A Christmas Miracle

By: travis | December 30th, 2008

That’s the best way to sum up Sunday’s result. Despite a game bereft of quality and lacking any sort of finishing prowess, the combination of a William Gallas and some shoddy keeping from David James and it was three points for Arsenal.

Can’t comment too much on the game – the holiday season, combined with the fact that the game wasn’t easily accessible (ie on FSC) I couldn’t watch it. Harsh to admit, I know, but sometimes you just can’t structure your life around one game.

I won’t get into much detail about Portsmouth, but a win can hopefully provide some much needed momentum even though there’s a short break till the next league game (Bolton on Jan 10). It seemed like more of the same, as Tony Adams had his team well-organized defensively. One thing that was clear from the game is how much this team will struggle to break down other defenses in its current state. That’s not to say winning will be impossible, but Diaby, Denilson, and Song are hardly the answers – unless they start to play as brilliantly as Wenger seems to think they are capable of.

With the transfer window opening in just a few days, chatter is already starting. A lot of websites are whispering the name Arshavin, and while I see that he is a possibility, I can’t believe that Wenger would pay the £20m Zenit is asking for him. Perhaps they’ll secure his services for a smaller price, but I don’t know if it is realistic. I’ve never been a huge fan of Arshavin and the fact that he would need a few months to adjust to the Premier League turns me off to him even more. If he’s still at Zenit at the age of 27, there’s a reason that no other clubs have come calling.

However, there is no question that one or two new players need to be brought into the squad. Wenger has continued to claim that he won’t bring in more experience:

“You cannot have a youth policy and suddenly buy three players aged 27. You destroy what you have done and created. I could have put a player in front of [Theo] Walcott, Denilson and [Cesc] Fabregas, but that would be crazy.”

All valid points, but when two of those three players are out injured and the other doesn’t have the required quality to win any silverware, maybe the youth policy could be put on the back burner. What worries me is Wenger’s insistence on this team finding success, even domination in the future. I find this truly hard to believe – what kind of reason do Arsenal fans have to believe that? The young players who are getting consistent minutes – Bendtner, Denilson, Diaby – have only proved that they aren’t ready yet or don’t have what it takes to be a consistent winner in the Premier League. Yet the manager is standing by his players, and while it is good on some levels, it can be damaging later on if they are overconfident in their own abilities.

Bottom line is this next month will go a long way in determining whether or not this team has a chance at keeping their spot in the top four. I can’t bring myself to mention any sort of title contention at this point.

After the jump are the highlights of the Pompey victory, courtesy of 101 great goals.

Arsenal v Portsmouth