Nearest the Bull

There seems to be a whole army of self-styled experts who are anxious to spend hours prattling on about what they perceive to be the problems with Arsenal – and to make things worse, most of the time they insist upon talking in clichés. Apparently, Arsenal ‘overplay’. They’re always trying to score the ‘perfect goal’. They’re reluctant to shoot. There is no ‘end product’. And, horror of horrors, they don’t have a ‘Plan B’.

Leaving aside for a moment the fact that some of these people give the impression that it is only with the greatest difficulty that they themselves have made it as far as the letter ‘B’, what is really astonishing is their eagerness to dismiss the quality and the sheer beauty of the football Arsenal play. Perhaps it is simply beyond their comprehension. Possibly they prefer the more pragmatic version of the game perpetrated by Chelsea, or the rugged, uncompromising interpretation of a Blackburn or a Bolton.

They are, of course, entitled to their opinion – even when it is a view which has been devalued by the depth of their misunderstanding. But fortunately, help is at hand. In the 52nd minute of their Champions League first leg game in Hamburg, Tomas Rosicky opened his Arsenal account with a shot of stunning power and placement from some twenty five yards. For anyone with the necessary intelligence it was the perfect answer.