SOCCER/Arsenal 5 Derby County 0:A better idea of how well equipped Arsenal are to win a fourth Premier League title under Arsene Wenger should emerge once they have met Liverpool and Manchester United in the space of seven days just over a month from now. In the meantime, they continue to enjoy some useful net practice against lesser sides and on Saturday punished Derby County's dire defending with yet more exhilarating football.
The outstanding Hungarian team of the early 1950s used to play practice games against works teams, scoring goals by the dozen but at the same time keeping themselves in trim for the real thing. Derby are a cut above factory level, but the ease with which Arsenal outpaced, outmanoeuvred and out-thought Billy Davies's newly promoted side suggested their fellow elitists will be hard pressed to keep up.
Last season Arsenal lost only one of their six league meetings with Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United, but were beaten by the likes of Manchester City, Fulham and Sheffield United, and by West Ham United twice. If they can again see off their rivals while at the same time bucking up their ideas against the also-rans, Thierry Henry will become an affectionate but receding memory.
In fact, the age of Henry is already being consigned to history by the era of Cesc Fabregas, who at 20 is fast becoming Spain's answer to Michel Platini. Totally different to the French master in appearance, physique and playing style Fabregas may be, yet he clearly shares Platini's speed of thought, range of passing and the happy knack of making the right decision in a split second. Now that he is scoring goals as well as creating them he is set to be a dominant force in the game for the next 10 years at least.
"Cesc is naturally very hard on himself," Wenger observed. "That struck me even when he was 16."
On Saturday he was rather hard on Derby, too, putting them on the rack while Emmanuel Adebayor put them to the sword, completing a hat-trick as Arsenal again displayed the finishing touches which have so often deserted them in recent seasons. Passes from Fabregas set up Arsenal's first two goals and he scored their fourth himself before departing to a standing ovation.
In the new year Arsenal will lose Adebayor to the African Nations Cup and must hope that Robin van Persie and Eduardo da Silva also find the scoring form which has now brought the Togolese striker six goals in three Premier League games. "Now he looks stronger physically," Wenger reflected. "There is a huge force coming out of him. He had that already, but he looks calmer in his finishing."
For a long time on Saturday Theo Walcott, a rare English face in a modern Arsenal team, was by contrast conspicuous only by the number of times he gave the ball away, an indictable offence in this company. The 18-year-old looked like a pupil who had missed the start of term and was struggling to catch up. He improved after half-time, but did nothing to alter the view that his inclusion in the World Cup squad was not so much eccentric as plain barmy.
Derby had lost their previous away fixture 6-0 at Liverpool, so Saturday's rout was largely a matter of sad routine. They have now conceded 16 goals in four games on the road and did not need Wenger to point out that "they must focus on their home form if they want to stay in the Premier League".
Davies, refreshingly realistic, looked on Derby's coming encounters with Bolton, Reading, Fulham and Everton as "matches we have to compete in and pick up points in".
Fabregas supplied the pass from which Abou Diaby put Arsenal ahead after 10 minutes with a rocket of a shot, and his through-lob had Adebayor haring between Derby's spread-eagled centre backs to increase their lead after 25 minutes. Adebayor's penalty made it 3-0 at the start of the second half, Matt Oakley having pulled Eduardo back, and Fabregas's parting shot on 70 minutes was followed in the 79th by Adebayor chesting the ball before shrugging off tired challenges to complete a resounding win.
"This team means business," said Wenger. "We are not there to show off. We want to play the football we love. We want to achieve something together. Today we kept a good concentration on the quality of our game. It was really enjoyable to watch."
Not for Derby it wasn't.
