Has it been just over 10 days that we were struggling to beat Championship sides in the Cup competitions? After watching Arsenal’s win over Leeds, it is good to say we have got our groove back. Goals from Nasri, Sagna and Van Persie guided us safely through to a meeting with another Championship side Huddersfield come January 30th.
As Simon Grayson himself admitted, his side was truly outclassed by a energetic Arsenal side. If you have caught last week’s match at the Emirates and the one against Ipswich, you would probably wonder if it is the same team that was playing. On Wednesday our lads showed much more passion, drive and above all, hunger to win the match that was so sorely lacking in the past week. True we made it harder for ourselves than we should when we missed chance after chance in the first half but at the end, our class and determination made it comfortable.
Personally, the victory was very down to the two players, Nasri and Sagna. Without Nasri at the Emirates last week, there was no creativity in the engine room at all and we struggled to create chances. It was only when the Fabregas came on that we got going and eventually found the equalizer. So we must learn our lesson here. Nasri or Fabregas must be present in the team for the lads to gel. If both are available then it is so much better but in any case, we need at least one of them to be on the field.
The other player that caught my eye was Bacary Sagna. He has been our most consistent defender this year and without him, we were sixes and sevens in defense. Although he was caught out of position on a few occasions, his speed and determination was enough for him to be back in his position to prevent the opposition attackers taking advantage. His goal was just the icing on the cake for a superb performance.
Another player worth mentioning is Nicklas Bendtner. I know I have been saying he is not good enough for Arsenal (I stand by everything I said) but on Wednesday night he played reasonably well. At times he look lost on the right and his first touch is still dreadful but he showed determination to run and help out in defense whenever needed.
Now that we are safely passed one Championship opposition, we just need to get through Ipswich in next week’s Carling Cup semi-final return leg at the Emirates to complete an excellent start to 2011.
Submitted by The Arsenal Kid
