Arsenal: the other side of the coin

We are headed towards another weekend of football, after last week’s treat of delightful football both in the premier league and the Uefa Championships league. 

Cracking Guns?

Last weekend in the league, we saw Arsenal continue their woeful run against Manchester United were they lost 2-1, and in the Champions league were they threw away a two-goal lead to end the game in a 2-all draw at Schakle. This weekend the gunners face a free scoring Fulham side, who are presently enjoying a four-game unbeaten run. They are also boosted by the one year contract extension handed to their manager, Martin Jol. That match will really be a test to the North London club.

Let me spend a few paragraphs to assess this Arsenal stuttering condition. One question that many have asked is…”What actually is wrong with this club that usually exhume venom and professionalism in the game of football”? Did the man who earned himself the title le Prof, due to his know-how in the game, turn bad overnight? Is the problem really with substandard players? Well, in my own humble opinion, I do strongly believe that Wenger is still a good coach, if you doubt me, loose him now, and the club will bleed shortly. Overall the players themselves do not lack quality. I know many will be quick to counter this view, but let me point out something to buttress my point. We must agree that Arsenal is NOT in the class of clubs that should buy world class players into every position, and even in the bench. I stand to be corrected, but I see only two clubs always trying to do that…Barcelona and Real Madrid- even Barca have their own substandard in the shape Valdes. Man City are trying to fall into this group, but have not been consistent enough to be ranked at par with the aforementioned clubs. If we take critical look at most of the teams up there like Man U, Chelsea, Ac Milan, Bayern Munich etc, it’s not that they have world class players in every position that make them winners. What they have that Arsenal presently lack is simply…..WINNING MENTALITY and DRIVE. They know the taste of victory and want more.

Champ

Most persons have criticised Wenger that he has not bought enough players to challenge for a title…I do not agree with this idea totally. Let’s take for instance a player that Arsenal have failed to buy and have had success in moving to another club; Mata quickly comes to my mind. Arsenal were at the brink of buying Juan Mata, before Chelsea high-jacked the deal and he moved to the blue side of London. In the year of his arrival, he won the champions league, and is rated today as an excellent buy by Chelsea. I dare to say that even if Mata had joined Arsenal, it wouldn’t have change our present position or situation. But because he joined a team with a winning history and spirit, he gelled, and now termed a winner. Let’s look contrastly at another player that was in Arsenal’s radar- Nuri Sahin. Although the Turkish international isn’t a bad player generally, his move to the premier league has not grace the news headlines every weekend as expected. This is simply because he joined a team that has forgotten how it feels to be at the top, therefore, his arrival has made little or no difference to the Liverpool team. But had he gone to a side like Man U or Chelsea, his contributions would have made more sense and may have been classed as a top player.

In a nutshell, all am trying to prove is that Arsenal players and not all together a bad group, they just lack a winning mentality and drive. Once they can taste victory, you will see how players like Carzola, Walcott, Arteta, Vemarleen, etc will be rated. Arsenal needs a Psychologist, someone who have that psyche qualities of Mourinho. Wenger should get a very good psycho who will spur the boys on while he concentrate on the technical aspect of the team, and we will see a different Arsenal side.

As they go into this weekend’s game, the morale in the team is not at the top level, but they will need their all to pull out with maximum points. Wilshere will be out of the game serving his one-match ban for the red card he picked up in the Man U game.

The Van

Lest I forget, United have proven to have made the best buy of the last transfer window in the person of Van Persie. At the beginning of the season many applauded the inclusion of Carzola to the Arsenal squad, but over the last 2-3 weeks, he has failed to replicate consistency. On the other hand, RVP has brought in a lot of competition and positive drive to the team. We cannot say enough how much he has contributed already to Fergie’s team. Will he had made a difference if he stayed back at Arsenal? I doubt…he would have continued in individual display of brilliance, but the lack of winning drive of the team would still had pegged the gunner back.