da wazamba： Saturday’s win at Fulham was a throwback to the far more enterprising style of football normally associated with Arsene Wenger’s teams. It wasn’t a backs-to-the-wall, defend at all costs kind of performance. Instead the football was slick, eye-catching and at times a joy to watch. Where last season may have been defined by Arsenal stacking the defensive barriers and clearing the danger in a most un-Arsenal fashion, Saturday’s performance saw the team play the ball out of defence in a manner that you’d normally see at the Camp Nou.
da apostebet： There’s reason for optimism but also a need to accept reality. Fulham are a team Arsenal should be beating, certainly on paper. The players are better, the resources richer; Fulham are the kind of team the Invincibles would have gone away to and had the game over and done with after twenty minutes. The great positive here is that there is a strong foundation in this current Arsenal side. Coaching will bring that to the fore, yes. But how close are this team to genuinely challenging and offering the other big teams in the league a real contest?
That’s the great frustration among supporters. Most know that a world-class striker will elevate the club into the category of title-contenders. Added quality in midfield will allow for ineffectual names of the past such as Gervinho or Andrey Arshavin to be looked past. How many points does a steady pair of hands in goal secure you over the course of a season?
Martin Jol was quite complimentary about Arsenal on the weekend. He, like most, praised Santi Cazorla’s showing on the day. There was an obvious nod to Olivier Giroud and the Frenchman’s improvement and importance to the team. But he also pointed out the dynamism of the midfield, in that there is no defined defensive midfielder; both an advantage for Arsenal – in a weird sort of way – and an aspect that can confuse the opposition.
Many supporters want to see Wenger address the midfield with a Patrick Vieira type, someone like Luiz Gustavo, who the club were recently linked with. But how many of the biggest teams in Europe actually use an out-and-out ‘destroyer’ in the middle of the pitch? Manchester United? Barcelona? Real Madrid? Juventus? Even Manchester City? Each of those teams have names in their squads who can fill the role of holding midfielder, but none actually do that, instead providing much more to transition phases and attacks than simply manning their post. The game is arguably moving away from the Claude Makeleles and Vieiras and towards hybrids.
That’s why there appears to be such little interest in Marouane Fellaini, for example. He’s a powerful figure in the middle of the pitch, but is he technically good enough to play for a team like Arsenal? In the case of Gustavo, does he provide enough of what Wenger is looking for? Therefore, the interest in Lars Bender and now Yohan Cabaye makes sense.
But the point, once again, is that those names, whoever they are, will add a lot more weight to Arsenal’s credentials as a title contender. Fans don’t want a race for fourth place, because you might as well just write off the season if that’s all you aim to accomplish. The frustration has been quite clear when Wenger says he’s happy with what he has and that fans shouldn’t forget the quality in the side. That’s true, but how much more can be done when numbers, and specifically quality in numbers are added?
It’s true that a week can offer a whole new perspective in football. At Fenerbahce and Fulham, Arsenal showed a level of competence and ingenuity that was completely absent in the home opener against Aston Villa. It’s evidence that it can be done, and that the roots of Arsenal’s style of football are still firmly planted in ground. Adding three or four more who fit the technical requirements for this style will see Arsenal further up the league table than battling for fourth.
There is a feverish desire for signings. But a large theme of it is that the fans don’t want complacency from the club.
Are Arsenal only a few numbers light from challenging for silverware?
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