Gooner Talk

The triangles, flicks and six-yard passing look faster and more fluent at Arsenal. Aaron Ramsey is forcing his way into the team because, despite the fact he may infuriate occasionally, the Gunners play better when he is in the team. Alongside the usually nerveless Wilshere and Gibbs, the team looks robust and unintimidated. Ramsey has learned to play at a higher tempo, rushing and smothering in the style of Pedro – maybe the best at pressing in the world – who does it so well at Barcelona.

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One of the more worrying aspects of Manchester City’s exit in this year’s Champions League was their porous defending. City conceded six goals against Ajax Amsterdam-one in each leg- as they crashed out of Europe’s prime competition for the second consecutive year. On one particular night in Amsterdam, Micah Richards had the audacity to blame Roberto Mancini’s switch to 3-5-2 for their 3-1 defeat. He said:

“It’s a hard system because we’re not used to it but I think the players prefer a 4-4-2 but he’s the manager and we do what he says”.

His remarks astonished me. For me, the burden of blame lay on the players’ inability to adapt, which restricted the manager’s options. Of course the manager has to try and iron out any kinks in training, but a professional footballer should possess the capabilities of switching formations even in the midst of a match.

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Why Wilshere?

                In Plato’s dialogue Philebus, Socrates tussles with the concept of desire:

Socrates: We commonly talk, do we not, of a man “having thirst”? Meaning that he is becoming empty…. Then is his thirst a desire?

Protarchus: Yes, a desire for drink.

Socrates: For drink, or for replenishment with drink?

Protarchus: For replenishment with drink, I should think.

Socrates: When one becomes empty then, apparently he desires the opposite of what he is experiencing; being emptied, he longs to be filled.

So for Socrates, desire is an attempt at filling a void or emptiness within ourselves. There might yet be a Socratic element about Arsenal’s love for Jack Wilshere. What Gooners have missed-more than anything (but a trophy) -is a character of Wilshere’s mould. In an age of premature shirt-swapping and giggles in the tunnel, Gooners have been crying out for a nasty figure who will have words with the Welsh Messi, or who will awkwardly stand face-to-belly with the humongous Jonas Olsson. No longer will the North London faithful remain skeptical when their best player claims he’s loves the club, no longer will they retain their adulation in fear of losing it to chromosomal homes or little boys in heads. Arsenal FC finally have their hero, and with Wilshere in the ranks, you just have to feel that everything will be just fine.

3 Games that endeared Jack Wilshere to Arsenal fans

Tottenham (CC third-round): One way to endear yourself to Arsenal fans is to pronounce yourself in the North London Derby. It’s why Arsenal fans still fondly remember Lauren, and why Thierry Henry’s cast in bronze the way he is. In 2010/11, the jury was still out on Wilshere as a consistent starter for Arsenal. The youngster put the inquisition to bed in his quarter-final performance vs. Spurs. Jack played two wonderful assists as Arsenal pulled away from Tottenham in extra time and won 4-1.

Barcelona (home and away): This was the match Wilshere ran the world’s best ragged. On that special night at the Emirates, Arsenal’s very own sparkled. Ask any Gooner and they’ll tell you he kept Messi in his back pocket, made a fool of Xavi and Iniesta and stung Valdes’ fingers. We won’t comment on speculation.

Birmingham (CC Final):  By February, Wenger’s men were still competitive for four trophies. The first was going to be the League Cup. En face, were a physical, Alex McLeish poisoned Birmingham side drowning in the relegation deep end. Wilshere was by far the best player on the pitch. He was everywhere, rarely put a foot wrong, but the best part of his performance had nothing to do with football. His passion oozed in those 90 minutes. With every stride he took, it was clear how badly he wanted to win a trophy for Arsenal. After 90 minutes, us fans had nothing to show for it. Our new defender and new goalkeeper had produced a spectacular blunder that would onset a series of failures which would ultimately conclude our season. But then we saw Jack Wilshere crying. It made us happy – probably not because we’re sadists, but because in those few minutes, we saw how much ending the trophy drought meant to him. On the day, Arsenal lost the cup, but gained a true gunner and the value of a club legend is priceless.

Video

The midfield trio of Mikel Arteta, Jack Wilshere and Santi Cazorla has excellent possession-retention capacity.

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Jack Wilshere has led the way by signing a new contract with Arsenal which will keep him at the club until 2018. Four other top Arsenal youngsters have followed suit but Theo Walcott still appears to be at odds with the club over a new deal.

Wilshere, along with Kieran Gibbs, Aaron Ramsey, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Carl Jenkinson have all sorted out new deals which casts doubt over Walcott’s suggestion that new contract matters take time.

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Arsenal’s 5-2 win over arch-rivals Tottenham is exactly what the club needed days before a crucial Champions League group stage match against Montpellier.

Scoring five goals, regardless of the Gunners’ man advantage, shows Arsenal’s critics that Robin van Persie’s goals from last season are being shared across the pitch while Arsene Wenger’s summer signings are finally starting to find their feet.

Tottenham exposed the cracks in the Arsenal defence early on, but there’s no doubt that winning against a team who recently beat Manchester United at Old Trafford is only going to increase the confidence of everyone at the Emirates.

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‘Spurs are closing the gap on Arsenal’. ‘The Spurs squad is stronger and more in depth than Arsenal’s’. ‘Their confidence is high and they’ll finish above Arsenal‘.

Is it the same old talk we’ve heard all before? Or do the Arsenal critics have a genuine point?

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