Premier League preview: Blackburn v Arsenal
“You cannot say any more that it is football – it is rugby on the goalkeepers.”
Despite France’s Six Nations Grand Slam win this year, Arsène Wenger isn’t a fan of the oval-ball game.
As his side prepare to take on Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League’s opening fixture of the weekend, Wenger has seen fit to once again lay into Stoke City and their approach to football, with last Saturday’s clash with Tottenham Hotspur in particular provoking his ire.
“When you see how Ryan Shawcross kicked Heurelho Gomes,” said Wenger, “how Robert Huth pushed Gomes in the goal, you cannot say that is football anymore. You cannot have players whose main role is to stop the goalkeepers from catching the ball and not even go for the ball.”
Quite why Wenger has felt the need to talk about Stoke ahead of a game with Blackburn only he knows, but as his side attempt to build upon the one away point that they have gained so far this season – a point earned courtesy of a last-minute own goal from a Liverpool goalkeeper who was challenged in the air by an Arsenal striker – he should probably be focusing on the task ahead of him.
Blackburn beat Arsenal 2-1 at Ewood Park at the tail end of last season – Wenger complained that both goals should have been disallowed due to “fouls” on Lukasz Fabianski – and so the Arsenal boss will be in no doubt about the tough task that his side faces on Saturday afternoon.
The fortunate early-season draw at Anfield was followed by an easy 6-0 win over a 10-man Blackpool side last week, and so the with the Gunners’ title credentials sure to face a tough examination at Ewood Park, the north Londoners will need to be up for the fight, whatever their manager thinks, and one man who is always ready to provide such a fight is Sam Allardyce.
“Obviously we've got our Ewood Park record that we are very proud of and we want to continue that,” said the Blackburn boss, who has lost just five home matches in two-and-a-half years in charge.
“But I thought we had made greater strides, and then all of a sudden I got kicked up the backside by what we did last week [lost 2-1 at Birmingham] and that shows that you can't ever give up on telling your players how to do the right things in the right areas, and constantly getting onto them about continuing to do those things no matter where you are playing.”
They are playing Arsenal this weekend, and while it is of course tempting to suggest that Blackburn will adopt a physical approach due the simple facts that they are good at that and the Gunners aren’t, there is still no little footballing ability available to Allardyce, and that was certainly on show in the midweek Carling Cup victory over Norwich City.
“I know he's only here for one season because he's a Manchester United player, but it is pleasing,” said Allardyce after Mame Biram Diouf, on loan from United for the season, scored a hat-trick in the 3-1 victory at Ewood Park on Tuesday night.
“His in the box movement was excellent and I think that in the end that is why he scored a hat-trick because you saw what he did was what no other player does here at Blackburn Rovers, when a crowded area is there he finds the space and drifts into it, and he generally does this by pulling away from the ball. Now I hope he can take this into the Premier League.”
The 22-year-old Senegalese could pick no better time to show his credentials in the league than tomorrow, and the forward can help Blackburn earn what would be a creditable result against the North Londoners.
If he does it by challenging the Arsenal goalkeeper then that will be all the better.
Prediction: Blackburn 1 Arsenal 1
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