Winning ways, a bit of pride, and why I wish I was Welsh!!!

By Luke Wilkins on Dec 4, 08 07:38 AM

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I have to be brief this week as I have been extremely busy!!! But let's start with a result that even a die hard Arsenal fan like myself didn't think it would happen, beating Chelsea at the Bridge.

I mean, yes Arsenal on their day are a match, if not better than most, but facing such a clinical side as Chelsea, when 1-0 down and with no real sign of a way back into the game, Robin Van Persie worked his magic, and once his controversial equaliser had hit the back of the net, you saw a change take place in Wenger's men, they suddenly forgot all the turmoil at the club, the disappointing league position, and the thrashing we were handed by man city, and started playing football again.

There was only going to be one winner once the tide had turned, as Chelsea struggled to change up a gear, and it was great to see the boys score again and nick three points from a Chelsea side who must have been wondering what went wrong!

As for Villa, a goalless draw against Fulham (who aren't a bad side) rang a few alarm bells for me, I am really enjoying watching Villa in the big games this year, as with their pace, skill and style of football, they are an attractive team to watch, but against the smaller sides, who you would expect them to be clinical and net 3 points they seem to struggle.

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I was at Villa Park for the loss to 'Boro and it was one of the most lacklustre displays I have seen all season, and I think they are having the classic problem of not being able to get themselves mentally "up for" these games against less glamorous opposition.

This is understandable, and you see it with most of the clubs trying to get into the top four, and its all a part of getting that winning mentality, but I wouldn't start panicking yet, because at least they didn't lose at Villa, and I feel that Martin O'Neill knows what he is doing, and what he needs to do to get the players to respond.

Now what about England against the All Blacks at Twickers on Sat?? Well, it was a definite improvement, and while we were eventually taken apart by a much better team, some of the aggression and commitment that is needed was on display.

Yeah we lost, and our discipline was atrocious, but to be fair it was the only way we were ever going to have a chance against the Kiwi's, by disrupting their quick ball and being, if anything, over aggressive.

If you think that with 20 minutes to go, we had played half of the game with 14 men due to yellow cards, and were still in with a chance says a lot. Lets hope that Martin Johnson can build upon this, I don't see the need to change too much personnel, to be fair we haven't got many star players to come in, but I do think that a few tweaks and lots of work with the boys working on the basics, and we will at least be a threat in the Six Nations, but there is no doubt who the team to beat will be!

Yes I can't believe it, but the Welsh look amazing at the moment. The passion they showed against the Saffers and All Blacks was matched by the belief they could actually win when they played the Aussies, something that had been missing against the other Southern Hemisphere sides. I have been incredibly impressed with how they played, their fitness levels are up there with the best, the aggression in the tackle was amazing, and to be fair they should have beaten the Aussies by more, if they had taken more of their chances.

Of all the Northern hemisphere sides, they are head and shoulders in front of the rest, although Scotland have improved, and Ireland will always be strong, and I feel that the Welsh will be the side to beat next Spring, although all the sides have a long way to go if they want to be able to compete with the Southern Hemisphere nations by 2011.

I bet Cardiff was rocking on Saturday night too, after what was the game of the Autumn internationals, and it was great for Wales to get one over a good Aussie side, and with world class players like Lee Byrne, Shane Williams, and Ryan Jones, being joined by talented youngsters like Leigh Halfpenny (who looks like a natural) the future looks very good for the Cymru side, and I almost I could say I was from the proud rugby playing nation......................almost!!!