What the hell is going on?!

[Letters]

So...how come we're brilliant?

Towards the end of last season we were getting the results but in a lot of games didn't look that convincing.
We looked solid at the back but rather pub-teamed a lot of games 1-0.
The mood on here all summer was pretty dark and after the Villa game even the most loyal of us to Wenger had snapped.
Now we're all :dance: and :patrice: and :woohoo:

Özil is clearly a fantastic signing but he is only one player, can it really have made that much difference?
Flamini was a good signing too and both Ramsey and Giroud are like new signings .

Are we really that much better than last season or are we going to run out of steam? Squad depth remains a concern so I fear the latter but it's good to see us playing with such confidence right now. Bit confusing though, tbh. :blink:

[Özil's Panoramic View]

I think we have the most competitive midfield of any team right now, even with injuries.

Defence is solid; Sir Ches is akin to a renaissance man.

Just need another striker now to add some balance and we could really go places this season.

Time the championship came home...again, and I think no one reckons this more than Wenger.

[GP]

I think everyone has improved really. Ramsey's improvement is ridiculous and Ozil has just lifted the whole place.

It's quite fun.

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

You posed and answered the first half of your question. A club who has a central midfielder who is scoring in every game and even when he doesn't, should have done so and sets up the goals is going to be a huge boost to any team. He has gone a long way in covering the cracks of our lack of centre forwards.

The influence (and vast influence at that) of the four players you mentioned in Flamini, Ramsey, Giroud and Cazorla (that is more than a third of the first team) allied with the new found systematic defensive strategy and organisation is enough to make the huge impact it has.

Whether we can sustain it will depend on injuries from this point on and what we do this January. If what Josh said in his last line is true then Wenger won't let the next window pass him by without taking action. We are significantly better than the Arsenal of the second half of last season and are monumentally better than the Arsenal of the first half of last season. A little simplified perhaps but that is about the size of it to me.

[Marc Overmars]

The signing of Özil has just reinvigorated everyone, as soon as he signed the poisonous atmosphere was lifted in an instant. The players are probably even more excited than the fans because he's all the motivation they need to better themselves.

On the team as a whole, the biggest and most crucial improvement has been the defence. We saw at the back end of last season how stubborn they could be and now with Flamini in there as well we've become very solid and composed. Those nervous kittens have been locked away and hopefully we've thrown away the key. Ramsey's performances are a bonus, I always thought he'd be nothing more than a dime a dozen centre midfielder but suddenly he's this all action beast who's become vital for us.

The squad just appears light at the moment because of the injury situation, if you add Podolski, Cazorla and Theo to the mix then we have options galore.

Confidence is high right now just enjoy it while it lasts, it's so early in the season there's no point in concerning ourselves with long term projections. We'll hit a bad patch at some point, however for the first time in years I'm hopeful we could be on to something good and that's much better than having the life sucked out of you which is what it feels like this club has done to us in the past.

[JonasTC]

What has happend is that a bunch of players we didnt expect to perform, are suddenly performing like some of the best players in the league (Ramsey, Giroud and Flamini) and on top of that we have added one of the best players in the world to our XI, the scary part is that we still havent played with our best starting line-up yet.

Seriously, Cazorla and Özil are so good and creative, that if played at the same time, i believe our opponents cant hold us away from creating atleast a couple of 100% chances per game.

People are talking about our depth, i think its quite good and that we actually have one of the best back-up line-ups in the league (without all the injuries ofc), my only concern is in the striker position, but there we can still rotate podolski and walcott who can benefit from the sexiness of cazorla and özil

Fabianski
Jenkinson - BFG/Kos/Sagna - Verm - Nacho
Arteta - Wilshere/Diaby
Ox/Gnabry - Rosicky/Wilshere - Podolski/Ox
Walcott/Giroud/Podolski

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

Sorry Jonas...didn't mean to call you Josh!

[JonasTC]

Sorry Jonas...didn't mean to call you Josh!

???

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

Wenger's changed

For the first time in years:

we have squad depth in many positions
the defence is drilled and organised
tactics are being applied i.e. flamini man-marking hamsik
he bought an experienced world class player
motivates the team

he has found himself again. That's what's going on.

[Transplanted Gooner]

I think we're all just getting carried away with it.
I'm enjoying it so far, especially how quickly Ozil has fitted in.
I also think having that level of player improves everybody else.

But...

We've had a powder puff start to the season so far.
5 wins, 1 loss, 13 for, 6 against
In the corresponding fixtures from last season, we amassed a perfect 18 points.
6 wins, 12 for, 3 against

I'm not getting carried away.

[BOBN]

Dropping Vermealen was key, weve been pretty good since then. Just a shame it took him so long and dug himself into a silly hole by making him captain.

I dont think weve been that outstanding this season. Its not the brilliance of autumn 07 yet, but we are deservedly top, and who have we played? For once the Premier League hype merchants may have it right. This looks like a genuine 6 horse race. I dont see any extra quality in the so-called big 3 to separate them from us, Liverpool and Spurs.

[Bumble]

It is amazing that we are only 6 games into the season. And November is traditionally are feck it up month. But I think the improvement is because of the closure of the board I used to use. It was created in summer 2004 and ended just as we signed ozil. Perhaps realizing that we need to give arsenal the best opportunity possible.

[Letters]

I think we're all just getting carried away with it.
I'm enjoying it so far, especially how quickly Ozil has fitted in.
I also think having that level of player improves everybody else.

But...

We've had a powder puff start to the season so far.
5 wins, 1 loss, 13 for, 6 against
In the corresponding fixtures from last season, we amassed a perfect 18 points.
6 wins, 12 for, 3 against

I'm not getting carried away.
Spoilsport :sulk:
You're right though, we haven't had many tough tests in the league yet.
That said we got a tough CL group and we're sailing through that so far.

[Marc Overmars]

Having a settled squad is also key, not losing anyone of note for a change is bound to only be positive.

[AKBapologist]

FLAMINI.


/thread

[Xhaka Can’t]

Spoilsport :sulk:
You're right though, we haven't had many tough tests in the league yet.
That said we got a tough CL group and we're sailing through that so far.

Bergkamp would have loved that.

[Syn]

I must say the attitude from the players is absolutely tremendous. Our focus and desire is as well there. Before where we used to drop a little bit physically in the second half, you can see now the energy levels are much higher. Flamini has made a big impact of course, I'm just sorry that he didn't cost £25m. The answer in England is always to spend spend spend, but if you look at players like Ramsey and Gibbs, you can see they are always hungry to improve and are now ready.

[I am invisible]

I'd put our improvement down to 3 main things for me...

1) Simple continuity / consistency from one season to the next - we've kept all of our key players together for the first time in god-knows-how-many-years, so all the lessons learned and experienced gained from last season have been carried into this one, and we're not having to re-learn all the same lessons again, for the umpteenth year on the trot, with a new set of players. The players also have extra bit of familiarity, so everything's just picked up nicely from where we left off last year, and we're not waiting around for anyone to get used to the league or their new team mates.

2) The Mesut Özil effect - there's just no getting around the lift he's given Arsenal Football Club, both on and off the pitch. The players are happier, the fans are happier, and everything is just more enjoyable.

3) The gradual binning off of all the players who either weren't good enough of just weren't pulling their weight - IMO, this has quietly re-set the mentality within the squad, and sent a clear message out as to what is required if you want to be a player at this club. When any of the players looks around at their team mates now, what they see is other players who will match their effort and back them up (and take their place in the side if they don't perform), instead of passengers and sulkers who drag everything down.

Other factors that have played a part are the refresh of the coaching team, the better balance between youth and experience, better competition for places in most areas, and the slightly more ruthless, pragmatic version of Arsene Wenger that has replaced the old one...

[I am invisible]

I think we're all just getting carried away with it.
I'm enjoying it so far, especially how quickly Ozil has fitted in.
I also think having that level of player improves everybody else.

But...

We've had a powder puff start to the season so far.
5 wins, 1 loss, 13 for, 6 against
In the corresponding fixtures from last season, we amassed a perfect 18 points.
6 wins, 12 for, 3 against

I'm not getting carried away.


Spoilsport :sulk:
You're right though, we haven't had many tough tests in the league yet.
That said we got a tough CL group and we're sailing through that so far.

And I think it's important to remember that we're not just talking about a good start to this season here - it's the continuation of a run that stretches right back to the away leg of the Munich CL tie last season...

[Blink 1nce Quince 2wice]

???

Never mind if you didn't notice.

[Nayan]

So...how come we're brilliant?

Towards the end of last season we were getting the results but in a lot of games didn't look that convincing.
We looked solid at the back but rather pub-teamed a lot of games 1-0.
The mood on here all summer was pretty dark and after the Villa game even the most loyal of us to Wenger had snapped.
Now we're all :dance: and :patrice: and :woohoo:

Özil is clearly a fantastic signing but he is only one player, can it really have made that much difference?
Flamini was a good signing too and both Ramsey and Giroud are like new signings .

Are we really that much better than last season or are we going to run out of steam? Squad depth remains a concern so I fear the latter but it's good to see us playing with such confidence right now. Bit confusing though, tbh. :blink:

1) we've been on a good run of form for a good while (ie most of 2013) and some of it is people realising that we havent been consistently shit for some time now
2) people are in danger of overreacting to what is basically just a good start to the season. remember b'ham away in early 2008...
3) unlike with expensively built teams full of 28 year olds, our younger players naturally get more experienced and stronger each year. Though Ramsey has been a welcome positive surprise
4) Giroud had a good first season that he didnt get full credit for on the grounds that he wasnt immediately as good as an RVP at the peak of his powers. Since then he has kicked on and also benefits from being at the vanguard of a strong team.
5) ozil is a bit good.