Arsenal v Bolton / Baptista / Aliadiere

So we finally get a win, Liverpool drops points and the battle for third is on. This win virtually guarantees fourth position except we get into another rut like before.

Fabregas was so animated and charged up about the goal, you could see that all the talk of the midfield not producing goals and Arsenal lagging behind the other top English teams is getting to the team. Hopefully, they'll have this feeling (or remember how it felt to suck) at the back of their mind for a while which will enable them to remain charged up and ready to prove the critics (me included) wrong.

I think Wenger's actions today proved that there's no future at Arsenal for Baptista and Aliadiere. I watched only the second half of the game so I can't comment much on what the first half was about. It seemed he started with a 4-5-1 formation with Ljungberg in a supporting striker role. First strike. He then took off Ljungberg after 60 minutes and brought in Diaby as a striker/supporting striker. Second strike. And this is not the first time. It seems Diaby even started in that role against Newcastle on Monday. Third strike. Baptista eventually came on for Hleb though. Both Baptisita and Diaby were profligate so Diaby is definitely not the solution to our striking problems.

I thought Diaby was supposed to be the next Vieira, not Bergkamp, or Ian Wright. Baptista has never made the cut at Arsenal and I would be glad to see the back of him. Even Aliadiere who I have always backed never took his opportunity this year with all the injuries we had and that should be the end of his career at Arsenal. Are we getting Reyes back? Hopefully not. He was more productive than Baptista has been (except those two Carling Cup games when he deceived us all) but he was a whiner and he has made it very clear that he doesn't want to be here.

So what are our striking options for next season? Well, there's Henry and van Persie who must not be injured for a single second next season. There's Adebayor and that's it. That's not good enough. Either we bring Bendtner back and give him his chance or we buy someone else. I am not sure if Walcott is a striker or a midfielder so I am not even putting him in the equation as he's not delivered the goals when given the chance. Hopefully, he'll be a pleasant revelation next season.