Did I just go to sleep and wake up in 2004? It certainly feels like it with the way Arsenal Football Club is performing. Two pieces of silverware in one calendar year; it certainly feels like I’m dreaming after the drought we were getting used to as Gunners. Losing to New York Red Bulls two weeks ago was not something to worry me. Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger had fielded youngsters in that game, some of them unknown, and he clearly wasn’t taking the game very seriously. He was using the game to see who to keep and who to sell before the transfer window closes. Losing the Emirates Cup wasn’t devastating either, as it was still trial and error on Wenger’s part and we could all see that. But beating Manchester City was one heck of statement. A lot of critics have tried to argue that Arsenal played a depleted City side, but how depleted is a team with the likes of Samir Nasri, Yaya Toure and Edin Dzeko? That doesn’t sound anything like a “Team B” as some have argued. What I liked about that game was that Arsenal dominated and Arsenal won. It wasn’t a game in which “we” struggled and then got lucky goals. We were probably lucky that we didn’t concede one goal, but Wojciech Szczesny only had that one big save and what a save! I think what is happening in Arsenal right now is that, for once, Wenger has two in-form players in nearly all positions. The competition within the playing unit is partly what is driving such a great performance, I believe. Every player knows that if they don’t perform, they could find themselves warming the bench a lot more. How else would you explain that wonder-goal from Olivier Giroud? That goal was not vintage Giroud; but if I had been on the bench during that Emirates Cup clash with Benfica; watching Yaya Sanogo score four against the Portuguese champions, I too would have dug so deep to find the reason why such a big club like Arsenal signed me in the first place. The competition for shot-stopper is also pretty high right now; and Szczesny is probably fortunate that David (Ospina) was slightly injured last weekend. It gave him the chance to show us that he is still a great goalkeeper; although he probably wished that Man City had challenged him more. I am sure that at some point I envisioned Szczesny sitting down sipping a soda as the game went on because he was barely being challenged. I am loving where Arsenal is right now. We have beaten the champions convincingly and yet we still have the Germans and Theo Walcott to join the fray. How lethal will that midfield attack be, with the likes of Theo and Mesut joining Alexis and Aaron. Yeah I’m on first name basis with the players because we’re beginning to feel like family again. A winning family! I’m proud to say I stuck with the Gunners through eight years of silverware drought and we have already shown more intent for next season. The fear up until now, and for the past eight years was that very few of our players had tasted silverware. In fact, the only ones who had ever won anything were players like Mesut Ozil, who had come from big clubs. Right now the boys have seen the benefit of the FA Cup and the Community Shield, although the lack of celebration on Sunday showed that the players won’t get carried away with small competitions. I love this! The focus this season will be on the big and important trophies like the Premier League and the Champions League; and judging by the way we dismissed that blue club from Manchester, I’m betting on my Arsenal getting a minimum of two big trophies in the coming season. So to answer my own question about whether Arsenal is back; all I can say - in the voice of Austin Powers - is: “yeah baby yeah!”
Posted on: Thu, 14 Aug 2014 13:57:34 +0000
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