The Premier League is wont to throw up a team which thrusts itself unexpectedly into the early season limelight. Last year, West Bromwich Albion’s 4-2 win at Sunderland on 24th November left the Baggies lying in 3rd place, just four points behind the leaders Manchester United.
Twelve months earlier, a captivating Newcastle United side inspired by the goals of Demba Ba and built on a formidable back-four, beat Everton 2-1 to go into November’s international break sitting in 3rd, and undefeated in their opening eleven games.
In 2008, Phil Brown’s newly promoted Hull City team began life in the top-flight by losing just one of their first 9 fixtures. Astonishingly, that run included successive Tigers’ victories at Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. Few observers would have foreseen that Hull would earn a three point return only twice more across 29 remaining games, and escape relegation by a single point. A year later Brown’s side was relegated.
Newcastle’s slip in 2011/2012 wasn’t as dramatic as that of the Yorkshire outfit’s three years previously. After their imperious start, the Magpies tasted defeat on eleven occasions in 27 matches, but sustained a presence in the European spots throughout the campaign and finished in fifth. Alan Pardew’s men were unable to replicate that feat the following term, though, eventually being grateful to wrap up the year in the safety of 16th. Positioned eight places higher than Newcastle were West Brom, who had been unable to fully capitalise on their terrific start.
This season’s ‘surprise package’ has not arrived in the form of a Premier League middleweight. Rather, it is Arsenal, after an inauspicious and demoralising opening day reverse against Aston Villa, that have captured the football public’s imagination, both for their series of positive results and the beguiling style of play that has brought about their nascent success.
Recalling the relatively lesser lights, that have fallen away to varying degrees after their own promising beginnings, could be considered an unfair yardstick by which to assess Arsenal’s prospects of continuing to flourish from here. A dip into the Gunners’ recent history might offer a more accurate gauge.
The most startling of Arsene Wenger’s trophy laden first nine years at the club came in the 2003/2004 campaign. This year’s edition has won six of their opening 8 games, losing just once. The ‘Invincibles’ of a decade ago began their wonder year in a similar vein. Six wins and 2 draws commenced a 38 match league season which culminated with the Gunners recording a ‘zero’ in the losses column, and 11 points clear of Chelsea at the top of the table.
The narrative of late at Arsenal has centred on a combination of Wenger’s lack of readiness to invest weighty sums in the transfer market, a haemorrhaging of key players, and any signs of prosperity ultimately giving way to a desperate race to cling to Champions League football.
The excitement which is currently swirling around the Emirates was last felt at the venue during the 2010/2011 campaign, which Arsenal began brightly on every front. A position in the Premier League’s upper reaches was augmented by a flying start in the Champions League, and goal filled League Cup triumphs at Tottenham and Newcastle.
When Barcelona were toppled in North London in the first-leg of a last-16 Champions League tie on the 16th February 2011, talk was rife of Wenger leading his side to an unprecedented quadruple. By the time that the Catalans overturned that deficit three weeks later, Arsenal had lost the League Cup final against Birmingham City. Worse was to follow. Four days after succumbing in the Nou Camp, the Gunners were eliminated from the F.A. Cup by Manchester United. When the season concluded, the four point gap which, at the end of February, had separated United and Arsenal at the head of the table had stretched to 12 – Wenger’s men having slipped from second to 4th.
Now, Gunners supporters are desperate to believe that they are witnessing the dawn of another heady era in their club’s history. Optimism was in short supply 12 months ago when the team was summarily dispatching perceived weaker opponents, but invariably coming up short against hardier adversaries such as Manchester United, Chelsea, and Manchester City.
This time out, victory over Spurs in a North-London derby aside, there is as yet no name of real note on the list of names vanquished by a side that is mirroring the spirit and flair of some of Wenger’s finest compilations.
Mesut Ozil’s presence has undoubtedly ignited the renewed sense of confidence and excitement at the Emirates, yet the German playmaker cannot be considered a cure for all of the ills which led to the cacophony of boos and a general outpouring of dissent towards Wenger after that day one humbling by Villa.
There can be no negative concerning the recruitment of one of Europe’s eminent footballers, but a number of the deficiencies which existed in the Arsenal squad before their record signing’s arrival remain. If the ever improving, and grossly under-rated, Olivier Giroud becomes unavailable between now and January there is no viable striking alternative within Wenger’s ranks – and there can be no guarantee that a suitable addition will be secured in the new year.
Furthermore, there is no escaping the fact that, against opponents who are able to match the Gunners in terms of possession, and can consequently pose a genuine attacking threat, the side’s rearguard appears distinctly shaky. Per Mertesacker, Thomas Vermaelen, – when utilised – and Laurent Koscielny, in particular, are all sound centre-halves, but each would benefit from operating alongside a more forthright partner.
A midfield awash with exceptional ball-playing, intelligent, and inventive footballers has been boosted further by the unexpectedly sensational displays of Aaron Ramsey, but Arsenal have never wanted in that sphere during Wenger’s reign.
The inability to convincingly replace Patrick Vieira in the eight years since his departure, however, has hampered Wenger’s endeavours to develop a new Gunners team in the mould of his sublime earlier creations. Abou Diaby has fleetingly suggested that he might be the man to fill the pivotal deep-lying midfield role, but no sooner does the Frenchman establish himself in that berth than he is waylaid by injury.
On the back of a period then, when many of Wenger’s captures have not met the standards demanded by the high-paying Emirates crowd, the manager deserves huge credit for his re-signing, for no fee, of Mathieu Flamini. It was a decision which attracted a deal of outside mirth and, for many frustrated Gooners, acted as conclusive proof that Wenger had lost his way.
Instead, a man who left Arsenal for AC Milan five years ago and recently, largely due to a serious knee problem, has fallen off the European football radar, is proving an early contender for this year’s bargain recruit. Since taking to the pitch as a first half substitute for the troublingly brittle Jack Wilshere against Tottenham, Flamini’s monumental turns in front of Mertesacker and Koscielny have impacted greatly on his side’s fantastic form.
Nevertheless, with Flamini absent against Borussia Dortmund, and despite Mikel Arteta, deployed as the stitting midfielder, perhaps being Arsenal’s standout performer on the night, Wenger watched on as the Gunners were undone by the first top class opponent they have encountered – with the possible exception of Napoli – this term.
The 2-1 defeat against the Germans should not cause any undue anxiety at what is plainly a thrilling, but delicate, time for Arsenal. There remained much to admire in a Champions League performance that deserved more than its barren return, not least the manner in which the Gunners were indubitably holding sway against one of the continent’s premier outfits until the sizzling break and ensuing clinical finish which earned Dortmund their winner, and perhaps exposed issues that Wenger is still to address.
Any dead-eyed version of Robert Lewandowski, extra midfield body to guard against being so vulnerable to a rapid counter, or commanding defender, will not be arriving, though, in time for the well-documented stretch of tests that lie in Arsenal’s imminent path.
Now, the men who have cut a swathe through Norwich City, Swansea City, Marseille, and Stoke City et al, will be asked if they can repeat the trick against Liverpool, Manchester United, Southampton and, at the second time of asking, Dortmund.
Only when we know the answer can we truly evaluate whether Wenger might be on the brink of rediscovering his Midas touch, or if it is merely going to be a case of recent history repeating. Admirers of the Frenchman, his footballing principles, and his reluctance to be drawn into parting with outlandish sums on every occasion that his back is to the wall, must hope that Arsenal’s time is coming again.
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LESSON ONE: CLASS IS PERMANENT