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Arsenal striker Robin van Persie reveals Blackburn loss was 'one of our most painful': It shouldn't have happened in a million years
The pressure is on the Gunners to see off Steve Kean's men after their winless run was extended with a midweek stalemate against Bolton
4 Feb 2012 10:10:00
By Tom Marshall-Bailey
Getty Images
Robin van Persie has highlighted Arsenal's 4-3 loss to Blackburn Rovers in September as one of the most hurtful moments in Arsenal's season.
The 0-0 draw with Bolton in midweek saw the Gunners slip to seventh in the league, a record low under Arsene Wenger's stewardship at this time in the season.
A top-four finish is still achievable for Van Persie and his men, and Blackburn at home would usually be seen as a home banker for Wenger's side but a return of one point from a possible 12 raised doubts over the north Londoner’s mettle.
The Dutchman, though, is just eager to right the wrongs of September's humbling at Ewood Park, insisting that the result should never have happened and now wants to make the away side pay for the defeat.
“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," Van Persie told Arsenal.com. "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.”
Despite Arsenal's poor form of late, their FA Cup win over Aston Villa last weekend was only their second win since the turn of the year, Van Persie insists that he drew positives from the performances against both Villa and in midweek.
“If we play as we did in the second half against Villa and the majority of the Bolton game then I’m 100 per cent sure that we’ll do a good job and score the goals we need,” he said.
“There’s no point in looking any further than that, or thinking about consequences – we just have to play with our hearts and get the right result in each game from now on.”
Arsenal's injury worries have been well documented this season with key players such as Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs and Abou Diaby all missing large chunks of what has been a frustrating season.
Van Persie led his side out at the Reebok Stadium with two key names re-introduced as Bacary Sagna played for the first time in nearly four months and Mikel Arteta returned to beef up the midfield numbers.
The 28-year-old believes that the presence of the two helped immeasurably in ensuring at least a point was gained from the trip to the north-west.
“I had a strong feeling during the game that Bolton would not score,” Van Persie explained. “Our spine looked firm and that owed a lot to a couple of our returning players.
"Mikel Arteta made a real difference in terms of our solidity – he keeps the ball well, knows when to tackle and how to kill a counter-attack, showing his experience and demonstrating that he is a massive player for us.
Van Persie reserved special praise for the returning Sagna though, who impressed on his first competitive start since the 2-1 defeat to Tottenham in October, where he broke his leg.
The Gunners' captain said: “Bac’s return was a huge boost for us too. I didn’t know he was going to start, but he looked so fit and strong throughout the game.
"He’s been out for four months but came back in with only a few minutes’ football behind him and played unbelievably - and, I can tell you from my own experience, that’s really difficult to do.
"He was rock solid at the back and good going forward, so it’s great for all of us. He’s a good friend and an amazing player, and we’re all really happy to see him back.”
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The 0-0 draw with Bolton in midweek saw the Gunners slip to seventh in the league, a record low under Arsene Wenger's stewardship at this time in the season.
A top-four finish is still achievable for Van Persie and his men, and Blackburn at home would usually be seen as a home banker for Wenger's side but a return of one point from a possible 12 raised doubts over the north Londoner’s mettle.
The Dutchman, though, is just eager to right the wrongs of September's humbling at Ewood Park, insisting that the result should never have happened and now wants to make the away side pay for the defeat.
“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," Van Persie told Arsenal.com. "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.”
Despite Arsenal's poor form of late, their FA Cup win over Aston Villa last weekend was only their second win since the turn of the year, Van Persie insists that he drew positives from the performances against both Villa and in midweek.
“If we play as we did in the second half against Villa and the majority of the Bolton game then I’m 100 per cent sure that we’ll do a good job and score the goals we need,” he said.
“There’s no point in looking any further than that, or thinking about consequences – we just have to play with our hearts and get the right result in each game from now on.”
Arsenal's injury worries have been well documented this season with key players such as Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs and Abou Diaby all missing large chunks of what has been a frustrating season.
Van Persie led his side out at the Reebok Stadium with two key names re-introduced as Bacary Sagna played for the first time in nearly four months and Mikel Arteta returned to beef up the midfield numbers.
The 28-year-old believes that the presence of the two helped immeasurably in ensuring at least a point was gained from the trip to the north-west.
“I had a strong feeling during the game that Bolton would not score,” Van Persie explained. “Our spine looked firm and that owed a lot to a couple of our returning players.
"Mikel Arteta made a real difference in terms of our solidity – he keeps the ball well, knows when to tackle and how to kill a counter-attack, showing his experience and demonstrating that he is a massive player for us.
Van Persie reserved special praise for the returning Sagna though, who impressed on his first competitive start since the 2-1 defeat to Tottenham in October, where he broke his leg.
The Gunners' captain said: “Bac’s return was a huge boost for us too. I didn’t know he was going to start, but he looked so fit and strong throughout the game.
"He’s been out for four months but came back in with only a few minutes’ football behind him and played unbelievably - and, I can tell you from my own experience, that’s really difficult to do.
"He was rock solid at the back and good going forward, so it’s great for all of us. He’s a good friend and an amazing player, and we’re all really happy to see him back.”
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Live!
England 1-0 Belgium, Netherlands 4-0 Northern Ireland - follow all the international action LIVE! ahead of Euro 2012
With countries across the continent gearing up for their final warm-up games ahead of Euro 2012, join us for all the action from Saturday's friendlies. Get in touch with us via Twitter with your reaction.
Hosted by Joe Doyle
Hosted by Joe Doyle
20:06 BST
So, that game gave a few players a chance to impress for England. Who did/didn't? Will Welbeck start against France? Or Carroll? Or Defoe?!
19:59 BST
Unfortunately for Northern Ireland, they are trailing the Netherlands 4-0 at half-time. Looks like that one's all sewn up then.
19:54 BST
We're still getting plenty of Hazard chat on Twitter. A few are now saying that he's not worth the hype, others saying he was brilliant(!?) and others (which I agree with), saying he created much of his own hype. What do you think? Get involved!
19:46 BST
Joe Hart has also been giving his thoughts after the Belgium game: "It was a really tough game, a good run out. I thought we played well, [but] we were a little bit bitty at times.
"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.
"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
"But, we came through. Obviously there were a lot of changes so it's good to get the result.
"Belgium are a very, very strong side who are going to be really good in the future. Vincent [Kompany] told me about them and said that they were coming good and I totally agree with him."
19:38 BST
Here's Roy Hodgson's reaction to the result and some injury chat: "I'm very pleased, it's been a hard week and we've used a lot of players. There was a lot of disruption in the second-half with substitutions – some forced upon us, some we wanted to do. But it's still a very good end to the week playing against a good Belgian team here. Arguably even stronger than the Norwegian team we played last week and I've got to be more than happy that we've come out with another victory."
"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."
Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."
Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
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