Arsenal: Ooh to be a league leader

At least, in recent games, the play has been made more by Ramsey, Arteta and Cazorla. What he does is more ethereal, more peripheral, dare I say, better. What he does is what Bergkamp did. He uses his pure, unadulterated talent and feel for football to draw opponents in, to create space where space was not always considered possible, and he adds delightful touches to a team filled with delightful touches. He flits in and out of games, producing moments of magic before seemingly disappearing. If this sounds like a bad thing, it is not. His quality is of course not the only thing helping us. The belief amongst the players that a player of that calibre would be possible, and would want to come, can only be described as a massive boost, and his subsequent strengthening of the team must be a dream to all his team mates.

Let’s also not forget that, for a player of remarkably luxuriant play, he’s got some real graft too. A few times this season he’s used his understanding of football to either spot a run he can make and then make it, at top speed, to reach a ball in a stunning counter, or used surprising speed to relieve the defence in moments under pressure. Much like Cazorla, he is also more tenacious and defensively capable than I could have imagined. We may not yet quite be Dortmund, whose pressing game is far more refined and drilled into them than ours is right now, but we defend from the front.

Another thing we have going for us is the nature of our personnel. Whereas before we had players who let their heads drop, we now seem to have a team of fighters, both individually and collectively. We also have a team of players who absolutely adore the game and play with smiles. This team emanates happiness and joy and all the players seem to care about each other and about the game they are playing. Every player seems overjoyed for Ramsey when he scores another goal, knowing what he has been through and knowing that without his tireless work they would be less good. Every player seems overjoyed when Wilshere, after a frustrating game, produces a moment of magic. The passionate side is matched with a good natured side. People like Mertesacker and Cazorla can’t be seen without a smile and it is infecting their team mates. Happy ‘workers’ are productive workers and a team that likes each other will do better. Momentum and cohesion follow. This different mentality seems to be another key aspect as to what is different.

What should also not be forgotten (and indeed, is perhaps the most important point of all) is that this team had a full pre season together. Last year, we sold Van Persie. The year before, Fabregas and Nasri. We had no major injuries during pre season this time around. Wenger and his men (who are still some of the best around, despite a noticeable lack of credit) had the chance to fully, and without interruption, transfer their ideas and wisdom onto the players. As a result the team looks more harmonious, much more in sync, and some players have improved drastically over the course of just a few months. When questioning the ability Wenger has these days to actually set up a team and make the tactical decisions (both on the training ground and later transferred onto the pitch), take a second and think how incredibly he has done so this last summer. Then shut up.

Perhaps the most important person (and change in a person) to our new mentality is the man I like to refer to as the Spartan: he may well spend most of his time oiled up and gelling his hair (*swoon*) but he has the fight of the men of Thermopylae and has really helped our season move along. I’m talking of course about Olivier Giroud. Last season was a tough one for him. Filling the void left by a captain, who had also happened to be PFA POTY, he struggled to impose himself on matches. Too often he took on ridiculous shots in hope they would go in, and whereas nowadays he fights off the opposition like a warrior, in his first few months he would hit the deck at the slightest contact and lay there preening like Drogba would have done (albeit with far more grace, *swoon*). The ability was clearly (to me) always there: he has superb technique for a centre forward, has a knack for goal, and his movement is absolutely as good as anyone’s.

The problem was he never imposed himself on matches, felt nervous and fearful of the toughest league in the world, and as such didn’t get to use his strengths. But what a difference a summer makes. This season, Giroud has been amongst the best strikers in the league. His record in aerial duels and his general hold up play has been sensational, even going so far as to keep three central defenders at a time busy against both Napoli and Liverpool, allowing for the men behind him to say thank you and profit. He fights. His work rate has been phenomenal and essential to the whole style of our play.

If you look at Özil’s gorgeous first goal for the club, Giroud gets the ball on the right, plays in Ramsey. By the time Özil hits his sumptuous finish, Giroud is in a position to be played through on goal by Mesut instead. He has made the exact movement he needs to make, dragging away defenders, creating space, and, in this case, he ran really fast to get there.

Perhaps the two biggest points of criticism are indeed his speed (he is not fast, even 33 year old Kolo Toure managed to outpace him versus Liverpool) and the consistency of his finishing. A truly, truly world class CF like Aguero or Cavani or Lewandowski would put away more of the chances Giroud has not. But it is becoming a fine margin every time he plays well, and he is now well and truly in that sub class of strikers just below the handful of truly world class strikers. Not bad for a man who many considered a flop. And just look at him (*swoons*).

Another much maligned man in amazing form who makes me swoon is of course Aaron Ramsey. Considering I could talk about him for 4000 words more (and that would bore you to death) I will keep this relatively short. What can we say about the man that hasn’t been said, anyway? Basically, he is the pure and utter vindication of both Arsene Wenger and the Arsene Wenger way.