Regardless of how well we cope with an unthinkable new dawn
the spirits of our loved ones will continue to sneak into our perspective.
Arsenal fans found it impossible to relate to almost a decade of footballing inadequacy,
constantly buckling under any degree of pressure, annually forced into a dangerous
state of repair with the sale of their most coveted gem. With every disastrous
set-piece the famous back five of the George Graham Era sat to feast like
Banquo’s ghost, every unimaginative attacking performance only heightened the
desire to reminisce over The Invincibles. But now the circle appears to be
rounding, with the ghosts of Arsene Wenger’s earlier teams having returned,
channeled through the Frenchman himself.
For nine years and counting Arsenal’s seasons have resembled
the Russian folk song Kalinika, fluctuating on an almost weekly basis from scintillating performances threatening to over-whelm every challenger to tepid, resoundingly vulnerable displays. However this
season, following the club’s most recent nadir of a home defeat to Aston Villa,
The Gunners have found the consistency they’ve lacked in recent years.
Following eight games they sit top of the league and while it’s probably premature
to consider them concrete title contenders, this side does appear to possess
the variety needed in attack to sustain a challenge over the course of a demanding
season.
The primary reason for Arsenal’s improvement has been the
recent addition of the apparition of the Non Flying Dutchman. In Mesut Ozil
Wenger’s side have acquired a genuinely world class talent and arguably the
best player in England. Ozil is incapable of errors, every choice he has to
make on the pitch echoes perfection. The direction of his running, the weight
of passing; his vision, enthusiasm and ability to find a pocket of space in the final
third of the pitch is unmatched in Europe. A premier ten like Ozil is,
regardless of the lazy moniker, a vintage Arsenal player. Having watched Robin
van Persie soar and inspire Manchester United to the Premiership title last
season Arsene Wenger and Ivan Gazidas knew that when a player of the German’s seemingly effortless
calibre becomes available you act first and think about where he will fit later.
As Brian Phillips noted, the signing was Wenger waving his middle finger to the
pragmatism that suggested he could only restore his legacy in North London by
shifting his emphasis to those who pick the fruits rather than those who group
them into an appetising bowl.
Ozil doesn’t act alone however. Wenger has gathered a
collection of attacking playmakers, allowing him to vary his tactical options
going forward. The Alsatian selected a team comprised purely of intelligent
ball-players against Napoli in the absence of the threat brought by the frantic and
frenzied Theo Walcott. For a manager often bizarrely criticized for his lack of
tactical intuition Wenger deserves full credit for handing his players the offensive
liberty they have started the campaign with. On Saturday against Norwich the
alchemy of the attacking trident of Jack Wilshere, Santi Cazorla and Ozil (sprinkled
with a pinch of the unrecognizable Aaron Ramsey of this year) was brewed in
Wenger’s raunchiest dreams.
Naturally this results in a lack of clean sheets. However
that just makes this team even more compelling. You score two and we’ll score
three football is what we aspire to see when we sit down to watch sports.
Wenger has persevered with much over the past decade.
Financially the club was handcuffed to the goalposts, forced to watch cherished
friends frolic towards pastures new. Cesc Fabregas, van Persie, even ginger
stepsons like Alex Song and Emmanuel Adebayor were lured away from The Emirates’
pristine surface by artificially greener grass elsewhere. If Samir Nasri is to
be believed (I know, like handing Bernie Madoff a suitcase with forty thousand
pounds in it and asking him to drive to the nearest Audi dealership to pick you
up a sparkling A6, just hear me out) Wenger has been forced to sell assets at
the orders of Stan Kroenke. "Wenger told me that, if Cesc left, I would
stay, but Kroenke wanted the money”, Nasri claimed while looking idle in
Manchester.
In the midst of his most challenging seasons yet fans wanted
the stubborn Frenchman to open up, admit his errors and change his ways. Ramsey
was a mid-table write-off, Olivier Giroud proof of the deficiencies in
the club's once admired scouting system. Both players have been integral in the
opening months of the current campaign. Giroud has enjoyed torturing opposition
centre-halves on a weekly basis, holding the ball up with distinction and
redirecting passes to teammates when he’s been bored. It is Ramsey however who
is rewarding Wenger the most. After years of average displays and shifts out
wide his form has been sensational, as well as boasting a goal-return similar to Cesc
Fabregas's break-out campaign in 2007/08. The Welshman protects and passes the ball similarly to
Arteta, however he also provides composure in front of goal nowadays and a thrust
from the centre of the pitch.
Naturally at this early stage it’s too early to claim
Arsenal are the finished article, particularly having been gifted the easiest
opening fixtures the league has to offer (it can’t last forever, but maybe it
can last until next week’s clash with Crystal Palace). However in a league
where no team at the top appears to be considerably better than another, Arsenal can claim
to have as good a chance as any of their competitors. Aside
from the litter of creative midfielders the squad is light on bodies , with a huge onus on Giroud as the club’s
single proven striker, while Mathieu Flamini’s absence restored the uncertainty
in Arsenal’s defence after his enforced substitution at the weekend. However compared to
recent seasons Arsenal are enjoying a Caribbean cruise rather than a Himalayan
hike.
Arsene Wenger has made mistakes in the last few years and like any romantic he
will continue to do so. He knows each one and how he could have rectified them
too, he’s just too stubborn to admit it. However the best thing Arsenal fans
can do is to persevere with Wenger for as long as he pleases, because the longer
his epoch goes on and on, the odds on his ghost looming over North London in the
future get smaller and smaller. You don't know what you've got until it's gone.
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