What an amazing couple of days for the Club and us supporters.
We all know the result against that lot and what it means to our season and the current group of players. It was a well executed performance - we played some great attacking football to get the goal on a sublime finish from Giroud at the near post. Vintage us, then we kicked even more old school with our defense for the remainder of the game.
People often talk about AW being an offensive tactician, controlling, obsessed with the beautiful ball, but again he showed that the new Arsenal, when it really matters, can defend. Huge credit to AW and Bould for not only executing a plan, but preparing the players and giving them the belief to deliver on the pitch.
But I have to be really honest. The win was fantastic, but it was Monday that brought us a 'Sopranos' moment. The 'Sopranos' changed modern television, gave new life to the industry, and gave us something that we had never before seen on the box in our living room. High, high quality entertainment. A game changer.
The signing of Mesut Ozil is the 'Sopranos' moment for me. I may be slightly biased because of my emotional connection to his play and how he carries himself, but man … we actually have this type of quality on our team! Not taking away from the players we currently have - this is team-changing skill and a change in how The Arsenal brand is viewed. It was simply a brilliant transfer and marketing play by the decision makers that run our Club.
Some players possess great skill and can deliver moments of brilliance, but there are some that transform a team and make players around him better. I firmly believe Ozil is that player - in the same American vein as Magic, Bird, Brady. They give an attitude, not only through their demeanor, but in how they play. Strategic, passionate and über (thank me later of that one) effective.
Yes, stats are nice to discuss, but the bottom-line is this is a win and it will make the team as a whole better. 'The Sopranos' changed television, made other showrunners and networks work harder, become more creative - it evolved HBO and their storytelling. It made HBO a bigger brand. Mesut Ozil is that to us. He's globally changed our perception.
Just feel the grin on your face when you say his name. Amazing feeling. Kinda like the feeling at the end of a 'Sopranos' episode... what did I just see?
I want more of that.
This week the Arsenal America Podcast welcomes @Matt_Law_SM, @TimPayton of the AST and @LittleDutchVA, also known as Tim Stillman of Arseblog. We talk NLD and of course our transfer business. Please don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and you can also grab the RSS Feed.
Cheers.
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'Stateside Gooner' Chris Toronyi is a longtime Arsenal supporter and the host of The Arsenal America podcast, available every week at ArsenalAmerica.com and on iTunes. You can read more of Chris' thoughts on Twitter.
The views expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect those of Arsenal Football Club or Arsenal Broadband Ltd.
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
