Arsenal 4 - 0 Wigan Athletic

Wenger has become all too predictable in his apparent want for unpredictability when it comes to choosing his starting XI every match. Consider the fact of Abou Diaby's inclusion. The man has played abysmally, and I mean abysmally, in every match this season bar the home game against Portsmouth. What happens when a player plays rubbish for several games in a row? Wenger selects him for the next game. And the next game. And the game after that. Then we come to a player who had a shocker midweek in his natural position. What does Wenger do? He plays Eboue in the next game too, except this time out of position. What I'm saying is, most managers would look to players on the bench who can play in similar positions but offer something different. Wenger is different that way, but only because he has his favourites.

When I looked at the starting line-up I was yet again disappointed. I don't know why I get so excited 45 minutes before each kick-off, because I know I'm only building myself up for the inevitable disappointment when I see Diaby's name instead of Ramsey, Wilshere, Merida (although Merida was unavailable yesterday) or even the exceptionally promising Barazite. With the exception of Ramsey, it'll be difficult for these kids to integrate themselves, not only because the midfielders ahead of them are more established, and used to playing at the physical level of the Premier league, but also because of the sheer numbers of midfielders who can play in the central position that Arsenal have. And it is in this way that it is clear Wenger has his favourites, because week in, week out the same players play, despite the previous 'n' matches where they've played crap.

The starting line-up was as follows:

Mannone

Sagna Gallas Vermaelen Clichy

Song

Fabregas(c) Diaby

Eboue v.Persie Eduardo

A very established team, yet not the most talented AW could have put out. Rosicky has only just returned from a decade on the treatment table, so understandbly he needs time, but there were so many talented youngsters on the bench. The case could be argued that Wenger was resting them for Tuesday's match in the Carling Cup, but be that as it may, the premier league is the priority. Is Wenger more concerned about the development of players who may or may not make the grade at Arsenal than immediate team success? That question swam through my head prior to kick-off but in the end it had some degree of futility about it as Arsenal strolled to a comfortable 4-0 win.

Arsenal were good, but Wigan were worse. Giving the ball away, allowing the Arsenal players huge amounts of space, and mindlessly crunching into tackles just outside the box. The stats at the end were mind bloggling. 18 fouls commited by Wigan to Arsenal's meagre 6. The possession stats were also heavily leaning towards Arsenal, yet they needed several goes to eventually break the deadlock. No absolute clear cut opportunites, but perhaps some that should have been taken better. No matter, after a while the best defender in the Premier league rose like a salmon and powered a ferocious header past Kirkland. The header made all the more impressive by the fact he was challenged by two burly Wigan players. Towards the end of the half RvP should perhaps have done better from a wonderful scooped Cesc ball.

The second half saw more of the same. Eventually we got our second. Vermaelen curling an absolute beauty into the top corner, after trotting out of defence and swapping passes with Eboue. Thereafter Wigan, slightly desperate to not let the game end there, pushed forward. This began to leave them exposed and our third soon arrived. Eduardo cleverly directing his shot towards the inside of Eboue's right leg so it would ricochet into the far corner beyond the reach of Kirkland. All this was done purposefully you understand. Wigan then gave up, apart from a brief spell which saw them have a goal correctly ruled out for offside. Song took advantage of the diminishing will power of the Wigan players buy going on the meandering run that allowed him to score in the reverse fixture last year. Unfortunately for him, his classy run ended when his low shot clipped the outside of the post. After Cesc's delicate finish from a good low Bendtner cross, there was just time for Rosicky to sting the hands of Kirkland before the full time whistle blew.

A good comfortable win, that could and perhaps should have been more. Nevertheless, after the previous 3 tense and hypertension causing games, a match where we were allowed to dictate and strut our stuff (without going into full swing) was just what we needed. Here are my player ratings:

Mannone - 6. Once again, he came racing for a ball half way inside our half that ordinarily Gallas would have easily dealt with. This put us under a spot of bother for a while before a combination of Gallas, Song and Cesc managed to clear. He made one good reaction save, that looks less impressive everytime you see it, and one save at the feet of Rodallega. Other than, a quiet afternoon for the young Italian. Which after midweek, is exactly what he needed.
Sagna - 6. Good without being excellent. Made some probing runs that worried the left side of Wigan, but didn't see too much of the ball offensively. Didn't get a chance to show off the defensive and best side of his game today.
Clichy - 7. Miles better than Wednesday. Probing runs, but also with backtracking, something that was lacking against Standard. Found Eduardo very well for Eboue's goal.
Gallas - 8. Again much better than midweek. Didn't have much to do, but what he did, he did very well.
Vermaelen - 9. Not content to show he doesn't have a weekness defensively, he also wants to show he can play anywhere on the park. Popped up with two maginificent goals at one end, and did the little he had to do very well at the other.
Song - 8. Broke up everything. Deserved a goal.
Fabregas - 7. Looked a little slap-dash at times, but these were interspersed with the usual passes that noone else could do. Took his goal nicely.
Diaby - 6. Not a bad game by Diaby, but that's because he wasn't influencing the game. Drifted in and out. He drives at defenses very well but the problem is that's all he does. It works when there's not a better option, but there so often is. Would have preferred to see someone more fresh though.
Eboue - 9. It doesn't matter that it was this fixture last year that he got booed off, because he has long since made up for that in his work ethic, and it's not like he's got some allergic reaction to playing Wigan. Nevertheless, the antics of last year did help to highlight his performance, which was full of powerful running and great tracking back. Man of the Match for sentimental reasons.
Eduardo - 7. Looks a bit shaken up. There's no doubting his outrageous kill and enviable talent, but he needs a bit of belief back. Played out on the left, when he deserves to be playing down the middle.
van Persie - 7. Not quite sharp. But to be honest, I still don't think he's reached his potential. Should have been subbed off in the second half, as he was recovering from a knock, and we don't want that to come back around. Still a good performance by the Boy Wonder who is becoming absolutely essential to Arsenal.

Subs:
Ramsey - Got half an hour and presumably will get a full 90 on Tuesday. Always very impressive.
Rosicky - I love his relationship with Cesc. Whenever Rosicky plays you can see Cesc's ears perk up. A lovely bit of interplay between the two little maestros led to a tricky defensive situation change almost immediately to a potential goal scoring opportunity which Sagna duly wasted with an awful cross.
Bendtner - Immediately became a handful for the already tiring Wigan defence. Got an assist with a nice low hard cross for Cesc to divert in.

Well, that result should have got a lot more smiles on the fans' faces, but more importantly on the players' faces. They do play so much better when they're enjoying it. This result would have done wonders despite the fact that in reality they were gifted it by Wigan's poor play.

Next match is on Tuesday. I'll be at the Emirates enjoying the kids beat fairly good class opposition. I've got a feeling it'll be a very young team this time round with the likes of Coquelin and Watt added to the more established yet very young Ramsey, Wilshere and (sigh) Randall. No Merida though, which I'm still very pissed off about.
Oh well, 'til Tuesday Gooners.