Tough Pragmatism And Artistic Flair
Plus the return of the Celebration Police :)
I’m getting swamped by a few thousand things but I’ve managed to write a short and sweet AW for you this week . Hope you enjoy.
Where I live the winter is harsh. For months it’s below zero. Regularly it’s -15C. Sometimes it’s - 20C or more. The dark sneaks across the country and bully’s the sun. The winter can be hard. The way to survive winter here is to do it together. We’re all in it together. It’s a shared experience and there’s a camaraderie in the suffering. Winter is a common foe and a powerful force and it can, if you let it, make your stronger..
Maybe Arteta learnt something about management through the harsh winters in Scotland during his time with Rangers. He understands how to deal with a common foe. He knows how to bring people together and make them stronger in the face of adversity. There’s togetherness to this team that seems to weather any storm.
When the winter comes you have to face what’s in front of you. If it’s a blizzard with heavy snow you deal with that. If it’s a bright blue day with thick black ice you deal with that. One of the superpowers of this Arsenal team is to deal with whatever is in front of them. If it’s a Chelsea team trying to get under their skin to steal a goal, they deal with it. If it’s a physically strong and aggressive Leeds team trying to bully a result, they deal with it. If it’s a shape shifting high pressing team like Sunderland, they deal with it.
The ability to play small games within the game and respond to the opponent is making Arsenal, dare I say, invincible? But it’s not only the tough pragmatism of dealing with what they face. It’s the togetherness with which they do it.
After another victory, another clean sheet and another comprehensive victory against a team that took points from us previously it was the warm embrace between Arteta and Xhaka that raised my spirits as much as the game. It was such a beautiful thing to see such a gentle moment of friendship in the midst of the Premier League Circus.
There’s such a powerful bond in this team. Zubi scores a snooker trick shot of a goal and straight away he dedicates it the injured Merino. Xhaka’s beaming face after his own team lost was the giveaway. Such pleasure as Arsenal take one more step toward the…well, you know what I’m going to say. Those who have been involved with Arsenal and Arteta feel a camaraderie and respect that the blathering rent-a-gob’s in the studios and commentating do not seem to understand. There’s love in this team and what’s more powerful than that?
Here’s something to consider. Gyökeres is scoring. 6 goals and 2 assists in the last 8 games. There’s a burgeoning understanding between him and Havertz. He’s on the up. Why? Because he’s been supported by a team full of players who understand the psychological power of loyalty and encouragement. They know the elixir of confidence is brewed through endless belief. Gyökeres has obviously been struggling with finding his place, adapting to a new league, to a new team (that haven’t really played with a out and out 9), and to a new country. There’s been a queue of detractors and wish-you-no-wells pontificating on his supposed failings and Arteta’s big mistake. But in this team and in the majority of our fanbase there’s always support and love in which to grow. Big Vic is turning a corner. His movement is getting sharper, his awareness of which space to occupy is sharpening and his hold up play is excellent.
Of course there is always an outlier that makes a mockery of the data. There’s always an exception to the rule. Sometimes a player doesn’t see to need time to get used to anything except the adoration raining upon them. Zubimendi is that player. I’ve never seen a player so out of the box perfect as Zubi. He looks like he’s been part of the Arsenal midfield since dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Both he and Rice seem to be blessed with precognition. They can see the Future and arrive places before the Present knows what’s going on. His ability to read the game and intuitively move the ball to the next phase before the opponent realises what he’s doing is extraordinary.
And let me say before I go this week, what a pleasure it was to see the Celebration Police wheeled out after so long in retirement. Who knew they were still alive and kicking? Apparently reaching a cup final in England is a tedious and pointless thing where true professionals should shrug a shoulder and spit on the floor in contempt for the whole affair. It’s not the Champions League final you know! Until it is and then Arsenal should be fully contemptuous of that pointless waste of their time too. Ahhhh, the bitterest of tears do flow in football’s world of make-it-up-as-you-go-along.
There’s 13 games left in the season and we’re 6 points ahead. That might sound tight. But is it? I don’t think so. The signs are there that the wider football community is intuitively realising that all the narratives are false and they always have been. Perhaps they should send out the Story Ambulance to their obviously dying narrative. The resurrection of the Celebration Police is just frustrated bitterness from ex-pros and biased punditry. Long may their sirens whine.
Hopefully I’ll get some more time this coming week to write a longer pieces. for the time being, until next week Wonderlanders, have a great one.
