Blackpool 1-3 Arsenal

The Gunners couldn't afford anything other than a win from the trip to Bloomfield Road after Manchester United's 2-0 victory over Fulham yesterday.
There was drama though before kick-off as Jens Lehmann was drafted in late on to make his first appearance since his return to Arsenal after Manuel Almunia succumbed to injury in the warm up and the enforced change seemed to unsettle the visitors as Blackpool dominated the opening stages.
Mason was soon taking centre stage after he failed to award a penalty when Laurent Koscielny felled Gary Taylor-Fletcher on the edge of the box, and Arsenal responded in the perfect manner.
The Blackpool defence was wide open at Fulham last week and the gaping holes had not been plugged as Robin van Persie found acres of space on the left to drill the ball across the area for an unmarked Abou Diaby to tap home in the 18th minute.
The game seemed as good as over just three minutes later as Emmanuel Eboue strode onto a Jack Wilshere through ball to drive beyond Richard Kingson and double the Gunners' lead.
Blackpool continued to be opened up on a regular basis by diagonal passes from the Arsenal midfield but somehow they managed to keep the scoreline unchanged as the interval approached.
Seasiders boss Ian Holloway clearly got his team pumped up at the break and they flew out of the traps to get themselves back in the game.
Gary Taylor-Fletcher gave them hope as he covered from close in after the ball broke into his path following a strong looking challenge on DJ Campbell by the Gunners stand-in keeper Lehmann, who was lucky not to have seen red for upending the striker.
The referee again failed to award a spot-kick two minutes later when Koscielny swept Taylor-Fletcher's legs away when well placed in the area.
Blackpool continued to press and Keith Southern should have equalised moments later but somehow headed wide from four yards and he was made to pay as Arsenal clinched the three points in the 76th minute.
The hosts had thrown bodies forward to force the equaliser and were caught on the break as Theo Walcott raced away from the defence to square for van Persie to slide home to settle the Gunners nerves.
There was still time for Lehmann to deny Campbell and Ian Evatt but Arsenal held on to claim three vital points to keep their title dream alive, but the outcome has done nothing to ease Blackpool's relegation worries.

Blackpool vs Arsenal preview: Do, or die. Plus favourite line-up

The Game

This is not an easy moment for Arsenal. It’s not easy to be Arsene Wenger, not easy to be a player and not easy to be a supporter.

Whether you like it or not, whether you deny it or not, we are living one of the darkest chapters of the season and what makes all this even more painful are all the excuses coming out now that we are only competing for the English Premier League and some remarks made by our manager during yesterday’s press conference, remarks which I’m more than sure you read by now.

Allow me to analyse some of the things that took place following the Blackburn defeat and my personal point of view on each and every one of them.

This team is 23, this team is absolutely amazing for what they do at their age

This is a complete contradiction of what our manager said in September when he told L’Equipe, “My players don’t have the excuse of inexperience any more. They are eager for titles. I believe they are capable, but they have to show it.”

This, is the complete opposite of what Robin van Persie said in September of 2009 when he told Arsenal.com. “We now have more experience too. There is me, Clichy, Fabregas and Song – we cannot hide behind saying we are inexperienced anymore. It is now about how much we really want it.”

And this, is the complete opposite of what Theo Walcott said before the season started, in July, when he told Arsenal TV Online, “We want to win things instead of using the excuse that we’re experienced young players, we need to turn experience into winning trophies”.

The above are all documented quotes spoken by our manager or players. Why the sudden change? What is the reason why bullish remarks such as “We want to win things instead of using the excuse that we’re experienced young players” have turned into “this team is absolutely amazing for what they do at their age”?

Nobody talks about the fact we built a new stadium

Wrong. Unfortunately many still do and I still cannot understand the reason. Let’s understand one basic thing: we started the season with a squad and Manchester United started the season with a different squad. These two squads were built with different financial power but when the season kicked-off, quality wise, the two squads were as equally-strong.

If we were talking about a different type of business, let’s say a restaurant, I would agree that someone spending £20 to build his empire will have more power than someone spending £5. But this is a “different” business, this is football and this is Arsene Wenger. With less cash spent, Arsene put Arsenal in a position to have a squad which I repeat, is as competitive as Manchester United and Chelsea.

I mean seriously, you either believe our squad is not good enough or else you agree with me that quality-wise we were on the same level as Manchester United in August, yet for a reason which apparently is a mystery for many, with two months to go, they are fighting for three trophies, we are fighting for one.

Is money spent the reason? No! I repeat, when the season started both teams were of equal quality. Granted, I was a little skeptical on our defensive department yet as our manager said we conceded less goals than the Red Devils this season and you cannot blame the defence for goalless draws against Blackburn and Sunderland.

To give the same example I gave weeks ago, Arsenal under Arsene Wenger is like a Formula 1 car which qualified in the last row of the grid, managed to get in the first positions during the race, could have easily taken the lead and won the race but ran out of gas because the driver opted not to re-fuel even if all his mechanics kept on warning him about the lack of fuel. Funnily enough, I’m told they took fuel out of the equation during pit-stops last year.

What Now?

We now have to win tomorrow’s game and hope for Manchester United to drop points or be tired when they get to face us at the Emirates on May the 1st. That is what Robin van Persie said apparently, maybe because we not capable of beating them if they are not tired.

Incidentally I believe it’s the complete opposite. I’m more than sure we will play a great game, I’m more than sure those at the Emirates will support the players in the same way they did when we played and went a goal down against Barcelona and I’m more than sure we will win the game.

But then what? It’s no use playing the game of your life, supporting the players as if you’re supporting your own son and then go back to square one when we get to play Blackburn or Sunderland or any other low-ranked team in the Premier League. It’s either always or never, maybe that is what we have to talk about ahead of the future.

As always, my favourite line-up is below. Remember you can submit your own at Arsenal Interactive and then share it on Twitter and Facebook.

Favourite line-up

There isn’t much to say about tomorrow’s starting line-up. Manuel will start in goal with Bacary to carry out a late fitness test that if failed will see Emmanuel Eboue started on the right.

In midfield, Abou Diaby and Cesc Fabregas are fortunately both fit to start so they will join Jack with Robin up front supported by Samir and Theo. The latter was fantastic in the first half against Blackburn and so was Andrey mind you, but to start with I would opt for the pace of the Englishman.