villa report

1) Johan Djourou was out to prove a point. After he was
given the opportunity to step-in for the injured Laurent Koscielny (who pulled
out of the pre-match warm-up with tendinitis), Djourou gave a calm and assured
performance which was unlike those which we saw towards the end of last season
and the beginning of this season. Although slightly shaky at the start, the
Swiss international grew into the game and deserves credit for a solid
performance. The fact that he was partnering Vermaelen at centre-back rather
than filling in for Sagna on the right can only have helped.

2) Koscielny’s injury isn’t too serious. He has minor
tendinitis and should be available to face QPR next weekend. He was in slight pain during the warm-up and
was removed from the team as a precaution.

3) Arsenal are definitely not a 1-man team. A slightly quiet
performance from Robin van Persie (i.e he didn’t score) didn’t particularly
matter because Theo Walcott, Kieran Gibbs and Mikel Arteta all got on the
scoresheet. RvP hasn’t scored since the 14th minute against Newcastle 2 weeks
ago (more than 250 minutes of football), which by his standards is a goal
drought. However, our captain still found time for a few tricks and an
unbelievable dragback/shot which was cleared off the line. Alex Song and Tomas
Rosicky also deserve mentions for particularly impressive performances.

4) This season cannot be viewed as a disappointment. Who
would have thought a few months ago that we would be in the sitting in the
lofty heights of automatic qualification for the 2012/13 Champions League? 3rd
place in the Premier League is ours to lose. I am more than hopeful that we
have done enough to convince Van Persie that his future remains in North
London, and I am sure that we can attract a few more world-class players to the
club over the summer.

5) With a few minor changes, this team can compete for the
major silverware next season. An interesting thing that I heard today was that
we still have not lost this season with a back-4 of Sagna, Vermaelen, Koscielny
and Gibbs. If we can keep our important defenders fit (three out of the four
have had long-term injuries this season), and sign a strike partner for van
Persie (Podolski anyone??) and another centre attacking mid, then we have the
potential for great things. The team has been in fantastic form recently; we
just need to learn how to keep it up for an extended period of time.