The North Bank – “It’s got va-va-voom” (An Arsenal blog)

Last night saw us take on Partizan Belgrade in Serbia and the team ran out 3-1 winners after goals by Arshavin, Chamakh and Squillaci. There was also room for a penalty miss by Arshavin just before the hour mark and an unlikely rounding off of a good display by Fabianski with a fine penalty save in the 84th minute.  I’m not going to start saying that I think that Fabianski has now turned the corner, because one performance doesn’t mean that he is suddenly a world class keeper. Though credit where it’s due, by all accounts he played well and it could be great for his confidence if he has to face Chavski this coming weekend. Arshavin’s penalty was piss-poor, it must be said. When you hit the ball almost straight down the middle, it gives the keeper a great chance to save it, and save it he did.

The starting eleven was: Fabianski, Sagna, Djourou, Squillaci, Gibbs, Song, Denilson, Wilshere, Rosicky, Arshavin and Chamakh. Fabianski stepped in for the injured Almunia and it remains to be seen whether or not he will be fit for the Chavski game. To be honest it’s hard to know what to hope for. Should we pray for the return of Almunia? It just wouldn’t be right to hope for Fabianski to get injured and, anyway, there is no need to hope for such a thing to happen as it is one of those fated things when you are an Arsenal player. It’s a sure as a RvP breakdown within three months of regaining full fitness. As bizarre as this may sound, Fabianski may be the better option for the Chavski game as he would be in the best state, mentally, after his performance against Partizan.

Never thought I would hear myself saying I would pick Fabianski ahead of Almunia. There must be someone smoking a joint somewhere in my vicinity for me to even think such a thought. Could he get through two games in a row without making a mistake of James Milner’s head proportions? Hmmmm, somehow I doubt it, but we may be about to find out. It was interesting to hear Wenger say that finally Fabianski managed to show on the football field what he does in training every day. You do wonder whether a player that makes so many routine mistakes in games, both big and small, can ever truly overcome those confidence demons to truly make it as a top class keeper. If Fabianski does manage to do so, it would be an amazing turnaround and would endear him to the fans. I just don’t see him being able to pull it off, to be honest.

Due to the 03:45 kick-off last night, my having to get up for work at 05:50 and Fabianski playing in goal, I decided to stay in bed and not get up to watch the game. The last thing I wanted was to get up, be furious after seeing yet another goalkeeping mistake and then going to work both knackered and in a foul mood. So, I can’t really comment on the game as I have yet to arrive home after work and watch the highlights. I just managed to see the bite-size highlights on ATVO.

Hope this post was somewhat coherent as I wrote it in a haze of tiredness.

Take it easy.