Football Special Report: Is It Finally Arsenal’s Season?
There is no doubt that Arsene Wenger is one of the best coaches in the English Premier League. He has been at Arsenal for more than a decade now, and under him Arsenal flourished a lot. He was the one behind the unbeaten dream run of the Gunners in 2003-2004 Season. He is a great tactician, who likes to play an open game. The passing style Arsenal football has been catching a lot of admiration throughout the last decade. However, the beautiful football has not been converted into trophies by Arsene Wenger, as the Gunners have not won anything since 2004.
Many critics do not like the style of Wenger, as far as the team selection is concerned. He is often criticised because of his failure to keep in the good players, or the seniors, because of his tight control on the wages. In addition, he likes to play a lot of youngsters in his team, due to which the Gunners have often choked in their big matches. Certainly, the big matches demand a lot from the players, and Arsenal’s youngster are unable to meet the challenges.
The blame for six trophies-fewer seasons cannot be put on Wenger alone. He always works hard with the team, but when the players are good enough to pose a challenge, he fails to retain them as the other clubs offer higher wages. Therefore, Wenger was unable to hold Mathieu Flamini and Alexander Hleb, who left after only one good season with the Gunners. Definitely, Wenger has to redo everything, with the new players, as he had already done with the deserters. However, in the last two years, Wenger has put a lot of work in his new team with a lot of exceptional youngsters. Although, he has made the fans wait for a very long time, but Arsenal’s time has finally come, rather, it might be the last chance for Wenger to produce any results.
The players include, Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri, Robin Van Persie, Andrea Arshavin, Diaby, Nicklas Bendtner, Alex Song, Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey, Tomas Rosicky and Denilson. In addition, he has improved his squad with the introduction of a new young blood in the shape of Chamakh, while the likes of Carlos Vela, Jack Wilshere and Mark Randall would be providing extra edge to the Gunners. Arsene Wenger likes to work with the youngsters, as he gives them a lot of playing time. The Carling Cup is especially dedicated to youngsters, as they all get their chance to play for the club in that tournament. However, Arsenal is being treated as a youth academy, so the young footballers tend to leave the club as soon as they feel the time is right for them. The same is the case with the whole Fabregas episode, who wants to join Barcelona now. On the other hand, Fabregas should feel that he owes a big debt to the club and he must not return to his hometown before he has repaid the Gunners with a trophy.
This season might be the one for Arsenal for quite a few reasons. First, some of these youngsters have stayed in Arsenal for a very long time now, and they have developed the necessary skills and earned a lot of playing experience. This is actually the beauty of Arsenal that, even at a very young age, the players might get more experience than some of the senior players at other clubs. There is no doubt that if Fabregas had stayed with Barcelona, he would never have developed the quality of experience he achieved with Arsenal. Some of these players have played for the National sides as well, and Fabregas and Van Persie made it to the finals of the World Cup.
Second, the other teams in the English Premier League are facing a downward trend, as new teams are raising their heads. Manchester United, in its current shape, would hardly be a contender for the next season’s league title, while Manchester City would be the new probable contenders. However, City is supposed to have gathered a lot of good players in their squad, but they are lacking the edge of the presence of exceptional players. Therefore, the battle would be between Arsenal and Chelsea.
Third, Arsenal can now provide extra dept from their benches, as more youngsters are getting ready for the big stage. Previously, Arsenal often led the EPL till the midway of the season, but seemed to choke in the later half. The injuries and fatigue were the major causes of concern for the manager. However, this time if one player is out, there would definitely be a replacement available to Wenger. Probably, Arsenal have the biggest midfield in Europe right now.
The key players for Arsenal would be Arshavin, Van Persie, Fabregas, Denilson and Nasri. This can be the Gunners’ season, only if somehow Arsene Wenger is able to stop the inevitable, i.e. the transfer of Fabregas to Barcelona.
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