At the beginning of the soccer season, the future looked bleak for Arsenal F.C. Two of their best players, Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas, coldly abandoned the club, with Fabregas heading to boyhood club Barcelona and Nasri heading to Premier League rivals Manchester City. Bad results soon followed in Arsenal’s first few games. Since then, however, Arsenal has become one of the best and most exciting teams in Europe. Their acquisition of German defender Per Mertesacker (who bears an uncanny resemblance to English actor Ralph Fiennes) and Ivory Coast winger Gervinho, along with the brilliant form of Dutch striker Robin Van Persie has given even the most pessimistic Arsenal fans a renewed sense of optimism. The Dutchman’s electric form this season sees him head and shoulders above everyone in the Golden Boot race (most Premier League goals in a season).
In the last few years, Arsenal has never had a problem scoring goals. Their problem lied in consistency. Arsenal, for the first time in years, has become strangely consistent. They were atrocious in their first leg loss against AC Milan, however, but made up for it with a 3-0 win in the second leg. A run of seven wins in eight league games has seen Arsenal eclipse third placed Tottenham. Tottenham and Liverpool’s woeful form in the league has seen them sink faster than a bag of rocks in the Atlantic Ocean, whereas Arsenal’s brilliant form has seen them shoot up the league like a rocket heading into the edge of the universe.
Although Arsenal will finish another season without a trophy, for the first time in years it looks like they might actually win the Premier League in the near future. Though unlikely, with Manchester City’s millions looking more and more like the future of English football, I still believe that Arsenal can claim the most coveted prize in English football.
On another note, as an Englishman, watching my national team play makes me incredibly depressed since they are simply abysmal. However, Arsenal youngster Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has made me optimistic about England’s chances of not embarrassing themselves at future tournaments. His pace, dribbling ability and powerful shot make him one of the most promising youngsters in world football today. Son of Stoke and Portsmouth legend Mark Chamberlain and nephew of Neville Chamberlain, football clearly runs through the boy’s blood. His mere presence is enough to frighten even the best defenders in the world. The future certainly looks bright for the young footballer, whose nickname “The Ox” was certainly given for the right seasons.
For those of you that don’t know, I am graduating this semester and since this is the last issue of the Graphic this school year, I would like to thank all of you who read the DBS Report from the bottom of my heart. I have really enjoyed writing this weekly soccer column and I am sad to see it finish, but I’ll be back another day.
