Brian Dawes
I sense the feeling of momentum building. I also sense an improved concentration and determination, maybe not quite enough just yet but my gut tells me this is now picking up momentum at pace.
Right now Bacary is as good a right back as any in the Premiership and he's yet to peak. In Samir we have a potential Premiership player of the year. The man just oozes class, he's feisty at times but Joe Cool when he needs to be - in front of goal. Robin is revving up and becoming a very lean, mean machine. A real leader of the line. His chocolate peg is now also very dangerous. Plus he's not as greedy as Tevez.
Theo has some way to go but is really coming of age, he is becoming the player Wenger always knew he would. He will contribute goals and confound twats like Waddle. He's no longer just an impact player. Djourou is still at the rough diamond stage but we have a here a future rock on which to hang our defence.
Remember that kid who was slagged off the park at Fulham? Some are now talking about him in the same breath as Essien, he's up there with the big boys. And he's still getting stronger, wiser and more dominant. Elsewhere I feel Cesc has learned to become a captain on the job, he's a different type of leader. He's also getting to the stage where he's almost impossible to play against, a player who is really feared and one very few opponents can cope with. Jack is the future and the future is very bright indeed. He's under less pressure than Theo was at his age because he has more mature players around him.
We now have three players who can all take quality free kicks and set piece goals are important. Also very crucially we are scoring goals from all over the field. We're not reliant on a Henry or a Wrighty, although either would be nice. Players who score gain confidence and a lot of them have scored this season, I make it 15 different players thus far and that's excluding Mr Ohgee. We also have two and a half quality centre forwards. As back up to Robin we have Chamakh who has now had his little breather and will only get better again. He's plenty good enough to give Robin a break when he needs it. Our third choice may be much maligned but given a run he'd be well up there with the Crouch's, Bent's and Agbonlahor's of this world. Having a nearly but not quite as third choice can't be all bad.
What we have here is a runaway train. It's picking up momentum but is still unpredictable by nature. If it stays on track it will not only brown a lot of shorts as it steams ahead but it will also plough a lot of things down in its path. This has all the potential to be a very exciting second half of the season. There will still be blips because they're still coming of age as a unit. But they're getting there and they're getting better.
Unmentioned by many; we've also now got two guys at the back wearing different coloured jerseys who have shut up the clamour for a keeper to replace the 'alleged' clowns many 'fans' told us we had. It's all gone rather quiet on that front hasn't it?
We have a real team here that looks like they want it and knows how to go about getting it. Will this be a fast train to Winnersville or a train wreck? Who knows for sure, but I've got my ticket and I'm loving the ride more and more as we rattle on down the track.
