Is Arsene Wenger Finally Loosening Up and is that a Factor in Arsenal’s Success?

Arsene Wenger has assumed the look of a tightly wound (not just because of his choice of coat) elder statesman who only loosens up for thirty second segments after every Arsenal goal, double fist pumps, and winds himself back up.

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But this season has not only seen Arsenal in a position of serious success, but it has seen Arsene Wenger loosening up as well. There is no way that the two can be considered unrelated.

There are three major areas that Arsene Wenger has shown a loosening of his policies, all three are bizarrely uncharacteristic of him, and yet this may be one of the chief causes of Arsenal’s success.

The first of those areas is in his “Arsenal way” play style that had been employed by the Gunners since Arsene Wenger arrived. The tip-tap passing and perfect goal pursuit were intricate parts of this system that led Arsenal to continuous fourth place finishes, most of which had to be fought for down to the wire. It was a policy that worked in the past but had become obsolete with the evolution of the game.

But following a loss to Southampton on New Years Day, Arsenal looked completely different. They no longer looked completely outmatched by the big name teams and they no longer played down to the smaller teams. Against Manchester City we saw a brilliant counter attack style of football that Wenger continued to employ for the majority of the big matches. The defense was no longer isolated when all of the forward players were caught in the goal box from dinking the ball around.

Of course, Francis Coquelin helped too, but the tactics really solidified that Arsenal no longer sought the perfect goal.

Against the smaller teams, Arsenal controls the game. They smother opposing attacks and pull possession away en route to launching deadly quick strikes. These new tactics have launched Arsenal to produce the best form of any Premier League team in 2015.

The second area where Wenger seems to have loosened up is in second guessing himself. Every human makes mistakes, and as far as I know, Arsene Wenger is human. He isn’t perfect and he’s going to have to reconsider policies he’s made along the way. Tactics are one way he already showed this, but player positioning is the other way.

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By suggesting that Theo Walcott can play striker, he’s attempting to recant one of his most strangely-stern policies as an Arsenal manager. Next thing you know, Jack Wilshere will be playing holding midfield (and after that, the only logical end is anarchy).

And finally, Arsene Wenger is making jokes about opposing managers, pushing them, and just acting like a spry young ruffian this season.

We all knew that Jose Mourinho and Wenger didn’t get a long, but seeing Arsene Wenger shove him on the sidelines is not something anyone could have expected. Now, Arsene Wenger is forgetting who the manager of cross-town rival Tottenham is. Take a look:

While Wenger has a history of playing with the media, he’s rarely seen sharing a laugh with them.

The new Arsenal is accompanied by a new Arsene Wenger and I’m most certainly a fan. Wenger can stay at the helm of Arsenal for as long as he wants as far as I’m concerned.

Next: Theo Walcott's dreams coming true?