At the start of the season, I thought that Arsenal's squad has improved by a little baby step because we added Chamakh, Koncielni and Squillachi. We kept our squad together by fending off the loud mouthed Barcelona team who seems to prefer to persuade Fabregas to join them via the press than to talk directly to the Arsenal. Without a new goalkeeper, Arsenal will probably fight for 3rd place with Man U. If we get a top class goalkeeper, we could reach 2nd or even win the League and maybe some minor tropy like the FA Cup.
Man U did not invest much in new players in the last 3 seasons because Glazer is still putting his hand in the cash till. Apparently, a BBC documentary investigated Glazer's financials and found out that they owned many shopping malls in the US that were not well occupied due to the Great Recession. Anyway, Man U seems weaker this season. Scholes, at 35, and Giggs at 37 are still in the first XI, which speaks a lot for Man U's finances. It is a team in decline and should end up 2nd or even 3rd.
Chelsea failed to make any major signing. They still haven't broken even in the 6th year of Abromovich's reign. Every season, they bled over GBP30m. Has the Russian oligarch grown tired of pumping money into his expensive toy? If he does, Chelsea will slip quickly down the slippery slope to bankruptcy just like Leeds. Their players are mostly past 30, but are still a formidable force with Italian efficiency. They are favourites for the title still, although decline seems inevitable.
Liverpool looks dead and buried by selling Mascherano. Unless a new owner with deep pockets takes over, Pool looks dead and buried. Standard Chartered Bank must be wondering why they spent millions sponsoring a club that probably can't get into the Champions League for the 2nd year in a row. 5th place if no sugar daddy arrives, but 4th if he/she does.
Manchester City could actually challenge for the league title. They have a good coach, a very strong squad and an owner who hasn't grown tired of his toy. Citeh could take 1st place, pushing Chelsea to 2nd, Man U 3rd and Arsenal 4th.
In this game, I noticed that Arsenal is stronger than last season. Their midfield holds the ball better, wins possession better too. They adopted a 4-2-3-1 formation when playing away, presumably to copy the great Spanish national team and Barcelona side. Diaby and especially Song did a good job protected the back 4. I felt Wenger needed 2 more players to make the team complete; a goalkeeper and another defensive midfielder. If Song is injured, I shudder to see Denilson back in the starting lineup. Our back 4 fell asleep after scoring the 1st goal. We were caught 3 against 3 in a counter. Sagna was out of position or slow to track back. Koncielni had to break formation to cover the marauding Diouf on our right. 2 Blackburn players in the middle waiting for the cross against 2 Arsenal defenders; Clichy and Vermaelen. Koncielni was beaten at the so Vermaelen broke formation to confront Diouf. It wasn't Vermaelen's fault. It was Clichy's fault for ball watching and not tracking his opponent coming from the blind side. It was classic defensive indiscipline that plagued Arsenal throughout Wenger's tenure. Luckily, we pulled one back from a rather fortuitous goal by Arshavin and nicked this.
Arshavin on the left, Fabregas in the middle and Walcott on the right provided the attacking thrust while van Pierse was the lone striker. I think we did ok going forward. Rosicky should have scored with only the goalkeeper to beat.
Blackburn isn't a top opponent. This season, whoever takes points off Chelsea, Man U, Citeh, Liverpool and Spurs will have a good chance of winning the league. If we defend like we did tonight, Arsenal fans will be disappointed for the 6th season yet again.
