For if you take a look at the charts, while Mikel Arteta, Gervinho and Walcott are the only other members of the team to have scored more than one goal so far, the assists column tells yet another tale. It’s a much more even spread in that list, with Gervinho top on five assists. Alex Song is next, with four, as well as Aaron Ramsey. van Persie chips in with three, and Walcott with two.
In a way, it’s a product of Arsenal’s style of play. Gone are the days of 4-4-2, where you had two strikers up front to share the load. van Persie plays the lone striker role these days, and Arsenal’s play is structured such that all service will go through to him in the end. While there’s always the option of holding the ball up and playing in team mates, can you really fault the Dutchmen when he goes for goal instead? van Persie is in such hot form, and he himself no doubt realises it. Just watch him play these days and you can see him brimming with confidence. Every move he makes is instinctive, every shot he takes is without second thought and with unerring accuracy.
If van Persie was taking defenders on every game, producing solo goals just to haul the team into contention, then yes it would be a worry. But while the team is linking up so well, with van Persie the fulcrum of the Arsenal attack, I say enjoy it while it lasts and maybe, just maybe, one of his fellow strikers will start to find some form too and allow him a breather.
Depth in midfield
About Diaby’s return to first team action is starting to give the Arsenal midfield some semblance of depth. While the injury-prone Frenchman may sometimes flatter to deceive, the summer departures of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri has left the midfield lacking some much needed flair. While Jack Wilshere might still be out till the New Year’s, renewed competition in the middle of the park can only be a good thing.
There has been an onus on Aaron Ramsey to perform of late, especially with Wilshere out and Arteta still adapting to his new team. While he has a knack of popping up at the right place at the right time with his surging runs into the box, Ramsey has only showed glimpses of his pre-injury form. Then again, you have to remember that it was a broken leg that cruelly cut short his campaign at Stoke, and the young Welshman has done good to get to where he is so far.
Arteta has shown signs of adapting to the Gunners’ style of play though, after netting his first goal for Arsenal against West Bromwich Albion. The Spaniard’s range of passing has helped to soften the blow of compatriot Fabregas’s departure, and together with loanee Yossi Benayoun offers vital experience as compared to his younger teammates.
The revelation in the middle of the park however, has been none other then Alex Song. While his place might have been under threat at the start of the season following the emergence of Emmanuel Frimpong and Francis Coquelin, the Cameroon international has more than made the defensive slot his own with a series of imperious performances. Strong in the tackle and also capable of lung busting goal charges, he showed yet another side of his repertoire against Borussia Dortmund in midweek.
Collecting the ball on the left wing and with not much room to manoeuvre, Song executed a deft dribble from out of this planet, beating four markers and possibly nutmegging one or two of them in the process, before standing up a delightful cross to the far post. Robin van Persie (who else?) rose highest, seemingly hanging in the air for an eternity before sending his towering header crashing into the near corner for the opener.
But it was a creative masterpiece from Alex Song to create the goal from nothing, an outrageous piece of skill a’la the departed Samir Nasri. We never knew he had it in him. While all eyes were on Arsenal target Mario Gotze, our defensive midfielder simply stole the show with his attacking display.
More performances like that and Arsenal’s opponents might just find themselves not knowing where to look when defending. Who do you mark when every single midfielder has the capability to unlock your defence in a myriad of ways? Throw in Jack Wilshere’s dinked balls over the top, and Thomas Vermaelen’s cannonball shots and the Gunners might just become one of the more irresistible attacking sides in the land once again.
But for now, we shall wait and see. Dare I say, bring on the blue half of Manchester!
Your Opinion: Do we really need to strengthen come January? And in which areas? Given that players like Lukasz Fabianski, Seb Squillaci, Tomas Rosicky and Park Chu-Young are struggling to get any significant game time at the moment, do we really need reinforcements?
Article courtesy of Zee Ko from the excellent Arsenal Mania
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