Arsenal 3-1 Birmingham: The “German of Africa” stars again + the surprise revealed

Arsenal 3 (van Persie 16, Diaby 18, Arshavin 84)
Birmingham (Bowyer 38)

Video Highlights | Wenger Interview

Alex Song continued his early charge for Player of the Season honours against Birmingham

Match Review

Arsene Wenger and his men successfully navigated a tricky post-International break fixture against Birmingham by posting a comprehensive if not completely comfortable 3-1 win at Emirates Stadium.

Robin van Persie and Abou Diaby scored excellent early goals to set our boys on their way but a goalkeeping mistake by Vito Mannone allowed Birmingham back into the game just before the break. And despite us having the better of the second half the game was never truly safe until Andrey Arshavin scored to re-establish our two-goal lead and allow the team and the crowd to breath easy for the final few minutes.

With the international “break” ensuring our squad returned with their fair share of knocks and niggles, Wenger made some clever alterations the starting team. In came Kieran Gibbs and Emmanuel Eboue for Gael Clichy and Bacary Sagna at the back while Theo Walcott got a first start of the season on the right wing with Tomas Rosicky recovering from the Czech Republic’s failure to qualify for the World Cup by starting on the left. Interestingly Vito Mannone kept his spot in goals despite Manuel Almunia’s return to the squad while Alex Song, Cesc Fabregas and Abou Diaby completed an excellent midfield triangle.

Unfortunately the most memorable part of the opening quarter of an hour was the potentially serious knee injury suffered by Walcott. Back into the starting team again after an extended absence, the Englishman was – fairly, mind you – clattered into by Liam Ridgewell. And although Walcott was up just a minute later and skipped past Ridgewell with a thrilling piece of skill before having his shot saved, the pain in his knee eventually saw him depart around the half-hour mark.

Despite Walcott’s knock, Arsenal positively exploded once van Persie found the back of the net in the 16th minute. Collecting an astute pass from The German of Africa, Alex Song (more on him later), the Dutchman controlled wonderfully before producing a superb finish. It was his fifth of the season, an admirable return after a fragmented start to the campaign.

His strike was followed soon after by a very Arsenalesque goal scored by Diaby. Some good team possession allowed Eboue and Rosicky to combine well down the right side before the Czech man’s low cross was sidefooted home into the corner by Diaby. On first viewing it seemed a routine finish but a second look revealed the craft of the Frenchman’s shot who removed the threat of an onrushing Joe Hart by placing it in the far corner.

If the boys expected to coast to a 2-0 lead at the break they were rudely interrupted by Lee Bowyer’s goal. Mannone elected to catch a high ball that really should have been punched and Leeds United’s Champions League hero from a decade ago was on hand to punish the Italian’s fumble. There was a hint of a foul on the goalkeeper but if it had been the other way I would have been furious to see the goal not given. So 2-1 it was at half-time and despite the goal conceded, it was a scoreline I would have taken before the game.

The second half was an interesting contest as our boys showed real signs of an International break hangover while Birmingham appeared galvanised by the goal. However despite the away side’s pressure they only really drew one save from Mannone while Arsenal made a couple of good chances, van Persie striking the bar with an indirect free-kick and Thomas Vermaelen having a header saved by Hart.

The game was made safe when Arshavin finished off a typical Arsenal break (how good it feels to say that again!) by calmly finishing into the far corner. 3-1, three points and despite a little bit of a bumpy ride, a fairly decent performance against a spirited Birmingham side.

Talking Points

The manager picked out Alex Song for special praise after the game – labeling the Cameroonian as a German of Africa because of he and his countrymen’s “strong bodies” – and I totally agree with his comments. Once again Song was the outstanding performer on the pitch, winning tackles, distributing well and rarely dwelling on the ball for longer than required. He has made an early claim to be Arsenal’s Player of the Season along with Thomas Vermaelen and although a number of other players are starting to up their game – most notably Robin van Persie – if the Cameroonian continues to play like this he will hard to look past. Great stuff.

Once again I was impressed with Wenger’s brave decision to rotate his squad after the international break. Gael Clichy and Bacary Sagna were relied upon a little too heavily throughout last season and the manager’s willingness to bring in both Gibbs and Eboue to regularly replace them will undoubtedly pay dividends as the season progresses. It also gives the second-choice wing-back pairing opportunities to play their way back into the team and serves as a reminder to Clichy and Sagna that if they don’t maintain consistency and quality on a weekly basis then there are two players capable of displacing them at any time.

A prime example of Wenger’s seemingly fresh(ish) philosophy of rotating and replacing players who don’t perform is the current goalkeeping situation. A chest infection was the original reason given for Manuel Almunia’s absence from the side but the Spaniard’s position on the bench against Birmingham at the expense of Italian Vito Mannone has unsurprisingly revealed that reason to be something of an excuse to drop him after some poor performances earlier in the season. It will be interesting to see if Wenger will be equally as ruthless on young Mannone, who was undoubtedly at fault for Birmingham’s goal, and bring Almunia back into the side.

Final Thoughts

With Chelsea, Liverpool (hah) and Manchester City all dropping points after the international break it was an excellent weekend for Arsenal. We’re back in the top four and should we win our game in hand it would shoot us up to second, just one point behind leaders Manchester United and with the fiercest goal difference in the league. With second-from-bottom West Ham the next game up before what should be an epic London derby against Spurs, I fancy us to grab six points from the next two games and be sitting very pretty in a fortnight’s time.

Exclusive Interview with Cesc Fabregas in tomorrow’s post

Regular readers of the Arsenal FC Blog will know that I have been on holiday for the last week at the very lovely Hamilton Island. Those same people will also know that I promised a very special surprise for when I got back.

I can now announce that that surprise is an exclusive interview with Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas. The interview will be published tomorrow in a special post and I can assure you it will be an excellent read. A remark about Abou Diaby is particular interest while some comments about wanting to complete a university degree show what a balanced man our captain appears to be.

Anyway I’ll just leave you with that teaser for now – speak to you tomorrow.

Have your say on Arsenal’s 3-1 win over Birmingham by leaving a comment.

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Comments

  1. Can’t wait for your interview with CESC. you HAVE to explain how you managed it. Great job!

  2. wow! man u brilliant.hw did u pull that off?. an interview wid captain fantastic.can wait 2 read ur post!!

  3. Good summary. We are looking good and long may it continue. Let’s hope for more rotation against AZ to keep everyone fit and healthy. Ramsey, and Vela need some game time for the same reasons that Gibbs and Eboue did!

  4. Its was quiet intrested game, thanks for Arshavin last goal it realy cool down the oponent and tell them what is Arsenal??

  5. I am as happy as ever even happier than RVP himself after he scored on sat. Like I told my friends, there is only one player in the EPL who could have controlled that ball like that and go on to score. Gentlemen his name is ROBIN VAN PERSIE.

  6. I am as happy as ever even happier than RVP himself after he scored on sat. Like I told my friends, there is only one player in the EPL who could have controlled that ball like that and go on to score. Gentlemen his name is ROBIN VAN PERSIE…..

  7. While Saturday’s victory wasn’t overwhelmingly impressive, I can’t quibble w/ a 3-1 win, eh? I think the Gunners have played the most consistent football of all the teams in the league so far. We were unlucky to lose both of the 2 Manchester games, and United is lucky to have as many points as they do. Hopefully, time will tell. Up the Arse!

  8. I think our gunners played fantastic football against birmingham .IF we continue this form we will surely win silverware this season.
    COME ON GUNNERS……….
    Can’t wait for u r interview with cesc…….

  9. RvP’s superb ball control to set himself up for his goal reminded me of the skill of one of our previous Dutch Masters: Dennis Bergkamp.

  10. Looking forward to see the interview/ all the guys are all fantastic, what did i tell guys about Song last year, season end??? he is going to be on of our on the pitch/ keep it up buddy/ciao

  11. Its been a while since i last visited this site. Its good to see things on the up and up and see everyone in high sprits. Ive been spending alot of time trying to work out why my beloved hammers are showing good strength by holding most teams above their heads. Hopefully one of you might perchase the club very soon and inject some cash. I feel very sorry for Theo, he has had alot of bad luck with injuries of late. Lets hope he can recover quicker than expected in order to claim his England place.

  12. Yet another 3pts. It doesn’t matter whether we played as well as we played against blackburn. Some insane pple will not leave us alone, imagine a certain analyst say we played against a poor birmingham side. Quite pathetic, isn’t it? I’LL continue to be happy as long as rvp continues to score in every match.
    CAN SOMEONE PLS HELP ME UNDERSTAND WHAT imo and btw mean. Thanks ya’ll

  13. andy,thats really breath taking-our captain?yeah am eagerly waiting to see tommorrow comes.

  14. Intersting game, Walcott is definately being targeted,even though it looked to be legal, but there is some clever cloggers out there !! Le Boss should now concider a few players over 6 ft, skill and intelligene are fine but in conjunction with a “couple of height metres” would serve him better for a squad build.
    Perhaps, a review of the training methods in order to stop the players cracking up with strained bits and pieces
    I am a keen fan, and have been for many years, and this is not really a criticsm, and i certainly could not do better,but in Brisbane who buy my son a beer ? he is touring Oz at the moment

  15. Great job spanish you really are doing a great job with the blog and i cant wait to see your interview with cesc tomorrow. lets go GUNNERS

  16. nice 1 andy the quiet week on the blog last week will all hav been worth it to read that interview tomorrow….fair play to you
    song and eboue hav been very impressive this year and wil be missed while at the ACN’s…it would be great to get 6pts in the next 2 games but i wouldnt take anytin for granted in 2 london derbies…but we are the last team any1 wants to meet at the moment with the way we are playin and with an under pressure liverpool facin utd we may get a chance to snatch topspot after our game in hand

  17. you are a fantastic writer you know that? anyways i’m glad the team did well after a hectic international break, we really are looking good. GREAT GUNNERS

  18. btw = by the way
    imo = in my opinion

    with so many players taking knocks… what’s going on with the physio or training staff? are players just not in shape or rehabbed properly? or do teams just target them?

  19. Hey Andy great job as always and looking forward to the interview with Cesc!! Totally agree with you Filipo Dan we also need to see Vela and Ramsey in action before they get too restless….. Cant wait for the Spurs derby.

  20. Can’t wait to read ur interview with the “El Capitan”
    Let’s pray 4 da speedy recovery of those who are injured especially Eduardo,Denilson,Theo and etc..
    Sad coz Walcott just appeared now he disappear again.
    Let’s hope they continue being consistent in their beautiful game.
    C’mon guys show them your graceful way of climbing up on the top…NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WHEN YOU HAVE FAITH WITHIN AND HAVE FAITH WITH EACH OTHER!’

  21. Hi Andy

    I put on a blog yesterday…..nothing earth shattering, but asked if
    anybody in Brisbane could recommend a couple of bars the average tourist
    wouldnt know about !!

    My son and wife (from UK) are touring Oz and are at Cairns at the moment

    George

  22. so I am back, too, killed the virus/worm for 73 Euros, shit happens, but now my pc is checked, I hope so at least, sorry, so back to the important things, I can only agree with the compliments regarding your article writing abilities Andy, great job!
    though I can’t judge the players really, there are always only some situations which I remember resp. keep in mind, I keep in mind that Arshavin really has goal scoring abilities, he is definitely a killer, and at the whole I notice a really good balance of the team, I think you can see it at the many scorers so far, everyone gets his chances, and noone is above to give assists, but maybe I just repeat a comment of Wenger, in any case, I agree 😉

  23. Maybe Andy could hook up an interview with the physio and ask why Arsenal have 5 or 6 players injured at once almost every season!

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