Is this Arsenal midfield the best of the Arsene Wenger era?
Are this season's Ozil-inspired middlemen better than the Invincible unit of 2003-04?
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Your support makes all the difference.Narratives change quickly in modern football but Arsenal have managed to go from their lowest ebb in recent years to their very highest in just seven weeks.
From losing at home to Aston Villa on the opening day – their season threatening to finish before it even started – into this remarkable recent run of 10 straight wins – including one on penalties – each seemingly better than the last.
Given the last two – Swansea away and Napoli at home – it is safe to say that Arsenal are playing the best football in the country, with the best options in midfield. When was that last true? During their long trophy drought there have been two seasons – 2007-08 and 2010-11 – when they came close enough to challenging before letting it slip.
But Arsène Wenger said last week that this was their best chance at the Premier League title since 2004-05, given that they now have more of the "quality and experience" that decide title races. After watching them on Tuesday night, as they tore Napoli apart without even Santi Cazorla, Jack Wilshere or Theo Walcott, Wenger's claim seemed obviously true.
Mikel Arteta is only in his third season at Arsenal, but said afterwards the first half was the best performance he had ever played in. "Because we faced a team who know what they're doing, and that's why we deserve credit. Some people were writing us off, saying we hadn't played a really big, big game yet. Now we've done it, we've proved we're ready for it."
Arteta was at the heart of it alongside Mathieu Flamini, forming a resilient midfield foundation of precisely the sort that Arsenal have lacked recently. Arteta – who completed 75 of 76 attempted passes, Flamini making 66 of 73 – praised his new partner. "I think he is a very intelligent player, and he knows what he is doing and he works hard for everyone as well. So I think we will have a very good understanding."
The real damage was done in front of those two, where Tomas Rosicky and Aaron Ramsey played either side of Mesut Özil, about whom Arteta was thrilled. "It gives you a step forward quality-wise, to have someone else on the pitch that can decide the game by himself," he said. "The more players you have like that, the better chance you have."
Özil, Ramsey and Rosicky were switching positions, giving Arsenal more fluidity and imagination than they have had in years. Certainly, since the departures of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri in 2011, but probably far longer than that.
Last time Arsenal challenged for the league, in 2007-08, they had Fabregas and Flamini in central midfield with Rosicky, Walcott and Alexander Hleb in wide positions, and Gilberto Silva, Alex Song and Abou Diaby in reserve. A good combination, certainly, but even with Fabregas probably less incisive than the Özil-Ramsey-Cazorla-Wilshere range they have now.
The last time Arsenal had a midfield which was unambiguously better than this one was 2003-04, the famous Invincibles season. Then, Patrick Vieira and Gilberto anchored in the middle with Fredrik Ljungberg and Robert Pires on the wings while, of course, Dennis Bergkamp dropped in between midfield and attack.
Asked whether the current stable of midfielders was quite that good, Arteta demurred, but he did say the fight for places was good for everyone. "I don't think we are at that level yet. Competition makes everyone work harder. So it is a great thing, it raises the level of training, and that will raise the level of games." So no Arsenal midfielder can afford to rest or let his level of performance slip if he wants to stay in the team. "I think it's not possible. If you don't perform for one or two games, you get dropped.
"And we have a few to get back, like Santi, like Abou, a few others. So it's going to be really tough but that's what we wanted. When it's tough, everyone is 100 per cent every game, and that is a big difference."
Arteta was particularly keen for Arsenal to sign big in the summer, and is now delighted that they did. "It was a great message from the club, and he [Ozil] lifted everyone. Not only us, but also the crowd at the Emirates. You can see the people are excited again to come and watch us."
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