da fazobetai： The football world has an overreliance on the traditional, often too afraid to venture away from the familiar and ready, in a beat, to snipe down anyone who dares to assume something different, yet still well within the confines of normality, is equally an avenue that could provide the successes and glory that is so craved.
da prosport bet： It’s far too easy, and a little boring, to look at the black and white of football rather than choosing to navigate another dimension of the game. Doesn’t everyone sort of want to be innovators and trend-setters rather than simply latching onto what others have done?
Maybe it is too simple, to the point that it forces you to search for an alternate possibility. Steven Jovetic isn’t really right for Arsenal, is he? He’s hardly a prolific goal scorer and too expensive (although that’s not such a major factor at this point). Are the problems that simple that all Arsenal need to do is bring in a forward who can guarantee 20 league goals in a season, no matter whether his style fits the playing philosophy of the club and manager?
Far too many people have dismissed Jovetic purely on the basis of his 13 league goals for Fiorentina last season, with some even venturing the oft-played backhand that he’s overrated. But sports will do that to even the best. How many dismissals have we seen and heard about Barcelona? Some people are bored of them (although I can’t understand how) and immediately confuse their own boredom with unwarranted hype. It’s the way it is: boring, lazy and one dimensional.
For those who are experts on the Italian game and who are regular viewers of those in Serie A, there is nothing but high praise for Jovetic, citing him as an ideal candidate to lead Arsenal’s charge. The problem here is that too many are quick to assume that Jovetic is the replacement for Robin van Persie. In terms of star power and numerically, sure, he absolutely is. But why does Arsene Wenger need to go down the route of what he’s had before? Remember all those trophies van Persie brought in? Don’t Arsenal fans like to parade their manager’s name around the football community as one of the great forward-thinkers of the modern game? So why follow that up with the assumption that he’s about to get it wrong on the premise that a very, very good footballer is a good signing for Arsenal?
It only takes a quick look over to the exploits of the very best on the continent. This Arsenal, Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal, is one that wants to borrow traits from the legacy of Johan Cruyff, all the while forging it into something distinctly original. The new ‘false 9’ formation has ripped up Europe and dominated one of the most memorable periods of the game in any of our lifetimes – yes, even for those who reported it as too boring for their liking. Pep Guardiola turned Lionel Messi into a goal scoring menace, a talent alien to the rest of the world and working, most of the time, to mechanical precision. The Catalan manager will likely opt for a similar approach at Bayern, utilising Mario Goetze as the tip of the sword at the Allianz Arena, much in the way Joachim Low has done in the past with Germany, yet maintaining that sense of identity that separates Bayern from Barcelona.
Now, I’m not about to head down the path that tries to create an even footing between Lionel Messi and Stevan Jovetic. But what can be said is that football might be taking on this ‘false 9’ formation as a viable and successful alternative to the traditional and standard free-scoring No 9. Maybe in the near future we’ll look back at those 6’2 powerhouse forwards with the same contempt that we hold for the 4-4-2 formation, except, obviously, for Roy Hodgson’s version, which apparently holds a striking resemblance to Dortmund’s.
But are we so far past the idea that Wenger could take an exciting talent in the modern game, and one who has played much of his career in one of Europe’s leading leagues, and transform him into a free-scoring ‘false 9?’ Is Wenger not good enough? Are Arsenal not big enough?
Sure, this could all be the romantic ideas of a writer who’s been caught up in the exploits of Spanish and German football. But there is clear thinking here for those who want to see it. If Wenger does opt for Jovetic this summer, it won’t be after battling against reservation at his 13 goals last season; it will very much be because the manager knows that this is a player who can be the latest evolutionary success story in an Arsenal shirt.
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