Wigan hasn't been a happy hunting ground for Arsenal in recent seasons. The North West of England in general has been regarded as somewhere Arsenal don't like to go, especially when it's wet, and cold, and grey, and overall pretty grim. However, the new look Arsenal barely broke sweat as we swept Wigan away in the sideways rain, and our waves of attack.
In terms of the overall state of the team, many will argue that the match didn't tell us much about the side, however I think the ease of the victory was extremely encouraging. It feels like a long time since we went away and won so comfortably; not just in terms of the score line, but in the performance as well. Apart from Jordi Gomez's early chance that was blocked by Andre Santos, we didn't allow Wigan to build on any momentum they built up by beating Sunderland last weekend.
Our draw with Fulham and defeat to Manchester City could have put the development of the team on hold, and although they weren't awful performances or crushing defeats, we had to respond positively as we know Arsenal have had an amazing ability to implode in recent seasons. The response was excellent and puts us just one place off the coveted top four.
It is important to bear in mind that, as good as Arsenal were, Wigan did allow us to play our football. However it would be wrong to just assume that we only won because Wigan were poor. We won because we didn’t allow Wigan to build up a head of steam in the game and we were clinical in making sure we won the game. The back four were rarely tested, and that was a testament to the hard work put in by the midfield and strikers in winning the ball back early. When Wigan did get to run at our defence, they were faced with four players in good form in Koscielny, Mertesacker, Vermaelen and Andre Santos.
Whilst the defence were secure, every player looked dangerous going forward. A number people have been critical that only Robin van Persie scores for Arsenal, however we had four different goal scorers at the weekend.
Mikel Arteta’s strike was fortunate in that Ali Al-Habsi should have saved it, however we’re usually desperate for players to take a chance and have a shot from distance because you never know what can happen. Arteta was given plenty of space to drive into, and a player of his experience wasn’t going to be conservative and try to pass it out wide. It was another example of players now taking responsibility for the team.
The second goal moments later was a rare beast for the modern Arsenal, however I suspect it’ll be a more regular sight with Thomas Vermaelen back in the side. Considering that he’s quite short for a centre back, his leap is superb, both for the purposes of defending and attacking. He rose brilliantly at the back post to head in Robin van Persie’s corner. As much as we’ve missed Vermaelen for his defending, his contribution as an attacking force has also been a significant absence in our team. As well as being dangerous from set pieces, he’s happy to run the ball out of defence. It’s also worth noting that had Al-Habsi saved Arteta’s shot for the goal, the man waiting to poke in any rebound was Thomas Vermaelen.
Our third goal has been overlooked by many as a fantastic team goal, but there were almost countless passes leading up to van Persie and Song’s swift one-two on the edge of the Wigan box. We also had a good number of men in the box, meaning it wasn’t just down to van Persie to find the net. When his shot was saved, Gervinho scored a goal that some of his play in recent weeks has deserved.
Our final strike was inevitable. There was no way Robin van Persie was going to miss out on finding the net when we were making chances easily. Whereas the third goal had been about patient passing and probing to open Wigan up, the fourth came from a couple of quick passes in the middle before Laurent Koscielny drilled a pass forward to Theo Walcott to run through towards goal. His decision making has improved so much this season. Whereas before in that position he’d shoot weakly at the keeper, he waited and gave van Persie an easy chance.
Walcott has been helped by the movement of van Persie this season as the Dutchman often pulls off the defender to indicate to Walcott where to play the ball, however so often in the past Walcott was passing when he should have shot and vice versa. That is the case much less this season.
Overall, it was a ruthless and clinical performance from Arsenal. Something we haven’t done often recently. We’re so used to seeing Arsenal do things the hard way that I’m sure everyone had an immensely relaxing weekend. Even at 2-0, and considering that we’ve thrown leads away at Wigan before, I was never worried that we’d collapse this time around. We’ve come a long way from the darks days of Fabianski dropping the ball on Titus Bramble’s head and Sebastien Squillaci scoring an own goal to give Wigan a 2-2 draw.
A quick word too for Wojciech Szczesny going to the away fans after the game and getting a chant started; legend.
We have Olympiacos in the Champions League on Tuesday, and in most ways it means nothing. We’re already through at the top of the group, so we can all relax again. Arsene Wenger will undoubtedly use the match as a chance to test some of the youngsters at a high level, and after some the encouraging performances against Manchester City last week, I wouldn’t put it past our young guns getting a good result. A win would keep the overall momentum building at the club going, and give second string players more confidence if they’re needed in the first XI, but a defeat won’t do much damage.
It’s nice to go through a couple of games without the terrifying fear and nerves that fall upon me during most Arsenal matches. Fans’ confidence in the players is increasing along with the players’ confidence on the pitch. That can only be a good thing.
Source: Sam Limbert, ESPN Soccernet on 5 Dec 11
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