This weekend, Bolton v Arsenal was a sideshow. Chelsea v Manchester United was the big game. Mourinho played with Drogba, Makelele and Essien. Lots of power without much grace. Now Scolari plays with Deco and Chelsea have some grace. Without Deco and Essien Chelsea were a little bit lost – they never quite knew whether to pass the ball or hoof it. A draw was a good result for Chelsea and kept Arsenal top. Now Arsenal's loss at Fulham seems expensive. The league won't be easy and we should have made more from our relatively easier start.
Blackburn v Arsenal was the start of an annoying trio of away games for Arsenal. I'm always nervous when Arsenal play. It's not like the good old days where you could count points before they were won. The loss at Fulham reminded us that the team still has vulnerabilities – not least its own mental strength and defending high balls. Arsenal and Liverpool are the only top 4 teams that you can't bet on with confidence against a bottom team yet you can't bet against them if they were playing Real Madrid either.
It would have been great to win the first Champions League game but if you put it in the context of three consecutive away games in the north and in Kiev then 9 goals, 2 wins, 1 draw and 1 injury looks good – very good in fact if you consider injured players.
I was surprised with the midfield in Kiev. I felt Song, Denilson and Francesc Fabregas on the pitch confuse each other and unbalances the team. However, I believe it was right for Wenger to try it. Wenger has to try a lot of new things with this squad to find out what works. One player change can have a massive effect on another player and the team and this is the time to find out.
Roy Keane was booted out of United and Ronaldo came alive. He didn't have anyone shouting at him when the things he tried out failed. If Theo Walcott got shouted at whenever he tried to beat three players and failed, he would not do it and with that you lose a lot.
Gilberto and Fabregas played well together season before last. There was nothing seemingly wrong with midfield. But when Gilberto returned late for pre-season Flamini started and we soon realised that instead of sitting back in front of the back four like Gilberto, Flamini ran all around, joined Fabregas going forward and raced to the right and left wing to support defence. The space on the pitch between Fabregas and Flamini in midfield was always smaller than between Fabregas and Gilberto and suddenly it liberated Hleb since he had less defensive duties and Arsenal won the ball higher.
Then Flamini left and Denilson came in. Flamini kept the ball longer and had a bad long pass so only Fabregas could give good long passes in midfield. Flamini's passes to Hleb and Emmanuel Eboué were short – Hleb could deal with it but Eboué couldn't. When Hleb dealt with it, it slowed the attack and when Eboué got it he lost or played a bad pass.
Now Denilson releases earlier and has a better short and long pass. Flamini defended left, right and centre but he only attacked centrally. Denilson defends left, right and centre and attacks left, right and centre. It gives so much more options for Eboué and Walcott.
Eboué and Walcott can get the ball earlier from two players now (Fabregas and Denilson) with space to beat players with speed rather than trying to them at close range. Eboué and Walcott can come inside and Denilson can join attacks and give them options on the right side. Suddenly Eboué is better and Walcott is better. Suddenly Arsenal feel like they have some width.
Emmanuel Adebayor gets earlier long balls from both Denilson and Fabregas now so he can also change his positions and still get a good pass. Now, he can annoyingly increase his offside count but you may also have noticed that you haven't complained lately about his first touch. He gets the kind of balls he can deal with at the right time in the right space. Adebayor can now be a striker as well as a link up player.
Against Bolton, Wenger started Nicklas Bendtner who provided the best compliment to Arsenal's new away game strategy so far. Arsenal's young midfield cannot be expected to control the game away from home so it can make sense make sense to play Song, Fabregas and Denilson and avoid bringing all balls through midfield. Instead, a long passes into the striker – both Abebayor and Bendtner can jump – and followed by short passes in the final third pivoted by Bendtner. Bendtner can also come out to receive the ball from midfield. In this scenario, Bendtner is better for Arsenal away from home than van Persie.
Last year, no defenders were scared of Theo. What the England performances did was to make defenders know that he is trouble. That has given Theo an edge. The skill has always been there but now he has an edge that makes it work.
When he runs at defenders now, they panic like they never did before. When he runs at defenders they feel a similar fear that they have for Cristiano Ronaldo. They know they have to do something because he not just a polite young man anymore, he can score or create a very dangerous situation very very quickly indeed. While they are deciding whether to have a go or just run beside him, he's gone! Theo is so fast that you have to deal with him immediately.
As 6 defenders panicked and watched Theo's run against Bolton, they forgot where Adebayor was until he got the ball. Then they are all turned to look at Adebayor and forgot where Denilson was. By the time they realised what was going on, it was a goal.
Team dynamics are complicated. One player can have a huge unpredicted influence on the team. Who would have thought that Eboué's name on the starting line up would be calming rather than alarming? So it's good to try things but we have to do all our learning now before we start facing much tougher teams.
I am still pretty calm about Arsenal's prospects. Fabregas needs a rest and it looks like Bacary Sagna needs one too. He doesn't look himself. Eboué needs to keep playing. Like Walcott, every good performance is making him better. Eduardo and Tomas Rosicky must be looking at the team and thinking that getting fit alone is not going to guarantee a starting place.
As I mentioned two years ago, Alex Song is very much like Gilberto. I don't think he is the best partner for Fabregas but he could be a good partner for Diaby. I really rate him and believe he has the potential to join that list of simplistic great players Gilberto, Makelele, Tigana, Dunga, Koeman etc. But I think he needs the right partnership and I am doubtful it is Fabregas. With competition so tough in central midfield, he needs to stake a real claim soon else he will be third choice centre back.
Arsenal look really different. They cross many balls – lot and lots of them. They consciously play long balls – lots and lots of them. They can strategically give up a midfield fight to avoid being dominated and bogged down and use their midfield only to defend and to nick goals – not as a nerve centre of the game – that is very different. But we haven't played anyone really good yet.
Now time for the boys to come home and hopefully be relaxed and awesome win the next game around the cosy arm of their fans. Hull are no pushovers and Sheffield United will present a credible challenge in the Carling Cup midweek.
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