Adebayor, Cesc, Nasri, RVP - Who’s next Arsène?

Adebayor, Cesc, Nasri, RVP - Who’s next Arsène?

Adebayor, Cesc, Nasri, RVP - Who’s next Arsène?

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By Ulysse Pasquier

Two goalless draws, misfiring new strikers, a Mancunian Van Persie wondergoal. All the ingredients are there for the overzealous pessimism that has surrounded Arsenal in recent years to thrive as we settle in this new season. The Premier League has only been back for two weeks and already that one irrational thought is ringing in the back of Arsenal fans’ minds: “What if Arsenal actually never score again without Robin Van Persie?”. Naturally the goals will come, but what will be more interesting to see is who will be taking charge of the scoring responsibilities.

An Arsenal player may not have scored over 30 goals in one season in a while before Van Persie, but each year the Gunners have been dependent on a key player and each following year they’ve learned to deal with losing him. A trend has indeed emerged in North London since Thierry Henry’s departure with an already settled player constantly stepping up to strengthen his game and bring goals when needed. Emmanuel Adebayor was the first to do so before his sale to Manchester City opened the door for Cesc Fabregas. The Spaniard’s injury problems and Catalan ambitions had Samir Nasri produce his best season after which he himself handed the reins to Robin Van Persie.

It is therefore not surprising that Wenger recently singled out these four players as the ones that could have brought silverware to Arsenal if they had played longer together. They may not have won trophies for the club but they did successively allow it to stay competitive with the best in England. Is there something inherent to Arsenal that makes it endure? Will the trend continue? Arsenal evidently need someone to step up after failing to score against both Sunderland and Stoke, but it is still unclear this year as to who can.

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The prime suspects, if the pattern was to keep going, would have to be Gervinho and Theo Walcott. Both have had time to settle at the club and both have had glimpses of genius in the past. But only glimpses. Their inconsistency and frequent poor decisions indeed make it difficult for Arsenal fans to believe they’ll be standing up for the two wingers much more than 10 times a season. A lot is therefore expected of the new players but as good signings as they may be, they’ve already shown they need time to adapt to the Premier League. After all, not everyone can be Eden Hazard.

This season will have an entirely new physiognomy for Arsenal and will bring with it challenges Arsène Wenger has not had to face in a long time. The French manager is aware of that and has already hinted at a new team organization after the Stoke game:

image“We have to find a way to get around [losing RVP] by sharing the goals more than we did before. I think we can do that. Giroud scored 20, Podolski scored 20, and I am convinced we will get some goals from Diaby and Ramsey, Walcott, Gervinho” (Arsenal.com)

Lacking the financial assets to do so, Wenger has been struggling to find ways to prevent his top players from leaving Arsenal. He has been more vocal recently about building up a “British core” to the team to rely on their loyalty and attachment to the club. Cue Ashley Cole: “what loyalty?”. My point exactly Ashley, thank you. The solution to Wenger’s problems may be much simpler. A paradigm shift is indeed in order at Arsenal as it has been long overdue for the group to be greater than the individual. That is not to say the Gunners should be individually mediocre, but rather that they need to find the collective balance in order to stop being overly dependent on players they can’t keep. 

It is much more difficult for other clubs, even with unlimited funds, to pick apart a team that has a real group dynamic. This summer’s recruits - Podolski, Giroud and Cazorla - are all players that can work for others on the pitch and they will help in achieving this balance. Wenger will now hope the team adapts quickly and prove the whole is indeed greater than the sum of its parts.
This piece was written by Ulysse Pasquier, writing from Paris. You can follow and interact with Ulysse on Twitter @ulyssep. Comments below please.