It’s been a long time coming as we again sit proudly perched on the English Premiership summit! Man, I love the sound of that. I love the thought of staring down at on our rivals with pride after our fourth straight Premiership win and 7th win in all competitions after a solid, yet unspectacular victory, against Stoke.
To their credit, Stoke surprisingly came passing the ball around from the back through the team instead of the normal big hoof up-field for the big men to fight over. So to be fair, hand clap for them. That’s where my like for them starts and stops – very quickly – as they are far from my favourite team. So how did the Arsenal play?
The simple answer is we did enough, just enough and nothing more, nothing less. But the importance of these kinds of 3 points can’t be overrated and hopefully come our last game on May 11th away to Norwich will be invaluable. So where did we win it?
The simple answer (simple is best, yes?) is from 3 set plays. But perhaps it’s more than that. This group of players has such fight, commitment and desire to succeed for each other, if a player makes a mistake someone will cover ’round and put their body on the line. Mesut Ozil with 3 assists (well, 2, but he was crucial in the 3rd) will get the headlines after his almost seamless transition from La Liga. I could go on about his silky first touch all night, but leave that for another time.
My Man of the Match was Mathieu Flamini, a player many discarded and generally frowned upon when Wenger brought him back on a free in the summer. But damn, he has been outstanding – perhaps the best free buy ever? He’s vocal, a real warrior. He organizes players around and can be a nasty little bugger who puts his foot where it needs to be. He is/was exactly what this team needed, and he was brilliant on Saturday. He won tackles, pushed players on and led the team like a second captain without the armband (no disrespect to Mertesacker, who seems to wear the band very well).
Kieran Gibbs was solid, and Bacary Sagna is showing his true quality – how about when he leapt above 6′ plus defenders for his goal. And the Welsh Dragon, Aaron Ramsey, amazingly scored his 7th of the season and was everywhere working his socks off. Jack Wilshere was kicked all over the Emirates – not quite at his best yet, but improving every game. The Laurent Koscielny/Per Mertesacker combination was solid enough without being outstanding.
One player who needs special praise is – Naaaa, na na na na na naaaa, na na na naaaa Gir-oud (sorry, to the tune of “Hey Jude” of course). Yes, French striker Oliver Giroud has been nothing short of brilliant all season and has looked dangerous in every game. Something that has really impressed me is he never loses a battle in the air, his first touch in tremendous for a big guy, and his ability to bring others into the game or play a deadly little pass has to be applauded.
I can’t go without mentioning emerging talent of Serge Gnabry, still only a baby at 18, but played with passion keeping the ball well and wasn’t scared to go at defenders. Perhaps his time isn’t now, but he’s definitely one to look forward to.
So what’s up next? Well, onto a tricky Carling Cup game Wednesday, which we will rest many of our first-teamers but gives returning stars like Mikel Arteta, Thomas Vermaelen some much needed game time. We then move on to an extremely difficult away trip to Wales to play Swansea City. I would take a win Wednesday and a draw Saturday, but seeing as how this may be the year of the Arsenal, I’ll be greedy and predict two Gooner wins.
Till next time, Up the Gooners!
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