We all know football is a team sport. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and we have seen some great examples last season of how teams with a strong level of togetherness can outperform teams with weaker levels of cohesion and collective purpose, despite the latter teams often having far more expensive/better individual players in their first teams.
It was simply fantastic that the likes of Norwich, Swansea, Everton, Wigan and Newcastle United did so well last season; all based on a fine understanding on how the game is played (football tactics and formations), good (people) management and sensible yet clever player purchases within budget. What the managers of these clubs also understood – and were able to establish – was a real sense of togetherness: a fighting spirit based on giving it your all and working hard for each other.
The age when bully-boy managers can get PL Manager jobs, in which they get big budgets to spend and bluff their way with physical, ‘kick and rush’ football from job to job, appears to be almost over now. Give me Rodgers, Pardew, Martinez etc over Hughes, Sami Allerdici, or McLeish anytime. The Premiership is improving bottom upwards and football/we the fans, will benefit from it for years to come. It won’t be long before the Hughes’ and Allerdici’s of this world will not be able to get a Premier League team anymore.
Arsenal witnessed a period of strong cohesion/togetherness in the second part of the season, and I am convinced this, and not Brave Sir Robin’s incredible goal scoring record, is the main reason we finished on the all important third spot at the end of last season.
Just think back about our incredible fighting spirit to overcome a very stubborn and negative Newcastle United at home; coming from behind to win 2-1 at the last minute. Not to mention our incredible turnaround from being 2-0 down to the Spuds, and the lucky, but ooh so important late win at Anfield. Team spirit played such an important role in all of those turnarounds, and I feel the team has become even more cohesive and passionate about winning for each other, over the summer.
The smiles on the faces and the obvious enjoyment of playing for Arsenal of the newcomers Podolski, Giroud and Cazorla, combined with the unquestionable passion and togetherness of Arteta, TV, Koz, Mertesacker, Gibbs, Sagna, Jenkinson, Szczesny, Gervinho, Ramsey, Wilshere, Frimpong, le Coq and the Ox, etc is a real weapon for us this season, and I don’t think any of the other current top-four teams can match us in this department.
On Sunday, we will take on the mercenaries of Citeh and our, and their, togetherness will be a key factor in determining who will win.
To be fair, they are not all mercenaries: I hold the likes of Kompany, Lescott, the Toure Brothers, Da Silva and Hart in high regard when it comes to given their all for their club on the pitch. But they also have a significant number of players, especially in their midfield and attack, who concentrate more on simple arithmetic exercises regarding how much more they have earned for playing another minute, rather than on fighting for their team.
In the PL simply relying on your talents is not enough: you have to give your all to achieve something, and especially if and when you go behind, a lot of individual and collective fighting spirit is required to still end up winning.
Last season, in terms of technical ability, an inferior Manchester United almost embarrassed ManCity by winning the title, simply because they wanted it more; for a long time, they had more team spirit and desire to win. Somehow Citeh managed to become something that resembled a team again at the end of the season, and with a lot of luck they managed to win the league on goal difference.
This season, ManCity is in my opinion the clear favourite to win the title again. Our strongest, first teams are probably comparable and without any doubt the Citeh bench is stronger than ours, but I think we’ll edge past them on Sunday with our incredible togetherness and passion to play winning, attractive football. 1-2 to the Mighty Arse, and TV to score the winner! 🙂
Total Arsenal.
Bergkampesque 
man city bench : wright, kolarov, kolo, rodwell, barry, nasri, dzeko
Arsenal bench : mannone (assuming szcz is fit), kozzer, santos, ramsey, arshavin, giroud, walcott (not including coquelin, rosicky, or wilshere).
manure bench : lindegaard, evans, giggs, nani, scholes, powell, hernandez
chelsea bench : turnbull, cahill, Azpilicueta, romeu, oscar, moses, sturridge
tottenham bench: lloris, dawson, caulker, dempsey, huddlestone, townsend, defoe
I know I am biased as buggery but I think we go toe to toe with the Man City:
Mannone vs Wright = Arsenal
Kolarov vs Santos = Kolarov just (hurts me to say it because i love Santos)
Kozzer vs Kolo = Kozzer hands down
Ramsey vs Rodwell = perhaps even, but I think Ramsey will be the better player
Wilshere vs Barry = hahaha Jack the lad hands down
Walcott vs Nasri = As an impact sub I’d argue Walcott does more, also Nasri is fat!
Giroud vs Dzeko = Dzeko wins because he has had more time in the EPL.
Score: Arsenal – 4
Man city – 2
(if nasri wasn’t a traitor and overweight probably 3 a piece, but that would be too logical!
In terms of togetherness, couldn’t agree more, it is something that was missing from our squad for a while. Not helped by want-a-way skippers like Cesc, or players wanting oil money. But Arsene’s ‘sign or boot’ approach has definitely made this team more unified, and hopefully that can continue this and achieve great things
@ TA
20 pages of journal reviews, and method for my thesis. An Australian company has brought out a new drink similar to that of powerade, gatorade, but tailored more towards Hotter climates and those who are acclimatized. So I have to do all sorts of testing with miners to see how effective it is in a hot working environment when compared to water and those other drinks. (Anyway I don’t want to get too personal on your new site TA because I know you want to draw in new people. AA copes because it has so many regulars).
Hi Oz, I must admit we don’t compare too badly against those Citeh bench players. But you have cleverly added in JW10 but he wont be ready on Sunday. Let’s hope we’ll beat them properly on Sunday! 🙂
The new drink testing sounds ‘cool’. It is clear that you are enjoying your studies.
Lovely Post, TA, now there is a surprize —— NOT, 🙂
I cannot really disagree with anything of importance, but I would say, if forced to, that RvP’s goals were crucial to us last year.
OK, it could be said that the team were set up to channel everything thru’ him and of course this fed him the ammunition to fire in the goals. This line of thought holds that another player given the same support would also score frequently, and I hope that holds true, but traditionally Arsene has always preferred the ‘total’ approach where goals would be scored throughout the team, and not just one guy, as this leaves the team vulnerable if one man has an off day.
Hi Oz, 🙂
When you say you are testing out the drinks with ‘miners’ do you mean men with picks and shovels, deep underground, or ‘minors’ as in young ‘yoofs’ who are perhaps more likely to drink sodas than older people?
I liked your analysis of the relevant merits of the top teams, and I think you have made a very strong case that our overall squad stands up there with Shitty and the others. Time will tell, I suppose, and the result of the game on Sunday is important to us!
Hi RA 🙂
Agreed RvP’s goals were very important and yes we became quite one-dimensional in terms of almost entirely focussing on him for scoring our goals. He put the chances away though and it that respect he has been crucial. I just believe that this on its own was not enough; that our togetherness and fighting spirit of the whole team was the most important factor.
@ TA
hey this site has entirely too few posts…you need a Peaches-like enforcer to do the dirty work! Come on Mrs TA get to nagging him!
@ RA
haha, miners as in the hard hat variety, or factory workers in high heats. Continually working/exercising in hot temperatures brings about a change in the body’s cardiovascular system (acclimated), you just run a lot more efficiently (more sweat, less electrolytes ect). You need to consume more fluids because of the higher sweat rate (these sports drinks are sweet bringing an increased palatability, therefore you consumer more fluid instead of voluntarily dehydrating yourself. The sugars also increase gastric emptying and intestinal absorption, meaning you have fluid quicker. I’m sure you’ve heard of ‘Powerade isotonic’, well it’s not, it is hypotonic (no one wants to hear ‘hypo’ because you automatically think lower). This new drink is closer to isotonic (closer to the concentration of our plasma), and it has fructose (enters circulation at a slower rate than glucose therefore having a slower rate of absorption thus leading to a prolonged energy supply).
So in conclusion: Arsenal rule!!!
Bloody hell, Oz, your thesis is going to be great!!! 🙂
cheers RA, I like to pretend I’m smart every now and then. Hope all is well with your health BTW.
Hi Oz,
I am aiming to do 5 posts a week, growing to more with additional writers over time. I will be doing one tonight so stay posted! 🙂
As per RA, your project sounds very interesting and challenging Oz, and your enthusiasm about is second to none! 🙂