LONDON — “We live in a world where we have to be criticized. The only response we can give is on the pitch. We did that convincingly.” So said Arsène Wenger after his Arsenal team opened up a five-point lead at the top of England’s Premier League. Outside Saturday, a gale was howling. Arsenal mastered the elements, and the opponent, Liverpool, with exquisite goals from Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey in a 2-0 win between contenders for the title. Earlier in the day, Manchester City had beaten hapless Norwich City to a pulp, striking seven times through seven different scorers. And Chelsea’s coach José Mourinho said he could “smell” defeat coming at halftime. Mourinho blamed himself for making “11 wrong choices” in the team that went down 2-0 at Newcastle. But it is at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal’s home in North London, where the winds of change are most keenly felt. Back in August, when Arsenal lost the opening game of the season against Aston Villa, the fans were baying for Wenger’s retirement. Those who shouted loudest were singing the manager’s name on Saturday. Hence his philosophical remarks after the game, and his acknowledgment that this is still early in the season. Indeed, it is early in the week because on Wednesday Arsenal faces Borussia Dortmund in Germany in the Champions League, and next Sunday Arsenal visits Manchester United at Old Trafford. Huge games, potentially defining contests a third of the way through the campaign, but contests that suit Wenger’s character and purpose. He may have just turned 64, and he is in his 18th term as Arsenal head coach and manager, but he positively thrives on pressure. Arsenal’s goal scorers on Saturday each typify the manner of the coach and his insistence that soccer is not simply a contest, but something that should embody entertainment at its highest level. We know that after that humbling defeat against Villa, Wenger went out and spent more than 40 million pounds — far more than he had ever spent before on one player — to buy Mesut Özil from Real Madrid. That purchase for nearly $65 million galvanized the Gunners. Not only did Özil step right up to a high-performance, high-entertainment level for the team, but Ramsey in particular added zest and belief and goals to his midfield running. Cazorla, though, was injured at the time of Özil’s arrival. Now that the Spaniard is back, it is almost as if he has a compulsion to be even more dynamic this season than he was during last. He is, at barely 5 foot 6, among the smallest players in the league. He looks almost like a young street beggar, eager for time on the ball, buzzing, darting, the size of a boy in a man’s shorts that come down to his knees. But it is a grown-up talent that resides inside that frame, without a doubt. Brendan Rodgers, Liverpool’s coach, admitted that his players couldn’t match the mobility or the speed of passing of Arsenal on the night. They couldn’t find Cazorla, much less control him, in the 19th minute. First, he popped up 10 yards from the target to head the ball against the frame of the goal. When it ricocheted from that post, Cazorla was quicker of mind and swifter of movement than anyone else. His momentum was still carrying him to the right of goal, causing him to fall to the ground. Yet in a moment, he readjusted his weight and volleyed the ball at an angle back across the face of goal and inside the far post. The coaches at Arsenal have yet to work out, almost two years after he arrived, whether this little Spanish dynamo is right-footed or left. The answer is both: Maybe the left was predominant from birth, but from childhood on, he practiced in the streets and on the parks to master either foot. Ramsey is a different story. Born in South Wales, a natural athlete with energy to burn, he was first scouted for rugby, but soccer was thankfully his passion. Three years ago, when Ramsey was in a cast after his right leg was horribly shattered by compound fractures to both the tibia and fibula, his coach, Wenger, handed him a challenge and an extended contract to fulfill it. “Come back stronger” was the essence. Any Arsenal watcher will confirm that Ramsey is doing that, week in, and week out. Like Cazorla, like Özil, and like so many protégés in Wenger’s collection, his role is midfield. Ramsey, however, has discovered how sharp, how swift and how predatory he can be around the opponents’ penalty area. Saturday’s goal was his 10th in 15 appearances in all competitions this season. He seems to come from nowhere, to smell the blood of a scoring opportunity, and more to the point to know how to finish. Just less than an hour had elapsed when, like Cazorla, Ramsey found that Liverpool had left him a yard of space. He was outside the penalty box, and the ball was bouncing. No matter. He allowed it one little bounce, then another, waiting for just the right height, the right moment to strike. Then he leaned to his right and cut across the ball with the outside of his right foot. The ball flew off him, seemingly heading for the top left of the goal as he faced it but then gradually, gracefully arching. The swerve outfoxed Liverpool goalie Simon Mignolet, and the ball found its line between the keeper’s outstretched hand and nestled beneath his crossbar. It was as fine a pitch as any golfer could make, but struck with the presence of opponents all around. If anything, Ramsey used the wind, or certainly he judged it to perfection. “We really enjoyed it today,” said Arsenal’s quiet Welshman. “I was waiting for the ball to sit up nicely, so I could strike it cleanly. I’ve looked up to players who score like that from midfield for 10 years, so now I feel confident I can have a crack.” Confidence is the word Wenger most uses. Confidence, time and trust are remarkable attributes in a game of soccer.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 12:33:33 +0000
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