Do you know, in all the commotion and emotions of winning yet another football game and keeping yet another clean sheet, I completely forgot that yesterday was Transfer Deadline Day?
How remiss of me. How terrible that I did not feed the behemoth that is the last day of the January silly season, by counting down the hours like the ludicrously yellow-clad morons at Sky Sports HQ. How evil that I did not give the numerous websites my clicks and hits as they tried frantically to gobble up the last of the heavy traffic before actual football starts to get in the way again for them. I should hang my head in shame.
Or not. Perhaps I should avoid lacing this blog with any more sarcasm, before I create a ‘lowest form of wit’ vacuum, or something. Anyway, I don’t buy that statement – never had – because sarcasm can be quite amusing, I must say.
So yesterday passed with a whimper rather than a bang at The Emirates, the lone Sky Sports reporter inside the Arsenal ground cutting a solitary figure, as he kicked his heels knowing that nothing would be forthcoming this evening. Poor diddums.
Apparently, having got up and seen the papers this morning, the whole day seemed a bit of a blow-out as far as the top teams are concerned. We’d done our business already, Liverpool and United were quiet and the Spuds decided that Aaron Lennon wasn’t worth keeping on the books. Chelski signed that guy who’s hair looks like it is interchangeable with the Incredible Hulk’s (Lou Ferigno version), but that’s about it. Good. I hope nobody got the ratings they were hoping because the bigger clubs stayed away from the party.
Arsène decided to have his a week earlier, which suits me down to the ground. We picked up the necessary depth, so it’s clear now what we have and where we need to get to before the end of the season. We have an emerging Coquelin in the only position with which we’ve struggled all season, plus at least Arsène isn’t freezing out Flamini by never playing him. We might all think he’s not at the level we need at the club, but he’s a decent squad player and so by keeping him ticking over with game time, Arsène is doing the right thing in my opinion, because an injury or suspension to Coquelin means that the Flamster will be called upon again.
As would be expected after a number of positive results in January, the mood on the official website is buoyant, with Giroud, Walcott and Bellerin all getting a mention, as well as big Per explaining about how the Southampton loss was a ‘wake up call’ for the players. There’s no doubt we’ve seen a marked improvement since that lacklustre display, but whilst many will question why it took us until the first game of 2015 to get that kick in the knickers needed, I’m just pleased that we have seen a reaction. We’ve looked very controlled and composed as a team unit since that display and whilst Debuchy has been robbed of regular football, the rest of the first choice back four have been so much better than that day. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact we’ve been able to rest Koscienly’s aching limbs, playing only once a week, but the form of Nacho and Hector over the last couple of games suggests to me that it’s more to do with a settled back four rather than anything else. Quite what that means when the cup competitions and league games all collide at the same time is probably a pondering for another day. But you’d hope that the confidence in the team will help to give the rotated players a bit more of an edge. I supposed the trick for Arsène will be to rotate, but not too heavily, from a game-by-game perspective. Wholesale team changes could disrupt the sturdiness that has been built in the team from the back. But I’m sure he’ll be aware of when certain players need to be rested. One thing I think he believes he has right now, is confidence that the squad players can perform. I’ve been wondering a lot lately if he’s historically not rotated players because he doesn’t really have 100% confidence in them. Yet when you look at the quality of the squad at the moment, it’s hard to see what the best team is, which is a good thing in my mind. If Arsène has faith in 20 players as opposed to 12, he’ll rotate more and they’ll be fresher, which means we get the best out of the team over a longer period. I think he finally has that faith.
It will be interesting to see what he does against the Spuds next weekend. Does he play Özil and Santi? Does Welbeck come back into the team because he will track back more? Or is the raw pace enough to frighten the Spuds to play deep and give our midfielders licence to roam? There are so many permutations, I think I could probably spend all week guessing and counter-guessing myself. But that’s exactly what we want as fans, because that means that the players are in form, they are playing well and there are at least 16 that deserve to play. Just look at Rosicky. How does Arsène get him into the team on Saturday lunchtime?
I’m starting to get excited about what this season may bring. It may have taken over five months, but I’m starting to get really excited.
Catch you tomorrow.
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