There is no Van Persie in TEAM

It’s been 88 years since Arsenal had been able to open a season with three consecutive clean sheets. It’s also only the second time since 2007 that Arsenal have won at Anfield.  Taken together, I certainly see a lot of improvement in this young season.

A lot of the talk today in the press won’t be about Arsenal. Well it will sort of. More to the point it will be about Arsenal’s ex forward Robin Van Persie and his hat-trick and missed penalty for Manchester United. Having watched both games I am now of the mind that this move has really worked out for both teams.

First let me say, of course I’d rather have the Premier League’s prolific scorer on THIS team and not plying his trade for United. However, what I think moving him on has done is actually removed a player for whom everything Arsenal did was centered on. Every play Arsenal made was about getting Robin Van Persie the ball.

Now, in my opinion we seem more likely to work together as a unit – dare I say a team. Everyone is working towards defeating the opponent. There were convincing performances all across the squad yesterday and each member of the team stood out in their own way.

Of course the play of Cazorla and Podolski stands overall. Their nifty combinations got both Arsenal goals.  But beyond that, Podolski who I thought started off slowly, came into the game and from the time he scored his goal to the time he was taken off he was too much for Liverpool.  He was solid both offensively and defensively especially as Kieran Gibbs made some positional mistakes that left the left side open.

Not enough can be said about Cazorla. Wenger said he has “soft feet” and the smile that came across his face when asked about post-game tells you all you need to know about Arsenal’s new creative force.

One of the other major stand-outs of the day was the much maligned Abou Diaby. We’ve often been told by those in France, around Arsenal and elsewhere that were Diaby fit he would automatically be one of the first selections on the French national team without question. For many Arsenal fans that seemed a hard thing to link a to player who had never lived up to his promise (this story sound familiar.)

Diaby has now had a run of three games. And in that he has already logged more time than he had all last season and looks more impressive each time he has gone out.  I am constantly amazed at how a man so big and seemingly lanky can have such good footwork. You just don’t expect that from someone his size. But Diaby went out yesterday and had his best performance in an Arsenal shirt in quite some time.

I have to admit to being one to criticize Diaby but I also have to admit that I had always hoped that he would come good and be the player we were told he could be when signed from Auxerre. I am hopeful he can stay fit. He bossed the midfield yesterday and there was very little Liverpool’s midfield three could do to touch him.

Even defensively we were solid. Jenkinson still has a long way to go to being a first-choice RB but he has showed in these first 3 games that he is learning and improving. He was facing a very hard duo to deal with in Enrique and Sterling.  But in most cases he was always there to deal with the threat.  He has pace and for the most part his crosses are pretty solid – yesterday though was not a good day for crossing from either side.  Also to note for Jenkinson he had six successful tackles without conceding one foul.

Admittedly I was worried that Mertesacker would have trouble with Suarez and the early signs seemed to be pointing out that I was correct to think that. His yellow came early and meant he was under threat for the rest of the game but the BFG stood tall had a game saving tackle in the box. Sure Liverpool fans will argue for a PK but Mertesacker got all ball and the player went down under their own momentum.  He even had some great one on one moments and was really outstanding for the rest of the game.

There are  highlights from each player but the real point of even just highlighting these players is that  by removing Van Persie, Arsenal are going to need  a full on team effort to accomplish something. I know it sounds all lofty and stuff but if they work as a unit like we saw on Sunday then the future could be bright for this new version of Arsenal.  While I would’ve wanted more depth for the squad brought in on Friday there surely is talent enough in this squad and from what I’ve seen of action so far in the season there isn’t one team that makes you fear any of them.

A while back I talked about the Ewing theory which just to remind you is:

A star athlete receives an inordinate amount of media attention and fan interest, and yet his teams never win anything substantial with him (other than maybe some early-round playoff series).

That same athlete leaves his team (either by injury, trade, graduation, free agency or retirement) — and both the media and fans immediately write off the team for the following season.

As the Ewing theory contends and as Arsenal have shown, the club are bigger than any one player and they can do fine without said marquee player. Of course its all contingent upon the players that are added and the players that remain stepping up and filling the void. Without the crutch that Robin Van Persie presents to the team,  players will have to work together and be forced to step up.

At the end of last season we weren’t that bad when RvP went on a dry spell that ended on the last game of the season. What really hurt was the absence of Arteta.

For the most part we all wanted Arsenal to keep Robin Van Persie. He was just great for this team for so many reasons. But to sit here and suddenly think that Arsenal will cease to exist because Robin will have moved on is ridiculous and the doom and gloom being spilled from fan girls and boys, pundits and opposing supporters is unfounded and frankly over the top already.

Now, I am not under and illusion that aren’t problems to fix. We didn’t suddenly become world beaters by showing marked improvement. But there are enough encouraging signs including the fact that the defence is showing signs of being solid as a unit when its missing Sagna on the right and Szczesny between the sticks. We will get tested no doubt. When we face off against Tevez and Van Persie we will get tested. But whereas in the last few seasons we may have worried incessantly about inability to defend and present competition to the so-called ‘title contenders’ I am hopeful because for the first time in a long time I see a team on the pitch and not a collective of talented individuals.

Olivier Giroud

Just as easy as it is to get carried away with the improvement in Arsenal’s defense, it’s equally as easy to find fault with Giroud’s inability to find the net.

Still on both cases I urge patience. The only fault right now with Giroud’s game is his finishing. Obviously for a striker that is a worrying issue. But his movement into the box is so good.  There are definitely signs that he has what it takes. He holds the ball up well, good first touch, what he is just not doing is putting the end product together.

You do get a sense that if he finds the back of the goal that it will mark a great weight off his back. Remember it took Henry and Bergkamp a few games before they were able to get off the mark. As a matter of fact Henry opened his account against Southampton coincidently Arsenal’s next opponent.

I think in time Giroud will prove his worth. I don’t think he’ll match the proficiency of Van Persie. But it’s not needed if the distribution of goals is spread around the team. It was nice to see the two other new charges get their goals. Giroud is next – hopefully.

The Bould Effect

Some would likely argue that Sunderland and Stoke aren’t very good tests of a defence since their attacking prowess leaves something to be desired. So facing off against Liverpool was in some people’s mind the first test of Arsenal’s ‘new look’ defence. In my opinion they did quite well.

Liverpool had a lot of possession – 53% of it in fact. However, for the most part they lacked the creativity to get anything by Arsenal. And when they did get some pressure, Arsenal were there collectively to defend.  Of the 8 first half shots Liverpool had, none were on target. Arsenal simply did not give the Liverpool attackers the space, time or channels to get a clear shot on goal.

Additionally, when presented with 1 v 1 situations its was primarily the Arsenal defender that came away with the better of the encounter.  Arsenal were aggressive but not overly so. The worked as a unit and the very high line seen so often was not as prevalent which negated any chance of getting behind Mertesacker and Vermaelen.

All this is likely down to the appointment of Steve Bould who was one of the inherited back line Wenger got when he arrived 16 years ago.  People are discussing which was the best signing of the summer for Arsenal and at first blush it really looks like it was Steve Bould.

There will be further tests for the team and the revamped defence. Obviously someone will score and shock of all shocks we will lose games. But overall the effort is there and right now Arsenal are the only team to not concede a goal and look wobbly at the back. A tad bit different then the start of last season when we were the one team that looked to concede goals every time an opponent had the ball.

Well, we head into our first international break of the season. We’re hopeful that everyone comes back healthy – especially Diaby.

Stay Goonerish!