There is no ‘I’ (or Arshavin) in Team

“You’re looking for players whose name on the front of the sweater is more important than the one on the back. I look for these players to play hard, to play smart and to represent their country.” – Herb Brooks, head coach 1980 US Men’s Hockey Team.

In 1980 Herb Brooks assembled a group of college kids from universities in the states and created one of the greatest teams in sports history. One that has gone down in history as the single greatest sporting achievement.  In the prelude to the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid NY the news was all about the Soviet hockey team and how when they took the ice, they simply were more powerful, more skilled and more talented then any team that would play in the Olympic competition.

The US hadn’t won an Olympic competition against the Soviets since 1964. In fact since the US upset in ’64 the Soviets went on an amazing 27-1-1 and outscored the US 175-44 in the 16 years prior to 1980. When Herb Brooks began building his team his focus was to identify kids – as he says – that were more concerned about playing for the team than themselves. His training program worked on taking a group that may not have been as technically skilled as the Soviets or even as strong, and making them the hardest working group of players on the ice and in any game they played. Via that program they would then work for, play for, and support each other on and off the ice.

The accumulation of that was a team that some 32 years later is still a very close knit group of guys with an inseparable bond. Such is the power of a team.

So what’s the point? You’re probably saying to yourself right now, surely Michael you aren’t equating this Arsenal squad to the 1980 US Men’s hockey team. They accomplished something monumental. Well, I am and I’m not.

Of course this current Arsenal squad are not going to suddenly storm for the Premier League title. Closing the gap on 3rd to 1 point from 10 is a huge enough feat but trying to close the 15 point gap between 4th and 1st well let’s just say if that happened – well the fix is on.

What I am trying to say is that this turn around in fortunes is likely down to a lot of things. We’ve got necessary players returning to health, players are performing like we needed them to perform and we’ve got leaders finally in the team that are holding people on the pitch accountable. That last one is the perfect segue into this conversation – one of the biggest reasons we are having success is now more than we have since the Invinvicible era we have a TEAM.

The effect of a group of players playing for each other and for the unit as a whole can’t be underestimated in my opinion. When a unit functions as a team the ability to overcome obstacles is greatly enhanced because at the core everyone is functioning for the betterment of a whole. The talents of the individual are fed into the group collective and they are used in a way that the whole benfits. Very psychobabbleish I know, but it is the core of good functioning teams.

Arsenal are called a one-man team by those that feel that there is an over-reliance in one person. But is it really? Is it Robin Van Persie who for most of the match against Newcastle was maraudering down the right flank without any much in the way of real opposition? Was it Robin Van Persie who in the 94th minute won the ball deep in the Arsenal end and set the counter attack that would eventually lead to the game winning goal? No, it was other players. Robin Van Persie’s goals are just one facet of this team.

And everyone is doing their part. Playing into the bigger picture. For Arsenal the big picture doesn’t include silverware this year. It means ensuring their continued participation in Europe’s grand dame tournament. It also means maintaining some momentum to close the season rather than limping to the end. Such momentum serves two purposes, it makes the team attractive to other talented players and likely can carry over in terms of success into the next season.

So where is the team work coming from? Has it been here all season? If so where was it early in the year? Or where was it in January when the Gunners had a miserable run that looked likely to sink their top 4 ambitions? It was there. It is what carried this team from 17th to 4th from September to the end of December. It was there in January as Arsenal struggled to find form and it started with Robin Van Persie and Thierry Henry reminding the players of their purpose.

But ultimately I think it starts at the top. Wenger isn’t the most tactically astute manager I think that is something we all agree on. But he is good, no he is very good at getting the best out of players. And while he may have been hit and miss in the last few years with some of the players he has brought in, he now looks likely to have found a group of players that he has conveyed a sense of belief that they can achieve something.

He has either allowed or been forced to let players whom while they were individually skilled and talented to go. It started with the removal of both Adebayor and Kolo Toure from the dressing room. It then followed with William Gallas’ departure and it was capped off with the departure of Andrei Arshavin. Each one these players was great and performed well as individuals over time but towards the end of their tenure the friction they caused in the dressing room was more detrimental to the way the group functioned than it was beneficial.

This current Arsenal squad doesn’t have the depth and talent of a Manchester City. Some pundits would argue that we don’t have the talent of Tottenham Hotspur (not something I agree with). But what we do have is a team that Wenger has molded together and instilled a feeling of confidence, assuredness and belief in him, in themselves and more importantly in the ability to function as a team and that has been one of the many reasons why Arsenal are enjoyable to watch again.

What Wenger has given them, the players have run with and the apex may have been the Milan game. Faced with and insurmountable to climb the team before hand and during the game played as a TEAM and nearly pulled off one of the greatest moments in footballing history.  And while they did not advance in the Champion’s League they have not let that disappointment slow them down.

They continue to achieve and play for each other. They continue an impressive run that has seen them set a record for most consecutive come from behind wins in the Premier League era. They simply won’t quit. They don’t quit on the supporters, the manager or for each other. Everyone who takes the pitch right now is focused on one thing, the team and that is what is making this team propel forward.

It’s really hard to say what will happen this season. I now believe 3rd place is definitely an option. There will likely be another hiccup this season there always is. What is important is how this team handles that hiccup. If they rely on their own individual talents to work outside the collective, then the team likely will fail. If they continue to play as Herb said for the name on the front of the shirt rather than the name on the back of it I firmly believe there isn’t anything they can’t achieve.

Wenger then is faced with the task with bringing in the right components this summer that will complement the team. All indications are that the players he is targetting are like that. Lukas Podolski for instance is not about individual performances – his devotion to Cologne is a known fact. He loves to play for his team and their supporters. It is these kind of people that need to be brought in that will only ADD to the collective. The right collection as the 1980 US men’s team showed, can achieve anything.

Anything!

Until next time stay Goonerish!!

“We should be dreaming. We grew up as kids having dreams, but now we’re too sophisticated as adults, as a nation. We stopped dreaming. We should always have dreams.” Herb Brooks

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