There are a couple of strange and, for some younger fans, unfamiliar emotions permeating the terraces at the emirates; those of hope and expectation. Arsenal are without a trophy for four years, and while some more experienced fans will shrug their shoulders at this and say they’ve seen their team go much longer without silverware, today’s game is played with a constant sense of impatience and a demand for success. Trophies bring money and prestige which in turn leads to better players and more trophies. Four years is a long time for a proud and sometime successful team. What’s more, the four years went by whilst offering little in the way of optimism, as Wenger’s persistence apropos his youth policy seemed to be rooted more in stubbornness and a desire to be vindicated than actual reason and logic.
However, whilst this season may only be two weeks old, a transformation seems to have taken place, and it is a metamorphosis which few saw coming. Arsenal losing two big name players in Adebayor and Toure, a proven goal scorer and a reliable defender, and only bringing in an untried and young (23) centre back in Vermaelen could only spell disaster, or so the pundits would have had you believe. Four wins and 15 goals later, most experts have been hastily re-writing their end of season predictions.
There is a belief creeping into players and fans alike that Professor Wenger’s grand design is coming to fruition, as a balance of youth and experience has finally been found that will lead Arsenal to realistically challenge for honours. In their first four game Arsenal have comprehensibly outplayed and outthought domestic and European opposition, and they go in this weekend’s crunch match against old rivals Manchester United full of confidence. Saturday’s game will represent the first and probably the biggest test for Wenger’s men, and could be an indication as to whether, come the final game of the season, Arsenal will be right up there with the top (as opposed to flirting with fifth place).
Wenger should take real encouragement from the performances of some of the players often derided as the weak links in his team. Diaby is easily the most enigmatic player in the squad, showing flashes of brilliance but habitually looking lazy and uncommitted, giving the ball away too easily. In the 4-1 demolition of Portsmouth though he showed fantastic composure and vision, breaking up opposition attacks before setting up Arsenal ones. Inevitably this has led to comparisons being drawn with Patrick Vieira, and now might be his chance to fully justify the belief that he can fill a similar role to the leggy Frenchman.
Song has always showed promise but is only now starting to fulfil it, bossing the midfield in front of his back four. The same can be said of Denilson who has looked really sharp and creative; and with the young Cameroonian and Brazilian stepping up to control the defensive side of things, Cesc Fabregas will be given license to roam up field behind the front three. His presence there will be instrumental in almost all of Arsenal’s success, much akin to Gerrard and Lampard at Liverpool and Chelsea, and the maturity of the three young midfielders has established a real sense of equilibrium between attack and defence.
This evening Arsenal eased their way in the group stage of the champions league, outclassing an average Celtic team, the draw finishing 5-1 on aggregate. Arsenal’s first goal at the Emirates unfortunately came about through a bit of play acting on Eduardo’s part, the little Croatian going down in the box under minimal contact from the keeper. It’s always disappointing to see one’s own players hamming it up, and it’s especially disappointing to see it from a player that has always seemed to play the game honestly. What’s also irritating about the situation is that whilst Eduardo has taken a lot of stick about it (as he rightly should), English players that have behaved similarly (an awful piece of acting from Steven Gerrard in the CL a couple of seasons ago to keep them in the competition springs to mind) have been given the benefit of the doubt, and at worst accused of gamesmanship. It’s indicative of the infallibility of English players in the eyes of the press (and perhaps a very ugly undercurrent of xenophobia). Regardless, I hope that Wenger will explain to Eduardo, as an aside, that that’s not the way to play the game and with any luck tonight will be the end of his acting career.