Arsenal: Why the Blackburn Match Will Define the Gunners' Season

With the mood this past week in the Arsenal camp careening dangerously close to the bleakness of a Cormac McCarthy novel, I found myself hearkening to a sentence from ESPN Soccernet writer Richard Jolly's post-match review of Wednesday's Bolton-Arsenal match.

"It is a game where sweeping conclusions [arise from the narrowest of] margins," Jolly wrote.

Wiser words were never spoken (on Soccernet.)

Jolly's article was a poignant and thoughtful look at the current status in the Arsenal camp, which seems to teeter between hope and disaster on a weekly basis. Big win=Arsenal are on the upswing. Big loss...well, you get the drift.

With the 0-0 draw against Bolton dropping the Gunners to seventh in the league table, just one spot ahead of (gasp!) Sunderland and five points removed from fourth-place Chelsea on 23 games played, the possibility of a top-four finish and the promise of the tidy £30 million payday for inclusion in Champions League football was beginning to take on the airs of impossibility.

But that Bolton match could have been so different.

Had Aaron Ramsey collected himself before firing what was a rather tame effort straight at keeper Adam Bogdan (10'), had Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain not scuffed his own effort wide of goal (12'), had Robin van Persie's volley off a well-placed Bacary Sagna cross been five inches to the left of the woodwork it hit, had van Persie's chipped effort from just inside the penalty area been a touch lower (80')....

It might have looked like Saturday for all we know.

Sure, Bolton had chances of their own, but my point is this: with a little luck, Arsenal storm to within two points of Chelsea and the pundits on Match of the Day hold a discussion about whose chipped goal was better: Clint Dempsey against Juventus in 2010, or Van Persie against Bolton. Maybe they even declare that the Dutchman's effort should be considered for goal of the season. The general consensus becomes that Arsenal have rediscovered their winning mentality after three consecutive EPL losses, and that's that.

It all came down to just a matter of inches. Even Bolton had a number of chances flit just wide of goal.

Bolton came into the match brimming with confidence while riding a three-match winning streak in league; Arsenal stumbled in having lost their last three. A draw wasn't the result anyone outside of Owen Coyle wanted, but it did stop the bleeding on that unfortunate three-match turn.

The blackness that emanated from that game made it seem like all hope was lost. I half-expected Wenger to pull a Harvey Dent and repeat the fictional district attorney's speech from The Dark Knight, exhorting viewers: "The night is darkest just before the dawn, and I promise you, the dawn is coming."

How quickly we seemed to forget that Arsenal had stormed back against Aston Villa to win 3-2 and earn passage into the fifth round of the FA Cup the Sunday before Bolton. Is it possible that that side changed from never-say-die to roll-over-and-die in a matter of three days?

No. But the mood felt like they had. Whatever your feelings about the current state of affairs at Arsenal, there was a realistic shot at a fourth-place finish, seeing as how the teams immediately ahead of them have made it a habit of sputtering throughout the season (hello, Chelsea.)

Thus, we come to the Blackburn match. Whether the empty seats were more an indication of fans' displeasure with the current direction of the club or simply attributed to reported problems with the London tube that morning (kickoff had been shifted to 1 p.m. local time to circumvent delays), there were too many red seats for any fan's liking.

Thankfully, the action on the pitch was more heartening.

Arsenal grabbed a goal just 80 seconds into the proceedings, and after conceding an equalizer from an excellent Morten Gamst Pedersen free kick, they took advantage of a lackluster Blackburn defense to go up 3-1 at the half.

A Gael Givet red card simply secured Rovers' fate. Down to 10 men with a full half of football facing them and Arsenal in the mood to romp, there was little they could do. The match ended 7-1, as if to verify that notion.

Everything seemed to go right after the equalizer for the Gunners. Teenager Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain confirmed his status as England's newest footballing commodity/obsession with his first two Premier League goals. Van Persie grabbed his third hat-trick for the club. Thierry Henry scored in the final minute of what is likely the last match he'll ever play for Arsenal (although there are rumors his loan deal may be extended by two weeks).

A more fitting storyline was never going to be written.

Three more days removed—this time from the away trip to Bolton's Reebok Stadium—and we once again saw a display of football befitting the Arsenal crest.

The result was met with tempered expectations; no one dared say that Arsenal's season was saved, or that everything would be rosy from hereon out.

But the Blackburn match should be perceived as a microcosm of the Gunners' season, which has seen disaster (Manchester United at Old Trafford) met with unforgettable displays of resilience and fortitude (Chelsea at Stamford Bridge); ignominy (three consecutive league losses) juxtaposed with historical flashpoints (Thierry Henry grabs the winner against Leeds.)

Against Blackburn, everything went right. There were some fortuitous bounces—what if Blackburn had cleared their lines better?—would Francis Coquelin have been able to latch onto the wayward header and found Theo Walcott, who set RVP up with that rapid-fire goal? Would Arsenal have gone on to score seven had that not happened?

I think of the van Persie chip caroming off the crossbar against Bolton. Mere inches separated him from yet another feat of unparalleled brilliance. On Saturday, against a decidedly lesser foe, he once more proved his undoubted status as a world beater.

And it all seemed to hinge on just a matter of inches. Even Wenger alluded to as much in his post-match presser on Arsenal.com:

"

...As we said before we need consistency. Strangely I don't feel we played very badly at Fulham, nor at Swansea, nor against Manchester United—in the first half we were terrible but in the second half we should have won the game. But every time we just couldn't get the result and in the end if affects your belief. This will help us slowly to believe again that we could win. To win 1-0 at Sunderland (Arsenal's next match) would be fantastic and that's what we have to prepare for, to produce a good performance.

"

It is true that Arsenal's run of games after this weekend's Sunderland match will give us a better idea of where this season will end up—Arsenal travel to the San Siro on Feb. 15 to take on AC Milan in the Champions League Round of 16, and successive league matches against Tottenham and Liverpool, two teams with realistic designs on a top four finish, loom large on the near horizon.

The chance of a league title is done and dusted, but silverware has yet to be cleared from the proverbial season table.

There's a very good chance to grab FA Cup honors with the two Manchester sides out of the equation, and who knows what can happen in the Champions League. No one saw Monaco or Porto making it all the way to the '04 final, after all.

In closing, I say this: I have railed against the club at certain points this season, and considered throwing my remote through the television on what has to be an unhealthy number of occasions. But they remain my team, and whatever your feelings about how much criticism is needed in certain situations, when the players take to the pitch, they have my full support until the final whistle.

From what I've seen this season, whether it's Theo Walcott getting back to his feet after falling like Eric Liddell in Chariots of Fire against Chelsea and proceeding to fire a goal past Petr Cech, or Robin van Persie dashing over to celebrate with the fans instead of pulling a "look-at-me" Balotelli after his hat-trick in that same match, or Tomas Rosicky entering into a fine vein of form over the past few games after years of looking like he was cooked, this side has deep reserves of fortitude that, in all honesty, were severely lacking from recent editions.

There have been more emotions on display this season where Arsenal are concerned than a high school cafeteria. But I say that any result should be taken with a grain of salt. After all, the disappointment of Bolton can always be whisked away by the sort of swashbuckling display we witnessed on Saturday.

In the end, I refuse to call for the head of the manager who's given so much to the club since arriving in 1995. As the always thoughtful "Palerme" posted on his Twitter account on Feb. 2:

"[Arsenal's] 15 seasons pre-Wenger: 5th, 10th, 6th, 7th, 7th, 4th, 6th, 1st, 4th, 1st, 4th, 10th, 4th, 12th, 5th. Part season with Wenger: 3rd.

"14 full seasons with Wenger: 1st, 2nd, 2nd, 2nd, 1st, 2nd, 1st, 2nd, 4th, 4th, 3rd, 4th, 3rd, 4th."

Has the trophyless run of the past six seasons been disappointing—even infuriating? Yes.

But that is only because of the rampant success the club has enjoyed under Wenger since his arrival.

Is the Frenchman a victim of his own success, perhaps undone by a mixture of complacency and the perceived arrogance that he could build a winner on the cheap?

Perhaps, but he doesn't deserve to be treated like he has been of late.

His side still have a fighting chance at trophies, and there are considerable bright lights being sparkled within the side.

Therefore, I will waylay passing a sweeping judgment until mid-May.