Wenger Admits He Was Wrong? The Return Of 4-2-3-1

Well this week was surprising.

First of all, my prediction of a 3-2 victory against Dortmund was ever so slightly incorrect. It was quite a lot less enjoyable than I initially thought it would be. Apologies if you actually thought I would get something right for once. Hopefully you learned from that mistake.

On paper, a 2-0 loss to one of the best sides in Europe isn't necessarily awful. If we'd gone down with some sort of a fight, I probably wouldn't be as disappointed in the team.

Instead, we went down with a pathetic little whimper, and ran back to London with our tails between our legs. It was an embarrassing performance in every aspect - defensively we looked lethargic and fairly indifferent as to whether Dortmund were going to score or not, offensively the quality of our passes and ball control would have made more sense if it had been produced by Arsenal's U11 team, and we never really pushed beyond walking pace.

Welbeck had a couple of good chances to score, and, as expected, our fans wanted his head when they realized he's not some super-human who bags a goal on every shot. Ozil was, once again, anonymous. Bellerin looked completely out of his depth, but that's not his fault at all. He shouldn't be expected to impress after being launched into the deep end, and he's clearly not ready for games as big as that one.

At the end of the day, everyone was bad. There's no need to single anyone out after a performance like that. The whole team was clearly off, and they desperately needed to find their form in the Villa game before it was too late.

And this brings me to the next surprise of the week.

I think we can all agree Wenger's stubbornness is one of his most frustrating characteristics. His refusal to sign players because their asking price is a couple of pounds over his evaluation. His blind faith in players like Denilson, Eboue, and Djourou. His denial of the possibility of a half-time substitution, even when the whole world can see it's needed.

However, this time, he's done something remarkable.

His return to the 4-2-3-1 of last season acts as an admittance that he was wrong. His attempts of changing the system failed, and for the first time in my memory, he acknowledged one of his mistakes while it was still relevant.

While he's still not quite at the stage of being able to publicly admit that he f*cked up, I think this sudden reversal is a big step.

The change meant Ozil was finally able to reclaim his spot behind the striker. Much to everyone's amazement, playing the best number 10 in the world as a number 10 makes him play better. Who knew?

The man played wonderfully against Villa, and essentially won us the game. If it wasn't for his goal and assist, I think winning would have been extremely difficult. That three minute period of complete annihilation was awesome, but it was also quite fortunate. We weren't playing particularly well before it, so had Ozil not gone and done what he did, we might be looking at a totally different game.

However, I don't think you can say our goals were lucky. The first two were a little bit beautiful, with Ozil reminding us why we shattered our transfer record on him. He linked really well with Welbeck on both, and that partnership might just prove to be a deadly one over the coming months.

The third was still a good goal, but you can't deny there was a little bit of good fortune involved. That, and the fact that Cissokho is sh!t.

So that game made me happy. Chambers made sure we didn't forget how thin our defence is, coming uncomfortably close to a red card. Szczesny gave me a bit of a fright, as he's still trying to be a ball-playing sweeper keeper, even though that's not what we need or want. But I'm still very pleased with both the performance and the result.

The third and final major surprise of this week is that our fans seemed to actually know better than the manager. We were all screaming for a return to 4-2-3-1 with Ozil in the middle, and when it finally happened, it was fantastic. Who knows how the previous games would have played out had we set up like that.

Anyway, there's no time to look at what could have been. There's a Capital One Cup (which from now on will be referred to as the "COCk" because I have the maturity of an adolescent boy) game on Tuesday against Southampton, which will be interesting. I think we'll be seeing a few youth players feature, which is always a bit of fun.

I really hope Joel Campbell gets to play and impresses Wenger. I wanted to see him play this season, but he's been stuck on the bench so far. I think he'll be an exciting option if given the chance.

The game might also be a chance for Ramsey to recapture his form, or for him to have a rest and think about his performances. He's been nothing short of atrocious recently, and that's a real shame. I don't think it's going to last, but it hurts seeing him like this.

We became so reliant on him last season that it's strange having him be the weak link again. I have no doubt that within a month, the majority of our fanbase will forget about his contributions last year and abuse him mercilessly. Humans are confusing.

Finally, I'd like to mention that this is my 21st ever blog. My writing can now legally drink alcohol anywhere on planet Earth.

They grow up so fast.

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