Arsenal: To witness such beauty on a football pitch was like coming across a long lost love...

[Tillamook]

His pursed lips fought hard to contain his ebullience, but the delight on Arsene Wenger's face this afternoon testified to the fact that Arsenal are back to their best, their 4-1 deconstruction of Norwich City, a display reminiscent of the days of Henry, Pires, Bergkamp and Viera. Now of course its Ozil, Cazorla, Giroud and Wilshere, and it was the last of these three whose combined interplay, featuring dazzling one touch football, produced a goal of sublime quality at the Emirates. To witness such beauty on the football pitch, was like coming across a long lost lover, after so many years, and having that flame rekindled. Arsenal have, once again, taken football to a different level in the Premier League. Teams like Manchester United and Chelsea might have won a lot more over the last twenty years, but they have never achieved the technical mastery and synergies that Wenger has been able to achieve with Arsenal.

 

Its ten year since Arsenal won their last league title, going the whole season without losing a single game. In that 2003-04 season the likes of Henry, Pires, Bergkamp and Ljunberg would combine pace and incise passing, with one touch play and masterful off the ball running, to slice through the opposition, as if they had all been fitted with ice skates, and the opposition had had their feet set in concrete. At the end of that season it had seemed as if Arsenal might go on to dominate for years, but football was in the process of changing. It was the beginning of a new era, in which foreign billionaires were about to take on the chairmanship of football clubs, and transform the balance of power in the Premier League. Arsenal were greatly affected by this change, and for various reasons it has taken Wenger and the club, the best part of ten years, to work out of a response. Roman Abramovich came along, and later Khaldoon Al Mubarak, and over the last ten years Chelsea and Manchester City, have raided Arsenal, weakening them each season, and taking their best players, offering them ridiculous amounts of money that Arsenal could not hope to match. The result was Arsenal started each season, needing to start anew, never being able to benefit from the synergies created by their best players in the previous season. This created a climate around the Emirates, where players, with ambitions for winning, would start to look elsewhere, e.g. Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona and Robin van Persie to Manchester United, even if the money of Chelsea and Manchester City were not the key drivers.

 

Arsenal then, seemed to find themselves in a no-man's land, with a coach, who was capable of getting the best out of players, with a team that couldn't hold to their best talent, the effect of which, was Arsenal huffed and puffed at times, but always got into those important Champions League positions. The tide however turned this summer with the stunning signing of Memut Ozil, which smashed Arsenal's transfer record, and as Amy Lawrence of the Guardian pointed out was the first signing of a proven world class player since the transfer of Dennis Bergkamp. This signing marked a watershed moment in the club. First it signified a change in fortune in Arsenal's finances. Ivan Gazidis hinted that a new deal with sponsor Emirates had given Arsenal greater resources to compete in the market. However it wasn't just the fact that Arsenal had money. For one reason or another Wenger also saw the need to sign proven talent for huge amounts of money, something which runs counter to his beliefs and practice, focussed principally on developing players, either young or those with potential that has not been properly tapped. It seems thought, that a decade of frustration at the Emirates has caused Wenger to realise that he needs to change his tactics, if he is to see more success in this new world of football. That means sending a message to the world, and to Arsenal players, that he wants to see the best players at The Emirates, even if he has to pay, and even if it means buying in players, who are already fully formed.

 

The result has been a side, which has stolen a march on the big guns, both in terms of the publicity gained and the points tallied. There are of course questions about whether the club is capable of clinching the title for the first time in ten years. Olivier Giroud shows potential, but has yet to display the devastating kind of form that any title winning side needs from their principal striker. Furthermore whilst Arsenal can slice through lesser opposition, faced up against tougher sides, like they were against West Bromwich Albion a few weeks back, questions might be asked about the steel in the side. Arsenal have yet to play the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea. However the future looks bright for Arsenal, even in the days of Wenger, the title winning sides tended to be victorious not because of their battling quality, but because they had managed to take the game to a different level.

[Tillamook]

I believe the Gunners are officially one of the best contenders for the title this year.

 

Wow, what a performance!

[Odey]

Will it last?

[Tillamook]

^

That's a tough one to say at the moment with such a challenging season this year...but if they continue playing like they have, with such confidence and finesse, I believe they can humble any team on the premiership.

 

Come december, if they don't drop too many points against the big teams they will be playing, I think Arsenal will be amongst the top three in January.

[Odey]

Tillamook;982115 wrote:

^

That's a tough one to say at the moment with such a challenging season this year...but if they continue playing like they have, with such confidence and finesse, I believe they can humble any team on the premiership.

 

Come december, if they don't drop too many points against the big teams they will be playing, I think Arsenal will be amongst the top three in January.

Too many "ifs" my brother. December is a long way off, if you know what I mean and I think it will be clearer towards the end of January rather than December. Having said that, last night's demolition of the opposition was breathtaking!. Good game.

[D.O.C]

Tillamook.....you missed the word "consistency".

[Haatu]

Arsenal are contenders definitely. Whether they can go all the way is another matter.

[Tillamook]

The Gooners continue to march on with last week's taming of the high flying Suárez and Sturridge duo of Liverpool...I mean, with Ozil, Ramsey and Cazorla orchestrating the midfield against Gerard, Henderson and Lucas.--How could anyone expect Liverpool to win that match?

 

The game was won and lost in midfield... Arsenal's were excellent, as Ozil and Cazorla even reminded Rosicky (who was on fire) of the days he, Fabrigas and Hleb reigned supreme in midfield, whilst on the other hand Liverpool lacked the venom in the middle to really unleash the sharp fangs they possess in Suarez and Sturridge. I hope Liverpool at some point soon realize that unless they overhaul their midfield they can kiss their title aspiration goodbye--no good having great strikers if they don't the ball.

 

Now getting back to Arsenal; they've indeed proved themselves capable of manhandling any of the big dogs by beating one of the best teams out their midweek, and I hope they will still have some juice left to overcome ManU this weekend, although, I believe there will be more pressure on MU to come out swinging hard and put out a great performance against the current leaders in the premiership, and also prove to those who've lost faith in them that they remain a force to be reckoned in spite of Moyes

[Tillamook]

Arsenal have been brought down back to earth with a thrashing. So far, a draw against Everton and a loss against Man City does not bold well for their title aspirations, especially with Chelsea waiting for them.

 

Let's hope that loss against Man City gives them a wake up call... for if Arsenal want to win the TITLE, big games matter, all the time.

[Fresh2Death]

Arsenal need to sign a top striker come January. So far, so good. We did great with the many injuries we had. Our team is on the best teams in the league, but we are missing the final piece. A top striker, Giourd is not he man to win us the trophy.

[Tillamook]

Good result against a stubborn Palace who obviously were well drilled in their plan to soak pressure and hit on the counter. I think this match shows that with the current list of injuries, Arsenal is very vulnerable against packed defenses because there are no players to drive forward with the ball to make something happen (Wilshere, although he loses it a lot, does this because he likes to carry the ball. Ramsey and Rosicky are the other two main momentum-generators in the midfield, and they too are out injured. With no Walcott to spice things up - although he wouldn't have been much good here likely - Arsenal are a bit one-dimensional). Until Ox starated making some of those runs in the second half, Arsenal did not look like scoring.

 

A welcome return to some defensive solidity, although Palace didn't offer much going forward. The defensive unit is sound, but the lack of rotation options for Per, Kos and Sagna is a bit worrying. Per in particular has missed hardly any football this season (at least Kos has been injured/suspended a bit and has had a few breathers). But I understand the reluctance to rotate them given as a unit, they've been just so solid this season.

 

Another controlled performance and comfortable win in the end. Arsenal absolutely has a pattern this season, but it will require a change in tactics in the matches coming up, as only Chelsea amongst the main challengers are willing to sit back and soack pressure - the rest have their strengths offensively, and will attack.

 

Here's hoping for a spiteful, entertaining 2-2 draw between City and Chelsea, with 2 players sent off on both teams. Heh.