Carzola responded with a fantastic man of the match display against Fulham. In an otherwise tepid first half, the former Malaga playmaker was Arsenal’s one ray of light, running at the opposition defence, completing a number of key passes and attempting to take the odd shot now and again. This standout individual display was punctuated in one moment where, given about as much space as you’d find in a toilet cubicle, Carzola used his lightening quick feet to weave his way between about three mesmerised Fulham players who had to resort to bringing him down on the edge of the box conceding a foul. The free kick came to nothing but that wasn’t to deny Santi. In the second half, he scored the two goals that settled the match as a contest and rammed

Per-fect 10

Something of a milestone result as Arsenal secured a 10^th 2-0 victory of the season in all competitions. Just as significant as far as the league is concerned, is the fact that this is a 10^th Premier League clean sheet. After 22 games, Arsenal have conceded the joint fewest goals of any team in the division with 19 and just the 2 in the six league games following the aberration that was the 6-3 beating at Man City. The unbeaten partnership (over 90 minutes) between Koscielny and Mertesacker has also been well documented this week.

Much has been made of our newfound resilience and while would be sensible to wait until the season’s end before declaring our defence as the greatest thing since Helenio Herrera’s Catenaccio heyday with Inter Milan in the 1960s, this current record is still something to be commended and something that crucial to maintain as the season progresses. As the old cliché goes, attacks win games, defences win titles.

Land of the Rising San(ti)

Football fans are genuinely a vocal bunch who like to think that their own individual opinion actually holds some weight. There is a great futility of openly voicing our thoughts in such a way in which we adamantly attempt to present them to others as ‘fact’. The sooner many of us recognise the pointlessness of this practice the happier we will all be. To that end, I point you to my post match thoughts from the Villa game where I pompously declared that Santi Carzola wasn’t justifying his inclusion in the side and needed to be dropped.

Then, as if like magic, Carzola responded with a fantastic man of the match display against Fulham. In an otherwise tepid first half, the former Malaga playmaker was Arsenal’s one ray of light, running at the opposition defence, completing a number of key passes and attempting to take the odd shot now and again. This standout individual display was punctuated in one moment where, given about as much space as you’d find in a toilet cubicle, Carzola used his lightening quick feet to weave his way between about three mesmerised Fulham players who had to resort to bringing him down on the edge of the box conceding a foul. The free kick came to nothing but that wasn’t to deny Santi. In the second half, he scored the two goals that settled the match as a contest and rammed my words right back down my throat.

In a state of delusion, I’d like to think the Spaniard had somehow been directed to this website, read what I wrote and used it to motivate himself to perform better. In reality, the truth is that I probably just have no idea what I am talking about.

Big Mon on Campus

In that Villa game on Monday night, Nacho Monrael was having one of his better games in an Arsenal shirt. Very much a Spanish full back, one of his many forward runs resulted in an assist while another saw him pick up an injury and end up being stretchered off. Initial reports suggested something serious so it was something of surprise to see him back in the team for the Fulham game.

Showing no lasting damage from the injury at Villa Park, The Nacho Man was his typical marauding self on Saturday – spending more time in the opposition half than his own. While all the headlines will go to Carzola, his fellow countryman’s commitment to get forward should not be understated as he actually managed to play an integral part to both goals. His pass and subsequent decoy run allowed Santi carry the ball infield and orchestrate the interchange of quick balls that led to the opener while for the second, it was Monrael’s cleared cross that Carzola pounced upon to settle the game.

At times in the past Monreal hasn’t always looked entirely convincing, particularly defensively. As an attacking option however, he now seems to offer a great deal and almost seems to excel in matches like these against “weaker” sides. Nacho also gets props for not wasting crosses into the box – preferring to play most of his passes on the ground rather than aimlessly lumping them into the box.

Half Measures

As long as we eventually win matches, it shouldn’t be too much of a concern but in a number of games this season, Arsenal have struggled to really take charge from the outset.With some rare exceptions, a lot of first half performances have been instantly forgettable affairs. This match very much followed in the same vein as Cardiff, West Ham and Newcastle recently. To put a positive spin on that, while slow starts aren’t exactly ideal, there seems to be a determination and desire to improve as the game goes on. As fans, we of course remain anxious but that doesn’t seem translate to the players who always look convinced that their persistence will eventually yield the desired result.

That said, this certainly isn’t always the case. The games against Everton, Man City and Chelsea are examples when poor starts haven’t led to an automatic improvement and ultimately resulted in dropped points. As we go forward, against these better sides, there will certainly be a need for the team to start imposing themselves earlier on in matches.

Play on, Player

One thing I’m quite enjoying (while the team is winning!) is the whole bi-polar nature of individual performances. I’ve already touched on Santi Carzola’s ‘zero to hero’ transition from Monday. In contrast, were the lacklustre displays this weekend from Giroud and Özil after their significant contributions at Villa. Neither one was particularly effective over the course of the game but their teammates were more than able to compensate in the end. One dares not risk being overcritical of a single poor performance as, almost to a man, this group of players possess the ability not to fall into a prolonged rut of bad form.

At some juncture this season, you imagine everything is going to click, we’ll start well in the first half and all the players will be at the top of their game at the same time. God help our opponents that day.

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