Arsenal Chances 2016 – I would like to copyright the term “Arsenalbania” before anyone else does, because it seems to me the perfect description for the new, improved Arsenal that this week produced probably the club’s best back-to-back performances in recent years by demolishing both Chelsea and FC Basel, winning 3-0 and 2-0 respectively. (Most true Arsenal fans, and all old-school Arsenal fans, are loving the “nils” even more than the goals.)
The term “Arsenalbania” occurred to me after watching both games because what was remarkable about them was that, having played truly beautiful football in both first halves, Arsenal – utterly uncharacteristically, at least for recent times – played what is usually described in England as “solid” second halves to ensure that there was little or no danger of them relinquishing their lead.
Gunners Fans Are Loving “Arsenalbania”
The term “solid” is an interesting one. In America, it is usually used to describe the request or commission of a particularly important favour, as in, “Do me a solid”, or, “You did me a solid”. In England, however, and especially in English football, it is the catch-all term for unflashy, unrisky, extremely professional defensive play, as in, “They were solid all afternoon”, or, “They are looking a lot more solid now”, as indeed Arsenal are.
Initially, I wondered what the source of this new-found solidity was, and then it occurred to me. For all that Alexis Sanchez has rightly been praised for his breathtaking performances up front, which have surely relegated Olivier Giroud to the substitutes bench permanently and the status of a “plan B”, solidity in football teams does not usually flow from the front. Rather, it is imposed at the back and in central midfield, and that is where the “Arsenalbania” description comes in, because, other than Sanchez suddenly becoming an Agüero-like striker, the only significant change from last season has been the introduction to the side of new signings Skhodran Mustafi and Granit Xhaka, who may be German and Swiss internationals respectively but are both of Albanian origin.
Both Mustafi and Xhaka are children of the great Albanian exodus of the early 1990s, which itself was part of the wider displacement of people across Europe as a result of the Balkans wars that followed the break-up of the old Yugoslavia. This unusual form of “Balkanisation” (the word usually means the seizing of a country’s territory by ambitious neighbours but in this context reflects the movement of Balkans-born people across the European continent) has already had a considerable influence on European football, with Zlatan Ibrahimović being the most high-profile product of the flight of people from Europe’s south-east corner. (Zlatan’s father was a Bosnian Muslim who emigrated to Sweden in the late 1970s, before the mass emigration from the Balkans some 15 years later.) However, the simultaneous arrival at Arsenal this summer of two powerful, combative players whose families are ethnic Albanians (from Macedonia in Mustafi’s case and Kosovo in Xhaka’s) may yet prove to be the most important “ex-Balkan” influence on any one football club, at least if the displays of the last week are anything to go by.
Gunners fans are loving the new additions. For years, Arsenal fans have been crying out (literally, in the case of so many online pleas) for Arsene Wenger to strengthen “the spine” of the team, referring, of course, to the importance of the four “central” players in any football team: the goalkeeper; the centre-back; the main central midfielder; and the striker. With the belated acquisition of Petr Cech and the even more belated conversion of Alexis Sanchez to a central striking position, Wenger may finally have improved the team at both ends of the pitch, but it is with the introduction of Mustafi and Xhaka that he might finally have strengthened the real “core” of any team, at centre-half and in defensive midfield.
In his role as a Champions League pundit, Roy Keane rightly reminded everyone, when discussing Theo Walcott’s recent improvement, that “He’s had a good week”, and the same is true of Arsenal as a whole. Indeed, many Arsenal fans still fear an inevitable pratfall at Burnley, especially if Wenger makes too many changes to his new-found “spine” and rests the likes of Sanchez to prevent them from playing three games in a week. However, the calm, assured way in which Arsenal held on to their leads against both Chelsea and Basel (notwithstanding a few opposition breakaways, especially against Chelsea) suggests there is now a far better balance between attack and defence within the team’s personnel and overall structure. Wenger himself alluded to this in talking about Walcott, saying that he had gone from a player who was “90% attack, 10% defence” to one who is now far more “50-50” in balancing his defensive and attacking responsibilities. Again, the same appears to be true of the entire team.
In putting Mustafi alongside the peerless Koscielny at the heart of the defence, and belatedly introducing Xhaka in central midfield (after the unlucky Coquelin came off injured early on in the Chelsea game), Wenger has done much to rebalance and realign his team, because for both Mustafi and Xhaka the pre-eminent part of their game is their defensive play. One might say that that is hardly surprising of a centre-back and defensive midfielder respectively, but it is certainly not true of David Luiz or of several earlier supposed “defensive” midfielders at Arsenal, with Alex Song in particular forgetting the need to shield the back four as he joined in the flowing, attacking play in front of him.
However, what is even more impressive about Mustafi and Xhaka is that they are not purely defensive players, but can also contribute considerably in attack. Mustafi showed in the summer with Germany that he can be a major threat from set-pieces, scoring their first goal at Euro 2016 with a powerful header from a corner, while Xhaka has already scored twice for Arsenal. Indeed, what Arsenal fans are particularly impressed by is that Xhaka has not only scored but scored from long range, which had almost become a forgotten art at Arsenal in recent years as the team concentrated on close passing in and around the penalty area. Xhaka can also pass the ball over considerable distance, as he demonstrated in the Premier League game against Watford, with a series of long but accurate balls to his forwards.
Mustafi and Xhaka to improve the image of fellow Albanians in London
If Mustafi and Xhaka continue their hugely impressive start to their Arsenal careers, they will not only improve Arsenal immeasurably but also the image of their fellow Albanians (or at least ethnic Albanians) in Britain and particularly in London. For too long, “Albanian” has almost been a short-hand among certain right-wing commentators for “illegal, and probably criminal, migrants” to the UK. However, if Mustafi and Xhaka can help Arsenal to maintain an authentic title challenge into March (which is all that most reasonable Arsenal fans, who know that nobody is guaranteed a title in the newly ultra-competitive English top flight, want), then “Albanian” may become short-hand instead for “strong, purposeful and decisive” players who will complete Arsenal’s transition from the French-dominated “Gooneurs” of Arsene Wenger’s first decade in charge to an “Arsenalbania” who are admired not only for their flair and imagination but also for their grit and character.
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