With qualification to the knockout phase in Europe done and dusted, Arsenal has to focus its attention on the Premier League and that tricky Carling Spoon quarter final tie against Manchester City before getting ready for a busy December.
The team has been in scintillating form and Wojciech Szczesny has expressed his delight on his club’s performances on the pitch. Szczesny also spoke about the club’s newly found confidence and he stressed that the team feared no one. This Arsenal team has shown a very good level of maturity and consistency since that horrible Autumn evening at Old Trafford.
However, Laurent Koscielny believes that a new mentality has been the key reason for Arsenal’s change of fortunes:
“When we started the season we lost a lot of games and we had to do something to change that; all the players changed their mentality and we have seen that we have a good team. All of the players defend and attack and for us that is very important.”
“For two months we have been strong as a team, we have done the job well and defended very well. We have the quality to do something good in the Champions League and Premier League.”
“The mentality of the team has changed and we are strong. Also we have the players who can make the difference, players like Robin, Gervinho and Theo.”
The past two months have been magical for the Gunners and the aforementioned names have been essential pieces of the club’s jigsaw puzzle. Gervinho came to the party when Arsenal hosted Stoke and he has been a constant thorn in the flesh of many opposition defenders all season long. Theo Walcott’s decision making has vastly improved and he has also used his pace to great effect this campaign to provide a few assists for his teammates.
Robin van Persie has been in another world of his own and his stats have made Arsenal an intimidating side to come up against in recent times. When Arsenal was to play against Marseille on Matchday 4 of the UEFA Champions League, the French team’s boss openly declared that he was going to “go hard” on the Flying Dutchman to get something out of the game.
Arsenal’s boss Arsene Wenger has also admitted that the club has been very reliant on van Persie but he has been doing extremely well to come up with the goods on a consistent basis. Wenger reiterated that Arsenal is not a one-man team but that’s the type of quote that comes into one ear and leaves through the other. If you search for Arsenal in a lexicon, van Persie’s picture will probably appear.
Wenger also said that he’s in a period where it’s natural for the striker to score more goals and he commented on the performances of Gervinho, Walcott, Andrey Arshavin and Aaron Ramsey. He also brought up info concerning van Persie’s deputies, Marouane Chamakh and Park Chu-Young saying that theyll get their chance in due time because the season is quite long and he doesn’t expect van Persie to play every game; he’s not Dirk Kuyt or Park Ji-Sung.
Tomas Rosicky joined Arsenal in the summer of the 2006 World Cup in Germany and he is renowned for his amazing ability to orchestrate the midfield with his passing, sleek movement and gifted technique that earned him the nickname “Little Mozart”. In five years at Arsenal, he has only managed 96 league games and he has spent a large chunk of his Arsenal career on the sidelines with niggling injuries ranging from his groin to his knees and ankles.
He scored his first goal since the Feudal Age last season when Arsenal played Leyton Orient in the FA Cup but the rise to glory of promising youngsters like Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere has limited the Czech’s chances of playing week in week out.
He’s approaching his twilight years so chances from clubs will be few and far between but an opening has come for the Czech captain because the media Vultures have reported that VFL Wolfsburg are looking to sign the playmaker to revitalize their deteriorating campaign that has seen the 2009 Bundesliga winners currently languishing at 11th place.
For what its worth, Rosicky might feel at home in the Volkswagen Arena because two of his friends (Aliaksandr Hleb and Jan Polak) are currently plying their trade for the German outfit. However, I’ll be saddened to see Little Mozart go because he certainly adds some depth to Arsenal’s squad and he offers a direct style of play to Arsenal’s attack. Arsene Wenger has the final say on the matter and I’ll keep you updated as the days go by.
Gooner Daily turns one today and I’ll give a brief review on about blogging for a year then I’ll top it up with the preview to the game against Fulham.
The tweet of the day goes to @StupidFootball:
@Stupidfootball: “Q: What does Arsenal and Batman have in common? A: They can’t do without Robin.”
But I’ve wrote a few days back that you should forget Cesc Batman, we’ve got Robin.
Sayonara.
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