Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger has a footballing philosophy that is unshakeable.
It involves playing the game the right way. Arsene’s way.
The ball stays on the turf. It moves rapidly between players. Unnecessary touches are frowned upon and when it is humming smoothly, it can rightfully be considered as art.
Over the last five years there have been enough beautiful moments to fill a gallery many times over, but unfortunately for Wenger and his long suffering Gooner faithful, those beautiful glimpses do not fill trophy cabinets.
What has been missing from the Arsenal collection are instances that Wenger, as a purist of the game, wouldn’t hang on his wall and at times claims to have not even seen.
What I’m talking about is leaving the ‘boot in’, fighting fire with fire, taking no prisoners. In other words being a little nasty. That characteristic that all successful teams have.
Arsenal at Eastland’s yesterday against Manchester City finally showed me a side of themselves I’ve not seen in some time. They were physical and gave back as good as they got. There was no sign of fear and it looked as though everyone had each others' back.
It felt like the good old days of Patrick Vieira, Martin Keown and Tony Adams. All-for-one and one-for-all.
This is a far cry from last season when I remember an incident involving, skipper Cesc Fabregas. I’ll be honest and say that I can’t exactly remember the opponents but he’d gone in hard on a goalkeeper. Immediately he’d been surrounded by a posse of angry players shoving and jostling him. I recall Fabregas standing his ground and then looking around for the cavalry. The acute disappointment on his face when he realized that none would be arriving told a story in itself. His teammates were perfectly happy for him to fight his way out on his own. I don’t get that sense anymore.
Finally it seems that Arsenal has a bit of kick and bite about them and it makes you wonder just where it’s been, because it is obviously a perfect compliment to their artistry.
Now, four yellow cards does not exactly mark out Arsenal as marauding thugs but it was the nature of the bookings that impressed me.
Denilson's slide on Carlos Tevez was ridiculous but it sent a message of intent.
Fabregas’ hacking down of Nigel de Jong demonstrated that the Spaniard has a long memory and it certainly demonstrated that he would not shrink away from the man widely regarded as the dirtiest in the Premiership.
Song was cheeky in clipping David Silva while Johan Djourou clearly was inspired by his teammate’s aggression when he went through the back of Tevez.
All this happened in the first 36 minutes of a fiery first half that saw the home side deservedly reduced to 10 players by referee, Mark Clattenburg. Dedryck Boyota had no complaints about the red card although somehow his boss, Roberto Mancini must’ve borrowed an old pair of Wenger’s rose-tinted glasses when he said: "I thought the rule is always the last man, if there is a clear opportunity to score a goal, it is a red card. But I think when Chamakh (Marouane) touched the ball, the ball was probably going out or on the way to the keeper."
Nice try, Roberto. Watch the replay.
Yes, the red card changed the contest but as Wenger noted, Arsenal have struggled on occasions against 10 men. This time they were intelligent, kept possession superbly and ultimately wore City down with their non-stop aggression and willingness to mix it up.
By the end of the 90 minutes the men in blue were exhausted thanks to those two components. Not to mention the three or four dizzying spells when they put together 30-plus successful passes.
At the beginning of the season, I didn’t think that Arsenal had the character or mentality to challenge for honors. After the bullying they received at the hands of Chelsea, I was even more convinced that this was the case but this display in Manchester has forced me to alter my feelings.
If there really has been a change in the attitude of the club, if they are willing to go nose-to-nose when the situation demands it, perhaps the five year trophy-less drought can finally come to an end.
Arsene Wenger is a proud artist with a strong stubborn streak but maybe he’s thinking that getting his hands a little dirty may just be the key to creating his finest masterpiece.
