Maturing Arsenal are actually getting younger
It wasn’t, as some people have suggested, a new-found maturity that won the game for the Gunners; it was actually because they are getting younger.
A year ago, when Arsenal drew 2-2 at home with Barcelona before being beaten 4-1 in the Nou Camp, the average age of Arsene Wenger’s team was 24 years and four months — prompting suggestions they were simply too young and too inexperienced to deal with a team ranked as one of the best the world has ever seen.
But when Arsenal faced the Catalans again Wednesday night, and beat them 2-1, the major difference was not just the learning curve Wenger’s players have experienced since last season but the fact their average age had plummeted — to 23 years and three months. If that sounds confusing then it takes only two names to make sense of it; Jack Wilshere, who turned 19 on New Year’s Day, and Wojciech Szczesny, aged 20.
Wilshere’s performance, only his tenth appearance in the Champions League in a fledgling career, was simply wonderful; a master-class in how to play a fluid midfield role with tenacity and skill. Barcelona were always going to dominate possession for long periods, as they do against every opponent, but Wilshere was the only player on the field able to find a way to break up play, win the ball back and use his assured technique to put Arsenal on the front foot.
He was hard-working in defence, driven in attack and a constant link between the two; in fact his part in the winning goal for Andrey Arshavin, should not be underestimated. It was Cesc Fabregas’ wonderful ball with the outside of his foot that sent Samir Nasri away, and it was the Frenchman’s cool assist for his team-mate’s accurate finish. But none of it could have happened without Wilshere’s interception and quick, simple pass to his captain in the first place. “Jack was outstanding,” said a clearly impressed Wenger. “He wasn’t fazed by the occasion and in difficult periods he got us out of pressure. He played very, very well.”
Wilshere’s presence in midfield gave Arsenal something different, something important; and behind him goalkeeper Szczesny provided the concentration and presence Arsenal have been searching for in a goalkeeper for so long, in fact probably since the retirement of David Seaman eight years ago. It’s incredible to think the Pole was playing in League One for Brentford last season because he looks a natural at the very highest level, making several saves in the dying moments to protect a lead that at least gives Arsenal hope going to the Nou Camp this time.
Szczesny has now played 10 games in a row for Arsenal since making his Premier League debut at Old Trafford and he looks mentally strong, confident and technically excellent; his celebrations at the final whistle, kneeling on the floor and pumping his fists in excitement summed up his attitude almost as much as the genuine agony that oozes from every pore whenever he concedes a goal.
Those two players, as much as the ‘old guard’ of Fabregas, van Persie and Walcott, were the difference for Arsenal, so don’t let anyone tell you experience is all the matters in football; what matters at this level is quality.
The joy of youth was obvious long after Wednesday’s match as Wilshere, who also performed so well for England last week, provided a charming verdict on Barcelona and their qualities: “I watched Spain in the World Cup and they were the best team there, so I knew a bit about them before the game,” he said innocently. “But once you get into the game, you get used to them. There was a spell in the first half where for about 20 minutes we didn’t touch the ball. But we knew they were going to do that. We just had to keep our shape and in the second half we knew we could hit them on the counter-attack. We had to go up a level in the second half and we passed it around better. We had to carry on playing the Arsenal way.”
That, of course, is the only way Wilshere knows; and that, of course, is Arsenal’s secret.
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