For months, the entire soccer universe has been awaiting the collapse. The moment when a fan base will come to the realization that the dream that has been fulfilled over the last few months of the 2013-14 season is really nothing more than that. But something will not give. And that seeming opponent of destiny is Arsenal's defense.
Well over halfway through the 2013-14 season, the Gunners are somehow maintaining their grasp on the No. 1 spot in the Premier League; a place they have not held at the end of a season since 2003-04. Since then the team has been deemed a perennial underachiever and has even featured as the punch line for numerous soccer jokes.
Heading into this year, the team was expected to struggle largely thanks to a rather unaltered roster and the usual meager spending. Manager Arsene Wenger splurged on Mesut Ozil at the final buzzer of the summer transfer window and the team has not looked back.
But while Ozil's influence will not be overlooked, it has actually been the defense that has kept the team alive through thick and thin this year.
Arsenal's 21 goals conceded this year are the second best in the league, just one more than Chelsea. At the center of this terrific turnaround has been the center-back duo of Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny.
Koscielny has been an Arsenal defender since 2010-11 while his German counterpart has been a fixture on the Gunners' backline since 2011-12. And both have withstood tremendous criticism throughout their stay with the club.
"We have shown a lot of people who criticized us over the past two-and-a-half years," said Mertesacker in an interview with The Sun.
The reason for their success?
"We know each other much better now and we complement each other well. Laurent is more mobile and I have more height. It fits together perfectly because these days centre-backs are more than just tall defenders whose only job is to head away the long balls," added Mertesacker. "Laurent is one of the quickest players I've ever partnered and he anticipates things so well, and we feed off each other's strengths and that is the main key to our success this season. The statistic seems unreal to me. When someone first told me about our record, it sounded very weird. It's a good statistic but now we have to build on that."
Whether or not the Gunners manage to hold that top spot by the time the league comes to an end is yet to be seen. But it is certainly an achievement, and a good sign that the team has managed to exceed expectations thus far.
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