A smorgasbord of observations on Arselona

To paraphrase Iron Man, in list form...

Starting with the head honcho, Cesc Fabregas

In recent years the Club has released “Legends” DVDs for three centurions – Henry, Bergkamp and Wright. Now Cesc may or may not reach treble figures in goals for us, but he certainly deserves the same accolade. Regardless of his performances this season, what a man he is. Not only did he hobble through Saturday’s game against Birmingham knowing full well that he could miss his date with destiny against Barca, last night he did his level best to ensure we had a fighting chance in the second-leg...a game he knew he was suspended for. AND he didn’t saunter over to the RedAction corner to soak in the adulation, he went for the ball so the game could be restarted and we could push for the unlikeliest of winners. In doing so, it seems he crocked himself. AND then he came back on the field, knowing that he was potentially making the ultimate sacrifice in a professional footballer’s career – missing the World Cup. To paraphrase Theo Walcott, ‘El Capitan’ is a true soldier. To paraphrase the dirty Chavs from West London, he is captain, leader, and legend.

Cesc’s future

I hate to bring it up, but if that was his last game this season, could it be his last in the red and white of Arsenal? With Barca’s election merry-go-round this summer, he is likely to be the no.1 pawn. IF it is his swansong, what a way to go. BUT I don’t think it was. He has unfinished business with us.

Speaking of swansongs

William Gallas. If it is to be yours – as is increasingly likely with the passing of every day – goodbye and thank you. Some people will remember you for your sit-down protest at Birmingham two years ago as our title challenge began to unravel, but I’ll remember you for leading us to that lofty position in the first place.

The enigma that is Almunia

Manuel’s two best performances for us have come where he has been royally under the cosh – last night and the first-leg of the Man Utd semi last season. So he is patently a good shot-stopper and when required to concentrate 100%, he does a fine job. But being an Arsenal keeper, most of the time he is standing there watching his team-mates press for goal at the other end of the pitch, only called into action sporadically. They say the sign of a great goalkeeper is one who can produce the goods out of nowhere. Whilst I doubt Manuel has reached that elite status – and in light of his age, most likely never will – he has kept our arses in the hunt for the CL in the last two seasons and deserves a great deal of credit. I just hope that by praising him here I’m not jinxing him like Jens Lehmann did on ITV’s coverage of the match.

Below-par Diaby shows how far he has come

Anyone else disappointed that Abou didn’t hustle and bustle his way through the Barca midfield last night? I am. And that shows how he has evolved into a real player for us. He had an off-night. It happens. He’ll be better next week. But what’s with haircut, Abou? I liked the ‘fro and it did wonders for his bonce and his game over the cold winter.

Gael Clichy, Clichy, I’m sorry I ever doubted thee

Hands up, who else though Gael’s decline was terminal and considered offloading him in the summer for big bucks? How foolish we were. Not only did he keep Messi relatively quiet but he also put in some decent crosses, most notably a peach for Bendtner at 1-0 down. Moreso, this year he has evolved into a leader and if I was a betting man I’d put money on him regaining his crown as the country’s best left-back come May 2011.

Eboue for Arshavin was a blessing in disguise

I texted those very words to a mate of mine. It’s not that Andrey played any worse than his team-mates during his brief spell on the pitch, although he did naively try to dribble out of trouble once. But when you’re getting torn a new one, wouldn’t you rather have the Ivorian Warrior helping the full-back out?

Theo is a player from a different era and best used as a supersub

As I alluded to in my previous article, this Arsenal side does not tend to create much or score early. Which is why I reckon Theo struggles somewhat when he starts games, such as the Birmingham performance on the weekend. Even his man-of-the-match showing against Burnley only sparked in the second-half. More often than not we are chasing games in the last half-hour, and with defenders tiring the last thing they want to see is Theo limbering up on the sidelines. Can you imagine Theo in the 2002-2004 team? Playing wide right a la Wiltord? He’d be loving it. It may be too late to change the trend this campaign, especially with all the injuries we’ve picked up and general fatigue, but if we want to see the best of Theo next season then we need to put teams to the sword from the off. Otherwise he’ll be little more than a superb supersub. That said, he must start at the Camp Nou. Barca won’t defend deep and Theo can exploit the space in behind.

We needed an English referee last night

There’s no doubt we got a taste of our own medicine in the first-half, coming off decidedly second best in all aspects. This understandably led to some aggressive play on our part as we tried to disrupt Barca’s rhythm. Much like the cloggers do to us domestically. Difference being that the refs in England let the cloggers get away with murder, whilst last night the ref blew up for everything – even fair but hard tackles.

Pride in the team and supporters

At two down, my mind was more focused on damage limitation than the glorious comeback that so transpired. This was fifth consecutive time one of the European heavyweights have come to our backyard and zoomed into a lead. On the previous four occasions we offered little in reply. This time it was different. Yes, Barcelona took their foot of the pedal. Yes, their pressing game dropped. But we still had to manufacture something from a seemingly impossible position. Both the players and the Emirates faithful deserve great praise for working in unison.

Summoning the spirit of 2006

I honestly believe that the only way we will progress next week is via a one-nil victory. I just have a gut feeling that if we concede one (especially the first goal) all hell will break loose at the back as we search for an equaliser. IF we can grab the opener then we must hark back to our 2006 run to the final and defend as if our lives depended on it whilst trying to hit them on the counter. Not very Arsenal-esque, I admit, but sometimes needs must. The only difference is that in 2006 we never had to chase any of the games, so the first goal will be key. If we want to keep our Bernabeu 2010 dream alive, we have to emulate our Bernabeu 2006 heroes.

Comments

#1 - Adams Says:

Agree entirely, especially about Fabregas (obviously) and Eboue - there's another man with character. One extra though - I thought there were moments in the game when Bendtner received the ball under close pressure from several players and still managed to distribute with accuracy. He also got into some good positions up front and might have scored on another night. Fair play to him. In the main I thought he was a good outlet. Personally I found last night's game enthralling, agonizing, unbearable and awesome, which is an unusual mix. I can't believe the quality of Barca's football for three quarters of that match - I've never seen anything like it and really respect them for being able to produce play like that. It was great to watch in an uncomfortable sort of way. We escaped a mauling. Here's hoping we can get the 1-0 you are talking about at Camp Nou, but if not then there's no shame in getting knocked out by a side that can play like that.

#2 - TonyM Says:

Its vital that we learn the lessons from that game. The defending has to be better but we have to press much closer, hassle them and pressure them into mistakes. When it was clear it was going pear-shaped after 5 minutes it would have made sense to go man to man and stick tight to them to disrupt their game.
Barca spend alot more on their team and our guys are young so there's no shame in being outplayed. Arsene pretty much said last night he will watch the game and figure out a gameplan for nou camp.
Forget our style of game, we have to shut down theirs, run our socks off, battle for every single ball and frustrate them. Then use theo to hit them on the break. If we let the game be as open as last night then we will be embarassed.

#3 - Zama Says:

Cesc's Future - Its in his own hands I'd like to believe. The way he celebrates after scoring, the way he bleeds for this club and as you said is willing to sacrifice his participation in a World Cup, I'd be very very very surprised if we left the club this year. In fact I'll be very surprised if he willingly leaves Arsenal .... ever. Besides Cesc comes across as a very level headed, intelligent young man and would he be willing to be used just as a bargaining chip, a mere pawn in the political shit fest that the elections are going to be? I don't think so. Atleast I hope I am right.

#4 - Mean Lean Says:

Very good post SB as per usual,
I have to agree with everything you have written. I also think that Cesc will be an Arsenal player next year. If we didn't challenge this year then I would be more concerned.

It is going to have to take a massive massive effort for us to progress.

#5 - TrueGooner Says:

Even though Almunia made a bad decision for that first goal, I refuse to blame him entirely. Why did the defense stay that high after Barca centered the ball. Why didn't the striker or someone in the midfield close the barca player to prevent him from passing over the top. With the pepper Almunia took in the first half I am not sure he had any trust in the players ahead of him. Yes Barca was marvelous, but we let them be. I notice something Barca might not be as good as we think they are. The one thing they have over us was patient. But if we have close them down and not allow them too much time and space on the ball they wouldn't have score a single goal in that game. I strongly believe that especially we negated their goal machine and the ref oh my who select the refs for these games? I hope the lad learn from this display and hope Diaby comes prepared to play the next game.

#6 - bedy Says:

Have you ever noticed that any season we have injury crisis is when we do better in champions league.
Remeber 2006 Ashley Cole,Clichy,Lauren,Campbel (i.e all our defence but Toure) were all out injured we made the finals by defeating Juventus,Real madrid and Villa real.
Either by coincidence or Gods ordainity beleive me we shall play and win in the finals this year.

#7 - Mean Lean Says:

Thats the thing bedy, it cannot be a coincidence when we have an injury crisis every blinking year.

Will it ever stop? *sigh*

#8 - Squid Boy Says:

Gallas, Cesc, Arshavin, Robin. Four of our most senior.

I equate that to:

Rio, Fletcher, Giggs, Rooney.

Terry, Lampard, Malouda, Drogba.

Wonder how Utd and Chelsea would cope in our situation?

#9 - Mean Lean Says:

That is always the point that seems to get lost. Wayne Rooney is out for 4 weeks or something and everyone is raving on about it. Imagine if he was out since November!

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