Written by Ahmed El Hawary
on
Sunday, 23 October 2011 11:23
"Arsenal are now a one man team".......so what?? Although I disagree with that statement, because we are now a two man team, RVP and Szczensy. I'm not saying that the rest of the team is rubbish, far from it, it's just that without those two I cringe at thought of how we can win.
In Robin we have one of the- if not the- best asll round goalscorer in the premier league and maybe even in all of Europe. He's one of the most important players to put on the Arsenal shirt in recent memory. And finally we have a goal keeper that is not costing us points, on the contrary he's actually been keeping us in games quite often. Yes he's prone to some erratic coming off his lines, but just as he showed against Stoke, he has the self confidence ( Cockiness? ) to take control of the situation. Just think how different would the 2008 league campaign had we a whole season fit Van Persie & a goal keeper like Szczensy.
Its nothing to be ashamed of being reliant on just a great player and a good goalie, teams have done it for years with great success. Greece in Euro 2004 had Nikopolidas & Charistias, Italy 2006 Buffon & Canavaro, France 1998 was mainly down to Zidane. It doesnt mean that the rest of these teams were just fodder players, they had good players, just not in the same class.
What's important now is that we shouldn't get too reliant on Robin, Chamakh and Park need games, yes the former has been dreadful this past year but we know what he's capable of when he's on top of his game. Plus Park seems to be banging in the goals for his country so atleast we know he's not total rubbish. They need to play more regularly even as cameos at the end of games, like for example with the stoke game all wrapped up, why not introduce park instead of Frimpong?? the 4-3-3 formation will never allow them to play as long as Robin is fit, I've said it before & I'll say it again, 4-4-2 will suit this Arsenal team better and will allow more rotation options for our strikers.
The other thing that I believe we most definetly need is a creative mid. With Wilshere injured till probably the end of the season & Arteta not providing enough forward defense splitting passes, we need someone who can cut through those parked busses. Replacing Fabregas was always going to be hard but we have to try during the winter window.
This team isnt by any means great but we're grinding out results, we have a world class striker, a world class keeper, good midfielders & our best defense in the past 6 years ( thats not saying much I know ) we just need that creative spark in the middle & we can definetly qualify for europe and maybe, just maybe win a cup to boost. So whether we're a one man team or a two man team, I really couldn't care less as long as these players are class, committed & we're winning, then yeah lets be a bloody great one man team.great one man team.
Mean Lean's Response
I am not very comfortable with the one man team label or even two man team etc. We have a team full of players who all have various jobs to do as well as blending in as a whole unit.
Right now van Persie is in the headlines because he is playing on the top of his game, he is scoring goals and is in the peak of his career. It would be fair to say that we need others to contribute in the goals department and I am sure they will all do so as the season progresses.
The issue for me is that we need all our main players to find consistent top form at the same time, all doing their jobs at a high level over a long period of time.
Teams who win championships and cups have that. This has not been the case for us. This is largely because we have had to make so many changes to our squad and many players need to adapt to the way we play as well as trying to regain confidence after a confidence sapping last few months.
Sagna, Song, Szczesny, Koscielny, van Persie and Wilshere have been consistent more often than not even during our bad run of games but three of those players have been injured for the long term. Thomas Vermaelen started the season is fantastic form and then he was struck down by yet another injury.
It is all well and good having a big squad but if you cannot keep a settled team down, and being able to develop partnerships then you are screwed.
It is no surprise that the likes of Mertesacker and Koscielny are finally starting to get an understanding together and the likes of Song alongside Arteta are showing good form. Because they are starting to get games together.
My recipe for success goes something along the lines of this.
Talent > Fitness > Partnerships > Form > Consistency > Success
If that chain is broken for any length of time then achieving success is very difficult. We are starting to see some partnerships develop, van Persie and a few others have form and consistency, all we need now is the fitness of our best to stay positive and hope everything else clicks.
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