For Arsenal, it’s no longer grim up north. Successive triumphs amid the dark satanic mills and hills of Lancashire, where Arsene Wenger’s teams have sometimes failed to meet the physical challenge, point to a young side now allying the resilience required of title contenders to quality which beaten manager Gary Megson believes is “as good as you’ll see throughout the world”.
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In between rattling in seven goals at Blackburn and Bolton, Arsenal made a 2,700-mile round trip to Ukraine and returned with a Champions League point. The exasperated countenance which Wenger presented last spring has given way to a paternal pride from which even his disquiet over the circumstances of Gael Clichy’s shin injury could not detract.
Pundits have repeatedly advised the Frenchman that his squad needs greater muscularity and experience, and the critics may yet be proved right when Arsenal face their principal rivals. For now, no one is arguing that the team, which mesmerised Bolton, would be drastically improved by Gareth Barry or Xabi Alonso.
Wenger believes in his prodigies. “Look at my team today,” the Arsenal manager said. “Denilson is 20, Cesc Fabregas and Alexandre Song are 21, Nicklas Bendtner 20 and Theo Walcott 19. When you have players of that age and can still fight for the championship, it bodes well. You hope year after year that they will be even better.
“Because we weren’t busy in the summer transfer market we were a little ignored at the start of the season. Attention focused on the clubs who made big signings. We’ve gone a different way. We’re building a young team with the culture of football we like. We were very close last season, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be in the fight this time.”
Wenger insisted he wanted to win “with style” yet claimed Arsenal were “more robust than people think”. In which case it was unfortunate that they were so quick to allege that Bolton set out to intimidate them. Of the fierce but fair tackle on Clichy that brought Kevin Davies a caution, Fabregas said: “When we come to the north, we know something like this is going to happen.”
“Complete nonsense,” said Megson. Far from trying to cow Arsenal into submission with studs and elbows, Bolton allowed them too much space. After Davies headed them in front from a corner the tendency of the back four to sit deep and leave a chasm between themselves and midfield was mercilessly exploited. Arsenal, having struck both posts in a minute, scored twice in 85 seconds.
Emmanuel Eboue equalised from a suspiciously offside position before Bendtner converted a cross by Denilson, whose blend of grace and graft for once overshadowed Fabregas. Their mettle was tested by Bolton’s lively second-half display before Denilson finished another sumptuous move with aplomb.
Arsenal’s unity inspired a topical aside from Wenger. “Collective sport is fantastic if people don’t turn it into individual sport,” he said. “It becomes magic if players work as a team. I’m not a golf fan but I like to watch the Ryder Cup because it’s a team sport. It’s more beautiful because of the collective spirit. Suddenly you’re more interested and when a team respects that, it’s a joy to watch.”
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