Winning. It’s habit forming and I like it. Let’s not stop doing it okay?
It’s been a nice respite from the divided and tempestous tenor of the summer, that the last month has been filled with harmonious rapture of sorts, since Arsenal have run up 7 wins in a row (in all competitions) since losing to Aston Villa on opening day.
As I mention repeatedly in this episode of the podcast – let this sink in:
- 10 away wins in a row dating back to last March
- 7 wins in all competitions since the opening day loss
- More points gained in CY 2013 then any other Premier League side.
- Aaron Ramsey has 7 goals in all competitions on 8 shots
- Mesut Özil has only played two league matches and is already the league’s assist leader
Oh and I forgot – ARSENAL ARE TOP OF THE TABLE. Yeah, okay it’s only 5 games in, allow me to celebrate for a moment. It’s not often we’re in this place of happiness. And I am sure that at some point we’ll be right back to our miserable selves again. We are Arsenal supporters after all. There must be some unwritten law that we are due any happiness. Some tried to add some acrimony to the air yesterday as the club announced profits for year end May 31, 2013. As an Arsenal supporter you are instantly granted a CPA license and know all about finances which in turn makes all discussions about finances on social media rather acrimonious.
Thing is it looked to peter out before it even got any traction.
The simple fact is with regard to the finances, the club will spend what they spend and on the surface of it seem to have done alright in building a foundation that once was a distant future and now seems to be getting its forward momentum.
The week has ended on a good note with Arsenal dispatching Stoke City and by extension sending Mark Hughes reeling again. Stoke were improved from what we’ve seen of them the past. The ball was played on the floor more but there were still the moments where the ball through the air from the back came into play. And after Arsenal went up 2-1 , you would be forgiven if you worried that Stoke might nip a goal back. They were applying pressure and if not for some good defensive work and fine goal keeping by much maligned Wojciech Szczesny, it could’ve been. But all that fear was put to rest when Bacary Sagna’s looping header beat the Stoke keeper in the far corner.
Interestingly all of Arsenal’s goals came off of set pieces. Two of them I am still amazed went in because they slowly hung in the air forever. But they did and Arsenal won. It was win that showed us that Aaron Ramsey is doing his best to show his real potential as he puts on a game by game display of stellar performances. The goal aside he probably was the quietest of the year but still influential enough to shine. Of course Mesut Özil stole the show at least for me. When was the last time we were a threat from set pieces? We now are a legitimate threat each time he takes them. More so because their placement seems to be spot on each time.
And of course there is Mathieu Flamini who in a short time has shown that he could very well be the best signing of the summer.
All of this and more are the topics we discuss in this week’s podcast. The YAMA crew is in full force. I am joined this week by regular writers Tom Marshall-Bailey (@TMB04) and Billy Dunmore (@EducatedGooner) for a quick roundtable on the weekend’s events. After we wrap up, host of La Liga Lounge and former host of World Football Daily, Sophie Nicolau (@soccerdiva) and I talk about Özil, Giroud and whole slew of other Arsenal related feel good moments in this young season.
So thank you once again for listening. Until next week – Stay Goonerish!!!
All episodes of the YAMACAST can be accessed on iTunes via the following link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/you-are-my-arsenal-yamacast/id615279052
