It is what it is! – It’s one of those phrases/sayings I’m not sure I really like! When some people say it I don’t mind it, but some people use it all too frequently in the vocabulary fashion world. It has lost its excitement to me, just like people wearing Ralph Lauren polo shirts in summer. So why do I use this phrase now? Will I’m wondering if Arsenal fans have lost their excitement towards this squad considering we didn’t sign any outfield players in the transfer window.
Lack of activity in this transfer window has had the Wenger Out Brigade in absolute rage. As for the Arsene Know’s Bests, on my timeline that is, they have left the twitter arena dazed and confused. That’s either an indication that they are fuming with rage to, or they are frightened to comment as emotions are high.
Either way, it is what it is! We have more or less the same squad as last year with one major change which is Cech, now taking up the position of our No. 1 keeper. Is this enough to at least challenge for the title? Maybe! However one thing is for sure, we will not win the league, bar a miracle.
I mean let’s face it people, Arsenal are not the power house we once were whilst at Highbury. While we were paying back loans for the stadium we saw Manchester City receive unlimited funds from oil money and Chelsea getting the same treatment from the Russian mafia. As for Manchester United, well they have been able to cash in on the wealth generated from the Fergie reign, especially commercially, which undoubtedly made the club more stable.
Well look at the squad we have at the moment, which is still a good squad I might add! But let’s look at what will probably be the line up this weekend at home for Stoke (See below).
To me that’s a pretty good line up. Will it win the league? As I said, I very much doubt it, but it is very possible to assume this team could get 2nd place. I’m still sceptical about Ramsey on the wing and I’d rather have Theo or the Ox there to be honest. They both look good on either flank, whilst both having electrifying pace. Not bad for a squad that boasts those two players on the bench.
Handy bench warmers
Ozil with the free role in the middle and Sanchez making runs beside him is just what dreams are made of! Now if Sanchez gets injured, again Theo or Ox can play there. In the event of Ozil being injured it’s a no brainer to put Cazorla there and slide Ramsey or Jack next to the champion Coq blocker.
Now the injury Arsenal fans don’t want to see is to Coquelin. If he gets injured we are screwed. Arteta would perhaps be given the go ahead, but because he has lost the pace he used to have he seems to sit a little too deep, which invites pressure from the opposition when they are on the counter attack. The other option of course is Jack but Wenger is reluctant to play him in that position even though he plays there for England.
Our defence chooses itself but we have back up in all the defensive positions with Debuchy, Chambers, Gabriel and Gibbs. The only back up player I’d worry about would be Chambers, after seeing his mistakes against Liverpool at home.
Now for Giroud, who has been battered by abuse, from not just our fans, but from supporters of the French national team. But here it is… it is what it is! He’s our no. 1 striker but if he gets injured what happens? The natural replacement for me would have been Welbeck, but we all know he’s out due to injury. Theo is the next in line to inhabit that centre forward position but I think he’s better attacking from either flank to score goals. If not Theo then Sanchez could play there as he was centre forward at the Copa America in the summer, for his national team Chile. However I don’t think the position suits him either.
Central in Copa America campaign
Now if all those strikers fail to impress by Xmas – which I doubt -I reckon as a last result we could recall Akpom back from loan. I like him as he is strong, fast and a natural goal scorer. He looked good in the Emirates cup and by all accounts, he is doing well at Hull.
As for the other squad members, which include Rosicky, Flamini and Campbell, I’m sure they’ll all get game time. It’s hard to judge Campbell because we haven’t seen much of him in an Arsenal shirt. However Rosicky and Flamini bring a lot of experience with them and they both know Wenger’s play book inside out, so they can quite easily slot in when we need to rotate, along with helping the younger players in the Captiol One Cup.
Now for the controversial part – this will have the WOB’S seething and pulling their hair out! For year’s one of the reasons why the WOB’S wanted Wenger out was because he didn’t seem to use any tactics when playing the stronger teams in the league. He seemed to relentlessly get the team to attack. I’m not going to lie; it used to give me the raving hump to the point other fans next to me told me to calm down. However, like it or not Wenger seems to have been employing fresh tactics since our win in the FA Cup final against Hull. Wenger actually got some water bottles and positioned them on the field whilst telling the team what he wanted them to execute.
He has also employed new tactics against the top teams away from home where we seem to play more defensive, which was evident with wins over both Manchester clubs and finally beating a Chelsea team managed by José. Even if you look at the recent Liverpool match, where Ramsey was supposed to be playing on the right but was playing on the left most of the game was an indication of change. It was evident that Wenger and Ramsey had talked about this as @poznaninmypants has identified in his analysis (Give it a read).
As I’m not a WOB or an AKB, as I sit on the fence in arguments, but you have to admit he is changing for the better, albeit a little bit slowly for some peoples liking. Furthermore, as fans we have to accept the manager and the players we have at the moment. We need to get behind the team… in fact I demand we get behind the team – did you see what I did there? Presidential shizzle right there!!
It is also obvious that this team has a great feel and cohesion about it. Personally I think this is crucial because when I played at school boy level the most successful teams I played in were the ones that everyone knew each other and their games inside out. Arsenal very much seems to have that at the moment.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this guest blog for goonerstown.com. Many thanks to Dave and catch him on twitter @goonerdave66 and to get more stuff from me, please follow me on @leonboreland
Until next time, take care of yourselves and each other! It is what it is!!!
Thanks to our guest today Leon –
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