First league win of the season. I wouldn’t have imagined I
would be saying that almost a month into the campaign. For Arsenal, however, it
hasn’t been a month. For Arsenal, this was a new beginning, a fresh start, another chapter, a rebirth - have your pick! It
was a new look team that took the field at the Emirates – a team few would have
guessed at a month back, let alone last season. This game was about how we took
the loss at Old Trafford. This game was about the new signings and how they fit
in. This game was the perfect opener.
The last two weeks have brought an amazing change in the
squad, and, I would like to imagine, in the dressing room too. The
international games did not, for once, bring in the countless injuries they
always seem to do. In fact, most of our players had great games – the captain
scored four in a game (against San Marino, but still), Chu Young Park scored
four in two games for South Korea, the Ox put in two brilliant performances for
the under-21’s, Szczesny, in the words of the great Oliver Kahn, was the only
“world class” player in the Germany-Poland game, and Ramsay put in a great
shift for Wales against England. The best news for me, however, was that
Arshavin apparently was fantastic for Russia. That showed today. He was lively
throughout and very dynamic on and off the ball. His defensive skills remain
questionable, but it was good to see him play his heart out.
Even when you remove the importance of the game
psychologically, this one was very interesting tactically. Swansea is an
attacking team, much like Blackpool – they love to play some real football and
are often adventurous going forward. Traditionally, we love playing against
such teams. However, there was little doubt about how Swansea were going to
tackle this one – put 10 men behind the ball. That’s a fair tactic and I have
nothing against it. When you come to a stadium like the Emirates, that’s
probably the best way to go about the game. To their credit, they maintained a
4-5-1 throughout and were not afraid to attack when they did get a chance.
Arshavin, as I mentioned earlier, looked very lively on the left
side, and the excellent Keiran Gibbs did well too I thought. For Swansea, there were times
when Nathan Dyer looked very dangerous, and they attacked well through the wings, although they lacked a final product and our defense held on well. The focus in defense was obviously on Per Mertesacker. He is a very
intelligent player, as the boss himself put it. His positioning was spot on,
but he was slow to turn and did not look very mobile. It must be remembered
though that there is a big difference between the German and English leagues.
The very nature of the game changes. Obviously, a center half will take time to
get used to it. A great example is Koscielny, who I think is very
underrated considering his abilities. He is very mobile and brilliant at reading the game, can also jump
and has adjusted well to the rigors of the Premier League. He has a high jump
too. Above all, he is a hard worker, willing to give everything for the team.
This pairing will work until the Verminator returns, I feel.
The games we have in the next four weeks are not the toughest, except maybe the one at Shite Hart
Lane. But considering our opponents, we don’t really expect a challenge do we?
We are, and will be the only team in North London.
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