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The Wider Picture - Arsene's Goal in Sight

The Wider Picture - Arsene's Goal in Sight

Well, that was a fairly painful week and a half of football.

In terms of the results themselves, I think that we can certainly take pride in coming away from Anfield and the Britannia, two of the toughest grounds to visit in the Premier League, having not lost either game. That being said, to be minutes away from a victory against Liverpool that would have sent out a statement to the rest of the league and throw it away is crushing, and the torrid anti-spectacle that was the game against Stoke is ninety-four minutes of my life that I’m never getting back.

Thinking about it though, I am glad that I watched the Stoke game, if only because it showed me that, even without four-fifths of the midfield that we sent out to start the first few games of the season, we were still able to knuckle down and grind out a result in a game that in previous years we would have dropped all three points. We were always going to have to beat Chelsea on Sunday anyway, and two draws may be disappointing going into that game, but also gives us just that little added incentive to make sure that we get the job done at the Emirates.

According to Arsene (as far as he can ever be trusted with team news, I’ve been burned one too many times), both Mesut Özil and Alexis will be back in the squad for the weekend, which will undoubtedly be an indescribably significant boost for the team, but as good as they have been this season, the story so far has not just been about Mesut’s assists, Sanchez’s wizardry or even Petr Cech’s saves in splendid isolation.

This is hardly the first time that I’ve said it, but I truly believe that this season we have seen the emergence of the plan that Wenger set in motion several years ago whilst seething over seeing players abandon North London for pastures’ new, and that might be the single most important thing to focus on when considering our title aspirations this year.

If you think back to all of the great squads to have won the Premier League in the past decade (you can even go as far back as the Invincibles if you like), there is one attribute to all of them that really stands out to me; team chemistry and formulation. It’s why I’m so happy to see players like Gabriel and new signing Mohamed Elneny being brought into the squad, and the addition of youth team players such as Hector Bellerin supplementing the team that we had already established.

This Arsenal side has been a long time in the making, this week in fact marked the 10th anniversary of the signing of our longest-serving member, Theo Walcott. It is made up of so many different kinds of story, from the Laurent Koscielnys signed after just one season of Ligue 1 football in France and developed into one of the best centre backs in the world, to the Özils and Alexis, signed as a statement of our return to prominence after so many barren years following the move to the Emirates, all the way through the Francis Coquelins and Joel Campbells, proving people wrong and making the most of their second chances every day.

You cannot merely throw money at the Premier League and hope that it sticks, just ask Louis van Gaal’s army (of less than impressive, yet pretty expensive signings) at Manchester United. Sure, Chelsea and Manchester City benefitted enormously from financial backing to become long-term forces in the league, but neither (as much as it might be claimed by rival fans) won titles purely as a result of spending hundreds of millions, and both have suffered from episodes of underachievement whilst trying to balance big-name acquisitions with unity within the team.

If you look at Sir Alex Ferguson’s dynastic United sides, who were winning league titles every other year, if not more regularly, there was a consistency in those squads that bred success. Fergie was an unbelievable manager, one of the true greats, and he understood that even those players who may not be deemed worthy of being a part of such teams can bring the best out of each other in the right setup, and with enough consistency from season to season.

It is true that Jose Mourinho spent in excess of £70m in his first summer with Chelsea, and promptly won them the 2004/05 Premier League, but this was after Claudio Ranieri had put together a side capable of qualifying for the Champions League in 2002/03, and had added significantly to it that summer to achieve a 2nd place finish the following year. In other words, Mourinho did not inherit a side that was a complete work in progress, restricted by constant departures or a lack of funds, and his additions got the best out of an already established squad.

I’m even happier that we finally seem to have the squad that Arsene wants considering our current circumstances. Not only is this the first season in which you could make the argument that Arsenal should win the Premier League since the Emirates move, but with Arsene’s contractual situation the topic of much discussion as he meanders past the half-way point of the three year extension he signed in 2014 following our FA Cup victory, it’s refreshing and comforting to know that the central core of this team will lead the club forward for years to come yet, with or without Wenger at the helm.

New deals are being worked on for Mesut and Alexis, Francis Coquelin, Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott aren’t going anywhere anytime soon either, and Petr Cech could go another two or three seasons in goal easily. The addition of Mohamed Elneny might not impact us tremendously in the short term (though it might), but at 23 he clearly has much to offer this team, and though Koscielny and Per Mertesacker aren’t getting any younger at the back, Gabriel has looked nothing short of fantastic at times in his first year with the club, and himself only just turned 25.

I couldn’t leave this point without a brief mention of some of our exciting players in the youth system either; Dan Crowley, Jeff Reine-Adelaide, Donyell Malen and Julio Pleguezuelo to name just a few.

The squad harmony at Arsenal is something that has been frequently mentioned by players and fans alike in recent years, and this is, I believe at least, an indication that Arsene’s long-term project is finally coming to fruition, and might be about to yield his ultimate goal.

Even if it doesn’t, be assured, the club is safe in the hands of these players for the foreseeable future, under Wenger or not, and I’d bank on the Premier League trophy finally making its way back to North London before too long.