Stillmansphere is our regular Tim Stillman column. Tim is a well-respected Arsenal supporter and writer for various sites.
“A lie, repeated often enough, becomes the truth.” So said one time Nobel Peace prize nominee and all round cuddly guy Josef Stalin. Over the last 9 years or so, the most levied charge against Arsene Wenger is that he doesn’t “do” tactics. Arsène’s doctrine is one of faith in his players and his unshakeable belief that they can pass any team to death and need not concern themselves with such frivolities as “defending.”
Arsenal’s history is bound by stories of heroes and villains. For every well thumbed chapter about Dennis Bergkamp or Tony Adams, there’s a volume entitled the Grim Tales of Gus Caesar or the misadventurous mishaps of Marouane Chamakh. We’ve even had our fair share of cult heroes, players admired (retrospectively in most cases) despite limited ability. Perry Groves and Emmanuel Eboue have a sufficient repertoire of chants to fill a small cabaret performance.
Back in December, I wrote a piece for this esteemed site evaluating the competition between Héctor Bellerin and Carl Jenkinson. Essentially, this is a competition happening slightly below the surface of the first XI - though Debuchy’s physical travails have seen Bellerin popping his head above the parapet like a curious turtle. The Darwinist joust between Bellerin and Jenkinson is, in the short term, the race for second place in the right full back berth. In the long term, both will have designs on the number 2 shirt with Debuchy approaching 30.
