It’s been two decades since we last lifted the title.
For most of that time we were the good son in law’s, too nice, a soft touch, easy to play against.
Even the very best Arsenal Wenger teams you knew would concede chances just based on his ethos.,
I assumed the days of trusting Arsenal to see out a tight game were a thing of the past.
That’s why you couldn’t wipe the smile off our manager’s face Sunday. You can learn so much more by winning without playing your best team compared to a comfortable scoreline.
This North London Derby wasn’t a one off either.
Even though last season’s run in didn’t end in success, there was still so much this young squad learnt.
That they can go to tough grounds and be hard to break down. That they can win while under the most intense of pressure. Unlike the campaign before instead of being crippled by. a fear of failure they embraced the occasion.
Our manager can now send us into games defending as one unit, confident we can keep a clean sheet meaning we only need one moment of magic to win.
I never thought I say that about the Gunners once George Graham left us.
The biggest compliment I can give our team is it reminds me of Chelsea under Jose Mourinho!
I’m old enough to remember games where we would dominate possession against the Blues but fail to break them down, while they would bully us because they were simply physically built better.
That was our game plan this weekend. In terms of game management, it felt that Mikel Arteta controlled every second of the action at the Lane. The pitch was simply his stage where he conducted everything on the touchline.
In both halves he was smart enough to be aware of the atmosphere, so just wanted his men to take the sting out of the match for the first 20 minutes.
The slow taking of a goal kick and throw ins were deliberate.
It was with the understanding that if his side do what they do at their best, he will only need one moment to snatch the 3 points. It’s not just our back 4 prepared to defend. Saka understands when to help Ben White, Havertz’s work rate is sensational, Jorginho has intelligence, etc.
Our boss would have known from this fixture from April that set pieces was our strength and Spurs weakness.
As much as Ange Postecoglou has won over the media with his personality, it’s simply poor coaching to yet again lose to us because of a corner, but something our coaching staff would have worked on throughout the week.
Arsenal are not Champions but play like they are.
They don’t have many trophies to show for their efforts but act with the maturity like they have plenty.
This was Arsenal all grown up. A tactical masterclass
Dan
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It was great to see that we could go away at Tottenham without arguably our entire starting midfield and still win. Teams that win always find a way to adapt when missing their key players.
You sure that’s really why we were so dominated that way in the midfield? I hope that’s it. We did ride our luck sometimes. Raya had a fantastic game, or else…
Its a joy to see this team play and they’re advice is they are now good enough to go and make their own history. I believe they are capable and will eventually match the trophies of Wenger; I’m glad iv witnessed and experienced The Gunners growth from the days under George Graham’s management right up until now. *Mikel Arteta is proving to be a most adept and formidable tenure but the catalyst (certainly) will be the day we take on Bayern Munich and put them once and for all to the sword. Why? Because their striker named Elba once told us he’d score the one goal to beat us in champions league fixture and broadcast it in UK tabloids and he/they did it (just like he said). Recently we expected to beat Bayern Munich but Joshua Kimmich put an end to the match-up. My hope is Mikel builds this team capable of beating Bayern Munich with consummate ease; should this event happen then the domestic trophies ought to be a ”walk in the park” in so far as my hope and dream. My suggestion is spurs are not the measure of how awesome we are – its competition such as LFC, like Citeh and Bayern Munich we need to indicate our real status and measure.
I’m delighted to read your article Dan
I couldn’t watch the game but it makes a difference to me to read a review from you that really paints Arteta and the performance of the team in such a positive light. Hopefully he , his coaches and the team continue to develop and show how much an inexperienced manager as well as a largely youthful and inexperienced team can go on to the top level and achieve something magical for themselves and for us supporters. We all need a bit of positivity
Yet watch how it won’t get as many comments had we of lost and I was critical
Unfortunately that comes down to human nature in many cases. When we lose, almost everyone has a view on why it happened and complaints about the set up or individual errors abound
The few of us who have replied to your article have been complimentary and I’d take that every time
True
Dan I loved our defensive solidity. However I hope we don’t get dominated that way again
@Dan, the critical Arsenal supporter. You have proved me wrong on two occasions now. Seeing the title of this post, I said to myself this cannot be from Dan. But here I am, so wrong again. This is a good Post from a critical writer, to critical readers at such a critical time as this.
I wonder why I actually thought it was Dan just from the headline? 😊
I really did, scrolled right down to confirm it was him. Maybe because he writes interesting articles (to me), and the headline seemed interesting enough for me to think it was him
A great read.
Arsenal is playing like champions even though they haven’t claimed the title yet. This mindset is essential for achieving any goal in life. You must embody success before you attain it.
I appreciate your opinions; they make me think a lot, not just about the topic at hand but about my own opinions. I sometimes find you generalizing opinions missing key details in the process, but I don’t mind as I choose to clarify every time. In fact, I eagerly wait for your comments on every article here at JA and your opinions always make me wonder how much our perspectives can vary on the same topic.
A very good positive article, and hopefully a glimpse at what we can achieve. Thank you Dan.
I don’t get this playing like champions. Isn’t beating Man City at home, drawing away and BEATING Spuds away last season, playing like champions? But we ended up not Champions. Lest be champions, not pretend.
Lets be!