Article submitted by Steven McKenzie

In the weeks which followed Arsenal’s 1-0 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford, the team which started the new Premiership season in rather lacklustre style has kicked into gear and won the following four games on the bounce. Since the start of the season, Arsenal have been out of the title race, playing football that deserved to be the title race but still wasn’t and then suddenly thrust back into the thick of things with the recent wins which stamped consistency on top of good performances.

The first and undoubtedly most important reason behind Arsenal’s resurgence and climb up the Premiership table is finding a cutting edge. Thierry Henry returned from the World Cup and claimed that he wouldn’t be at the top of his game until October, a worrying sign for the club which rested most of its goal scoring burden firmly upon his shoulders. After several full games which produced little result to start the season, a short term injury to Henry allowed him to regain full fitness while his team mates stepped up in his absence and won their next two games on the bounce, one in particular at Old Trafford. Since then, the goals have begun to flow freely and it is the combination of the new fluent attacking system utilised by Arsène Wenger and Henry’s return to form that is the cause.

With Henry scoring regularly again and orchestrating from the front, the new 4-1-4-1 system has provided movement and verve which Arsenal fans will note is reminiscent of their “Invincibles” team of 2003/2004. With Gilberto content to sit and hold, the defence is offered protection if Arsenal’s attackers lose the ball; while the attacking foursome of Van Persie, Rosicky, Fabregas and Hleb can use their flair and creativity to open the opposition defence and make the runs to support Henry when Arsenal go forward. The system has proven an unstoppable force in the Premiership when, in full flow, the opposition cannot steal the ball or stop the movement which has seen several teams run ragged, most prominently Reading, who simply acknowledged a football lesson after the 4-0 drubbing and paid homage to the newly nicknamed “Wenger Boys.”

While their breathtaking style of football should rightly be attributed to the team’s collective skills, there is a definite acknowledgement due for the man at the helm, Arsène Wenger, who assembled the team on a shoestring budget, while watching his prize-winnings vanish from his transfer account into a brand new stadium. In the interim between Manchester United and the most recent performance against West Brom, Wenger has celebrated both ten years in charge as Arsenal manager and his 57th birthday. For the man famously under the headline “Arsène Who?” ten years ago, any football fan in England will recognize the impact that his tenure has had not only on Arsenal, but on English football in general. His successes have opened the Premiership to both talented foreign managers such as Rafa Benitez, Gerard Houllier and Jose Mourinho and at the same time introduced a wave of foreign players into the English game who have revolutionised the way the game is played.

Currently on his fourth team (according to the media) since he took charge, the Arsenal manager appears tireless as ever and continually ready for the challenge of sustaining Arsenal as a successful football club. It has always been his belief and faith in his player’s abilities that has seen the club through – his development of new talents and unrealised potential which has led the club to where they are now. He’s the sole driving force behind the new stadium and the man who has chosen every player currently with the club; this is Arsène Wenger’s Arsenal and, at this moment, it appears that his faith and belief have been well placed.

With the long-term injured about to return to action, creating greater competition for places, Arsenal can only improve to new heights in the coming weeks and months; placing the workmanlike Chelsea further in the shade with their unique and dynamic style of football that has set the Premiership alight.

“Arsène Who?” Arsene Wenger - That’s who!