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Making the Arsenal

By Walter Broeckx

WENGER OUT! Yes, you read it right. I spell it again if you want:  W E N G E R   O U T!!!!

It has taken me a while but I do feel angry on Wenger. I blame him for some things and I really think he should have been given the sack.  Why on earth is Walter so negative and wants Wenger out you might ask yourself.

Well actually I don’t want Wenger out. But I want to be critical about something that I think was a terrible piece of business. It’s all got to do with Arteta. Let me explain.

We all have seen last season. I even wrote an article about it. I wrote that if Arsenal was a one man team it was not for RVP being that one man. No it was because of Arteta being that one man. When he played the chance of us not losing that game would go up to around 90%. When he didn’t play because of injury our winning chance dropped in the most terrible way. Mikel Arteta was the heartbeat of the team. HE was the player that brought balance to the team. It was Arteta that carried the team. Nobody else. He was our one man team.

So why then my fury? Shouldn’t I be happy with the fact that he is an Arsenal player? And yes I am very happy that he is an Arsenal player. Very, very happy in fact. Have we ever seen such a model professional before? A player who is not just a great footballer, but who is also a great example on and off the pitch? This man is not just class on the field but he also seems to be a very down to earth guy. If you read interviews of him you get to know a man who knows what a lucky man he is. A man who knows that being a professional footballer is something that many dream of but only few realise.

A man who has his dreams but also feels satisfied with the way he has gone in his life. A man who still dreams of playing for his national team. But also realistic in knowing that it probably will stay a dream. And that is not that amazing in fact. We all may dislike some players from a team but they have such a good midfield and midfielders that it is very hard to get in to that team if you don’t play there.

Maybe Arteta made a wrong decision in going to Everton all those years ago. With all respect to Everton but they weren’t really the top in the PL. Going to a smaller team like Everton gave him somehow a low profile. Wasn’t it more understandable that any Spanish national team manager would go for a Spanish player playing for Arsenal or Liverpool. Did he know there was a Spanish player playing for Everton? Did he care?

This might have been our luck and the misfortune for Arteta. Our luck in the long run because with Arteta only playing for Everton let him slip under the radar a bit. If he would have played for Liverpool he probably would be playing for Real Madrid by now. Or for Barcelona. As that is the way they go then. But who was interested in an Everton player?

For Arteta it meant that he was not getting noticed for the Spanish team. For Arsenal it was a blessing in disguise.

When we bought him last season the opinions were divided. Would he be able to make it at a top team? Not good enough? Injury prone? I could now say that I always rated him of course. But I must admit that I never rated him that high. And now since he is here for a season he is the player I rate the highest maybe. Maybe have to think that over again because there are rather a few I rate very high in our current team…..

I think I have rarely seen a player as intelligent as Arteta playing for Arsenal. I think he has the football brains to play at every position on the field and to know what is required and how to do it. I have rarely seen a player who was asked to take on a new job doing this with so much precision and skill as if he has always played in that position.

Last season I wrote an article about Song. And in that article I wrote that Song maybe on paper was our defensive midfielder but that in reality we don’t really have a defensive midfielder of the old style. The type that defends with flying tackles, hard bumps, pushing and shoving his way all over the field in an attempt to cover the defence. That role has been left behind by Wenger for a while.

For a while we have been looking for a midfielder who can be disciplined but also who is intelligent and who can play the ball and who has vision and a good pass. Song came close to that role. But I think Arteta is better in playing that role. And don’t say it loud but I think that with Cocquelin we might have another player who can play that role. I really hope that Cocquelin will have the patience till the day Arteta will need more rest as I think that he could be the one that could step in his footsteps.

Some start to compare Arteta with Gilberto. I think there are a lot of things to say about that comparison. Both are very similar in a way. Gilberto was called the invisible wall, and when it comes to defending that is exactly the way Arteta is playing that role. I just think that Arteta is maybe even better in playing the ball.

This week Cazorla has said that he will talk about Arteta against the Spanish national team manager. Santi, in all fairness: DON   ‘T!!!! Don’t let them know we have one hell of a player who could play for Spain. I think it is great that Mikel will have a rest every now and then to recharge his batteries a bit. I think it is great to know that he is not in risk of being injured when playing for his national team. Sorry Mikel but I have to put Arsenal first there. Hope you understand it. Sorry to break your heart but I really rate you too high to risk you.

Going back to my opening words now. Remember? Wenger out! So why this statement? Because I think Wenger should have bought him years ago! That is why I am so pissed off. We should have had him here a few years earlier. We should have spend the f*cking money a bit earlier on him.

But then again. Imagine if we had bought him 4 years ago. Then he would have been on the radar for Spain. Then he maybe would have been called up to play for Spain. He maybe would have got injured. He would be more tired. Maybe he would have had a smaller impact because of him also playing for Spain.

When I come to think of it. Maybe it was wiser to wait for the older Mikel Arteta. Maybe it was wiser because Arteta without the experience he had,  wouldn’t have had the same impact on the field. Come to think of if: Who am I to say who to buy and when to buy? What do I know. I only write words. But I do know that Arteta has been the best thing since sliced bread for Arsenal.

Arteta, a model player, a model footballer, a model human being. An example for every young professional who dreams of making it at a big club.  The others like Cazorla stand deservedly in the spotlight for their brilliance. But they would be nowhere without Arteta. And I think they know it.  Hell, even I know it….