He did it his way

What do I take away from a rare Arsenal victory?

That BvB are worse than Anderlicht, Hull, Leicester, Swansea, MUFC, Tottnumb, and Man City, I suppose.

That one goal from an offside position after 19 games for Arsenal "justifies" Wenger's faith in (Wake me up!) Yaya Sanogo, I guess.

That every stupid stubborn thing that Wenger has done so far is suddenly forgotten and forgiven and this "proves he knew what he was doing all along," or so I have read from the establishment bloggers.

When Arsenal have been playing such shit embarrassing football for months I think this crumb that fell from Europe's table ought to be taken in context. And let me tell you, I celebrated yesterday and enjoyed the goals and I particularly enjoyed Damien Emiliano Viviano Martinez's performance. Let's hope it's an omen. (Sorrynotsorry)

Watching a rather pedestrian Dortmund playing in a match that their gaffer called a "holiday" as his club currently sit 3 places off the bottom of the table, I couldn't help but wonder where this version of Arsenal has been most of the season.

There was little of the incessant sideways passing across the 18 yard box yesterday. Arsenal scored a lightning fast counterattacking goal. And there was very little "let's push our defensive line up to our opponent's goalmouth." It actually seemed as though some thought had been given to defending and holding a lead! Help me up!

But I hope that everyone who was rightly critical of Maryanne Felatio's offside position Saturday will turn right around and dismiss Bambi on rollerskates' goal yesterday. He was offside.  But the linesman chose to see it differently and suddenly Wenger is justified in selecting him, so all is well.

Have we finally gotten to the point again where ugly results and a miserable start to the season have FORCED Wenger to (gasp!) change the team's approach?  Shocking and hard to believe, I know. Because Wenger has demonstrated time and again that he won't change until the wolves are not even at the door but have come in, raided the fridge, and are watching "Wolvesy Manor" on the BBC.

If you ask Wenger if he changed his pants he'd probably say "I can promise you these pants will come good, why change them?" That's just the kind of fellow he is.

The run in at the end of the 2013 season was supposed to signal a new, pragmatic Wenger. Oh well. The FA Cup final victory was supposed to usher in a new era of prosperity. Oh well.

Instead we have been treated to a steady diet of the high defensive line, devil-may-care defending, and a general inability to retain the ball when needed. It's all so predictable. And one victory over a club that knew it already has (for the most part) won its champions league group proves nothing if not built upon.

This is what Wenger keeps doing. Something ridiculous and horrible will happen, then he'll make some sort of change, then everyone will predict that this really signifies something, then he'll revert to type as a giant "fuck you" to anyone who is critical of him. Tell me it isn't true.

What SHOULD happen is that Arsenal should spend from now until January (when we all know that of course Wenger and his buddy Silent Stan will splash millions to shore up the defence) playing a different style of football. The reason is that if you go by league points, what Wenger has done so far has simply and spectacularly failed. This is as horrible as the 11 from 33 run last season that killed the chance at a title.

But Mr. Wenger will not do that, I predict. I think he will revert to type, Arsenal will be found out, and nothing will change.

Arsene, I'm begging you, please prove me wrong!