Written by Adam Gold Tuesday, 28 December 2010 17:02

GunnerTalk Blog

By Adam Gold, author of The Arsenal Miscellany

So the dust settles and the hangover subsides after the most exciting red-and-white moment of the season - the final whistle blowing on Arsenal’s 3-1 win over Chelski.

Utter jubilation for Gooners everywhere last night - but the biggest question today is, what did we do last night that we haven’t managed to do for years? What was it that finally helped us overcome our “hoodoo woodoo”, as our esteemed webmaster George puts it, against that shit club with no history from west London?

In my view, it is remembering that the foundations of a successful team lie in its solidity at the back. There is no doubt that we have attacking flair throughout the squad, and we are almost always a threat going forward.

DEFEND AS A TEAM FOR ONCE

But Wenger’s attitude in recent times has seemed to us Gooners as if he simply thinks that if we outscore the opposition, then that is good enough. Well it might be, Monsieur Le Professeur, but until we get our house in order defensively we are always going to be vulnerable even when we attack well and score goals (the 2-3 life lesson against Sp*rs being a case in point).

It’s not that we don’t have the right players, necessarily - it’s that we don’t have the right mentality. If the midfield act as a shield to our back five, like many Gooners think they really should, then we become bloody tough to break down. Too often we’ve seen midfielders lose the ball and not track back and fight 100% to win possession again. As much as I like our little 5ft 4in dynamo from Moscow, Arshavin is the most guilty of this - and just look what happened when Wenger dropped him last night.

This is just what GunnerTalk commenter Marv has been saying for a while, and last night he was proved right: “i wud like to think that Arsene read my posting from yesterday and took my advice to give Arshavin a rest and played someone in front of Clichy who was more than willing to help out defensively,” he told us on GunnerShout.

TIGHT AS A DUCK’S ARSE-NAL

Arsenal went from being so often frail and fragile to having a really iron-looking formation, Walcott and Nasri making concerted efforts to stop Chelski full-backs Ferreira and C*shley from getting any space to build attacks on the flanks.

In the middle of the park, Cesc led by example in harassing Fat Frank and co, while Song and young Jack were immense - parking the bus and not letting Drogba or any of the away side forwards get much of a sniff. I’ve long been saying to anyone who’d listen that we need a world-class anchorman to make the difference between winning a trophy and not winning one. But on this evidence, if Song and Wilshere can play like this consistently, we may not now need to. However the jury’s still out.

Gunnertalk commenter Filip wrote on the site, “I must say one big sorry to Alex Song. I criticized him but this goal was so important. Great, just hope we´ll keep pushing and don´t drop the tempo.”

WORLD-CLASS PLAY-BREAKER

For me, it’s quite simple. If Song continues his form for the next few games leading into the January transfer window, Arsene will probably decide to leave his cheque book in the drawer. If Song or Wilshere show any sign of weakness - and with Denilson and Diaby not currently very inspiring replacements - then a signing could be on the cards if the right man comes up at the right price. We have shown last night what a difference it makes to give quality cover to our defenders. Learn from this, keep doing it and who knows, there could be a title coming back to Islington this season.

I leave you with the resounding words of GunnerTalk commenter bostongooner: “3-1 to the Arsenal, 3-1 to the Arsenal, 3-1 to the Arsenal, 3-1 to the Arsenal!”

FURTHER PONDERINGS

I’m a season ticket holder in the Upper Tier of the new ‘North Bank’ but last night managed to get a cheeky invite into the Nike corporate box.

This involved unlimited beer, plenty of pizza and a dodgy maroon-coloured cheesecake shaped like a football. Yeah, best not to ask. However, rather than my usual Gooner uncles and cousins that I sit next to, I had the pleasure of being perched last night beside the eminent France Football journalist, Arsenal fan and author of Cantona: The Rebel Who Would Be King, Philippe Auclair.

Among other things, we discussed the rise and rise this season of Samir Nasir. Philippe told me that, having suffered the disappointment of missing the World Cup, Nasri is now the French national side’s best player. He explained that the rest over the summer helped Nasri achieve the form he’s had for much of this season.

The tricky midfielder could be a contender for Player of the Year if he keeps this up, and indeed it seems on the GunnerTalk Facebook page, Gracia Whyte and Mono Hamilton agree.

Is Nasri in the running for this accolade? Have your say...