Kevin Whitcher
Of course, it should never have come to this. Arsenal’s players should have had their feet up on the couch back at home watching Manchester City endure the tension of a qualifying tie. However, having dug themselves into a potentially deep hole in the concluding matches of last season, Arsene Wenger’s players dug themselves out of it with their best performance of the season so far.
Udinese can certainly count themselves unlucky over the two legs, and Arsenal’s good fortune should in no way be allowed to disguise the ease with which opportunities were created by their opponents. But sometimes, a dose of fortune can do wonders for a club and it must be hoped that this is the consequence of winning in Italy. We know damn well it can have the reverse effect, as the debacle of Birmingham’s Carling Cup winner and what followed has shown.
With the income of Europe’s premier competition secured, there is absolutely no excuse not to go out and splash the oceans of cash the club are currently swilling in. As ITV anchor Matt Smith put it, “Earn it, bank it, spend it”. The fear is that it will be a case of two out of three ain’t bad the way Arsenal go about their business. Sure, selling clubs and avaricious agents are going to hold the Gunners to ransom, but that, sadly, is the price that has to be paid for not doing business in June and July when it should have been. Manchester United did not hang about and their new boys seem to be settling in quickly enough. If you have aspirations to be a big club, sometimes you have to act like it and pay the premium. The CL money should buy some breathing space and allow for a couple of million on top of what the manager considers a player worth.
One position that most fans are less concerned about is the goalkeeper. In the first part of 2010, regular contributor Ian Tanner was raving about the Wojciech Szczesny, then on loan at Brentford. With the failure to purchase a keeper in the summer of 2010, there were a number who felt that the club’s best option was to forget Almunia and Fabianski and promote the younger Pole immediately. The manager took about six months to catch on to this idea, proving he hasn’t the first clue about keepers. There’s no way he would have kept Almunia at the club for such a long time if he did. Szczesny is a big personality who did not let the Carling Cup final debacle affect his confidence. I have written before that he could become an Arsenal great and the performance in Udine certainly suggests so. Quite simply, his penalty save would not have been pulled off by many other keepers, and his command of his area was total. It was a man of the match performance, and one suspects he will be required to pull off a display of similar quantity if Arsenal are to get anything from next Sunday’s visit to the reigning champions.
There were other notable performances last night. Given his lack of experience, Carl Jenkinson did well. He was certainly under pressure from Udinese’s left winger but he coped admirably considering. Gervinho was a constant thorn in the side of the Italians. What significance that the three best performers (Jenkinson considering how many matches he has played in his career) have only been first team players for a matter of weeks or, in the keeper’s case, months? Arsenal attacked fairly well, with a number of shots from outside the area and a lot of cutting in from the byline highly encouraging to see. That they are porous at the back is not news, but over the two legs, they got away with it. Naturally, if this is not addressed, there is trouble in store, and it is difficult to envisage Manchester United not picking the team apart this weekend. Even when Frimpong and Song are available, it was interesting to witness that, rather than one of them electing to hold, the lack of understanding means that the defence can at times be exposed. It is a new partnership and Frimpong is very raw, but is Song actually capable of giving guidance? Against Liverpool with Ramsey playing further forward there seemed less confusion and Frimpong, positionally, looked a better midfield wall than Song usually does. Very disciplined in that respect although obviously his temperament is another matter entirely.
Which brings me to the conclusion that the three players Arsene Wenger must buy are those in the mould of Tony Adams, Gilberto and well, here’s the interesting one. I was going to say Ian Wright, but last night provided more evidence that if Theo Walcott is going to be utilized, he should be given a forward role. If the formation is not going to be switched to 4-4-2 to accommodate him, then it would make more sense to allow Van Persie to play as the shadow striker. If the manager accepted this idea, and then accepted that RVP will get injured, then the third signing should be a creative midfielder/half forward who can allow for variation when injury occurs. So if Theo is out injured, RVP plays up front and the new man behind him. The concept of signing Kaka is fantasy island stuff, but that is exactly the kind of boost Arsenal need. Dennis Bergkamp was having a torrid time at Inter Milan and did ok for the club, so who is to say Kaka cannot turn his career around? He is familiar enough with Arsenal’s stadium and would certainly help to market the club a lot more than Fabregas and Nasri could. He is simply a world star on the level of a Thierry Henry and Arsenal need a bit of that now.
However, a solid base is ultimately more important and that is what the manager has to concentrate on now. He is not going to coach his young team how to defend as a unit, and he sure isn’t going to let anyone on the coaching staff do it either. So he needs to bring in wise heads who can do it for him on the pitch during the 90 minutes. A kind of learn as you play crash course for the younger players.
The hope is that last night’s win was a turning point in recent Arsenal history. The fear is they just got lucky and that nothing will change. As someone once said, “Get your chequebook out”.
This season’s first issue of The Gooner can be bought online here.
