I am not going to hit the panic button yet Arsenal fans, but I must admit that my fingers were twitching at half time against Man City today. The Emirates stadium crowd were also a bit stunned after we managed to go into the break trailing to a breakaway goal while having failed to capitalise on some really good build up play.
BUT, and I am with Sir Mixalot on this one and he really likes big butts, the fact that the Gunners were able to dig in even when the crowd went flat and a very strong and capable Man City side tried to choke the life out of the game, was very good news for us. And that has been the story of the season so far.
That soft centre that Arsenal have been accused of for years is just not there this time. Every single game since we blew Man City away at Wembley has been a battle and the Gunners have stood firm. Crystal Palace, Everton, Besiktas, Leicester and now Man City have all asked big questions of the players’ attitudes, both individually and collectively and we have not been found wanting.
So it looks like Arsenal have solved one of the major problems, so why are we not at the top of the league? Because the things we were doing so well last year, the creativity side of things, is not quite there yet. But I think that is down to a World Cup hangover which is just about gone, combined with the new players settling in.
It is still early and I am confident that Arsenal will soon get the good parts of our game going again. Add that to the new ability to fight and this could still be our year. What do you think?