Arsenal 絕非一人球隊！

Arsenal are no one-man team – that’s for sure
by Ross Anderson
Source from: Gooner Talk Link

Arsenal would be a ‘mid-table Premier League Club’ if it wasn’t for Robin van Persie’s recent heroics, apparently. That’s what all the critics are telling us at the moment, how the Dutchman is carrying us and how we would be in the bottom half of the league if he was injured.
顯而易見的，若非 Robin van Persie 最近英雄般的表現，Arsenal 將會是英超裡的中游球隊。最近許多論點不外乎荷蘭人是如何地扛起球隊，要是他受傷了我們就跌到聯賽的中下游之間。

It’s such a lazy argument. For starters, I’m pretty sure 3/4′s of Robin’s goals this season have been relatively simple finishes. And the argument to that would be nobody else at Arsenal would get themselves in those positions, and that’s probably right, but credit must be given to the creators – players like Gervinho and Walcott who have put a lot of goals on van Persie’s plate this term (see below).
這實在是不負責的論點。首先我要指出，Robin 至今有四分之三的進球都算是較容易把握的進球。而評論會說目前在 Arsenal 裡沒有球員可以勝任，也許這論點還算中肯，但別忘了帶來機會的創造威脅人物，像是 Gervinho 和 Walcott 本季帶給 van Persie 多次的助攻。

The problem with this notion is that it’s totally correct, but it goes for any big club in football. Do you honestly think Barcelona would be the same team without Lionel Messi? He created and scored 77 goals for the Catalan Club last season. SEVENTY-SEVEN! Real Madrid would also struggle to fill the gap of Ronaldo’s 100 goals in 105 games since he’s been there. My point is that ANY big club would feel the affects of losing their best player, and Arsenal are no different.
值得注意的是那些論點確實沒錯，但在其他明星球隊不也是嗎？你會覺得 Barca 在沒有 Messi 的情況下還會是同樣威風的 Barca？上賽季他創造機會也自己進球，為加泰隆尼亞球隊帶來 77個進球數。七十七個進球耶！Real Madrid 還得靠 Ronaldo 加盟後，以105場100顆進球來追上差距呢。我要說的是，任何明星球隊只要少了明星就會產生影響，Arsenal 也不例外。

The reliance of Robin in this past month or so has been mostly down to the team trying to get used to each other. We haven’t had a settled side and our start to the season hasn’t exactly helped matters either. But he’s taken extra responsibility after being given the captain’s armband, and he deserves enormous credit for how he’s grown into that role – not that he hadn’t grown up already – but it seems like to have matured and settled him even more.
上個月球隊如此依賴 Robin 至今，仍得去習慣這現象。缺少完善的陣容，季初糟糕的表現未能帶給球隊助益。但 Robin 在戴上隊長臂章後拿出超人一等的責任感，帶來難以置信的貢獻來體現自己是如何扮演好隊長的職責，並不是說他還沒準備好，而是看上去更加地展現成熟和穩重的隊長氣質。

Let’s also not forget two massive players on the sidelines at the moment – Wilshere and Sagna’s contributions to this team cannot be underestimated. I would say those two were our most consistent performers last season – and that was partly down to staying fit for most of the 2010/2011 campaign.
Their absence have meant players like Jenkinson – who shouldn’t have even been introduced to this level so early in his career, and Ramsey – who probably never thought he’d be playing as regularly as he only just returned from injury at the start of the year – have had to step up. It’s been a bit of a baptism of fire so far for Carl but he’s gradually shown why Arsene has paid around £1m for him in the summer. And as for Aaron, he’s been poor on occasions this season but what I love about him is he never hides, and his work-rate is incredible. He has also shown glimpses of how good he will become, particularly last weekend at Stamford Bridge.
別忘了兩名重要的球員此刻還在場邊養傷，Wilshere 和 Sagna 對球隊的重要性亦不可低估。我認為他們兩位是上賽季最穩定的球員，有部份原因是他們在 2010/11 賽季都能健康地踢球。此刻他們的缺席，意味著像是 Jenkinson 本來就不該那麼早地讓他進入英超的競賽，還有 Ramsey 自己也沒想到能頻繁地上場，畢竟今年才從重傷中康復，他們兩位都得立即在英超有所作為。對於 Carl Jenkinson 宛若火焰般高壓力下的洗禮，但他也漸漸表現出 教授 為何在今夏願意以 £1m 買下他。至於 Aaron Ramsey，本季有時表現糟糕，但我欣賞他總是有存在感，且效率更加優異。他也展現過自己可以如何地不凡，特別是上週末對上 Stamford Bridge （Chelsea）的時候。

As I mentioned earlier, Gervinho and Walcott have slowly but surely struck up an understanding with Robin, which has led to the Dutchman finishing off many of their clever passes/crosses. They have all-in-all assisted 7 of RVP’s 12 goals this season, showing everyone just how important they are to this team too.
如同我先前所提，Gervinho 和 Walcott 已經漸漸地掌握和 Robin 搭配的訣竅，且以優異的傳球或沖吊致使荷蘭人貢獻如此多的進球數。RVP 本季 12顆進球有 7顆來自他們，也證實他們對於球隊的重要性。

Not to mention a certain Frenchman who was plying his trade in the second tear of French footall a couple of years ago: Laurent Koscielny. What a stalwart he’s been this season, filling in for Vermaelen and coping with quite a few defensive changes around him. I’ve also lost count of how many match-winning saves that madman Szczesny has made already this season. Oh and Alex Song, he’s been equally as crucial, not just defensively, but creatively also.
忘了提到某個法國人，兩年前還只在法乙踢球的：Laurent Koscielny。本季依然健壯硬朗，填補 Vermaelen 的空缺，也在自身的防守技巧下了不少功夫。差點忘了多次關鍵撲救的瘋人 Szczesny 在本季瘋狂的表現。喔，還有 Alex Song 也扮演著重要角色，不僅在防守上，同時也能帶動進攻。
註：Laurent Koscielny 09上半年在法乙，下半年則在升上法甲的 Lorient 踢球，2010年才加盟 Arsenal。

So if that’s a one man team, John Terry’s not a racist.
若 Arsenal 是一人球隊，John Terry 就不會是種族歧視者。
譯註：暗諷 John Terry 是種族歧視者，而 Arsenal 不是一人球隊。

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