Keep On Rolling & Healthy Competition For Places

ARSENAL 3 – ASTON VILLA 0

The Emirates looks at it’s very best when covered in glorious sunshine, and Arsenal yesterday basked in those conditions to ease to a 3-0 win against Aston Villa.

It was a comfortable and assured victory, and from the moment Kieran Gibbs put us in front with his first ever Premier League goal in the 16^th minute, we never looked back.

Kieran Gibbs celebrates our opener

In truth, we never really found top gear. But we didn’t have to. Despite the pre-match concern surrounding Laurent Koscielny’s absence and Johan Djourou’s promotion to start at centre back, defensively we had very little to worry about. And anyone would, when the lead attacker you’re up against is Emile Heskey. Described at one point by the FOX Sports commentators as a ‘seasoned pro’, they didn’t quite arrive at poor old Emile’s main fault. He’s a terrible footballer. And other than elbowing Djourou in the face, and getting in the way, he was barely noticeable before he was substituted around the 60^th minute.

From our point of view, we’re in an exceptionally good place. Anyone would be when your League form looks like this: WWWWWWW

Not only are we playing very well, but there’s some decent competition for places occurring too. Up until now this year, that’s something that we’ve been abundantly lacking. It’s healthy, and bringing out the best in several of our players.

Theo Walcott, for example, who is probably going through the best spell of his career right now. Quite a turnaround for a player who two months ago, most were saying wouldn’t be worth a new contract at the club. I’m glad he’s shut that debate up, and once again yesterday he showed his centre forward potential in the 25^th minute as he latched onto another delightful ball over the top by Alex Song, took a great touch and slid the ball past Shay Given to make it 2-0.

It’s obvious that Theo’s resurgence has, by large, been aided by the return of Bacary Sagna. His forward runs and support provide Theo with additional options and space to exploit, that he wasn’t receiving as you’d expect when we were forced to play a centre back at right back in Sagna’s and Carl Jenkinson’s absence through injury.

Our two English goal scorers - the first time we've had two in a game since 1997

But I’m sure Theo’s game has also been upped by the emergence and competition of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. A month ago, a lot of people were split as to who they’d rather have starting out of Theo and The Ox. But as much as I rate The Ox and I’m incredibly excited for his future, this is another dead debate. Theo has to start on the right. He’d start there in any team in the League right now. He’s a delight to watch, and long may it continue.

The competition for The Ox over a starting spot now appears to be against Gervinho on the opposite wing to Walcott. Gervinho was a surprise selection yesterday for many, but I was pleased to see him get the nod. He gets a lot of negative press and comments, I myself have criticised him as much as any this season. But he’s not someone to give up on, and yesterday he showed that he is a really good player. Neat touches, bursts of pace, balance and vision. He has it all. He also showed his commitment in getting back to defend, which is imperative for the wide players in this Arsenal side.

All he’s lacking is the confidence he no doubt lost at the African Nations Cup, and that he’s also building as part of adapting to a new League and country. Robert Pires and Thierry Henry are prime examples of players who don’t always look the part in their first seasons, but turn out to be real top quality. With patience and support for Gervinho, he might not make the same class as those two just mentioned, but he’ll be very valuable for sure. If he could work on his finishing too, that’d be great…

Robin van Persie was a bit quiet again. No goals for two and a half matches now. Crisis, right? He scores when he wants, and he’s decided against it since the Newcastle match. Hopefully he’s saving himself for Man City or Chelsea in the coming weeks. I’m sure we’ll live with a mini-drought if that is the case.

The midfield completely ran the show again. Alex Song’s full time statistics were fantastic. 90% pass accuracy. 7 long balls all completed successfully (including the assist for Walcott’s goal). Through balls, interceptions, dribbles. He’s showing every game that he has what it takes to be an advanced midfielder, instead of the anchor in front of the defence. It’s working though, because when Song goes wandering, Mikel Arteta seems perfectly capable in filling in to that holding role. Much like how when Thomas Vermaelen goes on his forward wanders, either of those two would drop back to cover. It’s all part of the excellent understanding and connection our players currently have. It has never worked to such great effect with this set of players in my mind.

Talking about Arteta, what about that 90^th minute free kick, for our third? I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how he seemed to score quite a few free kicks for Everton, but has yet to really repeat that for us. I can’t remember the last time we scored a better free kick. RVP has scored some good ones yes, but not as good as that. Keep it up Mikel, plenty more of that please!

Mikel Arteta celebrates our third and final goal

Tomas Rosicky was as solid as ever, too. Not as effective as he has been in recent weeks, but that’s not to suggest he was below par yesterday. To continue the talk of competition for places, the fact that he has Aaron Ramsey sniffing around, desperate for inclusion, is no doubt also bringing out the best in him. Ramsey came on late in the second half, and added to the control we needed to see the game through. With talk of Jack Wilshere stating that he will be involved before the end of the season, how shit hot is our midfield going to be at this rate? It’s a nice thought, for sure.

Elsewhere, Gibbs was again formidable at left back. He’s been exceptional since his return, and his goal was much deserved to reflect that. He looked a bit annoyed about coming off, but I’m sure that was nothing more than because he is enjoying his football so much right now. Rightly so, given the horrible injuries he’s had so far in his career. Andre Santos made a shaky return when he came on, but I’m glad our flamboyant Brazilian is back, and with some more game time it could be another interesting battle for a starting spot, this time at left back.

So a sound 3-0 win against Aston Villa. With Chelsea and Sp*rs drawing 0-0 in one of the dullest matches I’ve ever seen, it further extends our lead over them both in the race for third.

We have some tricky fixtures coming ahead, whereas Sp*rs now have probably played their hardest ones. But given they’re still in free fall, there’s nothing to suggest that any game won’t be a challenge for them now.

All we can do is keep winning, and keep performing. We’ve now won seven on the bounce for the first time since 2007. The challenge to keep that going takes us to Loftus Road next, to play one of the most miserable sides ever constructed. A team managed by Mark Hughes, and captained by Joey Barton. Bloody hell. Never before have I wanted us to demolish a non-direct rival so much.

After that, it is Man City at The Emirates, with Wolves, Wigan and Chelsea all following in the next month. Given our current form, they’re all very winnable. Arsene Wenger has talked a lot about keeping humility, mental strength, and to play for each other. It’s all happening so far, and it’s important we don’t take the foot off the gas for even a second, or it might cost us.

This leads me on to my final point tonight, because lately I’ve seen a lot of talk amongst fans about how we should be planning/expecting a charge for the title next season. This is extremely premature in my opinion, and the sort of attitude that plays down the importance of this year, which could have disastrous consequences if the players were to follow with that trail of thought.

Because there’s still a lot to play for this year, and quite simply talk about next year can wait until the summer. Or at the earliest, once we have our final position mathematically confirmed for this season. We’re still not guaranteed anything yet, and distraction from our surge towards finishing third could be what ends this fine run we find ourselves on.

So I beg you, wait until the summer to dream of what we can achieve next year. Stay behind the team in the mean time, enjoy the great football we’re playing, and look ahead to our next match against QPR next Saturday. There’s a lot of football left to be played this season, and we as fans need to focus and concentrate on it as much as the players and give them our full support as always. If we keep on rolling as we have been for the past six weeks, it’s sure to be an entertaining finish to the season.

Have a good week.