So the Carling Cup does open up for us. West Ham, and either Birmingham/Villa and Ipswich/West Brom to choose from. I'm cheering for Ipswich, and there will be those out there who know why. (Clue: move your eyes slightly to the right, scroll down...). Arsenal-Ipswich in the semis over two legs will be really quite nice.
But I get ahead of myself. Viewed through the lens of a sputtering stream, the game did look suspiciously slow. Szczesny (I've figured out how to spell it. Just Sz. Then Cz. Then esny. Simple) had little to do, and looked composed enough. Djourou looked half bored but capable of dealing with the little that Wigan without Rodallega could offer. RVP was majestic, and RVP would be forgiven for taking Vela aside after the game and giving the boy's bollocks a good hard squeeze.
I mean - that sublime back heel/flick that put Vela through on goal, only for the boy to shift his weight to his right for his only working foot (the left), and then miss the open goal. So, RVP must be a really really nice chap. Decides to do it all over again a while later, same back heel, same Vela on goal, and this time, just to mix it up, he takes a heavy first touch then just crumples to the ground for effect. Nice.
Leave it to Bent Nick to show him how it's done. Even missing the ball's sometimes a good trick. Jump, attempt a header, miss it on purpose, confuse the defender(s) behind you, let the ball skid off a head for a neat OG. THAT's how you score a goal, Carlos!
So we're 1-0 up at half-time, and it doesn't take too long for a second. Bent Nick again. This time from a Vela assist. Methinks he does better when there's no goal to aim at. 2-0, and really, that was that. Given how dismal Wigan were on the night, I could safely say my heart went nowhere near what I went through with Villa.
Any other notables on the night? Yeah. Theo needs more games. Having Theo, Vela, RVP and Vela on the pitch at the same time just seems a tad odd and Djourou/Koscielny actually looks a good pairing.
Bring on Fulham, I say again. But if I may reply to a point made by Arsewiping Reader Kumar. God knows nobody's counting any chickens. One thing I did in my couple of weeks away from this was turn myself into an Arsenal Zen Master. Might we lose or cock up against Fulham? Sure. Why not? Might we turn in a good performance and get them good and proper? Sure. Why not too?
Which reminds me. I was thinking about our European prospects while smiling over our capitulation in Braga. You know, it really isn't so bad to go out of Europe (or at least the Champions League) at this stage. Sure, we only needed 1 point from 3 games to go through, and if we cock it up again against Partizan, then it might be the single-most embarrassing run of games in our recent history.
BUT.
Think about it. We do get to then play in the Europa League man - and god knows, our prospects there are tons better than in the knock-out stages of the Champions League. What good is there in finishing second in our group, getting paired with Barca or Real, getting beaten in the round of 16 and then congratulating ourselves?
Hell, I'd rather us get to the Europa League, and win the damn thing.
So whatever happens in a week's time, I'm good.
Zen Master.
Final word today on El Clasico. What a lousy let down. Shit. Even we did not get as embarrassed. We lost 4-1, and even scored first man! And the special one? Claims they weren't humiliated. Don't know about you all, but that's a freakin' humiliation in my book!
Jose, Jose, Jose. In certain languages, there are sayings that might describe your predicament. Sayings that would describe certain parts of your anatomy getting stuffed in your mouth, thus preventing you from saying just about anything. That should be it.
My favourite part of the game, actually, was this:
Funnee. Funnier was that stupid Victor Valdez running up to get all rough and at-it, like someone had insulted his mother/sister. Self-important bozo. Sounds familiar, that...
Anyway, it would actually be nice to draw Real Madrid should we get through. More handbags with Arsene then eh?
Ciao then. Let's see who gets through from tonight's other quarters.
Oh. Sorry. Lest I forget. Cute little interview with Fabianski right here. Wonder why people still refer to Almunia's elbow injury as an elbow injury. It's not. It's an "elbow injury", just like a "virus". Like getting a call from your boss, and he says: "Don't come in tomorrow, or the day after. You've got a virus. And after that, you'll get an elbow injury."
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