Out Here Grindin

By Jonathan Gault

December is a busy month for Premier League teams. The just-concluded first full week included two games for each team, while this one brings midweek Champions League and Europa League games and a full slate of Premier League games at the weekend. And of course, there are the traditional Boxing Day games later in the month, which will lead to every team playing three games in a seven-to-nine day span.

Matt Dunham/AP

When the games start coming this quickly, teams can’t afford to dwell on what might have been. That late equalizer you surrendered on Saturday? Move on, there’s another game Tuesday. It’s a grind for every club. September and October are the months for attacking displays of skill; once the weather turns cold and the skies turn dark around 4:30, the grinding begins. Don’t worry about the process – just get a result and move onto the next game.

No two teams have been better at that this season than Arsenal and Everton, and it’s fitting that the two played out a 1-1 draw at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. I’ll give credit where it’s due though – this match was exciting. Both teams played entertaining attacking football, and Olivier Giroud almost grabbed a winner in stoppage time when his strike hit the bar.

But my point stands – both teams took a shot, and though neither had enough to win, each came away from the match with a point, a valuable commodity in a league where spots two through seven are separated by four points.

Everton has played some exciting games recently – after a 3-3 draw with Liverpool on Nov. 23, the Toffees beat Stoke 4-0 the next week – but they’ve also drawn seven times this year (most of anyone in the Premier League), including four 0-0 results. That Stoke win was their only one this season by more than a goal, and even the historic win at Old Trafford on Wednesday could have gone the other way were it not for a few hit posts and Bryan Oviedo’s late winner. But they’ve lost just once (fewest in the league) and new manager Roberto Martinez deserves credit for rejuvenating a side that had stalled in recent years under David Moyes.

No Toffees fan wanted to lose Marouane Fellaini, but his departure has freed a couple of his fellow Belgians (Romelu Lukaku and Kevin Mirallas) to assume a greater role in the attack. Add to that the emergence of 19-year-old Spaniard Gerard Deulofeu, who’s now scored twice in the last three weeks, and Everton have a nice cadre of attacking talent. The Toffees have a relatively easy remainder of the month (Fulham, at Swansea, Sunderland, Southampton) and if they can keep on grinding, they’ll have a great chance to extend their eight-game unbeaten run into 2014.

Arsenal began the year on fire, going unbeaten in 12 games across all competitions (including 10 wins) after dropping their season opener to Aston Villa. They’ve understandably slowed recently, and though they’ve notched a signature win (the 2-0 win over Liverpool on Nov. 2), Arsenal’s recent Premier League efforts haven’t been overpowering. The Gunners’ last four matches include wins over Hull, Cardiff and Southampton, but none of them have been brilliant start-to-finish performances. Arsenal did dominate possession against Hull and came out deserved winners. But two late goals in the Cardiff match turned a 1-0 game into a 3-0 win, and Arsenal actually lost the possession battle against Southampton. The Southampton game was far closer than the 2-0 scoreline suggested, as the Gunners’ first goal was due to an error by Saints goalkeeper Artur Boruc and the second came from the penalty spot.

If I sounded harsh on Arsenal in the previous paragraph, I apologize. With all the attacking talent in that squad, Arsenal’s 80 percent is still better than a lot of squad’s 100, and Arsene Wenger’s side have still played impressive football over the last month. It’s just that we haven’t seen a Man City-style 7-0 decimation out of this Gunners team yet, and it’s clear that Arsenal are capable of such a display.

Instead, we’ve seen measured excellence. Arsenal has produced a string of good performances, rather than one great one, and that’s the way to win the Premier League. For so many years, Manchester United would take care of business while watching its rivals falter. Last year, United dropped 16 points to teams in the top six, but nine to the remaining 14 teams. The Gunners are following a similar blueprint this season – they’ve drawn with Everton and lost to Man United, but have won 11 of their remaining 13 games to take a five-point lead at the top of the league.

Wenger has rotated his forwards and midfielders to preserve his depth, which will only improve now that Theo Walcott is back and Lukas Podolski expected to join him in a week or two. They’ll need them; Arsenal’s next two are as tough as they come – a visit to the Etihad Stadium, where Man City has been near-impossible to beat, and home to Chelsea on Dec. 23. Oh, and before they begin that stretch, they have to travel to Napoli on Wednesday in the Champions League. But, as it does for Everton, the plan remains the same: play well enough to win every week and get at least a point from every game. 

Keep on grinding.