Match Report
Blackburn Rovers - Arsenal
Opportunity knocks loudly for Arsenal at Blackburn this evening and Arsène Wenger expects his young side to answer the call.
For the fifth season in succession the Frenchman’s blended side of squad players and emerging talent has reached the Quarter-Finals of the Carling Cup. The likes of Gael Clichy, Emmanuel Eboue, Robin van Persie, Manuel Almunia and Mathieu Flamini may be first-team regulars now but not so long ago they were ‘wannabes’ who were cutting their teeth in this competition.
Tonight, Lassana Diarra, Armand Traore, Lukasz Fabianski, Eduardo, Nicklas Bendtner and others will try and make a similar journey in Wenger’s estimations.
It would be wrong to suggest it is not the only reason for Arsenal’s improvement this term, but surely it is no coincidence that the Club’s best title bid in four seasons has come hot on the heels of that appearance in the Carling Cup Final back in February.
You could argue that the strength of the squad across all competitions has been built on the foundations of this competition. And Wenger sees the qualified success of the Carling Cup in recent seasons continuing this term - despite the task awaiting them at Ewood Park.
“The Carling Cup is more a game of the squad because we have decided to go for every single trophy this season,” he said. “We use the competition for our players to grow up but also to show they are good enough to play in the Champions League and the Premier League.
“It is fantastic is to see these players respond under the pressure of Premier League teams. You can detect who is ready and who is not ready.
“But, as always, my expectation tonight is to qualify and go into the Semi-Finals. We want to come back as well as we did last year [in this competition] and it is a good opportunity for my squad to show the strength of the players who didn’t play against Chelsea on Sunday. I believe in them extremely and it is good for them to show me ‘we knock at the door and we want to play in the first-team’.”
As usual, Wenger’s squad for Ewood Park bore little relationship to the 16 that represented the Club in the previous Premier League game. However, as a testament to their burgeoning squad strength, the starting XI this evening could be not far removed from the one that beat Steaua Bucharest 2-1 last Wednesday, though Theo Walcott will be missing after waking up this morning feeling unwell.
Nicklas Bendtner and Eduardo are likely to be paired up front while Diarra and Denilson, scorer of a long-range cracker in each of the two Carling Cup ties so far this season, should patrol central midfield.
Lukasz Fabianski will get another chance in goal. However, at 22-years-old with six international caps and Polish League winners’ medal to his name, the former Legia Warsaw stopper is more advanced than many of his team-mates this evening.
“He is a very impressive keeper with tremendous qualities,” said Wenger. “I like his intelligence, his physical attributes and his agility. He is a very impressive goalkeeper. For me he does already [challenge for a first-team place] because the other keepers practice with him and they see his quality.”
