It is very easy to think of all the negatives about Arsenal not spending big in buying players and not making their players one of the highest paid players in the league despite the club being one of the richest football clubs in the world, but we can’t write off the fact that we have one of best coaches in the world whose love for the club remains constant despite several interests from various countries and clubs. Everything he has been doing for the club has been in its best interest and not for himself.
The summer transfer market might have been one very similar to all Arsenal supporters seeing their best players for the previous season leave but looking at the structure of the team and how they have been playing in the opening games cannot be overlooked. The team has been the most compact team so far and the defensive qualities has been impeccable.
After playing 6 hours and conceding just one goal is worth some applause, considering the fact that by this time last season Arsenal had already seen the ball in the back of their net on 11 occasions.
With the defensive discipline that has been instilled into the team by the new assistant manager Steve Bould things are already looking beautiful. It might be too early to pitch Arsenal as title contenders but if you want to go with current form it won’t be wrong to say Arsenal are in the running for the title. However, we all know this is decided after 38 games and not 4.
Considering Man City and Chelsea are up on the cards by next week, that will be a real test of Arsenal’s quality. I will not say it looks like an impossible task, after all Arsenal have always given Man City a run for their money.
Even at their lowest, they always try to churn out results even against the ‘big boys’ such as City and last season we experienced a dramatic Arsenal win against Chelsea at the stage where the manager, team and board were once more questioned but they managed to get 4 points from the Blues in the league, so I feel that confidence will be there during these matches.
If the boys can able to get 6 points from these 2 games it might be the turning point Arsenal has been dreaming of for almost 8 years.
Over the years one of Arsenal’s biggest problem has been depth which doesn’t look that way presently, considering the players coming back from injuries and even without their presence the current team has been playing immaculately well.
With the return of Jack Wilshere, Tomas Rosicky, Bacary Sagna and Emmanuel Frimpong, I think the only way will be up for the Gunners, these four returning players are players that can wreck havoc on any opponent on their day.
Though Wilshere has not played a single minute of football in over a year, we know it will be cruel to expect anything spectacular from him on his return. All that can be expected from him is to get some game time and integrate into the team gradually, with the current midfield combo I do not see anyone asking much from him because the midfield is already looking like one of Piccasso’s work of art, so any addition of quality into the team will only be a plus which is what the fans has been dreaming of for such a long time.
The fans had long asked for is a team that can genuinely compete and this team is already looking that way.
Another positive which can be taken from this current crop is that we cannot clearly say who the standout player has been so far unlike the previous seasons, where we had Fabregas, Nasri and van Persie players who were the undisputed players of the season for us.
At the moment we all can see how enjoyable it has been watching Cazorla, he is such a perfect footballer to have in your team, he never gets tired of running for the team and does everything so well that you really can’t ask for more. However, we also have other players such as Podolski, Diaby and Gervinho who are also almost flawless in their game.
The orchestration from defence to attack has also been a beauty and if the team can keep up this consistency then winning a trophy will not be too much to ask for.
Written by Simms Edwards
