As we all know, last summer was the first from several that didn’t see key players depart. That speaks in part to the club’s improved standing during last season’s run-in, itself a product of a galvanized squad that found strength in each other after dispiriting losses to Tottenham and Bayern, the kind of losses that might have been so demoralizing as to see an entire season collapse. However, the spirit that Ox mentions must have already been there, nascent but ready to burst forth. Sure enough, ever since the start of the current campaign, the spirit and togetherness of the squad is hailed from almost every direction.
As Ox was talking, he was referring to a mistake he made that led to Coventry very nearly scoring to make it 2-1. Describing the response from Per, Ox had the following to say:
I gave the ball away and it resulted in them hitting the post. I knew what I did wrong there, and Per just gave me a friendly reminder. That’s what you need; you need to keep each other’s standards high, and we’ll be doing it all season. But it’s important that we do it in the right way, whoever it is. If it’s Per, he’ll have a shout, but then afterwards he will come and explain it to you, and that’s what makes you respond to it. He doesn’t do it in a negative way, and that’s the way we go about it. We just keep doing things positively.
This isn’t the first time Per has stepped up and lain into a teammate for a mistake, whether it was Cazorla’s give-away against Aston Villa that did lead to a goal to make it 2-1 or excoriating Özil for failing to applaud the away-support after the loss at the Etihad. Ox’s larger point about doing it “in the right way” is vital here, as a squad struggling for some kind of identity, cohesiveness, or form can’t get into such issues without it looking and feeling like sniping, quarreling, or worse. It’s not that winning gives players more leeway to launch into tirades or that losing paints everyone as a complainer; it’s more that the spirit in the squad itself both drives a desire for success and an understanding of how to rely on each other to achieve that success.
There’s something to be said for how harmony within the squad can bring out the best in each member—each player knows the others’ abilities and preferences and can start to play to that, whether it’s remembering that a teammate likes to receive a pass on a certain foot or that another teammate can be counted on to make a run or track back. Conversely, it can come from remembering that a certain player doesn’t have the confidence or technique to use his left foot or is feeling a bit overmatched against an opponent. From the outside, it’s difficult if not impossible for us to notice such ineffabilities, but they’re there, and the lads clearly feel it and feed on it.
The transfer-window may yet close without Arsène signing anyone of note, at least not a flesh-and-blood player who dons a kit, but he’s built a squad from top to bottom, a squad whose members are ready to go to war for each other, and that’s beautiful to see.
It is all fine and good to speak of “togetherness” but frankly what you have written about may be more about the ascendancy of Per to being the “club leader and captain” whether officially or unofficially. It is clear he has matured in the past two years and is no longer the back that Arsenal fans feared whenever he replaced Tom V (ironically the captain, more often than not). That said, there is still a great deal to be said for the athletic ability and soccer talent and sense that sheer drive cannot replace. Watching Bedtner air-balls on Friday or Theo hesitating and never quite finishing indicates that you need soccer skill as much as soccer heart and team cohesiveness. Arsene may be trying to prove to the world that he can mold a team, even if not composed of the best soccer payers available, into a winning side. But not all players willing to accept criticism, attempt to correct their failings and redress past errors can overcome their inherent defects, however, small, when compared to other players at the highest levels. As a teacher, you must recognize that you can teach and achieve more with a class of highly talented students. It is possible to raise the level of the lesser-achieving by virtue of being in a class of high-achievers, but you may never, necessarily, get them all to the same potential level. Arsene is a great teacher, which is why so many who have departed achieved as much as they have elsewhere, but he needs better marble to sculpt with or a better camera to use.
Great and Insightful piece.welldone!!!
Did Tony Adams give Per special training during the summer?!This man is becoming Mr. Arsenal’s spiritual successor in every which way.BFG for President 😛