The Love of My Life.... A Long-Winded Analysis

So things were vaguely back to normal on the Arsenal front today. Back to league action, this time home to Bolton Wanderers, a club that a few years ago could raise my ire like no other, well... other than Man U, Chelsea, and of course, the scum (aka Tottenham Hotspur). I realized that no more do I harbor ill will towards the Trotters, and that the negativity stemmed from the presence of former manager Sam Allardyce, he of the headset and the 'innovative ideas' and the disgusting habit of smacking his chewing gum (with open mouth) for any available flavor that might be left over. Oh, he was/is a smug sort. Big Sam, or BS as I prefer to call him, was an annoying man, though much of the annoyance, for me, was due to the fact that he had a knack of making Arsenal look quite shite. If we had a bogey team, they were it.

Well, today was looking like more of the same. It was a twitchy affair and one in which I noticed the Arsenal finally looking like a team. They stayed patient and maintained focus and took the points late. Of course, Bolton had the bus and a jet airliner parked in front of goal and to exaggerate even more clichés, they had all 11, no 12... shit, they had the subs, the physio and yes, the tea lady all behind the ball. Ah, enough of those lame phrases! Even though I damn well used them, right?

Anyway, Bacary Sagna and Gael Clichy, who, by the way, are as fine a tandem of fullbacks to be found in the Prem, were firmly situated in the Bolton half throughout the first period... and on into the second period. It was striking. And of course, our fowards were not. Emmanuel Adebayor missed a sitter, or rather had one taken off his foot by a valiant Bolton defender and Robin van Persie struck the post. Kolo Touré had an effort from distance easily saved and things were looking rather bleak as we were ten minutes from the death and still stalled at nil-nil.

Nicklas Bendtner came on as a substitute and made an impression within seconds, rising high above the fray to nod a ball down, though right to Bolton keeper Jussi Jaskalainen's awaiting hands. (Obviously, I can't write about this bloke without mentioning his boots. This time the pink ones were stashed and he came out wearing a puke green pair. Thank you for the adjective, Renatta!.)



Another chance would come within minutes as a ball played deep into the area on the left by Clichy was met by van Persie who struck the ball first-touch, sending a low arching drive across the front of goal to the outstretched Bendtner who slid and met the ball firmly from about 3 yards out. It was a tight angle but Bendtner's aim was true and that was that. Three points in the bag after what was looking like another utterly dismaying performance.

Carlos Vela also came off the bench to provide some spark and it looks like he's developing nicely. The team seems to be gelling now. There really seems to be a certain cohesion. I considered whether many of the players, especially the younger ones, were getting carried away with the whole 'pretty football' thing. The idea of playing attractive football, which we all appreciate, might have been a sort of... added pressure. Like it's not enough to just win, you have to do it with style and perhaps when these players would find themselves against a club that was content to play for a scoreless draw and stifle proceedings, frustration would creep in, then desperation would set in as full-time approached. They seem patient now. There's a sense of determination in their demeanor, which is all the more striking as they displayed this with captain Cesc Fábregas out with injury. Oh, I still don't think we'll win the league, but this sure goes a long way to convincing me that we're on the right track for the future.