How Arsene Wenger showed the world that he still is Le Professeur

All looked doomed after the 8-2 drubbing by a confident young United side, for Wenger and his Gunners. The Frenchman quite clearly had lost the plot, and in the process incinerated the confidence of youngsters like Coquelin and Ramsey who were being branded as the Arsenal of the future. A sinking ship, indeed. It seemed sane to think of Arsenal battling for tenth, when until last season we had consistently been among the League and Europe elite. Very few could keep the faith. “In Arsene, we trust” was going to be the tune this season again, we presumed. It wasn’t hatred , it was more empathy towards an old man who was, how do you put it; finished.

3 months and 10 days later….

A relatively respectable 5th in the league and one of the two english teams through to the knockout stages of the Champions League. Who in their right mind could have foreseen this happening? Surprising exits from the Champions League by the high flying Manchester club duo adds to the gravity of Arsene’s achievement at the club he so easily could have bid farewell to a few months ago. How did he do it?

One of my guesses is he had it planned all along. After witnessing the dwindling faith his fans showed in him towards the end of last season, he plotted disappointing performances in the Emirates Cup, a dramatic home loss to Liverpool, an understatement of a humbling to Man Utd, and a flurry of low profile deadline buys to the displease the Gunners faithful. And then when it seemed like any Gooner would kill himself if another negative result came Arsenal’s way, the Professor began his almighty comeback. He couldn’t make it very obvious and plunder the reigning German champions by 5 goals on their own turf, for viewers and Arsenal-haters might read into it and uncover his masterplan.

And then Sepp Blatter and his pretty UEFA family would investigate and order Wenger’s head split open for inspection and what not. No, he took a draw there, bided his time and waited until the Chelsea trip instead, to make a huge statement. A month later, his side becomes the first English team to be through to the knockout stages of the Champions League. Very subtle Mr Wenger, very subtle indeed. I’m going to stick to that version of the story, just because I can. For those of you who don’t buy it, here’s a more Charles Darwin explanation for it.

New Buys

The inflow of experience into the club was something everybody at Arsenal FC craved, but neither the fans nor Wenger could imagine putting in an older player into midfield for fear of him stealing Fabregas’ thunder. We loved giving Cesc attention. After all, he was our talisman, our captain. Cesc could do it all, and must do it all, period. We didn’t want better, we for sure didn’t think there was better. Alas, our beloved captain parted ways with the club. Wenger absolutely had to find a replacement, with young Jack expected to be out until Christmas at least. He chose Arteta, a player he had been courting for years, to fill the magician’s boots.

Maybe Arteta’s feet were a couple sizes smaller, but he’s pretty darn good, if you ask me. Actually, if you asked me, I’d say better! The 29 yr old Spaniard knows how to orchestrate the team’s play from the halfway line balancing fluid attacking moves and composed defensive shifts. When the team is behind, he moves up the pitch and tries to find the back of the net, and when a lead needs protecting, he takes up a deep role and assists the likes of Alexander Song, occasionally even giving the defensive midfielder license to go forward like in the Dortmund home game. Fabregas was exceptional in his forward plays, but sometimes lacked defensive composure. His fatal back-heel pass in the second leg against Barcelona in the Champions League last season is an example. Arteta may not provide defense-splitting lob passes yet, but as a fan, it feels safer when he is on the team, my heart rate is a lot slower and calmer with 80 minutes on the clock and the score 1-0 in our favour.

Wenger wasn’t done there, he also brought in the skinny but intelligent Benayoun on loan, a midfielder with almost similar qualities. Gervinho has lived up to the hype he cooked up in France, the Ivorian is a thunderbolt down the flanks and his new-found relationship with Van Persie is lip-smacking. With Gervinho, Arsenal have been more direct and lethal in attack, and his performances have goaded Walcott into improving on his ball control and crossing skills, thanks to his healthy ego. Carl Jenkinson has been a revelation, slowly growing into his role and putting in solid shifts at right back. Mr Wenger certainly knows how to pick them.

New Gameplan

Arsene Wenger looked to salvage some pride after the home defeat to Liverpool and put out a depleted first team at Old Trafford and told his boys to take the game to United like the Arsenal of old. He threw his young midfield onto the pitch making them believe they could boss a midfield that boasted the likes of Nani, Giggs, Cleverly and Ashley Young. He had put his young boys out for the slaughter, and by the time he’d realized it, it was too late.

The Rovers game was another game where it all went wrong. This time, yes they could boss the midfield with their new signings against a Rovers side that were drained of confidence, and their best players to transfers. The seemingly resurgent Arsenal team wanted so hard to prove to the footballing world that they are still one of the best. They looked to take Edwood park by storm, all they were focused on was attack, attack. No matter how many goals you let in as long as you’ve found their goal more times, they thought. The game was desperate, disastrous. The Gunners display was a scary one, we felt a decline and hated Man Utd for being the impetus.

Yet, Wenger claimed his team could still get back to winning ways, he had belief, he prayed to the fans to have belief. Here’s a video of Arsene Wenger’s speech at the AGM.It’s worth it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=lrNXDAZIYZQ

The fans stuck with him, more like a last hurrah some would say. Oh and how graciously they have been rewarded. Conserved performances against European heavyweights like Dortmund and Marseille put a new changed Arsenal on the map, one that was willing to adapt to every game, one that would accept it if the other team was better. Added to that, the new look team delighted in protecting a lead, and they did it well, something nobody in their right minds would’ve placed their bets on, last term. Counter attacking has taken a big boost with Gervinho’s timed runs off the ball and Walcott’s improved decision making down the right. This Arsenal team may not be as flamboyant as the last one, but more complete it sure is. Well done Mr Wenger.

Steady improvement of present players

Players like Wojciech Szczesny, Alexander Song, Laurent Koscielny, Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey and of course Van the Man have stepped up their game. Koscielny has gotten over last year’s Carling Cup debacle and never looked back. Finally his velociraptor-like features are complemented by the brute strength we expected from the former Lorient man. Ramsey has had a couple of below-par games, but otherwise he still looks like he never broke his ankle at Stoke two seasons ago. Walcott’s crossing has improved considerably. Van Persie, well, no words. Szczesny has been magical between the posts.

A League victory over League leaders City would be the perfect Christmas present for Arsene Wenger, and I’m sure we’d like a bite of it too.