Musings on Arsenal vs Portsmouth, the bloody media and a Blackburn Preview

So the Liverpool game was called off which was a pain in the arse for everyone concerned. It would have been a good run out for Rosicky, Baptista, Senderos, Hoyte and Lauren who are all lacking match practice and an opportunity for Traore and maybe Denilson to gain some experience.

Plus there's the issue of the fixture list which is looking more congested by the day. Not to mention the poor fuckers who travelled up there. I for one, salute you!

However at least the likes of Toure and Walcott get a bit of a rest and we can move on to the Blackburn game with no new injury worries.

After the initial annoyance at the 2-2 draw against Portsmouth I think there are some positives to take from the game which could help us come the end of the season. The one thing that still bothers me is our inability to score a late goal when we have come back from a goal or two goals behind.

Once you have scored a late goal you start to believe you can score a late goal and I know at Highbury we often scored late and I always expected a goal in the last 10 minutes even though it didn't always come, we more often than not created a clear cut chance.

Whereas at the Emirates we seem to be letting teams off the hook and not turning our dominance into goals in the period when the opposition is at their most vulnerable. Maybe that will change come Saturday?

Wenger is frustrated and have total confidence in the team to kill teams off and in time I am sure that will come, we looked pretty good in an attacking sense, albeit when we were 2-0 down, against Portsmouth and things are starting to come together. We showed a bit of character which has been missing when we have gone 1-0 down before, but these things don't happen overnight.. This is the first period when we have been able to get some morale in the camp. Vieira left, then Henry flirted with Barcelona and an unhappy Ashley Cole fucked off too.

As a side rant, what the fuck are the media on? Wenger got a bit angry at a poor decision which led to goal at a crucial time. I wish they would just report fact rather than opinion. If they have nothing to report just put 'Sorry no news today'. No wonder everybody hates journo's!!

On another note, We have Lauren to come back in, Diaby to come into the squad (not necessarily the 1st team straight away) and Walcott and Baptista still to make an impact, plus a fit and hungry (hopefully) Henry to come. I don't think Wenger needs to make any new signings in January and that we will improve over the second half of the season.

Blackburn at home on Saturday, they got a deserved win at Reading at the weekend and will be a tough test, however with Adebayor back in the side and Cesc, Van Persie and Hleb having a week off and Rosicky coming back I expect us to be a bit sharper than against Portsmouth.

I am not sure what AW will do re 4-4-2 or 4-5-1, will he have the courage to play Walcott and Van Persie as he did against Portsmouth or will he opt for the more defensive 4-5-1? I would like to see a 4-4-2, however if he opts for the latter I would like to see Rosicky start in the centre instead of Flamini.

Arsenal Squad vs Blackburn

Lehmann, Almunia, Hoyte, Eboue, Clichy, Senderos, Djourou, Toure, Hleb, Fabregas, Gilberto, Rosicky, Van Persie, Adebayor, Baptista, Walcott, Flamini, Song