At a stage of the season where things can either fall into place nicely or collapse in hugely dramatic style like a burning house of cards, in typical Arsenal style, confidence, and solidarity are the intangible things that draw the line between success and failure for Arsenal this season. A fine line, with no certain set of boundaries, constantly changing and shifting, which can elude teams that are not focused enough.
Would many have envisioned us to be in this position at the start of February last May 18th, in the aftermath of the glorious sunlight? I guess no, perhaps not many. Confidence is a brittle thing. When we lifted that heavy trophy of sorrow, despair, and 9 years of longing, of a mother longing for her long-lost son, the bearing weight of 9 barren years were lifted from our shoulders, into the air of euphoria and the crowd of ecstasy. Then came the day of the Community Shield, where we convincingly beat the champions ManCity 3-0 at Wembley, to further reinstate and stamp down our authority of mounting a serious title challenge this season, and pursuing the lust of silverware again, having tasted its blood. It was by far I can remember, a very confident and collective squad that could reach heights this season, with the signing of Alexis, most predominantly.
However, fast forward to the 3rd February, and we find ourselves 11 points off the leaders Chelsea, and 1 points with our given benchmark Manchester United. Along the way, we’ve felt the same old waves of emotions again, that sorrow, despair and frustration, oozing from every part of the body, slowly threatening to turn into apathy. You name it, we’ve done it. Disappointing draws to Leicester, Man City, Hull and many others, games which we couldn’t defend properly with focus and solidarity, with injuries tearing our squad apart, sucking all of our players into the same old familiar pit of unfathomable darkness, where they seek to redeem their inner souls. Then came it, 3-0 leading at home against Anderlecht, the game seemingly over, only for us to capitulate in our very own trademark fashion and concede 3 mindless goals. Following along the way were disappointing defeats, and at a time where our confidence was low, with no seemingly solidarity in our side, our focus and concentration in games were called into question. Yes, we always looked threatening and dangerous in attack, with the match-winning stunning ability of Alexis, and an attack packed with creativity and pace. However, at times our defence looked flirtatious with the idea of letting in goals, and conceded more goals than John Terry could have liked with helping his ex-pals’ wives out.
Our season was often stop-start and we couldn’t muster a winning spree in the 1st part of the season, taking 1 step forward and 2 steps back. Then came 18th January. A big massive game at the backyard of the Champions, with journalists all over the world certain to manifest on our big-game cowering and mock our defensive mentality. They were ready. So were we. A game which sent shockwaves all across Britain, a game which we sacrificed our gung-ho approach, and opted for a collective, organised, and controlled performance, with was so sensible and so refreshing, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Breaking on the counter with our little magician Santi Cazorla, our counter-attacks were fluid and decisive, and if not for poor touches, could have seen us beaten the champions more comprehensively by 3 or 4. It was a performance of great class from Arsenal, defensively solid and calm, a side which finally looked to have the components of a great one. A side, whose potential hasn’t been realised and tapped into, was unleashed by Arsene Wenger. Calm, and collected, our confidence increased and slowly, with that, our attack became more purposeful and decisive. It was a brilliant day to be a Gooner, a day which we realised what we can do, a day which we shut out critics up, where we finally beat a big side away.
This Arsenal side has huge potential and can go on to win big things. When Walcott mentioned that we have so much more options, more than the Invincibles, he was hell right. We were a side with an abundance of creativity, power and pace in attack. However, why we haven’t hit the heights this season will be a huge wonder. Injuries, defensive worries will come on top of the list. A side without confidence, especially an Arsenal side which demands confidence in your performances, can never conjure the performances that Wenger coverts. In the City game, we found a solid, physical, demanding DM in the shape of Coq, and saw the talents of many other players. This January, we’ve bought Bielik, a young polish DM, touted for the future, and Gabriel, a physically robust and solid defender in the mould of Kosicleny. With a much balanced squad, how will we view success this season, and is success still attainable?
If success was winning the title this season, it would be far from within our grasps but success from now can mean a strong, positive finish and considering that we’re still in it for the Champions League and FA cup, our season is still far from over, with so much to play. Should we finish 3rd, it would be massive, when you consider how our squad was in all sorts of disarray at times, giving the Champions League a good run and giving ourselves a real chance of defending our FA cup title, would be some serious remarkable achievement. Not many would have taken it at the start of the season, but confidence plays a huge key then and now. With our confidence seemingly on the rise, with a much more balanced squad, and should we mix our quantity of attacking talents with some serious quality, qualities that Wenger had developed, we could have a real stormer here.
Confidence is a brittle thing. We’ve won 5 games in a row in all competitions, which might kickstart something. With something so brittle like confidence, which has domino effects on concentration and focus, Wenger will have a massive task on his hands to ensure that Arsenal have something memorable to celebrate come May, whether intangible or not.
