Arsenal Should Learn from the Indian Cricket Team to End Their Trophy Drought
I support two teams mainly in sports: Arsenal FC and the Indian Cricket team.
The difference, other than the obvious difference in sports, is that India are World Champions and are the best team in the world, while Arsenal are struggling to win trophies for the past six years.
But it wasn’t all this rosy for the Indian team. They too used to have a tendency to freeze when the pressure got to them and used to crumble after much promise much like the Arsenal we know today.
But it slowly started to change and so did the team. The Indian team has started to overcome their fears and now play some of the best cricket in the world.
It is always difficult to compare two teams that play completely different sports, but there are always certain things that each sport will have in common.
The Indian team’s rise to the top has several interesting characteristics that can be adopted by the Gunners in an attempt to end their six-year trophy drought and finally silence their many critics.
The Right Mix of Experience and Youth
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Ever since Arsene Wenger adopted his youth policy, he has had a very strict policy for players over 30 years old. By that, I mean that most times Arsenal have very few players that are 30 or sometimes none at all.
While this helps to build a strong future, it has several bad impacts on the squad as well. Arsenal have never won a trophy since they sold their experienced players namely the likes of Patrick Vieira and Robert Pires.
Experience at the top level is essential to succeed, and in Arsene Wenger’s master plan, this essential ingredient has been left out. A look at Manchester United will tell you the value of experience. The likes of Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes still contribute to United’s success.
The same can be said about the Indian Cricket team.
India is a cricket-crazy nation, and it is one sport played in every city and town. So, India constantly produces highly-talented youngsters.
Despite that, a look at the team for the recently-concluded Cricket World Cup will paint a clear picture of how the team reached a perfect balance between youth and experience. There were some extremely experienced players, and at the same time, the exuberance of youth was present as well. India had experienced campaigners like Tendulkar and Sehwag as well as, at the same time, young players like Raina and Kohli in their squad.
Arsenal too need to start valuing experience and should strive to find the perfect balance between youth and experience. This would not only help in adding a sense of maturity to Arsenal's game, but it would also ensure that the Gunners cultivate a winning mentality.
Don’t Make Your Best Player the Captain
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Cesc Fabregas is not a bad leader. In fact, he is a fairly good one, but will he be remembered as a great captain?
No, not a chance.
Fabregas is no Tony Adams, nor is he a Patrick Vieira. He is a captain who leads by example, who leads with his quality. He is not the type of captain who can urge the troops to succeed, or a captain who can marshal the team and motivate them.
Cesc Fabregas may be Arsenal’s best player. While Nasri and van Persie are close, Fabregas, on song, is one of the best players in the world, and his creativity is unmatched at Arsenal for now.
India’s captain is Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He is by no means their best player. The best player in the Indian lineup is Sachin Tendulkar, who is arguably not just the greatest Indian to play cricket, but is widely regarded as the greatest cricket player ever to play the sport. He holds almost all records possible for a batsman barring a few exceptions.
But he is not India’s captain.
Instead, Dhoni was selected. He is proved to be a great captain who has led his troops in admirable fashion as he urged his team to the summit. He is cool during pressure situations and is now regarded as the greatest Indian captain of all time. He was appointed as captain because he had all the qualities of a great captain—not merely because he was a good player.
This is exactly what Arsene Wenger needs to do. Irrespective of Fabregas’ future, he should hand the armband to a player who actually loves the club and is a great captain. He could look to hand it to Samir Nasri, Alex Song or maybe Thomas Vermaelen. Arsenal require their captain to lead them and inspire them to rally.
Arsenal require a no-nonsense leader like Patrick Vieira or a Tony Adams, and sadly Cesc Fabregas is not that man.
Show Passion and Drive
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One thing that characterized the Indian team during the recently-concluded Cricket World Cup was the passion they showed. It was evident that they were highly motivated, and, if one player didn’t fire, another would rise to the occasion. Despite not playing exceptionally well in several matches, they eventually won.
They were focused throughout the tournament and always gave in a 100 percent.
A complaint made often against the current Arsenal team is that they lack the desire and mentality to win. Often this is true. Many times, you see the heads of the players drop as they lose all hope even when there is time left to score another goal.
Sometimes, there is almost a lack of fight in the team, and this year’s sudden collapse epitomized the lack of mental strength. After having their four-pronged trophy search painfully cut short to merely the Premier League, the team has collapsed on the domestic front also, as they have drawn three straight matches and displayed a lack of passion and drive.
Arsenal almost seemed resigned to the fact that they will not win a trophy this season, an attitude that is seeing their title challenge faltering in epic proportions.
Arsenal fans want to see their team rally when the going gets tough, we fans want to see some fight in this team, not the meek surrender we are so used to now.
Gone are the days when lion-hearted players like Vieira and Adams used to don the jersey of the red and white. Instead, Arsenal now have players like Denilson, who fails to show any commitment and effort for the cause.
There is a desperate need for players like Jack Wilshere, players who are ready for a fight.
Bounce Back and Handling the Pressure
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Disappointments are a part of every game. But the true test of character is how you bounce back from them, whether you weather the storm or crumble and collapse. The Gunners did the latter while the Indian team did the former and succeeded.
The Indian team might be on top of the world right now, but it wasn’t always smooth sailing for them. There used to be a time when they used to lose several matches and choke in big competitions.
In 2009 and in 2010 they crashed out several competitions. Despite all this, they bounced back and won the cup that mattered most. Even earlier this year after being comprehensively outplayed in the first test match against South Africa, they bounced back in the next two test series in resounding fashion.
Arsenal have failed to do this as they crumbled after their elimination from the Carling Cup. Arsenal were never realistically going to win all four competitions, but the pathetic way in the which they got eliminated was truly saddening for any Arsenal fan.
Another aspect displayed by the club is their inability to handle the pressure situations.
In my opinion, the Indian Cricket team faces pressure that no English club faces. There are literally 1.2 billion people expecting the team to win.
Cricket is not merely a sport in India, it is a religion.
People worship the players like gods, and failure is not tolerated. The last time India put in a poor showing, effigies of the players were burned, their houses attacked. The captain of the team even stated that it was as good as living in a pressure cooker. This just goes to show how much expectation and pressure there is on the team to deliver.
And yet they manage to deliver the goods.
Sadly, the same can be not said for the Gunners. When the pressure starts to rise, they fail to assert themselves and often start to crumble. This is one of the reasons why the Gunners are unable to win the title each year and always start to crumble during this period in March and April.
Arsenal have to learn to overcome this pressure, and the Indian team displayed that it is possible to win no matter how much pressure.
