What was I worrying about yesterday? Fear of complacency was quickly replaced by a fear for Nigel Adkins life after the first twenty minutes.

It was a very accomplished performance by the Gunners, with a quality of football that has not been seen for a while at the Emirates. What’s more, I was (pleasantly) surprised by a number of players, and tactical decisions.

All hail King Forehead

I seem to recall us signing a tricky forward from Lille a couple of summers ago. Name of Gervinho, he was supposed to be a handful up front.

Unfortunately, he’s been injured a lot of the time, and his compatriot Gervais Lombe Yao Guassi wasn’t up to the job. Luckily, the Ivorian is back and firing, and was in terms of effectiveness, the man of the match.

Until he was taken off with around 20 minutes left, Gervinho scored or assisted every goal Arsenal scored, and had the game of his life. He brings a real directness when he’s confident, something Arsenal often lack.

I was also rather impressed by Aaron Ramsey. He quietly dominated proceedings, running the middle of the park in tandem with Arteta. Santi Cazorla was exceptional, but there are no more words for him now.

Four-four-who?

Another thing that was interesting was Arsenal’s formation. Even when the teams came out, I was interested to see the way the names seemed to be arranged, and my suspicions were correct.

While nominally set up with Cazorla and Gervinho either side of Giroud, with Rosicky in the hole, it was clear to see from the beginning that Arsenal’s set up was far more traditional. Gervinho played as a second striker off Giroud (to great effect), while Rosicky and Cazorla buzzed around on either wing.

This was compounded by Gervinho moving wide to overload a particular area of pressure, and Reading couldn’t cope. Their tackling became more and more agricultural (with very little given by Chris Foy), while Rosicky and Cazorla (and later Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain) danced around them. It was Wengerball, the way it was meant to be played.

Of course, we likely won’t play this way every game, but it should certainly be considered for ‘easier’ games, perhaps with different personnel in various positions.

Squaddilicious

Building on that, the best thing about the victory today, was that Arsenal could bring on the likes of Gibbs, Podolski and Oxlade-Chamberlain and not really need them to win.

It was a sort-of weakened side today, yet there was no sign of timidity at the start, or a wobble when Reading scored. Having some semblance of a reliable squad is refreshing.

Long may it continue.

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