The Pre-Match Preamble – Gameweek Twenty Four

This morning’s stroll is a troubled one. Yesterday, The Sun ran with a story that suggested Robin Van Persie could be rested in today’s early kick-off with Blackburn. In the main, it was dismissed – a speculative scribble, produced without any real information or source to back it up. Or so we thought.

Late last night, Arsenal’s official site surfaced direct quotes from Arsene Wenger which raised the alarm on Van Persie’s chances of taking to the field against Rovers…

“I will rotate a little bit because many players have given a lot…[With Van Persie] the temptation is there…We are in a situation at the moment where he is the main goalscorer, so I will maybe have to build a team that works around him.”

The scenario is a serious one for Fantasy managers – Van Persie is clearly a top contender for the captaincy this weekend, despite drawing a blank at Bolton on Wednesday night. He dominates our Captain poll and, ironically, has even enjoyed a price rise in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game this week, as those late to the Dutchman’s party snap him up with their wildcards.

So will Wenger delivery a hammer blow by resting his skipper to the bench for the visit of Rovers?

Everything seems to suggest that Van Persie will start. Wenger is under pressure – a minority of the fans at the Emirates are turning, with murmurs of big bag related mini protests (Wenger is rubbish, apparently).

Having stemmed the tide of three straight defeats with the 0-0 at the Reebok on Wednesday, will Wenger gamble on going into the clash with Blackburn without Van Persie? Should he take such a risk and Arsenal go on to struggle in front of the Emirates dissenters – however much of a minority – the result would surely be catastrophic.

The calibre of today’s opponents perhaps gives Wenger the opportunity to ponder such a move, but let’s look more closely. Blackburn are unbeaten in their last three away matches and have scored in every one of their trips away from Ewood – they will be highly motivated by their fight for survival and have a set-piece threat that can pierce the soft Arsenal underbelly. They’ve already beaten Arsenal once this season – can they really be taken lightly?

Bizarrely, Van Persie himself has spoken out on the importance of today’s game and that defeat to Rovers earlier in the season, in the matchday programme…

“The game against Blackburn is a vital one in which to get our league form back on track. There’s also something we have to put right – our defeat up there in September was something that shouldn’t have happened in a million years. I still speak about it with the boys and in fact was talking with Mikel [Arteta] about it only a couple of weeks ago, because it was one of our most painful losses of the season and it still hurts to think about it…Blackburn are a good side, but we took the lead twice and missed clear chances before scoring two own goals and losing the game. It should never have come to that, and we don’t want to make any such mistakes this time.”

That really doesn’t sound like a player who will be prepared to sit back and watch his team-mates carry the can this afternoon. Van Persie is the leader of the team – he clearly wants to steer them to a win in this game and rid himself of the ghosts of the Ewood defeat.

Even if you assess Wenger’s options within his squad, it casts doubt over the logic of resting the skipper. Wenger has confirmed that Marouane Chamakh is out of the equation following his recent return from the African Cup of Nations. Thierry Henry, brought in to relieve pressure on Van Persie, has failed to ignite after his debut goal. In his few appearances so far, he’s done little to suggest he can step into Van Persie’s boots today.

That leaves the Arsenal boss with Ju Young Park (a player who has seen 8 minutes of league action) and Theo Walcott as possibilities, all proposed options that Wenger put forward yesterday…

“We have [Ju Young] Park, Thierry Henry, we have Walcott who wants to play through the middle – he has not done it.”

Walcott’s form is strong enough but he’s inconsistent and without any experience of playing as a centre-forward this season, having taken a backseat to Van Persie. Asking Walcott to carry the threat to Blackburn in a game that Arsenal surely have to win at all costs, would be a huge pressure.

Looking further, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlin is a doubt with a knee problem – Arsenal were checking on his availability yesterday. Presumably, with Gervinho out of the equation at the African Cup of Nations, his absence would mean a start for Andrei Arshavin. Should that be the case, can Wenger risk having the much-maligned Arshavin in an attacking three with Walcott as centre-forward? It seems unlikely. Gambling on the form and chemistry of a front three of Walcott, Henry and Arshavin would be a huge, huge risk.

The press, despite being exposed to Wenger’s talk on Van Persie, have the Dutchman in their predicted lineups. Fantasy managers must surely do the same, put faith in Wenger and hope that, if for some bizarre reason he takes the gamble on Henry or Walcott, our auto subs and vice captain can compensate. The consolation will be, Wenger’s potential tinkering would surely undermine thousands of others. We’d all be in the same boat, waving our bin bags in frustration.