In the week where Arsenal turned 125 years old, they displayed a ruthlessness to defeat a listless Wigan and complete their fourth consecutive away victory. With goals from four different players, one would hope that the team can gain more confidence as they continue their momentum.
Andre Santos
It must be said that Arsenal started slowly, with Wigan buoyed by their late win against Sunderland last time out. The link-up play of Victor Moses and Connor Sammon looked promising for the hosts, but their real chance came from a David Jones cross. As this was punched away by Szczesny, it landed at the feet of Jordi Gomez whose shot was deflected from 8 yards out. Andre Santos was the man to save Arsenal blushes and underline the incredible improvement he has made in the last few weeks. Often criticised for his positional play, Santos was certainly in the right place at the right time on this occasion. He has grown in confidence along with the team and is slowly getting to grips with the Premier League, resulting in only 2 goals conceded in his last 4 Premier League appearances.. Santos has also been hugely impressive in an attacking sense, showing great skill and a good instinct for the pass in the final third of the pitch.
Al-Habsi
Although Arsenal gathered momentum as the game went on, Wigan were perhaps unfortunate in the way they conceded their first goal. Arteta struck a speculative shot from around 20 yards out which flew straight through Ali Al-Habsi in the Wigan goal when the ‘keeper should have done better. The second goal again came through poor goalkeeping when Al-Habsi flapped at a van Persie corner, leaving Thomas Vermaelen to head in off of the woodwork. Wigan’s goalkeeper found form later in the match producing some fine saves, notably from van Persie, but it was too late to make a difference.
Smells like Team Spirit
Arsenal would have been expected to win this game comfortably and that is exactly what they did. With 62% possession and 10 efforts on target, they dominated a game against weaker opposition. An encouraging sign was the fact that Arsenal went in with a 2-0 lead but showed the right attitude to extend the lead further in the second half. The Arsenal have been fond of letting teams back into games in recent seasons, not least of all Wigan. In April 2010, goals from Theo Walcott and Mikael Silvestre had put Arsenal into a commanding 2-0 lead, yet the pace was slackened and Wigan scored 3 in the final ten minutes of the match. In December of the same year, Arsenal were 2-1 up against 10-man Wigan with ten minutes to go when late pressure from the home side forced a Seb Squillaci own goal. It was plain to see that in this game, the new-look Arsenal had no intention of repeating such feats. The team went out into the second half with a high-tempo and continued to apply pressure, rewarded with goals from Gervinho and, of course, Robin van Persie.
Along with the victories over Swansea, Norwich, West Brom, Stoke and Sunderland, this sits as convincing evidence that this Arsenal side are a bit more ‘street-wise’ than in recent times. There have been noises from the Club suggesting that team-spirit is at a high, with Gunners favourite Bob Wilson noting this, in particular. This can’t be underestimated, with us coming back from losing or drawing positions in games against Stoke, Chelsea and Norwich to seal vital victories.
Squad game
As we head into December the games start to come thick and fast which will test our squad to the limit. The major positive to note at this time is the likes of Rosicky, Park, Frimpong and Oxlade-Chamberlain who offer a mix of experience, enthusiasm and dynamism. When you look at previous squad players such as Bendtner, Eboue and Denilson, it is interesting to note the greater levels of professionalism in this squad. Recent quotes from Oxlade-Chamberlain back this up:
"I signed for Arsenal expecting not to get into the team straight away because this is a massive club with a lot of top-quality players... it's just about being patient for me. It's my first year and I'm not going to get as much game time but I'm learning loads in training and just taking everything I can to develop my game. Obviously I do want to play but I trust the boss and he knows what's best for me. I'm positive: I'm at Arsenal, I'm only 18 and I wasn't expecting to jump straight into the team."
Gone are the days of Bendtner complaining about being played out wide, or Denilson about a lack of game time and these can only be positives for the squad.
On to the next one
It is now important to move onto the next game at home to Everton (Olympiakos is arguably not very important as the likes of van Persie, Walcott, Gervinho and Ramsey are expected to be rested as first place in the group is already guaranteed). Everton have won their last two games and possess players to cause Arsenal problems in the form of Fellaini, Cahill and Rodwell. Everton always come to the Emirates well-organised and with plenty of fight, so expect something similar to the Fulham game. It is up to the Gunners to find a solution to teams which play this way, other than Robin van Persie! My tip would be for Gervinho to go on a goalscoring run after today, he has been getting closer in the last few weeks and is a very dangerous player. I think today’s goal will give him the necessary confidence boost to push on.
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