Here we stand today after
surrendering another 2 goal lead, this time at home against Fulham, going from
2-0 up to 2-3 down to finally drawing it 3-3 having missed a penalty in the
last kick of the game. The voices calling for the head of Arsene Wenger have
gathered a louder noise. The voices shout that, gone are the days of Wenger, and
a radical aggressive spending policy for transfers and employee wages is the
only way to ensure success (read trophies).
I would like to calm down the
fears, yes these are dire times, but the reason is not tactical. Let me try and
break it down to you.
Our team at this moment is:
GK: Vito Mannone – deputizing for an injured Wojciech Szczesny
RB: Bacary Sagna – returning from long term injury (fractured
the same foot twice)
CB: Per Mertesacker – consistent this season, curse
of the 1st season seems over
Laurent
Koscielny – returning from injury
LB: Thomas Vermaelen – playing out of position because of
injury to Kieran Gibbs
Mid: Mikel Arteta – consistent and reliable performer,
showing signs of tiredness & burnout
Jack
Wilshere – returing from long term injury (17 months!!)
Santi
Cazorla – playing his first season in EPL
Fwds: Lukas Podolski – playing his first season in EPL
Olivier
Giroud – playing his first season is EPL
Theo
Walcott- (umm…yeah) has developed his game, but embroiled in contract issues
 |
| The Invicibles (under Arsene Wenger) |
Class on the medical bench:
Abou Diaby – showed earlier in
the season his talent and capabilities, unfortunately also showed he is still
injury prone
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – the prodigy
and (one of the many) future of England
Gervinho – played hot & cold
again before getting injured
Tomas Rosicky – nicknamed lil Mozart
for a reason, showed glimpses of earlier talent last season before getting
injured again
Aaron Ramsey – gets some stick
for his performances, but in my opinion is still coming back from his broken
foot, a former captain of the wales team shows talent exists
I think you get where I’m getting
at. As to how we manage to have the longest list of injured player in the
league, I don’t know. But it is the same squad that one month ago had the
maximum clean sheets and was thrashing opponents in classic arsenal manner. And
the voices then murmured the hopes of winning everything this year. Nearly a
month later, in all competitions the stats stand, P 7 W2 D2 L3. And the crucifiers
are out again.
A squad that could conquer all,
now seems thin and pressure is being put to spend money a.k.a. Manchester City,
PSG, Chelsea, ummm… Malaga, Celtic??
There is a need to strengthen the
position of LB with a quality backup, but the need to sign midfielders and
forwards in already competitive positions seems more like a cry of panic.
There is a reason why Arsene
Wenger is le professeur, he is Arsenal
and he is the Arsenal Way - the obsession to do things right at all costs. In
the modern game where financial obscenity has become the name of the game, the
financial fair play rules seem like an age away. Even in such times we have a
club in Arsenal wherein the focus is on development of the youth, the players
and of the game.
Crying out to go obscene with
money and buying trophies (like some of our ex-players), if this is your
solution to all problems, then you are better off supporting Manchester City
and the likes. We are not doing that, we are not even emulating Liverpool. This
is Arsenal, and this is The Arsenal Way.
All said and done, top talent
leaving the club every year is a grave concern. I find myself wondering of a
team with Fabregas and Na$ri with a fit and firing RVP and what could be.
(sigh!)
At the end of the day, the bare
minimum I expect from Arsenal this season is
- Finishing above the spurs (like always)
- Competing for the EPL title (champions league football next season)
- Minimum one trophy this season
I believe this is shared among all
gooners. All you need to do is believe.
Arsene Knows. In Arsene we trust.
