A potential 12-point run-in just befor the Champions’ League break sees us play Villa, Man Utd, Chelsea and Liverpool. Most Gooners on this side of the pond reckon that a return of 8 points would be fair to keep ucs still in the mix. Otherwise it’s bye bye to dreams of a final push for the league. With 1 point already in the bag, where do you reckon the other 7 would come from? In my honest opinion, I’m thinking we should go for the win at home this Sunday against Manchester United and take that momentum into our away game with Chelsea and hope we can steal a point from them. The Liverpool game is definitely winnable as they look to be faltering really badly at the moment. Let’s hope they don’t pick up and go on a run in the next two weeks.
I could go on and on postulating about where we should or could be after this crucial run-in or how it would have all turned out if the two chances that hit the wood work went in off the post, but that would simply be complacent thinking because the best approach is to take the games as they come and plot our strategy based on our opposition, the stakes, and the available personnel speaking of which, it look like Thomas Vermaelen might have broken his leg. Speaking to the press after the game, the boss had this to say;
“Thomas Vermaelen we don’t know. There will be an x-ray. He is on crutches and it is a fibula injury. We have to check tomorrow morning if it is just a nerve or a broken bone. Eduardo has a hamstring strain, a small one. But, for Sunday [Manchester United at home], he will be out”
We haven’t had any updates on Silvestre so I’m assuming he’ll be fine for Sunday. If not, we might just be stuck with only two first team centre backs having just let Senderos go on loan to Everton till the end of the season. With the manager’s earlier revelation that Gallas had been playing on the edge for a while, we can only hope he stays fit. Otherwise we might just have another defensive crisis on our hands.
Nevertheless, I think having Sol Campbell at the back is a better short term solution than playing Senderos or Alex Song at centre back. His experience is simply priceles. This quickly brings to mind his subtle foul on Richard Dunne in the second half which ironically went without being penalised. With the Villa defender bursting free on a counter attack, Campbell raced in pursuit and as the closest defender, the only feasible option was to draw the foul. Instead of a reckless tackle from behind which could have earned him a red card, he somehow managed to pull him back and to the ground with the greatest of tact which surely must have led the referee to believe it was more of a tangle up, rather than a straight foul.
The boss also had his thoughts on the draw which to me was a fair result. He said;
“I believe we dropped two points because we had clear chances but on the other hand it was a difficult game. They stopped us from playing when we had the ball and they played a long-ball game and closed us down, so it was difficult. We didn’t always find our passing game. We know when we come here what we get and we were not disappointed. [The result] keeps our unbeaten run going. If you put all the games together I believe it maintains the positive vibes. Overall, you have to win any game at the moment. Compared to Chelsea who won today, we dropped two points. We want to win our next home game, it is as simple as that. We go from game to game because if you think too much ahead it is not too good.”
I completely agree with him on that approach and wait to see if we’ll buy anyone by Saturday…not likely in my book. We’ve got Bendtner back and we’ve re-signed Sol Campbell. Please don’t expect any miracles in the next few days.
Till then…Victoria Concordia Crescit
