As even a half-hearted reader of this blog would know, Arsenal are my main topic of choice. I'm not an Arsenal supporter, nor have I ever claimed to be. To be honest the only team I'd come close to supporting is Barcelona, but that's just because 4 of their players are amongst my favourite playing the game at the moment (Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and Hleb). Were these players to move on, then my interest in Barcelona football club would wain considerably.
None of this is to say that I'm not a fan of Arsenal. Ask me who I want to see win the league, and I'd say the Gunners without hesitation. However, that probably has more to do with my not liking the other 3 viable contenders than anything else. However, as I've said before, I sincerely don't think that Arsenal have a chance of winning the Premier League this season. What I haven't said is that this saddens me, and I truly mean that.
Rewind to just over a year ago. Arsenal were playing some of the best football the world had ever seen, and this is no exaggeration. "Perfect football" is what Clive Tyldesley called it on one occasion, and in some sense that is exactly what it was. Wenger had his team playing football the way it should be played, and it was a thing of beauty to behold. Many people, myself included, were enamored by this young, vibrant Arsenal side who were not only easy on the eye, but who actually won too. Even John Giles and Eamonn Dunphy (two notoriously hard to please stuck-in-the-muds) almost admitted to being supporters of Arsenal, so in love with their brand of football they became. Neutrals were powerless to resist their charms (that's Arsenal's, not Giles' or Dunphy's), and the really scary thing was that one could only see them improving.
After a slight dip in form during the Christmas period Arsenal got back on track, when all of a sudden things started unravellings at the seams. Many will cite the 2-2 draw with Birmingham as the turning point, and it's hard to argue with that. However, for me the wheels came off a week before that. Arsenal were pitted against United in a mouth-watering F.A. Cup clash, but failed to turn up. Or more accurately, decided not to turn up. A weakened Arsenal team was trounced 4-0 by the Red Devils, but it was the manner of the defeat that for me sparked the series of events that would unfold. Arsenal approached the game against Man Utd as inferiors, and in my opinion they decided not to try because at least then they would have an excuse for losing. Such a mentality is not to be found in a winning team, but Arsenal showed all the signs of fragility in their non performance in that game, and such fragility characterised many of their remaining games. In the space of something like 5 games, they went from having a chance to go 8 points in front at the top to going about 5 or 6 points behind, and that, as they say, was that.
However, amidst the doom and gloom, the signs were still there that they had the makings of something really special, provided they made a couple of astute additions over the summer. Though wrecked from a physically and emotionally draining season, they still managed to outplayed all three of their main title competitors in various games in the run in, but conspired to lose all three thanks to a combination of being completely knackered and being defensively naive. Their sublime season had nothing to show for it in the trophy cabinet, but surely some silverware was imminent. Some players to fix the defensive problems coupled with the experiences of a hard fought season would surely be enough to propel this Arsenal team to the next level, provided the hunger was still there.
The summer came and the summer went, but Arsenal's problems were only worsened if anything. They lost two of their star performers from the previous season - Hleb and Flamini - who went on to join Barcelona and Milan respectively. Flamini was seen as the bigger loss, but I would tend to disagree. Though Hleb was a woeful goalscorer and shooter in general, it was his influence that really gelled the Arsenal team together as an attacking threat. After all, scoring goals was not Arsenal's problem, therefore it didn't really matter that Hleb did not contribute directly, because he certainly contributed indirectly. His movement, his dribbling, and his passing were all of the highest quality, leading him to constantly pick holes in defenses for the likes of Adebayor and Fabregas to exploit. He was a massive contributor to Arsenal's beautiful football, and though Nasri has potential to fill the void left by him, there was and is a uniqueness to Hleb's giftings that can never really be replaced.
On the other hand, Flamini was your typical defensive midfielder, and easily replaceable in my opinion. However, Wenger decided not to replace him, and has indeed suffered the consequences for this obvious mistake. However, more than Arsenal losing two players, it seems to me from various interviews and such that Fabregas lost two friends. I know this sounds silly and girly, but I honestly think these transfers have really affected the young Spaniard. You could see from Arsenal last season that there was a real togetherness about them, and by all accounts Hleb, Flamini and Fabregas were good friends as well as teammates. To see Flamini and Hleb walk out must have been tough on Cesc, and you can honestly see that in the way he's playing this season. I'm not trying to make excuses for his poor form, but we have to be human about this and understand that such things have effects on people, especially people of such a young age. Fabregas went from having a few older people to look up to and learn from to being the oldest person in the midfield...at 21 years of age. This I find ridiculous, and if interviews are to be believed, then so does Cesc. For Wenger to put him in this position is irresponsible. It's costing Arsenal dearly at the moment, and could eventually cost him one of the most talented players to ever play the game.
To see Arsenal in this position is a real footballing tragedy given what happened last year. From being in a position of almost football perfection, they've lost to Fulham, Hull, and Stoke, and in all likelihood will suffer another crushing loss tomorrow. I don't believe that anyone at the club truly thinks that they can win the league this year, and this I feel is affecting their performances. While they've put on a few great displays, the majority have been patchy at best, if not utterly abject. the real problem is that all of this is only serving to open the door for Fabregas to move on, and when this happens, that's the end of Arsenal Football Club as we know it. What promised so much a year ago will have delivered so little. Their potential will be sold on to bigger clubs who have the resources to seriously challenge for trophies. Their "perfect football" will become a myth, a spook story that Arsenal supporters tell their disbelieving kids about at night time.
Of course one player does not make a team, and Arsenal will not go down the drain because of one loss. Viera left, Henry left, and still they have survived. However, they have yet to thrive without these two talismen, and the loss of a third can only be a massive setback, one that even a genius such as Arsene Wenger would do well to recover from.
None of this is to say that I'm not a fan of Arsenal. Ask me who I want to see win the league, and I'd say the Gunners without hesitation. However, that probably has more to do with my not liking the other 3 viable contenders than anything else. However, as I've said before, I sincerely don't think that Arsenal have a chance of winning the Premier League this season. What I haven't said is that this saddens me, and I truly mean that.
Rewind to just over a year ago. Arsenal were playing some of the best football the world had ever seen, and this is no exaggeration. "Perfect football" is what Clive Tyldesley called it on one occasion, and in some sense that is exactly what it was. Wenger had his team playing football the way it should be played, and it was a thing of beauty to behold. Many people, myself included, were enamored by this young, vibrant Arsenal side who were not only easy on the eye, but who actually won too. Even John Giles and Eamonn Dunphy (two notoriously hard to please stuck-in-the-muds) almost admitted to being supporters of Arsenal, so in love with their brand of football they became. Neutrals were powerless to resist their charms (that's Arsenal's, not Giles' or Dunphy's), and the really scary thing was that one could only see them improving.
After a slight dip in form during the Christmas period Arsenal got back on track, when all of a sudden things started unravellings at the seams. Many will cite the 2-2 draw with Birmingham as the turning point, and it's hard to argue with that. However, for me the wheels came off a week before that. Arsenal were pitted against United in a mouth-watering F.A. Cup clash, but failed to turn up. Or more accurately, decided not to turn up. A weakened Arsenal team was trounced 4-0 by the Red Devils, but it was the manner of the defeat that for me sparked the series of events that would unfold. Arsenal approached the game against Man Utd as inferiors, and in my opinion they decided not to try because at least then they would have an excuse for losing. Such a mentality is not to be found in a winning team, but Arsenal showed all the signs of fragility in their non performance in that game, and such fragility characterised many of their remaining games. In the space of something like 5 games, they went from having a chance to go 8 points in front at the top to going about 5 or 6 points behind, and that, as they say, was that.
However, amidst the doom and gloom, the signs were still there that they had the makings of something really special, provided they made a couple of astute additions over the summer. Though wrecked from a physically and emotionally draining season, they still managed to outplayed all three of their main title competitors in various games in the run in, but conspired to lose all three thanks to a combination of being completely knackered and being defensively naive. Their sublime season had nothing to show for it in the trophy cabinet, but surely some silverware was imminent. Some players to fix the defensive problems coupled with the experiences of a hard fought season would surely be enough to propel this Arsenal team to the next level, provided the hunger was still there.
The summer came and the summer went, but Arsenal's problems were only worsened if anything. They lost two of their star performers from the previous season - Hleb and Flamini - who went on to join Barcelona and Milan respectively. Flamini was seen as the bigger loss, but I would tend to disagree. Though Hleb was a woeful goalscorer and shooter in general, it was his influence that really gelled the Arsenal team together as an attacking threat. After all, scoring goals was not Arsenal's problem, therefore it didn't really matter that Hleb did not contribute directly, because he certainly contributed indirectly. His movement, his dribbling, and his passing were all of the highest quality, leading him to constantly pick holes in defenses for the likes of Adebayor and Fabregas to exploit. He was a massive contributor to Arsenal's beautiful football, and though Nasri has potential to fill the void left by him, there was and is a uniqueness to Hleb's giftings that can never really be replaced.
On the other hand, Flamini was your typical defensive midfielder, and easily replaceable in my opinion. However, Wenger decided not to replace him, and has indeed suffered the consequences for this obvious mistake. However, more than Arsenal losing two players, it seems to me from various interviews and such that Fabregas lost two friends. I know this sounds silly and girly, but I honestly think these transfers have really affected the young Spaniard. You could see from Arsenal last season that there was a real togetherness about them, and by all accounts Hleb, Flamini and Fabregas were good friends as well as teammates. To see Flamini and Hleb walk out must have been tough on Cesc, and you can honestly see that in the way he's playing this season. I'm not trying to make excuses for his poor form, but we have to be human about this and understand that such things have effects on people, especially people of such a young age. Fabregas went from having a few older people to look up to and learn from to being the oldest person in the midfield...at 21 years of age. This I find ridiculous, and if interviews are to be believed, then so does Cesc. For Wenger to put him in this position is irresponsible. It's costing Arsenal dearly at the moment, and could eventually cost him one of the most talented players to ever play the game.
To see Arsenal in this position is a real footballing tragedy given what happened last year. From being in a position of almost football perfection, they've lost to Fulham, Hull, and Stoke, and in all likelihood will suffer another crushing loss tomorrow. I don't believe that anyone at the club truly thinks that they can win the league this year, and this I feel is affecting their performances. While they've put on a few great displays, the majority have been patchy at best, if not utterly abject. the real problem is that all of this is only serving to open the door for Fabregas to move on, and when this happens, that's the end of Arsenal Football Club as we know it. What promised so much a year ago will have delivered so little. Their potential will be sold on to bigger clubs who have the resources to seriously challenge for trophies. Their "perfect football" will become a myth, a spook story that Arsenal supporters tell their disbelieving kids about at night time.
Of course one player does not make a team, and Arsenal will not go down the drain because of one loss. Viera left, Henry left, and still they have survived. However, they have yet to thrive without these two talismen, and the loss of a third can only be a massive setback, one that even a genius such as Arsene Wenger would do well to recover from.
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