The Arsenal youngsters can be proud of their performance, but despite their chances I always watched it thinking Chelsea would snatch a win. I think Diaby impressed me most.
I still think Arsenal are just lacking that little bit to take on the title challenge again. I've not changed my mind on the midfield hardman thing, though Fabregas is getting quite the reputation as the midfield angry man. I still say see if you can get Hargreaves for Gilberto Silva and a bit of cash. If not, listen to Kolo and try and bring in Yoyo Toure. Monaco only bought him this year, so he might not be available, but I remember being impressed during the WC. Oh and if there's any chance of picking up Eto'o, do it. I know, there's van Persie and Adebayor to partner Henry...but it's Eto'o.
There's very little chance Arsenal or Chelsea will finish outside the top 4 anyway, but Chelsea are the less likely so today's result pretty much confirms at least 2 UEFA Cup places through the Premiership. Now obviously I want Blackburn to win the FA Cup and get into Europe that way, in which case I wouldn't give a crap how many UEFA Cup places the Premiership gets, but I'm hoping that if we don't it'll be an all Champions League qualified FA Cup final...which there's a good chance of. That would mean only having to come in the top 7 to get into Europe, and would give Blackburn a much better chance.
I think we have an outside shot at the top 6 anyway. Before today's game Hughes says he reckons we'd have to win 8 of the last 11 to make it, which is a tall order, but one down. And it is possible to win 7 of the last 10, check out our games:
A Bolton
H West Ham
A Man Utd
H Aston Villa
A Tottenham
H Watford
A Fulham
H Charlton
A Newcastle
H Reading
So we can afford to lose three...I'm hopeful of picking up points against anyone, but the most likely places we'd lose are away to Bolton, Man Utd and Tottenham. Which leaves:
H West Ham
H Aston Villa
H Watford
A Fulham
H Charlton
A Newcastle
H Reading
Newcastle and Fulham away aren't easy, but I'd say we go into all those games with a good chance of picking up 3 points. West Ham kind of worries me, they've been on such an awful run that I feel it has to end sometime. And they ended their last awful run against us as well.
Speaking of West Ham...Wigan won. As if they weren't already doomed, it's now 9 points with a goal difference that makes it 10. Normally a team like West Ham going down would be cause for "Hey, maybe we can pick up some good players" time. The Hammers' investment makes that less likely though, they can probably afford to keep most of their good players and make sure they come straight back up. And of course Tevez isn't even owned by them...not that I think anyone particularly wants Tevez in this country, he's been a disaster on a scale rarely seen. To a degree a striker at a relegated club can blame poor supply...but not to the degree that you'd score 0 goals in 19 games. At another club he might have scored a few, but that's still not good enough. He should try Spain if anyone will take him, the pace is different and he might become a star again.
There's hope for buying players though. Neill apparently has a relegation release clause and it's strongly rumoured Upson does. Not that I think Neill would come back to Blackburn and we don't really need a player in Upson's position, but others can move in for the kill. Who knows who else has a release clause.
If we assume Watford and Charlton are going down as well, there are definitely interesting players. They don't have the investment that West Ham do, they'll struggle to hang onto their stars. You never know, Andy Johnson went down with Palace and decided to stay, but if anything that should be a lesson to those thinking they can stick it out.
Darren Bent is the ultimate prize. I would love him at Blackburn, but I doubt we could afford him if he wanted to come, and I'm sure bigger sides are interested. Liverpool still don't seem to have found that pure finisher, though with their money they may be looking at even bigger names. Tottenham have great strikers, but don't seem to care and I could see Mido or Defoe being sold to make way for him. Despite the fact that I think Newcastle would be better spending their money on defenders only, they do seem obsessed with attacking players. Martins has done really well for them getting 14 goals so far, and he's only supposed to be secondary striker to Owen, who should get 20 plus. Then you have Ameobi and Sibierski on the bench, with Dyer able to play there in an emergency, and it's just unnecessary. This is Newcastle though. Villa again have the investment to spend, and have the 9th best defence but only the 15th best attack.
You could make a case for almost any team in the league wanting Bent, but those four are most likely I reckon.
This is skipping clubs to Watford, but it's another striker...Marlon King. I think a lot of people have forgotten about him as he's been injured almost all season, but he finished top goalscorer in the Championship last year, ahead of these Reading hotshots, and he looked dangerous in the Premiership to me in the little I saw of him. He's not a guy bigger clubs are going to go for, not unless they're looking for back up strikers, but for teams like Blackburn he could be a good buy.
As Young's been sold and Foster's owned by United, that's kind of all Watford have that's all that attractive. Back to Charlton though...Young, Reid, Kishishev...they have some interesting players. I'd take Luke Young, but the problem is I'd want him at reserve right back and there'd no way he'd be happy with that.
Anyway, that was rambling.
Poor guy.
