Up For Grabs Now

A comfortable win, then, and it bodes well for the rest of the season. If you had told me after we lost to Man City that come mid-April we’d be in the semis of the Champions League and the FA Cup, whilst secure in fourth in the Premiership, I’d have chomped your hand off quicker than Frank Lampard at a buffet.

Still, that’s where we find ourselves, after a convincing performance the other night in which it was easy to forget that Villarreal are a famously tricky team to play against. Proving that his statement of pre-match intent was no joke, Wenger started with a bullish 4-4-2, with Alex Song as the only holding midfielder. It’s a sign of how far he’s come that the boss entrusted him with that responsibility in such a crucial match. As it happened, he didn’t let anyone down, and demonstrated more of the niggly, occasional behind-clattery robustness and positional sense that has made him, in the hyperbolic words of my kid brother, ‘Awesome’. Picture that two years ago, when ‘we’ve only got one Song’ was an anthem of high relief, as opposed to the triumphant chorus at the end two nights ago.

Theo started the goals, with a deft chip after an incisive run onto Cesc’s backheel, a goal that was spookily reminiscent of a young Freddie Ljungberg. We then had most of the play in the first half though no more goals, despite Ade crapping a header almost over the line.

At the start of the second half they looked a bit less rubbish, with Fabianski called on to do some clearing and racing out, which to his credit he did effectively each time, and refreshingly devoid of the Lehmann technique of cack-handed charging. He and the jury-rigged defence did well, even though the Spaniards sin Marcos Senna were about as penetrative as George Michael at a Sex in the City singalong.

Finally Ade, taking a break from being permanently offside, latched onto RvP’s stonker of a ball and poked it home. From then on Villarreal wilted visibly, and more goals seemed on the cards. When it came, as it happened, it was from a slightly dubious penalty after Theo went down under what looked like a pretty innocuous challenge. Anyway it wasn’t that relevant, and Robin stepped up to slap it into the top-right hand corner. Game over.

An enjoyable evening all round, not least for Chris Kamara, who exactly predicted the correct score in his column in Nuts magazine, of which I am a devotee.

Also for Super Bob Pires. The comfort of the scoreline gave the crowd some room, and towards the end a long, deafening chorus of ‘Su-per, super Rob’ and ‘You’ll always be a gooner’ went around. It was lovely to see and hear, I hope he was pleased – he certainly deserved it. Though he was visibly off the pace on Wednesday he still dropped the occasional shoulder, and shuffled those feet that never quite seem to touch the ground as little reminders of what once was. It was a fabulous return for a tremendous servant to the club. What a legend. If you’ve forgotten, here are some reminders.

So United in the semi. That’ll be fun, won’t it?

Andrey has arrived. Landed. Signed. Sealed. And given his first interview in broken English. “I like some of your players”. Good one! Not Eboue then. Russian diplomacy at its best.

The historical parallel to be drawn is obvious: Robert Pires.  The man we’ve missed so much. A dashing, goalscoring attacking midfielder brought in aged 27 as his career was clearly in the ascendancy. We got 6 great years and 2 Premierships out of Pires. Big shoes for Andrey to fill then, but he has the style and pedigree to do it.

From watching him last season when our interest was first mooted, the comparison does not seem outlandish, and if Arshavin can establish himself as Pires did (who, let’s not forget, had something of an uneasy beginning at the club) then we will soon have one of the finest wingers in the world. He’s fiendishly quick, has a good eye for the through ball and, most importantly, a knack of following up on loose balls, making defence-splitting runs and generally banging the ball into the net with the minimum of fuss.

That’s the history, though. In the short term, he’ll be filling Eboue’s boots on the right wing. Make of that whatever footwear metaphor you will, but please keep it clean.

A word of warning. I can’t help thinking that calling Arshavin “The Messiah” before he’s kicked a ball, saying he’s going to put the “S” in “Silverware” (which rather alarmingly suggests that before his arrival we were bound for something called “Ilverware”) and that he’s effectively going to allow Arsenal fans to time travel to circa May 2004 smacks of Geordie-ism (that most undignified fanatic affliction) and can do no good. Incidentally, yes, I’m talking about Le Grumble, which is today full of the joys of the world. Much happier, I notice, than when we beat Man Utd for example. It seems they really do just mindlessly regurgitate tabloid hype, positive or negative and you’ve got to wonder whether they wouldn’t all be happier supporting a team which is much more active in the transfer market, say Tottenham? 

Hopefully most fans have enough between their ears to keep expectations at a realistic level to avoid crippling disappointment.

I’ve also read quite a few Gooners fretting about what’s going to happen when we get Theo, Cesc and Rosicky back? Answer: we’re going to have a really good midfield again, at long last. The competition for places isn’t a worry at the moment, especially as Rosicky is still miles away, and in any case the lack of competition and thinness of the squad is a problem which Arshavin’s arrival goes some way to addressing, at least in the creative department.

Much will depend on how soon Arshavin is struck down with Arsenalitis, and forsakes the speeding-arrow-through-the-beating-defensive-heart-of-the-opposition philosophy which has led him this far in favour of our beloved Islington Shuffle. Looking at this compilation , (with thanks to Skatman for the link) our new boy really doesn’t look like a natural-born shuffler in the mould of a Hleb or a Diaby. Doubtless his first few days in training will be spent blunting his razor keen attacking instincts, practising misplaced square balls with the goal at his mercy and learning the rare beauty which comes from the concession of a goal-kick after 24 one-twos with Sagna.

Nah, I reckon Arsene will pretty much just unleash him when he’s fit and tell him to do what he does best. Don’t think we’ll see him against Tiny Totts though (and their new captain Robbie “Loyalty Bonus” Keane!) as he hasn’t played since November and sulking for months on end must have taken its toll.

The other half of this blog, a shifty character known to his friends as “Grabber”, has made a few enemies in recent weeks by repeatedly protesting that he did not want us to sign Andrey Arshavin. He had his reasons, and he stood by them.

I have shamelessly exploited this position at every opportunity to try and curry favour with the readership by backing our pursuit of him all the way and taking snide pot-shots at our Number 27 along the way. I now feel like I’ve curried enough favour to open my own tandoori on the Holloway Road and call it “The Arse Haven“, the idea being that the restaurant would offer clients both an innovative gastronomic pun and a soothing period of relaxation and cathartic release for the lower intestine some few hours after customers have enjoyed the favourable cuisine.

Don’t forget our fantastic Philosophy Football giveaway: you can win a fantastic and strictly unofficial Arsénal t-shirt. Grabs and I both have them and they’re brill – to enter simply answer the question:

Who was Arsene Wenger managing when he joined Arsenal?

Email your answer to admin@philosophyfootball.com with the heading Up For Grabs Now Competition – deadline for entries is 28 February. In the meantime feel free to visit their website: lots of good stuff on it… http://www.philosophyfootball.com/new_win.html