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Arsenal on Cruise Control

By on November 6, 2009

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It was just one of those nights. Kind of like the home wins over Sevilla or Slavia Prague match in 2007. Arsenal came off 3-nil win over Spurs at the weekend, in which they had never really hit 3rd gear, and rode that 3rd gear for much of the Champions League match with AZ Alkmaar on Wednesday evening.

It was a thorough victory for the club, which even Ronald Koeman could only admire. Even if he did try to claim that a team that has been to the Champions League semifinal and has 23 out of 25 senior internationals at any given time is inexperienced. That criticism just doesn’t wash anymore. At Cesc Fabregasleast not in the Champions League.

Cesc Fabregas continues to show why, following Ronaldo’s departure, he is the Premier League’s top midfielder. What Cesc has done so far this season has been nothing short of amazing. Unlike when he was first named captain, Cesc now looks like the captain on the pitch rather than just a guy wearing an armband.

I also have to single out Diaby for special praise. No one has been more down on Diaby in the last two years than me. I just always felt that he didn’t work hard enough on the weaker spots of his game, that he wasn’t versatile enough, and he just didn’t look like an Arsenal player. When he was on the pitch, it always seemed like Arsenal + Diaby, as his passing and movement somehow seemed out of sync with the rest of the side.

But so far this season, and especially in the last month, Diaby looks a completely different player. I’m not ashamed to admit I was wrong; in fact, I am happy about it. Diaby has fit into his slightly recessed midfield role extremely well and he looks like another player who has benefited greatly from the new formation. He is working hard when he doesn’t have the ball, putting in far less ill-timed, clumsy challenges than we’ve come to expect from him and just looks a part of the side now in a way he hasn’t before.Thomas Vermaelen

Clichy’s injury is somewhat frustrating but I feel confident about Gibbs and we will have Traore back soon. The commentators on Sky were raving about Arsenal’s depth during the match noting that they had Eduardo and Rosicky come off the bench and still had Walcott, Vela, Bendtner, and Clichy out. Not to mention Wilshere, Denilson, and Djourou.

Having only essentially swapped Toure out for Vermaelen, and sold the cancer, the side all of a sudden looks deeper than any other Premier League side. And it is solely due to maturity. This is what we’ve been waiting for. When one considers that we have 7 first-teamers out injured at the moment, including two forwards, and yet we still have extreme competition for places in both midfield and attack. We’ve improved our depth significantly by just getting older. This is what Arsene knew, and we hoped, would happen, and it is why he refused to buy.

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