Robin Van Who?

by Jake Bertone

That is what was said by many Arsenal supporters following their team’s destructive performance against newly promoted side Southampton on Saturday.

Prior to the start of the season, when Arsenal had just lost van Persie (oh that’s his name!) to Manchester United and Alex Song to Barcelona, many people believed that Arsene Wenger’s time was up and that his team would not be able to perform at the standard needed to challenge and win trophies. Now 4 games into the new Premier League campaign, Arsene Wenger’s side sits 3rd on the table with 2 wins and 2 draws, conceding only 1 goal (a mistake by the keeper) and booting 8, giving them the strongest goal difference in the league. Not bad for a team that lost two of its most important players.

Gervinho celebrating 1 of his 2 goals from the weekend.

Improvement

Where has the improvement come from then? How has Arsenal started so well without those players? To me, it all comes down to balance. Last year’s Arsenal team relied on the efforts of van Persie to score each week and help it win, this year’s Arsenal team has a spread. Goals already coming from the likes of Podolski, Gervinho, Cazorla and Walcott. The Arsenal attacks of this year, primarily in the Southampton game were coming from all directions. This is because of the evenness of the front half now. There is no dominant attacker. Sure Podolski has some serious accomplishments under his belt, but that doesn’t stop players like Walcott, Chamberlain or Gervinho from doing their own thing and taking a chance at goal. Last year, it was all about passing it to van Persie, even if he wasn’t in the right position, just because it was him. Yes, he did take his chances more times than not, but to win a trophy, a team needs balance. Defence is another area that has been improved significantly, providing 3 clean-sheets in the first 4 games. A lot of the credit must go to new Assistant Coach Steve Bould, who has transformed the Arsenal defence into a very solid back 4 that is yet to miss a beat.

The Future

Moving on from the players who have left the club recently, lets talk about the players who have arrived! Lucas Podolski, Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud. These players have added the spark that Arsenal has so often lacked in the past. Cazorla’s breathtaking foot skills and vision sees him as one of the most dominant midfielders currently in the Premier League, adding speed and creativity to the Arsenal squad. At times last year, attacks seemed boring and predictable, but with the inclusion of Cazorla in the midfield, Arsenal’s attacks are frightening to opposition defences. Lucas Podolski adds a bit of grunt to the squad, something a team pushing for the title needs, not to mention the class and clinical finishing that has seen him net 2 goals in the last 2 games, one of which being a spectacular free-kick. He’s a menace on the left because for a man of his size, he can run, and run fast, cutting past the opposition and either crossing it with some pace and whip or taking a chance and testing the keeper. It’s exciting to watch. Now to Olivier Giroud, the new signing who is yet to really announce himself. He adds height and strength to attack, as well as clinical finishing that saw him score 25 goals for French Champions Montpellier last season. I have no doubt that he will take his chance and score very soon, he is too good not to. Hearing people compare Giroud to Chamakh after only a few games is insane, he needs time.

Giroud, Cazorla and Podolski

Depth

Now lastly, to Arsenal’s depth. Last year saw injuries to Abou Diaby and Jack Wilshere add to the departures of Samir Nasir and Cesc Fabregas, so it was worrying for Arsenal supporters to see who the replacements would be. Arteta, Park Chu Young and Mertesacker were the replacements, with only Arteta getting regular first team action. This year though, Arsenal’s bench holds a lot more quality. The weekend saw players like Walcott, Arshavin, Giroud and Ramsey on the bench waiting for their chance to shine. This creates competition for places in the team. It also means that when a player is injured or is subbed off, there is a quality replacement ready to come on and do the job. Too many times in previous seasons a quality player would be replaced with a somewhat average player, or a player with very little experience. Now, it’s balanced.

Arsenal now has all the parts that if put together correctly, create, I believe, a title challenging machine that is capable of beating anyone. Yes, anyone.

Melbourne based Jake Bertone is an aspiring football writer from Australia, pursuing his goal of becoming a sports journalist while studying at Victoria University.