surely do wonders for his education and confidence.

Elsewhere in midfield, Freddie Ljungberg wasn't firing on all cylinders again. He really looks tired but I see him giving his all for the team.
The Alexander Song and Mathieu Flamini pairing in the centre of midfield didn't do a great deal to impress.
Song was in and out of the game and didn't seem too well positioned throughout.
He was showing up all over the middle but not stamping much authority.
Flamini on the other hand disappeared into the game and hardly touched the ball especially in the second half.
Reyes was lively and hardworking but lacked the killer instinct I expect a record signing to have

Up front, Van Persie huffed and puffed but together with Henry, was limited to the number of chances they had.
Henry looked like he was having an off day and was substituted by Pires with 20 minutes to go in the game.

I guess the team was guilty of over-elaborating in the final third of the pitch again.
I don't understand why they don't pull the trigger more often.
Their approach play was good but they lacked that little bit extra needed to take a shot.
It's as though they're lacking confidence in front of goal.
Of course it didn't help that Thun were a hardworking side and closed down their opponents quickly and defended in numbers.
They seemed to employ a 4-5-1 formation and tried to hit on the counter-attack.
The game saw an unbelievably high number of offside decisions called throughout and it took the fluidity out of the contest.
Arsenal had already qualified for the second phase of the Champions League but the three points from this game ensured that they finished top in their group and will be placed in the seeded teams' pot when the draw is made for the knockout stage.
Not like that makes a big difference in the Champions League but at least it allows Wenger to concentrate on domestic football and lets him blood some youngsters in Arsenal's final group game against Ajax in two weeks time.
Till then.

Wigan Ath 2 - 3 Arsenal FC

Pascal Cygan and Jens Lehmann sucked! The former more so than the latter.
Of course, I'm talking about Arsenal's narrow win over impressive Wigan on Nov 19 2005.
While I wasn't expecting the Gunners to walk all over Wigan (especially considering their rather lofty current position in the league), I was hoping that they could at least win with a two goal margin and not look as shaky as they did at the back.
Cygan was horrendous. He just didn't fit in at left back. He was having a torrid time.
While I understand that it's not his natural position, I expect his defensive instincts, (considering he's quite a senior figure) to be far better than they were on the night.
He's slow and kept getting bamboozled each time Wigan attacked from his side - and they kept probing all night knowing that it would be a chink in Arsenal's armour.
Luckily for the Gunners though, the pitch was quite bumpy and bad and the home side also took a more direct approach or used the long ball from time to time.
Though Arsenal aren't the best in the air, IMHO, it's slightly easier to cut out long passes if your defensive positioning is relatively sound.

Personally, I feel Lehmann didn't do enough to keep out Wigan's two goals.
Don't get me wrong, they were good goals but I also blame the German's lack of agility and speed (of thought?) for letting them slip through.
But yes, he's not totally to blame for a defense that looked to be in shambles.
Nonetheless, I'd like to see the club invest in a more youthful (but hopefully experienced) and agile keeper.
I think Stuart Taylor made a mistake in moving to Villa.
Though he may not break into the Arsenal first team soon, but the chances were there and quite clearly, Arsene Wenger was willing to give him a shot as he did in previous seasons.
And what's the difference at Villa?
He's still playing second fiddle and if it were me, unless I were guaranteed a first team spot, I'd rather bide my time at a bigger club like Arsenal.
I wonder what made him leave...
Lehmann, meanwhile, can kiss his chance at being the German first choice goalkeeper goodbye with performances like that at the JJB Stadium.

Sol Campbell wasn't having a great day at the JJB Stadium either.
He hardly featured prominently for the side and it was Kolo Toure's speed and tenacity that kept Arsenal in it several times just when it looked like using Route One was going to pay off handsomely for the home side.

As for midfield, I have to say that Freddie Ljungberg didn't have a great game either but then again, it was probably because he had to track back and shore up the defense on the left, which isn't exactly his favourite side of midfield.
Putting Robert Pires there would have been a grave mistake as the Frenchman isn't much of a defensive type and it would have left Arsenal wide open for attack especially with Cygan in left back.
I recall a point in the match where Cygan was completely out of position and Ljungberg had to get back really deep.
Cygan was taken for a ride and the team was losing its shape.
Ljungberg was none too pleased about it and once the ball went out of play, I noticed that he gave Cygan a piece of his mind before getting on with the game.

Cesc Fabregas and Gilberto Silva did pretty well but Pires' aging legs were showing.
He's a great footballer but I think age has finally caught up.
He's still quite capable of making great runs, passes and showing up at the right place at the right time but I feel the rigours of the league have taken a toll on the man.
While still quite useful (especially if you look at his goal scoring record), I think he should be played less or at least brought on more as a super-sub to inject more creativity into the side if needed.

Up front, Thierry Henry was awesome, again, and Robin Van Persie continued to impress.
However, sadly, the Dutch boy disappeared into the game after scoring his goal in the 11th minute.
Henry drove in a scorcher or a free kick. It was inch perfect and there was nothing the keeper could have done about it. That goal proved to be decisive.

The team in general, could have played better...especially when defending. They just weren't closing down the opposition quickly enough.
But all in all, I guess as long as they got the three points in the bag, we can all let out a sigh of relief.

Wonder how many more Get out of Jail cards we have left...