Yet another rave

Back from an Interlull of our own today; despite making it to the Emirates, we haven't quite found the 14 hours we need to set aside to do a blog post. Fortunately there are major delays on the <insert tube line> so i've got time in abundance. 

Not sure of which game to talk about, looking back we've smashed November. Liverpool didn't get a whiff at the Ems, oh hi Dortmund I heard you've scored in every home game for sixty games? See ya. Man U, well... apart from the scoreline, no clear winner there and not that i'm at all biased but a few of our players did have a cough... so... Marseille sunk in 30 seconds from a Super Jack double... Basically, ima stop talking like 'Oh Arsenal are a different team and we've learnt from our mistakes' and just enjoy saying '...there goes another one' as we bat these fluffy-sitting-ducks-of-opponents straight out the park. THUNK!

Yeh yeh same old Arsenal bumming story re-packaged with a different colour ribbon, heard it. So let's change the subject. Serge Gnabry hasn't had nearly enough time imho. I miss the Carling Cup for that reason alone. But i'm sure Mesut is learning a lot from him and you can really see the confidence from Gnabringtons spilling over to the rest of the squad. On the subject of wingers though, in all seriousness, Theo excites me. He's going to add another dimension to an already 11-dimensional side, leaving us somewhere outside of the multiverse. 

I do really want to continue sycophantically, but until our continued success takes us to silverware, we're going to get it in the ear. But this train of thought is besides the point because the great form is the reward in itself. I just want to play more Dortmunds and Liverpools and Southamptons and keep the bat clean and shiny, knocking them home runs out of the stadium. 

In this way I'll leave you with a few mind boggling stats (forget for a minute we're top of our Champs league group and 4 points clear in the League). Ramsey has converted 120% of his shots on target (actually 30%), Giroud has converted 99% of heterosexual men to the other team (he couldn't convert Cashley for some reason) and Santi Cazorla is still 5"5'. Fascinating stuff. 

TOUCHDOWN, EASY, DARREN SHARPER HOLD MA DIIIII

Although football can be won and lost on an individual's performance, the most satisfying and complete of victories are those which see one team as a whole outplay the other, man for man the smarter outfit. When the combination of players find their rhythm and wavelength it can be a thing of beauty to behold, something Arsenal fans were treated to last Sunday in the comprehensive victory over a resurgent Liverpool. If Arsenal are becoming a great footballing side, then Liverpool are relying on adapting the tactics of our tea-drowning, cattle ranching, super-sized cousins from across the pond, flooding the pitch with big ol' units who are there to make up the numbers whilst one or two playmakers have to secure the points. If, like earlier this week those playmakers are subdued by the presence of a cupboard sized German and a wily coyote in defense then the rest of the team offer little by way of attacking threat. In contrast Arsenal seem to have a breadth of goalscoring options across the midfield and in our outstanding striker with the golden bonce who did everything but score what was the easiest chance of the match. Enter trequartista. Enter newfound joys of watching footy.

The trequartista, the free-to-roam, flowing, creating winger come attacking mid slash sit-off striker and occasional track backer, is the embodiment of the subtlety and nuance that makes the current Arsenal squad pernicious anathema to our foes, and insidiously gripping to watch. It's the silent work off-the-ball, Giroud's hold up play and work as a false-9 bringing our formidable midfield into the attacking third, the combination play of Arteta and our full backs that whip so fluidly round to our roaming Ramzorzil that you've got a sugary meringue of defence, midfield and strike force in every serving of our forwards and backwards play. It's the reason I spend less time watching the ball at the Emirates now than ever before. Re-enter newfound joys of watching footy.

Don't get me wrong, I do look at the ball. But I catch myself doing this just to see the gory detail of a nutmeg or a tackle, for either team, a bit like staring at your ex and her new boyfriend making out - you just want to see the full image in all its gory detail. But like a snooker player thinking three of four shots ahead, the team play of this Arsenal side is palpable, I'm staring at Ramsey off-the-ball making a darting run that is never received, but opens a yard for Giroud to one-two with Cazorla, and tapping in to the flexi-structure of not just Arsenal, but football in general, is what gives me and Soccer the edge over the less subtle act of running around the pitch like a big animal chasing a smaller one. There's so much freedom away from the ball in football, and if the team understands each other it becomes extremely apparent, and as the ball pings around you are free to observe who you wish as though you're logging into the Arsenal FTP host our first XI and I'm seeing glory through the eyes of Mertescielny, Ramzorzil and I'm sure soon enough I'll be flying on the wings of Walcott. The trequartista role is the freedom and creativity that pulses through our veins at the Emirates and the rhythm of Arsenal is a powerful thing. Hello 5 point cushion. Trequartista: exit stage left.

Definition: the Trequartista is the cut-in winger or no.9 that may be incisive on his flank but free to sit off the front man, sit centrally as a playmaker, provide protection as a defensive mid or be out-and-out striker when he's feeling it. He is also Mesut Özil and therefore the word trequartista can be freely exchanged with sex, tits and anything that is really very good.