Matt Maher: Molineux and Villa Park seek Emirates energy
What a difference a year has made for Mikel Arteta and Arsenal.
This time 12 months ago the Gunners sat bottom of the Premier League having lost their first three matches. Now they sit top, boasting a perfect record of played five, won five.
There is still a long way to go, yet perhaps Arteta will one day be held up as an example of why sometimes it pays to be patient, in the same way Alex Ferguson’s early struggles at Manchester United are referenced whenever a managerial reign takes time getting up to speed.
Right now Arsenal are flying and the most impressive thing about their win over Villa on Wednesday night was the energy and noise around the Emirates Stadium, not a ground typically associated with atmosphere.
There was a real sense of team and supporters pulling together as one, the connection reminiscent of that experienced at Molineux during the high points under Nuno, or Villa Park as Dean Smith’s team charged up the Championship to promotion in 2019.
Neither ground could be described as particularly happy places at present and tomorrow they will host big matches for the current managers, Bruno Lage and Steven Gerrard.
Grumbling at some of Lage’s decisions at Wolves has at least been tempered by genuine excitement at the club’s summer business. Yet at Villa, in addition to questions over Gerrard’s performance, there are also the first inklings of concern at the club’s direction.
Villa rode the wave of momentum from that initial surge under Smith for a long time, pulling off a remarkable escape from relegation a year later and then kicking on further with a season far stronger than the 11th-placed finish might suggest. Last year felt the first setback and the fear, after four defeats in the opening five matches of the current term, is of stagnation or worse.
Just as positive energy from the stands can propel a team forward, so negative energy can crush it and while owners and chief executives who make decisions on managers, supporters remain the ultimate jurors. For Gerrard and Lage, these are dangerous times indeed.
