Pradeep Kachhala
There is a line from the film Pulp Fiction, when Harvey Keitel's character The Wolf, says to Samuel L Jackson and John Travolta, "let's not start sucking each other's d***s just yet". The same can be said for Arsenal after an encouraging second half in Dortmund. Remember Dortmund could have and should have been out of sight by half time. That said, a point away in arguably our toughest fixture following a horrible summer and THAT game at Old Trafford, is quite an achievement.
It was like watching the Arsenal of old, quick passing, movement and pace, creating chance after chance and bamboozling the opposition...but enough about Dortmund. For the first time in a while, The Gunners showed some bottle for a fight. Whether it was the presence of a towering centre-half, or Song and Arteta actually looking like a solid midfield pairing, it was encouraging. Even more apt was Pat Rice's description that defending is an art - is there life in the old assistant yet?
Anyone have a feeling that after Götze's performance on Tuesday we probably have no chance of signing him? Clubs prepared to pay higher transfer fees and astronomical salaries such as Man City and Real Madrid will have jumped ahead in the queue. No wonder Dortmund laughed off our £30m approach in the summer.
Much has been made about the solid performance of Song. It seemed to me that Arteta’s being more prepared to drop deep and also to get stuck in helped ease Song's burden. I’m also wondering whether the emergence of Frimpong, and even Coquelin, has caused him to raise his game this season? Long may it continue. However, if I have a gripe, and it is a general one about holding midfielders, it is that their distribution from deep is often poor and limited. This is certainly an area for Song to work on.
Saturday's win against Swansea at home had all the traits of a team without the belief to see out a victory. It certainly wasn't pretty, and as I mention in the latest selection of Gooner podcasts, we must now face the fact that the Club has pressed the reset button on its football strategy. Hence it is a period of transition, like it or not. Fourth is obtainable. Anything above this, with the strength of Chelsea, Man Utd and City, would be a major achievement. Even fourth and the Carling Cup would be sweet enough for this Gooner.
Some of you may vent with anger in your comments below. Go ahead, but let's hope the club has finally moved on (if belatedly so) to the third era of the Wenger reign, the first two being the Highbury years and success, followed by the financially-constrained, failed youth-policy of the early Emirates era. I would like to call the third era, "a return to pragmatism".
Interesting comments made by the manager regarding European football’s being on the verge of a financial meltdown. Either he is privy to some extremely worrying information, or he may just be getting his wires crossed whilst misinterpreting the financial media. Of course, the European economy as a whole is in an extremely delicate situation. However, football clubs, like companies, have diversified global business models: hence the pursuit of the Far East and Asian markets. Consider the possible flotation of Manchester United shares in Singapore as an example. It is also worth noting that the immediate concern for Arsenal is the amount spent by clubs not burdened with debt but reliant on oligarchs and sovereign states. If such a European meltdown occurred, such clubs would only be strengthened with their ability to purchase players from distressed clubs.
Going forward, there’s a number of, "on paper", winnable games in the next few weeks that will, hopefully, further restore damaged confidence. I hear that we haven't won two on the bounce since February, which is one of many indicators as to how far we have fallen. Saturday sees an away trip to Blackburn. I hear supporters will be marching in demand for the removal of Steve Kean as manager. It seems like a good time to play them, especially as Gervinho and Song will be available following their needless suspensions. Following that, we get to see the kids strut their stuff for £10 against Shrewsbury, and I will be looking forward to the likes of Oxlade Chamberlain, Ryo and Ebecilio being given the chance to shine. Two more home games with Bolton and Olympiakos should all be winnable, but suddenly Harvey Keitel's voice comes into my head....
