Thursday, November 5, 2009

I was wrong, Arsene Knows

"We have certainly not had so many creative options before. This was without Nicklas Bendtner, Theo Walcott, Carlos Vela and Denilson while Eduardo and Tomas Rosicky did not start. That's why I was always amazed people told me to buy, buy, buy."

- Arsene Wenger, sticking two proverbial fingers at me

I was wrong. Arsene Knows. We don't need to buy. After thumping Tottenham last weekend 3-0 and thumping AZ Alkmaar last night 4-1, we're don't need to buy. We have the requisite creative options already. 

van Persie is purring in his role as a central striker. We don't need a big centre forward who can handle two defenders on his own, play with his back to the goal and run the channels. We just needed someone like van Persie with good touch, good vision, and a left foot should be donated to the Louvre once van Persie's career has finished.

Fabregas has scored 3 goals in 2 games, and he's been brilliant. Great goal against Tottenham. Two goals last night. He was a prolific scorer as a kid, and now he's showing that he can be just as prolific as an adult. He doesn't have to play deeper to be truly effective. He's seeing less of the ball now, but his possessions are now more decisive. 

Vermaelen is the ballsy, steely, tough-as-nuts defender we've been missing. Just because he's a couple of inches under 6 foot, doesn't mean he's crap. And he wades forwards to score goals. It just shows that you shouldn't dismiss short, pasty-white Belgians as useless until you've seen them in action. 

We've still a creaky defence. We still need a better 'keeper. We still need a defensive midfielder to take over from Song when he goes to the ACN. Without those reinforcements, we're going to have more West Ham moments. One needs to keep that in mind in the midst of all the hyperbole. But still, if we can keep thumping in the goals in like we've been doing all season, how much does it really matter? I think we've been averaging 3 goals a game in the league, and has anyone managed that and not won anything? 

I know that in Championship Manager, it's pretty difficult not to be a dominant force if you're scoring that much every game. Typically, I finish a season with about 95 points, 100 goals for, 30 goals against. I lose 1-2 games a year and maybe draw five. We're on target for a season like that. It would be incredible if we don't finish in the Top 2 if we keep up this scoring. 

It's going to be a fun season, whatever happens. 

2 comments:

Vertino said...

no pink font? Nooooooooooooooooo I think about the defence it comes down to mentality, against spurs we looked resolute. Vs AZ they didn't seem to care about it.

WEG said...

Yeah, my fonts always come out funny when I post form a Mac. The colours are different somehow.