By Myles Palmer
The Rolls Royce teamwork made it a short match against Birmingham.
After 23 minutes it was 2-0 and the game was over.
Cardiff, Highbury, two wins, two clean sheets, two excellent performances.
And a record 14 wins in a row, beating Tottenham’s 13 from 1960.
What more could a Gooner want?
OK, the first goal was a gift, a tame free-kick by Henry which Belgian keeper Nico Vaesen allowed to bounce past him after nine minutes.
But the second goal was one which only Arsenal could have scored.
An end-to-end move at lightning speed, but also an unsualmove.
It’s very rare that Arsenal get a goal by playing five passes inside their own half followed by a dribble from the halfway line and a scoring shot by the dribbling player.
KEOWN headed the ball to CAMPBELL,who took one touch before passing to VIEIRA, who took one touch before passing to BERGKAMP, who laid it off to HENRY, who laid it off to WILTORD,who was just inside his own half.
Wiltord dribbled down theleft side, swerved infield and hit a right footer past VAESEN from the edge of the box.
Fantastic teamwork, scintillating skill, greyhound pace,powerful finish.
A great goal, and, as I say, an unusual goal because some of the passes would normally come in the opposition half.
WILTORD played well before the goal and he played well after the goal.One of his best games for Arsenal.
I’m his biggest critic, but he was very good yesterday.
Three things stood out in the game.
One, VIEIRA was back to his best. Really back to his best.
Much better than he was last season.
I’d struggle to think of one game last season where he played as regally as this.
It was good to see him concentrating, striding forward, passing well, intercepting, not having sloppy moments. This was the Patrick Vieira of 1999 and 2000.
Not the 70% Vieira. I didn’t think I would ever see him play this well for Arsenal again.
PV4 was as magnificent as he has ever been. Which is to say he was, once again, the best footballer in England, by a country mile.
And he is now enjoying the captaincy, talking, encouraging others, as he never did last year.
After 66 minutes VIEIRA pulled down a chip from Grainger, turned effortlessly and cruised away with the ball, finding Henry, who passed first tiome to Wiltord.
That moment was pure class and convinced me that Vieira can be an even bigger influence than he was during his best three seasons
Secondly,ALIADIERE looked very good in his 15-minute cameo.
He looks like a goalpoacher – good movement and touch.
A natural, a kid who can sniff out good positions.
He could be as good as Jermain Defoe. If he is, he will save the club £15 million.
Thirdly, I think Arsenal now have more gears.
Sometimes they’ve only had one or two gears. Fast and very fast.
But now they have first, second, third, overdrive and turbo.
So opponents are facing a football machine which can slow the game down, and speed it up, and speed it up even more.
With Sol Campbell passing longer and more accurately, with Lauren cruising, with Vieira the monarch of all he surveys, with Bergkamp rising to the challenge for a last swansong season, Arsenal can now play keep-ball better than they have done at any time in the last six years.
Collectively, Arsenal are the best team in England, by far.
Fluent, powerful, highly organised, as confident as champions should be.
Their teamwork is the best, the most advanced, mainly because of Arsene’s training methods.
At their best they can spurt, score, slow it down, spurt again, score another- and cruise after that. Pretty much.
They will concede goals, of course, and that’s where the real tests will come.
Parlour can play better than he did against Birmingham, so can Cole and Henry.
But for August it was awesome, even if it was against a team of journeymen.
Will West Ham score against Arsenal at Upton Park? Maybe, if they get KANOUTE back.
But tonight’s 4-0 hammering at Newcastle will have done West Ham no good at all.
Joe Cole is no striker, so Cole-Defoe was never gonna work. But they kept Newcastle out for an hour.
The Hammers won’t keep Arsenal out for an hour.
The Gunners get from A to B with far fewer passes than Newcastle.
19th August 2002