Red Eye: Deconstructing Arsenal

Deconstructing Arsenal

By Christian Soler

FIVE SEASONS ago, Arsenal F.C. ran away with the English Premier League in unprecedented fashion, going undefeated and winning 26 out of 38 matches to go eleven points clear of heavily-favored, cash-splurging Chelsea F.C. The Gunners set a league record only matched by Preston North End, which went undefeated in 22 matches during the, yup, 1888-89 season.

Today, Arsenal sit in fourth place in the league standings, eight points clear of Aston Villa for the final UEFA Champions League spot for next season.

Five years seem like an eternity for fans of this North London power, which hasn’t won the league for, well, five seasons. There’s more than meets the eye for when it comes to this current Arsenal lineup, however.

Entering the 2008-09 season, management spent a measly 17.75 million pounds on player transfers. Not much when compared to, say, Manchester United, which bought one player – Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov – for 30.75 million pounds, or even Villa, whose shopping cart totaled 30.8 million [this figure does not include the fees paid for four other players as they remain undisclosed].

The club isn’t the richest in England, hence its reliance on young talent from its youth system, as well as vision-driven purchases for bargain prices. Captain Cesc Fabregas, for instance, was brought in for free from Barcelona’s youth system, while forward Robin van Persie cost just 2.75 million pounds in a move from Dutch side Feyenoord Rotterdam. In the footballing world, money is everything almost all the time.

Arsenal will be the first club to attest to this. However, it’ll also be the first eleven to prove that success can be achieved through means other than dough.

Arsene Wenger’s unit may not win anything this season. However, the Gunners are still in contention in the Champions League and FA Cup, two no-joke types of tournaments. That isn’t too bad considering how cash-starved the team really is. Add to that all the injury woes they’ve had all season. Midfielder and Czech international Tomas Rosicky has yet to play a game this year, while regular first-teamers Fabregas, Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Eboue and Emmanuel Adebayor have all missed at least eight Premier League matches.

Despite all these problems, Arsenal has remained consistent all-season long. After a slip-up that yielded fourth spot to Aston Villa, Wenger’s wards returned with a bang, and are currently on an 18-match unbeaten streak in the Premiership.

Over at the Champions League, Adebayor scored what should be the goal of the tournament to draw with giant-killers Villareal at the infamous El Madrigal in the first leg of the quarterfinal tie, collecting the ball with his chest from a Fabregas long ball before scoring on an amazing bicycle kick.

In the FA Cup, the Gunners have set a semifinal date with Chelsea this coming Saturday at the New Wembley. Arsenal may end up trophy-less for the fourth season running. But this isn’t, in any way, an indication of failure. On the contrary, the North London club has made use of what it has to the hilt.

Talk of firing Wenger, for instance, is just silly. It’s no one’s fault, and everyone’s winning effort.