Little news worthy of discussion as international break commences
I am dreaming up some fun blog topics to fill an otherwise boring week. We’ll do some looking back at the season as it happened, and some looking forward to the possibilities remaining. Also, I think it’s worth examining different starting lineups that Wenger might employ as the team reaches full fitness. Finally, with summer approaching, maybe there’s room for a little bit of transfer window wish list discussion. All that and more, if you choose to stop by this week.
For today, we can just stick with the basics. Robin Van Persie has been nominated for PFA player of the month for March. I think any Arsenal supporter would acknowledge that it’s a stretch for him to be considered during that period. While Arsenal have been in good form, he certainly hasn’t had his shooting boots. He is always an important contributor, but I think you can make an easy argument for Arshavin as our player of the month. At the moment, he may well be the best player wearing the Arsenal colors. Naturally, the other nominees seem equally unworthy. Didier Drogba and Cristiano Ronaldo are particularly poor choices. Ronaldo has been a shadow of the player he was last season, and Drogba has only started to come back into the Chelsea side in earnest. However, we are all gunners here and should support our player and part-time captain. Vote for Van Persie here.
In other news, Arsene Wenger is struggling with his own sanity. Regarding Arsenal’s improbable Premier League title challenge he said,
“I still have hope because I am a little bit crazy. Realistically, no [it is not on]. But it does not matter how much chance that we have, we have to get as close as possible.”
Wenger may be crazy to suggest that Arsenal can still challenge for the title, but it makes you realize once again, just how committed he is to winning despite the recent trophy-less run. I’d much rather a manager hold out crazy hope for a title, than capitulate at the first sign of improbability. And I’m sure that United’s recent wobble makes it even harder for Wenger to accept that we are not genuinely challenging for the title this season. No one has been dominant in the league this campaign, and there’s really no reason why this Arsenal side couldn’t have been in the race until the bitter end.
Injuries aside, it was really the run of four scoreless draws that killed off our chance to compete for the title. If we could have finished off the chances that were there and taken all the points from those games, we would be just two points off the top with games remaining against Liverpool and United. As I said in an earlier blog entry, draws, not losses, lose league titles. Because it is the drawn the games where the opportunities are usually there to take all three points. Ultimately, ten draws this season were a few too many.
By the way, I’ve been watching some videos of Tomas Rosicky lately. It’s really such as shame for him and for Arsenal that he was hit with this terrible injury. He is a very special talent and some of the goals he can score from range are just the recipe for an Arsenal team that often has to work too hard to create chances.
That’s really all there is to report today. I’ll get creative to fill the void this week. In the mean time, enjoy some Arsenal football here.
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