Great Job Kid(s)… Now Don’t Get Cocky

By: travis | December 2nd, 2008

With the sweet memories of the win over Chelsea fading, the mid-week Carling Cup fixture is upon us today. But before that, a few more thoughts from this past weekend. While it is a great result indeed, Arsenal still has much to prove. This is the second win over a “big four” squad this season, but that doesn’t subtract the five losses that this team has already suffered – two more than last season. Plain and simply, it is the results against the lower clubs that will make the difference for the title, especially if Arsenal continues to pick up results like they did this past weekend. In what looks like a great interview with Arsenal TV, Cesc has come out and proved why he is an absolutely beautiful pick as captain:

“We have a new momentum, but if we do not do the same, then it is not worth it.

“We want to be competitive again in every game and see where we can go until the end of the season.

“We have shown we can do it, to beat the big teams, so we can have no excuse with not doing it against the rest of the teams.

He’s dead on, and with him holding the arm band, hopefully the point will be taken and results will come. That kind of thinking and inspiring talk make me think Arsene wasn’t completely wacko when he see’s Cesc as “virtually 26.” I like Adebayor’s confidence, but a message could be sent with more victories against the Wigans and Fulhams of the league. I’ll be ready to anoint the Gunners’ return to the title race when and if they string together a number of wins in a row.

As for the Carling Cup, it’s a trip to Burnley, a mid table Championship team who will put up a stern test. They’re the team who ousted Chelsea from this competition last year, and this is a squad that shouldn’t be over looked. Other than that, however, I don’t have anything else to talk about in terms of the opposition. In terms of Arsenal, it’ll surely be more of the same from Wenger, who has mentioned that he’ll use some of the bench players from the weekend – meaning the likes of Vela, Silvestre, and Bendtner will be handed a start. There are a number of injuries to be wary of in the aftermath of the Chelsea game, so it’ll be interesting to see who is out on the pitch when things kick off.