TERRACE TALK: Arsenal - A turning point in our season — but too late?
Despite doing ourselves justice with a creditable performance against the Catalan side, one sensed that Barca played well within themselves and that they were always capable of going into overdrive, if we had ever seriously threatened their progress.
Having travelled back from Spain and virtually straight up to Merseyside, for yet another early Saturday kick-off, we all feared a hangover from our fruitless efforts at Camp Nou. And yet straight from the kick-off against Everton, it was evident that only one team had turned up; while, in the absence of the midfield glue of Gareth Barry, our hosts looked like they’d not only lost their shirts at Cheltenham, but any sense of the intensity and the appetite necessary to win a Premiership match.
What was most pleasing about Saturday is that we may have finally witnessed the first glimmer of a Gunners side that’s capable of doing the business.
Too little, too late perhaps, since even if the Foxes should falter on the run in, with a third successive 1-0 win at Palace, there was no sign of them bottling it.
Ranieri’s team is far too good for the sort of wholesale collapse necessary to gift us a last ditch tilt at the title.
Although it would undoubtedly be a victory for football, if Leicester should go on to achieve the unthinkable, it’s a bit of a dilemma for us Gooners.
On the one hand, I listened to the radio commentary from Selhurst Park, praying for the Leicester loss that would make it a perfect afternoon; on the other hand we’re terrified of them leaving the door open, only for the worst-case scenario of Spurs sprinting through it!
Yet as the Premier League’s pedigree-bottlers, I’m still hopeful Spurs are the team most likely to blow it. What matters most is that we keep ourselves in a position to best take advantage when they do.
The only positive aspect to the past few miserable weeks has been the emergence of Iwobi and Elneny. But I feared that they both might suffer permanent damage, by their association with what has, up until now, looked like a catastrophic climax to this season’s campaign. With Elneny thrown in at the deep-end against Spurs and Iwobi blooded against the best team on the planet, you have to give our manager some credit for his willingness to take such massive risks.
Mercifully, Arsène’s gamble appears to have paid off big time, as the team that took to the field at Goodison has suddenly been transformed into an entirely different proposition, to the one that’s buckled in the face of inferior opposition in recent weeks. With a solid base of Coquelin and Elneny protecting our back line and the pace and dynamism of Iwobi and Welbeck, to take advantage of opposition dawdling, the Gunners appear to be a far more powerful and balanced outfit.
There was a moment in midweek, when Walcott wasted an opportunity with a heavy touch in the box. It occurred to me that Theo will never compare with the supreme quality of the triumvirate at the other end of the pitch. Moreover, it was obvious on Saturday quite how much Iwobi and Welbeck relish playing together and when you contrast this with Theo’s apparent reluctance to get on the ball in return for his £160k per week, perhaps we’d be better off getting rid of him.
For once, I welcome the international break and hopefully the lads will feel they owe le Gaffer an eight-game effort that will at least ensure we avoid the ultimate ignominy, of ending up finishing behind our own increasingly noisy neighbours.
In the meantime, I for one would be grateful for a much-needed timeout in the argument about Arsène’s future.
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