For 12 exquisite hours this past weekend, life couldn't get much better for Arsenal fans. Still blissfully floating in the happy haze of -- Mein Gott! -- their team's 2-0 Champions League upset of mighty Bayern Munich on Wednesday, they returned to earth long enough to watch the Gunners eke out a 2-1 win over Everton that temporarily vaulted Arsenal to the top of the Premier League. Or, as I look at it, 15 places ahead of another London side managed by a certain lonely and friendless Portuguese has-been.
Never mind that Man City rudely evicted Arsenal from the Prem penthouse by dint of goal difference after their eye-bleedingly boring 0-0 draw with Manchester United, this was still five days to savor like a hog in a new trough.
Oh, how Jose Mourinho could use a hug today -- the kind of warm, manly embrace Arsene Wenger gave Petr Cech after the former Chelsea goalkeeper saved the Gunners' bratwurst against Bayern. The odds, however, of Wenger comforting Mourinho in his moment of need are about the same as Roy Keane trick-or-treating with Sir Alex Ferguson.
No; if the Frenchman is reacting at all to Chelsea's gloriously sorry plight, it would be to laugh his derriere off at the delicious mess Mourinho's cooking up at Stamford Bridge. And like every other red-card carrying Arsenal supporter, he's praying that owner Roman Abramovich resists the temptation to put "The Greatest Manager Chelsea Ever Had" (says Mourinho, of course) out of his misery.
Roman, please do this one thing for me and ignore those churlish Hammer fans who belted out their lusty chorus of "You're Getting Sacked In The Morning." Because let's face it, watching Jose find a new way to melt down every week is too much fun. Long may he suffer!
The Gunners didn't exactly cover themselves in glory against Everton as they had three days earlier in defeating Bayern. Worryingly, they once again failed to close down a game in which they had taken an early lead and nearly let the Toffees nick a draw, but they have been showing a new-found flexibility that should benefit them when the games are coming thick and fast over the next couple of months.
After years of blindly adhering to Wenger's erstwhile mania for ball retention, the Gunners are willing to adapt their tactics to their opponent. In the exhilarating 3-0 beat-down of United, Arsenal played a direct game, at least for those dizzying opening 20 minutes in which they were a blur of speed and penetration. Against Bayern, they were content to sit back and wait for the opportunity to counter even if the approach meant having very little of the ball. On Sunday, they combined the two styles, indulging in their usual slick one-touch passing but also using a couple of magnificent deliveries from Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla to score on soaring headers from Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny.
All of which shows that the Gunners are no longer hung up on possession for possession's sake unless, of course, the thing that they are possessing is the Premier League trophy. I wonder if Jose will still be in England long enough to enjoy that moment.
-from ESPN FC
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