Wolverhampton W 1 Arsenal 4:WITH A manager as forward-thinking as Arsene Wenger in charge it seems odd to suggest Arsenal are playing a brand of football which belongs in a bygone era. But what other conclusion can one draw from a remarkable goal ratio that puts Arsenal on course not only to become the first Premier League club to score more than 100 in a season but also to get within touching distance of the top-flight record, which stands at 128 and was set by Aston Villa in 1931.
Indeed, not since Tottenham Hotspur, inspired by the prolific Jimmy Greaves, finished runners-up to Everton in 1963 with 111 goals has a team in the top division in England broken through the three-figure barrier. Back then, as with the Villa side in the 1930s, there were 42 matches rather than 38 in the league programme, putting Wenger’s players at a significant disadvantage. At least that is the theory.
The reality is this latest four-goal haul took Arsenal’s tally to 36 in 11 matches and, were that form to be maintained over the course of the season, it would see them finish the campaign with a staggering 124 goals.
The sceptics will argue, with some justification, that Arsenal will run aground at some point – Cesc Fabregas admitted afterwards “there will be a time when we cannot score” – yet, even allowing for a blip, they look likely to surpass Manchester United’s Premier League record of 97, set in the 1999-2000 season.
Wenger certainly did not rule out the prospect of seeing his players hit the century mark and even suggested there was more to come.
“I don’t know (if it is possible to score 100). What is possible is to continue playing the way we play and even to play better,” he said before reflecting on the goal feast he has witnessed so far. “It (36 goals) is (an extraordinary number) and that shows that the way we play football, the way we are organised and the way we go forward suits our players.”
Whether that style of play is conducive to sustaining a title challenge remains to be seen. The goal conceded in the last minute against Wolves, when Jody Craddock comfortably headed home from a corner, provided a reminder of the defensive shortcomings that contributed to defeats at Manchester United and Manchester City earlier in the season. It also means Arsenal have kept only one clean sheet in their last eight matches.
Some Arsenal supporters will consider that a price worth paying to watch the kind of goal the mercurial Fabregas scored to bring what promised to be a tight contest in the early stages to a premature conclusion. Having already seen Ronald Zubar and Craddock put into their own net earlier in the half, Wolves were suddenly resigned to defeat following Fabregas’s effort and there will have been some relief that Arsenal, through Andrey Arshavin, added only one more goal after the break.
The result leaves Wolves in the relegation zone and Arsenal dreaming of a title challenge, with Wenger optimistic his players are better equipped to handle the pressure than they were two years ago.
“I feel we have learned a lot because we have a lot of the players who played two years ago playing now,” he said. “Something that is very important is we build the team together over several years. That’s why it’s even more enjoyable because in the modern game you are not usually allowed to do this.” The same might be said for scoring 100 goals.
