Something strange happened in north-east England about 3.20pm on Sunday afternoon. It was almost creepy, slightly unnerving and borderline unbelievable.
Arsène Wenger parked the bus.
The French manager, more renowned for his stoic and unwavering commitment to attacking football, decided to shut up shop in his side’s 1-0 victory over Newcastle United.
Responding to Alan Pardew’s decision to shift to a 3-5-2 in the 80th minute, Wenger brought on Carl Jenkinson for Theo Walcott and moved to a 5-3-2, or effectively a 5-4-1.
Tomáš Rosický and Nicklas Bendtner (and earlier Olivier Giroud) were almost exclusively the only players who dared tread past the halfway line for the final 10 minutes as Arsenal closed out the match.
Ultimately Newcastle’s long punts forward to current go-to man Shola Ameobi failed to pay off, leaving the tie settled by a set piece from Giroud.
Arsenal now sit top of the EPL, ahead of Manchester City by a solitary point – who they also lead by five points in the 2013 calendar-year tally.
Could Wenger’s decision to discard his fierce dedication to a passing game, albeit momentarily, be a sign that this Arsenal side is finally ready to end its near 10-year wait for an EPL title?
It can’t be claimed the north London side have never employed such tactics in the past decade but it has surely been a rarity.
The defensive block has been employed once already this season, yet that was in front of a hostile crowd at the Westfalenstadion in the UEFA Champions League last month.
Against a Borussia Dortmund outfit, whose passing and pressing game is superior to Arsenal’s, it was to be expected.
But against a Newcastle side seemingly intent on launching long ball after long ball towards the Gallowgate End?
Is this a sign that Arsene Wenger is actually maturing in his later years?
His insistence on playing attractive football should be applauded and admired, yet there is only a certain amount of pain fans can endure.
Football is about tactics and parking the bus may be ‘anti-football’ to some football purists, yet it is a tactic all the same – and one that requires exceptional organisational skills to pull off.
Not many sides can do it for 90 minutes, here Arsenal only needed to survive 10.
With 2013 over it remains to be seen whether Arsène Wenger and his side can transform their newfound steely resilience into a title win.
Victories against teams in the top four are still paramount, yet if they are to go all the way it is games against sides such as
Newcastle that they need to win – even if it’s ugly.
JonJax
Guest
The Gooners invited too much pressure on themselves by not playing out and holding possession at the tail end of the game. I thought toon were going to snatch an equaliser at the death. Arsenal got lucky on this occasion. I wouldn't say Wenger is "maturing" - more like his missionary zeal has mellowed when away from home.
jeznez
Roar Guru
The one and only EPL game I have ever attended live was Arsenal v Everton back in 2008. Both teams basically shut up shop from the start of the match and only when a young Walcott came on and started attacking down the wing by himself did the game come to life at all. After about the third time Walcott had broken out on his own, Bendtner decide to track up field with him on a run to get the lone score of the game. I'm not a football fan at the best of times but that match in particular was just terrible. Regardless of whether that performance was typical or not it is indelibly burned on my psyche so I am not surprised to read the story above at all - even if it is five years later. I do still remember the good times with the likes of Bergkamp, Pires, Henry, Ljungberg, Vieira, Cole, Wiltord etc, etc, etc - they were very fun to watch back then.
Brent Ford
Roar Guru
Just wanted the win to end the year. Without Ozil and Ramsay I think he just wanted to hang on, don't expect it to be a trend I don't think.
Tomas
Guest
Hard to go off one game, I'd think. We've seen with Newcastle this year that they do set up well and are difficult to break down, so perhaps it is the preferable tactic in these types of circumstances.