Another lackadaisical performance casts doubt on squad depth.
A squad of quality players is needed to win the league, particularly when injuries strike as frequently as they do at Arsenal but the last month suggests a number of our reserve players are not worth their salary.
We started brightly at Ewood Park and Walcott gave Vela a glorious chance in the second minute but he screwed it wide when it looked easier to score. It only took ten more minutes for us to open the scoring though, van Persie heading in his first goal since his return after Sagna flicked on Nasri’s corner. It was a Sam Allardyce style goal but the most infamous destroyer of attractive football had the last laugh as once again we sat on a lead not knowing whether to stick or twist.
Firstly, we failed to clear a corner, Nasri fell asleep to allow Dunn to nod home and then, from another corner, Blackburn crowded the goal line, leaving Fabianski floundering in his own goal and the ball bounced off Samba’s head into the net. Wenger questioned the legality of Blackburn’s tactics but it’s up to us to deal with it. If Lehmann had been in goal he would have been kicking all of the Blackburn players until they got out of his way or he would be made sure that he was given the free kick. Fabianski has no presence and no right to be the Arsenal goalkeeper and the fact that he is only gives ammunition to Wenger’s detractors.
The manager has done a good job but we need trophies and the longer he persists with players who are clearly not good enough to win silverware, the bigger the group of disillusioned supporters will become.
Out of yesterday’s line-up Fabianski, Traore, Silvestre and Vela should not pull on an Arsenal shirt again after the last game of the season. They add nothing to the squad despite taking away precious money from the club in inflated wages. The focus should be on reducing the quantity of the squad and increasing the quality, at the moment there is still trust in Wenger to do that job but he is one season away from irrevocably tarnishing his reputation at Arsenal.