Real teams are forged by wins like this

Sunderland 0 Arsenal 1

It was always going to take a performance this satisfying to bring me back to blogging. 

The past four months have produced some highs but too many familiar lows as sparks of flair have been more than extinguished by errors and displays that were, frankly, depressing.

But yesterday was different. The team showed all of the character that has been missing since the heady opening few games of the campaign. Determination, stubbornness and genuinely good defending (and not a little creativity when required) are things that put this supporter, reared on George Graham’s Arsenal, in a happy place.

The word generally being used to describe Sagna’s performance was immense and it is spot on. Drafted in at last minute to centre back, he produced some majestic blocks, tackles and headers as Sunderland kept coming forwards. And when he wasn’t putting his body on the line, he was busy organising his defensive colleagues, pointing people to the right spot and helping Aaron Ramsey find his feet at right back.

It was great to see Sagna back to his best after a few weeks where he looked to have switched off. His contract discussions rumble on but if he shows more of the same kind of effort he’ll no doubt earn a new payday from us. It worked for Theo Walcott, after all.

The other defensive star was Szczesny. I thought he looked solid enough on crosses but he produced two, maybe three, match-winning saves. He was decisive enough to put off Fletcher in the one-on-one and then athletic enough to tip over the late header (from Graham?). Just like Sagna, it was pleasing to see him shine. He’s young to be relied on as a first team goalkeeper and you feel he needs days like yesterday to reassure himself – and maybe Wenger too – that he’s worthy of the position.

Elsewhere, Wilshere and Cazorla were again clearly on another level to everyone else on the pitch. At times I felt sorry for them seeing Giroud and Walcott fumble their way around or just not have the speed of thought to understand what tune the conductors were trying to play.

The biggest winner though was the team. Was it a real Arsenal team that gave away a winning position at home to Fulham? Or lost to fourth-tier (remember that, FOURTH tier) Bradford City? Or performed so meekly for much of the Chelsea and Man City defeats? Far more than 7-3s against Newcastle or 5-1s against West Ham it is victories like the one at the Stadium of Light that help to form a real team.

There has been so much player turnover in the past few years that the common bond that fixes everyone – teammates, partnerships and defensive and attacking units on the pitch, as well as supporters off it – has been missing. They and we haven’t been through enough ‘together’ to really get to know one another.

To illustrate the point, if you compare the squad fielded for the match closest to February 9 four years ago (Tottenham away, Feb 8, 2009), just one of our starting XI that day, Sagna, is still at the club. Of our subs, six remain, though two are on loan (Arshavin, Gibbs, Ramsey, Fabianski, Djourou, Bendtner). Contrast that with Man U, where six of their starting XI away at West Ham on the same day remain (Ferdinand, Vidic, Rafael, Carrick, Giggs, Scholes) and four of the seven subs still there with one on loan (Nani, Welbeck, Fletcher, Fabio). In total, ignoring injuries, five Arsenal players from that day could have been fielded yesterday compared to nine from Man U.

It takes time and victories like yesterday to build the sense of joint purpose which successful teams need. Over time they transform players from professionals who happen to play for Arsenal to Arsenal footballers who are linked to each other and with us, the poor souls who survived it all with them. Hopefully it marks the start of a new phase for this group – the same spirit will come in very useful over coming weeks and months.

What a difference a week makes...

Let me begin by quoting from my last post, exactly seven days ago: "There is a good vibe around the side at the moment". It didn't take long for that to change, did it? Two dire performances on the pitch and another antsy AGM later and the mood is very different.

Did we misread the positive displays in the early part of the season, when the team appeared to have learned the mysterious concept of 'organisation'? I don't think we did, it's just that whatever good habits they had picked up were lost over the international break. We have suffered injuries, Diaby's absence being felt most acutely, but that doesn't explain the sudden loss of shape and cohesion.

I can't see a reason why, given time on the training ground, they can't re-learn those good habits but what makes things harder is the atmosphere off the pitch, among supporters. The familiar frustration endured at some point every season (but usually around spring when false hopes have truly been dashed) has come to the boil in double-quick time this year. It sets everyone in the club on edge and doubtless makes it harder for players to perform on the pitch. I don't blame us for our response - it just makes it harder for squad members who are suddenly struggling with form to improve.

The lack of any kind of vision from Stan Kroenke about what he wants to achieve - either outlined at the AGM or elsewhere - fuels the concerns. What he perceives as a hands-off approach, we end up seeing as disinterest. The ethos and attitude of the club needs to flow from the top down - perhaps Kroenke has shared his ambitions within the club behind closed doors but I doubt it. Either way, if supporters aren't given even a morsel of information worth hearing, it only feeds the 'in it for the money' conspiracy theories.

Anyway, our most immediate problems are on the pitch. Everyone, including Wenger, highlighted our terrible start to last season and what a 'miracle' it was to recover from it. Well, if we take just a point against QPR today we'll be in exactly the same position after nine games, with a trip to Man U next up.

No matter how much more encouraging the start to this season has been compared to last, it will be another daunting task to recover and gain the fabled fourth spot. Europe's fifth richest club shouldn't continue to suffer the same problems and cause the same frustrations for supporters season after season.

Back in action

The return of domestic football seems a good time to dust off the keyboard and get back to blogging.

Since my last post we've seen downs and ups and performances of vary degrees of quality but overall the trajectory of the team has continued to be upward. The lowest point was the performance against Chelsea. We still had good chances to get an equaliser but there was a clear lack of belief among the Arsenal that they were good enough to beat the league leaders.

The high point was the Man City game. Not only did we outplay the champions for a good proportion of the match but I watched it in the company of the Bay Area Gooners in a San Francisco pub, my first 8am kick off. They got behind the boys from first minute to last and the atmosphere after Koscielny's goal was better than the Emirates. Fair play to them.

There is a good vibe around the side at the moment. It is amazing what a few wins will do to confidence but more than that the players seem more up for the fight this season.

Is it the Bouldy effect or just being able to call on better quality players like Podolski and Cazorla? Most likely a combination of the two, plus the clear improvement of players now in the second season like Gervinho, Jenkinson and the BFG.

But they say you should only start to judge a season after 10 games and that will feel about right for this Arsenal. As encouraging as things have been, we still sit seventh, seven points off Chelsea who admittedly have probably over-achieved in accruing 19 points.

The next three league games - Norwich away, QPR home and Man U away - are all winnable. Seven points or nine, giving us 19 or 21 after 10, would be a great foundation to build from; continue the form and we'd have 72 to 79 points come May 19. We'd probably need more to win the league which means we'd need to get better still to challenge. It looks a tall order given the size of the squad but let's give ourselves a chance - let's beat Norwich.

Grown-up Arsenal suggest good times ahead

Liverpool 0 Arsenal 2

Let me add this caveat before I get carried away with: at the minute, Liverpool couldn’t score with one of Wayne Rooney’s grannies.

But that shouldn’t take away with the latest, and most impressive, stage in the early evolution of this Arsenal team.

They showed the same level of defensive control as against Stoke but this time added the clinical finishing that was missing then and against Sunderland.

In all, it was a grown-up performance. Yes, there were moments of pressure but they never lost their heads. And they never wasted their good work, when in the past ten or fifteen minutes of pressure would be let down by a sloppy error that changed the game’s momentum. This Arsenal side was too composed to get ruffled, even at Anfield. It was the sort of performance a Mourinho team would deliver; tactically sound, high-quality football in defence, midfield and attack where no measure is given or expected.

It’s nice to be unsure where to start with the praise. Let’s go back to front. Mannone looked confident and more sure-footed than ever before; Mertesacker and Vermaelen won their aerial battles and mopped up well, and the BFG did especially well after being booked so early; Jenkinson and Gibbs again made a valuable contribution to the defensive unity and Gibbs looked much more effective offensively; Arteta did exactly what Song would have done but with more panache; Diaby lived up to the reputation that Wenger and Laurent Blanc have bestowed upon him – the way he left one Liverpool midfielder (Allen? Sahin?) in his wake to set up Giroud showed his talent at its best; Cazorla performed with the class of his first two games and this time kept it up for the whole 90 minutes, including the vital second goal; Podolski’s sprint and finish for the opening goal was a demonstration to certain other wingers in our squad what you need to justify earning £80k a week. Oxlade-Chamberlain was the quieter of the attacking players but still put a good shift in; Giroud got into good positions and worked hard – his need for a goal is obvious, though.

Diaby and Arteta were the top performers for me and set the tone for a determined display that carried enough style and arrogance to satisfy Arsene.

Is the improvement simply down to having older heads on the pitch? Maybe, but it isn’t just how much more experienced this team is but more that its attitude is exactly right. They are working hard during games and seemingly on the training ground judging by the cohesion and control the team is showing. And remember – we have yet to field our first choice defence and have two French internationals to return, plus arguably our best midfielder (that’s Wilshere, not Rosicky).

Of course, I shouldn’t get too carried away and I don’t want to suggest we’re now going to conquer all. But it does at least feel like we can hope good times are ahead. In some ways, had we won our opening three games 3-0 I would be less encouraged than I am now. Straightforward wins like that would have suggested the familiar ‘when we’re good, we’re good…’ trait. Instead, this side appears to have much more substance to it than that.