ARSENAL: Sluggish display offers a healthy dose of reality

If the weekend’s opening salvoes served one purpose, it was to remind us that we’re slaves to such a fickle, footballing mistress.

Although Man United might have appeared decidedly lightweight in Louis van Gaal’s baptism of fire defeat to the Swans in Saturday’s early encounter, and this might well result in a rash of last-minute spending on the sort of experienced star names that might lend his immature squad a little more Galactico gravitas, it could’ve been an entirely different story.

If Wayne Rooney’s wonderful free-kick had curled a couple more inches into the onion bag instead of walloping the crossbar, the dynamic of today’s analysis would have been so different.

Moreover, instead of United being booed off at Old Trafford accompanied by the Swans’ fans “sacked in the morning” teasing, much like the disgruntled Irons with their tantrums over Tottenham’s last-gasp winner at Upton Park, it might well have been us Gooners giving Arsene Wenger and our team the bird at the end of Saturday’s late game if it wasn’t for Aaron Ramsey saving our three-point bacon.

I was left reflecting on what would’ve been a completely contrasting mood if not for this late, late show in North London. As the clock ticked away and the climate of tension rose during an increasingly frustrating and uncommonly sloppy second half, we were hardly peppering Speroni’s goal and you could feel our inability to break the Eagles dogged defence down in the final third was building towards a crescendo of discordant disapproval at the final whistle.

Instead, with Ramsey bagging himself the winner and securing our first opening day triumph in six long seasons, we enjoyed an explosion of relief as we stood there savouring the Gunners ‘win ugly’ resolve to get the job done — whilst casting sympathetic glances over to the unwaveringly hearty band of Eagles fans in the corner of the stadium who’d just endured having their opening day delight snatched from their grasp.

Nevertheless, although Saturday’s performance proved somewhat anti-climatic as Palace failed to be the expected easy prey to the sort of free-flowing, entertaining football we were hoping for, it was probably no bad thing. We’ve managed to get off on the right foot for once, securing the all-important three points and thereby avoiding allowing the competition the habitual head start, while at the same time tempering the buoyant mood of optimism with a dose of reality.

In fact, renewed Premier League hostilities around the country reminded everyone that no one team is about to run away with the title.

Despite the disappointing evidence that Kieran Gibbs remains no less fragile than he’s been in previous seasons, there were plenty of positive signs. The fact that Debuchy appears to lack the same pace of Sagna could prove a problem but he’s a far better crosser of the ball than his predecessor. Callum Chambers appears to grow in confidence with every minute on the pitch and, in contrast to Jack Wilshere, I adore Alexis’s willingness to stay on his feet and his work-rate.

In fact, Sanchez appears to be so hungry and motivated, that I’m certain his influence will grow as others attune to his sentient wavelength, especially when Özil returns to the fray and begins to take advantage of the Chilean’s unstinting eagerness to get on the ball.

We are all too patently aware of the obvious but pleasant midfield conundrum that when everyone is fit and available, it will be interesting to see how Arsène maximises this potential. In particular with Ramsey and Wilshere, who, much like the Lampard/Gerrard England enigma, rarely manage to impose themselves on matches when both are on the pitch.

Still, if the Gunners are to be genuine title contenders, the consensus of opinion appears to believe we remain a couple of players short. In this respect we might benefit from Man United’s demise because it might well result in the sort of big money signings that could provide the necessary momentum in the transfer merry-go-round.