Sunday, August 19, 2007

Arsenal 1 - Blackburn 1


Today's game was a disappointment on several levels. First the result itself wasn't quite as bad as it could have been, now that all the top four have dropped points so far this season, and ManU have dropped a bunch. Nonetheless it was an opportunity missed to let the other guys chase us for a change.

In contrast where Arsenal have gotten poor results from domination in play, Blackburn were full value for the draw and were clearly the better side for the whole second half. That won't be such a big deal for one game but cannot be allowed to continue. The same with Lehmann's blunder. That's two for him so far this year, & three strikes you're out.


It was far more depressing that Arsenal were not able to show any resiliency or sense of urgency after Blackburn equalized. There was 20 minutes left, counting injury time. Maybe they should have scored a goal in that time, maybe not. But 20 minutes is more than enough time to assert superiority over a game if they have any superiority to assert. Their failure to do so was very very bad in my book.

Also, the signing of Eduardo da Silva has to be regarded as questionable at best. Not that we can regard him as a failure after one hour of competitive play, but it will be difficult to resolve his role on the team. He is a tweener of a young prospect and first-team contributor. We have several good prospects at the club already for his position. As an automatic selection, he has to be compared to Carlos Tevez, Nicolas Anelka, and Obafemi Martins, other strikers who played for lesser Premier League teams last year who may have been (or may be) available. Each of these other three are proven at the highest levels at club football, and are acclimated to the Premiership. In comparison to these three, it is very difficult to justify the signing of Eduardo.


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