BREAKING THE CHAIN: WALCOTT, STRIKERS, THE MOURINHO CURSE AND TROPHIES by Uche
Isn’t it strange how negativity just trails this Arsenal team wherever they go? Yet they keep their heads down and keep proving the doubters wrong. It is bewildering. They say they cannot win a trophy.
They don’t spend money. Their team has a soft center. They cannot defend. They need a defensive midfielder. Walcott has no football brain. Wenger does not know tactics. Wenger can never beat Mourinho. Giroud is not good enough etc. And the team just keeps on winning. Two FA cups and two Community shields. That is four trophies in two years. If you are one of those skeptical types that keeps seeing the negative in a progressive team such as Arsenal, you sure are losing the argument.
Without a doubt, events of the last two years has shown that if given the funds to buy the best players just like the top clubs do at every given opportunity, Arsene Wenger is way up there with the best. No arguments there. That was a great game of football against Chelsea. It was a professional job. The players kept their shape and concentration, surrendered possession when they had to and kept it simple. This team has understood that when playing against the best, patience and intelligence will reward you.
You cannot always win with style, possession, or with a flurry of goals. If you cannot score, don’t concede. So bearing all these in mind, we played a mature game. One nil to the Arsenal. Another game, another trophy. There is now ample evidence that this Arsenal team has learned how to mix it, change formation and tactics to get a result. In recent times, we have beaten Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City and now Chelsea. So that argument of not being able to beat the big teams has been jettisoned as well. Don’t get me wrong. This is not me declaring that we will win the league. But on the evidence of what we have seen this year, we are set to give it our best shot. Do we need another striker and defensive midfielder? It depends on who you ask. But having a deep bench never hurt any team. Wenger has delivered nonstop for two years now so he has earned the right to make that decision regarding transfers.
This much I know. We have a solid team now. From front to back, this team is set to challenge for the big one and we must give them a chance. Whether we sign the super striker we are all clamoring for or not, we must stand behind the quality in this team. We owe them that much. A good team such as ours must be given a chance, because world class striker or not, this team has got lots of goals in it. If Ox, Ramsey, Cazorla, Wilshere, Welbeck and Ozil join Sanchez, Giroud and Walcot to score the goals we know that they can, Arsenal will not lack goals. It will be a question of can they stop scoring?
But you don’t feel that support from our fans. Even on this very site, we slam our players repeatedly for no good reason. Is Walcott worth 140,000 pounds a week? I don’t know what any sports person is worth. I can only say that if the people who pay them these huge sums believe they are worth it, then I will not get into an argument with them. What is the point? As the community shield game against Chelsea progressed, Arsenal fans began to stick it to Walcott all over again, claiming that he has no presence, no hold up play and cannot dribble. Unless you started watching football three days ago, every football fan should know by now that all strikers cannot shine in every single football game. Depending on your opponent, your stature, style of play and skill set, strikers will deliver mixed results in their games. And Walcott has not even had an extended run in as a central striker and yet the jury is already out.
Reminds me of when Dennis Bergkamp publicly claimed three seasons ago that Robin Van Persie is not a central striker. Surprisingly, a fit Van Persie scored 37 goals in that calendar year, surpassing all central strikers in Europe. We are not with these guys in training. We don’t see what Wenger sees. The critics have been wrong before about the abilities of Thiery Henry and Robin Van Persie as central strikers. If given the chance, Walcott will prove them wrong too. I mean, where was Eden Hazard in that game? Just yesterday, many were claiming he was better than Messi and Ronaldo. But he did nothing of note in the community shield. In fact he spent more time on time on his belly than on his feet. Yet he is undisputedly a very good player. Falcao and Loic Remy had equally anonymous performances too. This happens in big games. The most dangerous players are often the ones that are nullified and and the players you least expect to score are the ones that win you the game.
Walcot helped get us into third position when Manchester United were breathing down our necks. He got us goals when Giroud suddenly couldn’t buy a goal. He won us the FA cup trophy, the Barclays Asian trophy and now the community shield by making the last pass that set up Oxlade Chamberlain’s goal. The arguments against him are becoming silly by the day. Look, if we get Benzema, that would be fantastic. But until then, a fit Walcot is a gift to this team. Even when he is not scoring, his tireless movements drive defenders mad. Walcot must be given the chance to get used to that central striking position.
We have claimed all three trophies from all three preseason tournaments. Before then was the FA cup trophy. That is four trophies in four months. That is good enough for me. Come what may, this team has my support 100 percent. Enjoy your weekend folks. The glory days are coming back. Peace.
Uche