Yesterday’s match left a lot of Arsenal fans in shock. It was a match we were supposed to win; it was a match we had to win. Any aspirations we might have had about moving to the next stage of the FA Cup were dashed not by Kazim-Richards but by our lack of fire-power upfront.
The lack of willingness to spend the £142m left in the kitty on a prolific striker or two and an experienced RB (as Bacary looks set to leave in the summer) and CD is beyond any Gunner. For Wenger, it was the first home defeat to a lower league club in his time at Arsenal.
The game saw us having more possession, in fact, throughout the game our midfield was a joy to behold. We were neat, tidy and dominant but had no goals. We had almost as many corners as Sunderland had against us in our last game but we failed to convert any.
The Ox didn’t exactly impress with his runs, passes and shots especially in the first half.
Gervinho was another matter altogether. His awful miss in the 43rd minute isn’t one I’d like to ponder on. Diaby most times stayed too long on the ball and was in a constant state of rewind; the dude is so slow. I understand a player’s style can be ‘slow-motion-like’, Kanu Nwankwo had a similar style but, when you don’t have his trickery it becomes a problem.
There were positives though – Nacho, Tomas and Arteta. Although some of his passes didn’t connect, every time Nacho ran down the flanks, you were sure to hope for something somewhat positive. His forward runs and passes through the opposition’s defence were decent.
Arteta played his holding position well enough for me to give him a pass mark. Tomas on the other hand was the only player to cause any real threat to the Blackburn goalie in the first half. He was denied a goal in the 66th minutes when his shot came off the top right hand corner of the Blackburn goal.
The 80th or so minute saw Kazim-Richards blow our silverware hopes into smithereens, our fault and not his. I know this, you this, we all know this.
Despite our having more ball possession, our offensive play lacked any bite at all. We lacked attacking options, heck! Lucas Podolski would probably make a better striker than Giroud at the moment. We saw Giroud’s lack of composure and ability to waste balls against Sunderland, this time he hardly caused any threat to the Blackburn goal.
And then I thought Wenger said he wasn’t going to risk Wilshere? So you can imagine how shocked I was seeing Wilshere come on in the 70th minute with Carzola and Walcott.
[socialpoll id=”[socialpoll id=”4882″]”]
Walcott was denied a goal when he sent a header straight into Kean’s arms in extra time. We’re sure Wenger would regret waiting till the 70th minute to bring in his best three.
SQUADS
Arsenal: Szczesny, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Monreal, Diaby, Rosicky, Arteta, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Coquelin, Giroud, Gervinho
Subs: Mannone, Sagna, Wilshere, Walcott, Ramsey, Cazorla, Podolski
Blackburn Rovers: Kean, Orr, Mn Olsson, Dann, G Hanley, Lowe, Pedersen, Ms Olsson, Williamson, Rhodes, Kazim-Richards
Subs: Usai, Givet, Rekik, Nunes, Bentley, Nuno Gomes, Goodwillie
POST MATCH REACTION:
Blackburn manager Michael Appleton:
Arsene Wenger:
“The season is not over. For you maybe, not for me.”
Final Notes:
They say we have £150m in the kitty. With Nacho’s purchase that makes it £142m. We only need to use half of that to turn around the team for goodness sake! £71m can get us one top striker and two good defenders with change to spare.
Watch our partner Arsenal Fan TV interview Arsenal fans after the match. You can follow Arsenal Fan TV on twitter @Arsenalfantv
[wp_graphic id=”ledscreen” type=”video” align=”centre” autoplay=”no”]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLtlrYlGQ54&feature=g-all-u[/wp_graphic]
COMMENTS ARE THE LIFE-BLOOD OF BLOGGING, WE NEED ‘EM TO SURVIVE.
