Arsenal fans everywhere leapt for joy on Saturday afternoon, when Robin Van Persie latched with deadly precision onto Alex Song’s long arching through ball, and the final whistle was greeted with deafening sighs of relief, suggesting Arsenal have come out of recent games with credibility still very much intact. Some may say the Gunners have even turned the corner. The Milan-Sunderland week will forever haunt fans, almost as much as the Szczesny-Koscielny mix-up that saw Birmingham City lift the Carling Cup last term.
But with forthcoming league fixtures deemed ‘winnable’, potential transfers targets seemingly upbeat about summer moves and nearly turning over Milan in the Champions League last night, was there ever really a crisis at the North London club?
A win can work wonders, but two wins have the ability to get fans ever so carried away again once more. The Gunners fans have experienced exactly that. Two highly commendable victories against stellar opposition in Tottenham and Carling Cup victors Liverpool have bolted down the belief that Arsenal can actually do it and nail down that fourth spot this season, amidst a campaign which has been amongst the most inconsistent in Wenger’s tenure.
With Tottenham’s collapse in their respective last two league fixtures, Gunners fans would take the most pleasure from even catching their arch-rivals in third when seemingly just weeks ago, Spurs were out of sight and that there was a cavernous gap between the top three and everyone else.
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With the gap now representing just four points between the two clubs, Arsenal’s critics have been thrown a curveball with the North London’s clubs recent contrasting fortunes. With a recent profit of some reported £49.9 million and many media outlets reporting that the Lukas Podolski deal is as good as done, it seems that the power may be shifting back to the red half for the remaining months of the campaign. With Chelsea also unsettled or perhaps boosted via the departure of Andre Villas Boas, some are suggesting that Arsenal are best placed to secure Champions League qualification.
Robin Van Persie is in the form of his life, and whilst some players are still coasting for the Gunners, when the Dutchman is fed, he is finishing more often than not, papering gently over many of the cracks that the Gunners may have found themselves within if without the striker.
Of course, when you are winning, everything is rosy and Arsenal fans cannot be lulled in by the teams’ recent success. A week is a long time in football, and a few injuries to key men such as Szczesny or Van Persie or another ‘Swansea’ shock result can halt or lessen the clubs’ momentum going into May.
But there are green shoots of recovery in that a few of the long-term injuries are back in the first team fold. Carl Jenkinson and Kieran Gibbs have regained fitness, with Andre Santos deemed not too far away from a full recovery also. Furthermore, the Gunners will not have their hand forced in playing most definitely their best defender Thomas Vermaelen in the full-back positions where his talents aren’t best suited. Jack Wilshere too is still likely to figure at some point this term according to his manager but his return will be treated with the utmost care and consideration.
Arsenal face Newcastle United at the Emirates in the next Premier League game and a home defeat would spark up the ‘Wenger Out’ brigade once more. That’s just the way it is at the Emirates this campaign, and a sign of the immediacy and impatience in modern day football. The Gunners have been inconsistent and will have to be on their game to deny a spirited Magpies team who came back with great passion and commitment in the recent Tyne-Wear derby.
But with Arsenal’s slump over for the time being, the calls of a crisis may have been a little premature. Arsenal crisis, what crisis?
Are Arsenal going to come good in the remaining months of the season or are there more troubles ahead? Follow me @ http://twitter.com/Taylor_Will1989
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