Soccer: A speedboat idling around the harbour

I WAS so impressed by a comment written on one of my end-of-year school reports, that it remains firmly entrenched in my mind some 30 years later.

Sadly it seems that the accelerator still eludes me as, according to my teacher I was a 12-year-old “speedboat idling around the harbour”.

I am not blowing my own trumpet but as we approach half-time in this season’s proceedings and at a traditional time for a mid-term appraisal, it seems an entirely appropriate description of the Arsenal.

It would be a little churlish of me to complain. In the past many of my Highbury highs were due to dour defensive displays, where a rare goal was a genuine treat.

Nowadays we Gooners stand in absolute awe almost every week, as Arsène Wenger’s side produces the most entertaining football it has ever been my privilege to watch.

However, those matches involving the odd incisive break at breathtaking speed, where the ball invariably ends up in the back of the net, are something of a tantalising tease.

When you’ve witnessed the Arsenal blow away one of Serie A’s best, tonking five past Inter, it makes me wonder why we are so Scrooge-like with such beautiful stuff.

I remain convinced that at our best, this Arsenal side is quite capable of leaving both our immediate competitors trailing in our domestic wake. However, events of the past weekend were a poignant reminder of why we failed so miserably previously and how we managed to fritter away our twelve point grip on the title.

It’s been a while since I’ve studied Man Utd from an impassive point of view. Much like ourselves, I believe that United’s form has been fairly unimpressive up to this point. Undoubtedly, Paul Scholes absence has been an obvious factor.

With his return to fitness and Fergie certain to slosh the fuel of ‘revenge for Rio’ (whose enforced absence is likely to prove more of a financial embarrassment than a footballing one!) to fire up his squad’s feelings of injustice, it feels slightly ominous that we've been leapfrogged at no. 1 as the New Year dawns.

I’ve got a feeling that the Christmas spirit might not extend to United gifting it straight back to us! Despite remaining undefeated, the Arsenal have dropped six of the last 12 points with draws against Fulham, Leicester and Bolton.

It would be great to find Glen Johnson, Eto’o, Reyes and Mexes in our Christmas stocking, but I hope we’ve been good enough Gooners this past year for Santa to grant us the one un-Rio related wish? I’d settle for just some of the consistent levels of desire guaranteed from most of Fergie’s original fledglings.

Who knows whether it is Utd’s homegrown core, British/Irish grit, or perhaps Arsenal’s air of insouciance surfacing in our foreign (French) contingent?

Yet when was the last time you saw the Red Devils batten down the hatches after going a goal up against domestic opponents (apart from at the death of the odd close encounter)?

Like the predatory sharks that they are, instead of hanging on to a slender lead, invariably the scent of blood only encourages them to go for the throat.

With hindsight it is all too easy to easy to criticise Wenger’s pragmatism. Theoretically replacing a forward with some midfield mettle was probably a sensible move on Saturday, but it sent the wrong signals to a Bolton side who needed no further encouragement and left us encamped in our own half of the pitch for the last 20 minutes.

Since the demise of our dinosaur back five and our ability to count on a clean sheet, the Arsenal’s achievements are largely dependent on outscoring the opposition. Ergo, attack is without doubt our best form of defence.

Titi Henry often grafts like a trojan, harrying players all over the pitch, when personally I’d prefer him to save his energy for his penalty area exploits.

However what struck me watching United on Sunday was how, even at 2-0 up, they all defended from the front. I didn’t notice a Wiltord, drifting out of the remainder of the game, or a Pires bottling out of the slightest bodily contact.

Hopefully Wiltord, Arsenal’s most expensive ever signing, will be wending his way back to Paris come the transfer window and I’ll forgive Le Bob anything as he slowly rediscovers the ‘va-va-voom’ which vanished after his injury.

However, on Saturday, battling against an icy winter wind wreaking havoc around the Reebok, the driving rain, 25,000 odd uproarious Wanderers’ fans and their side, high on having stuck it to the Kings Road swanks, these are the sort of games which can't be won with too many on the missing list.

Patrick Vieira in his pomp is worth three of most opponents but until he's completely match fit we might continue to struggle against such committed opposition unless more are prepared to roll their sleeves up and sweat blood for the cause (although we could end up reaping some reward from a robust Paddy come the run-in?).

Arsène Wenger earned my immediate respect when he announced on his arrival that he recognized the importance of maintaining a balance in order to retain that special Arsenal spirit.

Much of his instantaneous success back in '98 was based on a special chemistry which developed between a backbone of homegrown grit whose unquenchable commitment was the catalyst for the continentals to give more of themselves than might have otherwise been natural.

If I've been afraid up until recently that these virtues have been eroded as our homegrown core has disappeared, then mercifully it would now appear that we've more cause for optimism than we've had for many a moon with a multicultural crop of youngsters to rival anything coming off the Carrington production line.

The future is looking red, white and fairly rosy. Here's to a cool Yule and a peace filled New Year.