Flawed Thinking & Cruyff Praises RvP

The morning before the morning before the night before. Or something like that anyway. The papers are awash with helpful hints about how to beat Barcelona, why Cesc is the Player of the Year, who’s in, who’s out, who they are scared of, why Arsenal won’t win, why they will and where the most aerodynamic toilet rolls can be purchased. Well, if no-one has printed that, they certainly ought to.

Ian’s Wrong

Ian Wright though believes that Arsenal should forget the Champions League and concentrate on domestic glory. Regular readers will know that Ian Wright the pundit is not rated very highly on these pages. For once he has avoided the histrionics which seem to surround his every spoken word.

Wright’s assertion that is wrong is this one,

if they go out this would give them a better chance of winning the League

There is no logic to this. There is absolutely no evidence he can produce which will support such a claim. Equally, there is none to disprove it.

This time he argues that the lack of depth in both Arsenal and United’s squads is such that they will be compromised by injuries and suspensions. The latter is irrelevant since domestic and european suspensions are separate issues. The former, well they are going to be there come what may. Samir Nasri’s hamstring went in an FA Cup tie but who can say whether or not it would have gone in a training session or the next match?

Wright’s arguments are flawed though. The squad’s depth is better than it is given credit for. There will always be one or two injuries floating around in the starting XI but equally, loss of form can be detrimental. He has a point about United but that is their problem, not ours.

However, a defeat can be equally damaging in their minds. They may suffer a lapse in confidence which scuppers a title challenge as a result of elimination from the Champions League. Put simply, there are too many ifs, buts and maybes surrounding this.

Winning all of the trophies that they enter this season is going to be Arsenal’s target; it is the same each season. Targeting one at the expense of others is a dangerous game since you frequently end up with nothing at all.

The aim of winning all four has been stated by the manager and the squad. To do that they have to take one game at a time, something that appears to be happening as there was no let up against Wolves despite being two goals to the good and utterly dominant.

This match is only important in the context of the Champions League; it is not going to make or break the season. A win in the tie might give a confidence boost but that will be shortlived if the tournament is exited in the next round.

Cruyff Turns, Van Persie Scores

Over in Barcelona, the players have been at great pains to point out the improvement at Arsenal this season. Whilst Lionel Messi says that last season the Catalans were scared of Theo Walcott’s pace, Johan Cruyff believes it Robin van Persie who is the bigger threat.

Since returning from injury, the Dutchman has scored the most goals in January / February since the Premier League came into existence – ten in all. van Persie is currently the most in-form striker in the country, scoring a goal every 86.8 minutes in the league. Little wonder that Cruyff was so effusive in his praise.

The Dutch maestro highlighted the problem which faces defenders when van Persie is around,

He is good on his right foot, even better on his left and decent in the air.

If that is not enough, his versatility in finishing makes him hard to displace from the team, as Marouane Chamakh has noted.

Not that the Moroccan is complaining as he is, not to put too fine a point on it, knackered. The adaptation period to English football was immediate for the newcomer, van Persie’s injury forcing Chamakh to play more frequently than he or Wenger probably expected. Seeing the first XI hit their rich vein of form has meant time on the bench which has been welcomed in that he has gained a rest.

More importantly, Chamakh has shown an excellent attitude.No tantrums, no boasting, acceptance that his physical condition and the form of others means that he is not a first choice striker. That is good for the squad but also if the player comes back more determined to stake a claim, it is beneficial to him in the long run. Whether he will be as happy if this situation continues is the acid test but at the moment he deserves his praise.

’til Tomorrow.

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