The truth is that the Arsenal of 2011, with all its necessary parts in working order, is a well-oiled machine that is capable of beating any team in the world. For all the talk of how we are going to stop Barcelona there is the small matter of how Barcelona are going to stop us and it’s won’t be as easy as press, press, press. Especially not if we are adopting the same tactic, and to good effect as we have

I know it’s probably a bit early for a Bastardlona preview but when the thoughts is in your head you just gots to gets them out, nah mean?

As you may well know we have an epic encounter to look forward to on tomorrow eve against the most impressive collection of superior athletes ever to use their feet to create pretty little patterns with a leather sphere. Or so I’ve been told. 

Given the inevitability of the result, our motley crew of milkmen and stable hands can only look to the stars and pray that the Gods of football will allow them to walk away from the match with their pride intact, their notepads full of autographs and two fully functioning testicles each. 

Only it’s not quite such a foregone conclusion, is it?

Perhaps my recollections are wrong – five trophy-less years must have created a similar blank period in my memory banks – but I seem to remember that the last time Barcelona came to the Emirates the match ended up a draw. Yes I am well aware that we were played off the park in the opening half hour but we also had three critical members of our squad returning from injury (only to injure themselves again during the match), our number one striker already out injured and Mr Manuel Almunia between the sticks – however good he was during the opening onslaught he hardly inspired confidence in the defence, and he definitely had his part to play in the concession of two potentially preventable goals.

The return leg in Spain was a similarly embarrassing occasion – Messi’s four goal haul illustrating just how wide the gap between Arsenal and Barcelona really was/is/forever will be (will be). A 6-3 aggregate score line was just and fair and this time around to avoid a similar demolishing would be an achievement in itself.

Or would it?

Let’s look at the starting eleven that Arsenal played in the Nou Camp:

01 Almunia

03 Sagna

05 Vermaelen

18 Silvestre

22 Clichy

02 Diaby

07 Rosicky

08 Nasri

14 Walcott

15 Denilson

52 Bendtner

Now, correct me if I’m wrong (and I’m not so don’t) but only two of those players are likely to start against Barca on Wednesday. Two. So for all the talk about how Barca have improved or how Arsenal have improved or blah blah blah it’s worth noting that we haven’t just improved, we’ve completely changed!

Even in the home leg – when we had more of our first team fit – this team was still:

01 Almunia

03 Sagna

05 Vermaelen

10 Gallas

22 Clichy

02 Diaby

04 Fabregas

08 Nasri

17 A Song

23 Arshavin

52 Bendtner

From that team I would say only five can absolutely, definitely claim first-team status now – Sagna, Clichy, Fabregas, Song and Nasri (will Wenger really disrupt the Koscielny/Djourou partnership by putting Vermaelen straight back in the first team when he’s fit? I’m not so sure) – and only five of them will start against Barca this time around. That (for the mathematically inhibited) is six changes between the team above and that which will play on Wednesday which means over half of our team will be different!

And not only will it be different from those that played last year it will be stronger, especially with regards to the second leg – the only one we lost, by the way. If we go to the Nou Camp with Djourou instead of Silvestre, with Wilshere instead of Denilson and with a ridiculously in-form van Persie instead of Bendtner then you can already start to see what Barcelona will have to contend with. Throw in a fit, firing and much improved Nasri, a Szezcseny in goal and a completely revitalised Sagna and Clichy and you’ve got me thinking we have a really, really good chance. 

The truth is that the Arsenal of 2011, with all its necessary parts in working order, is a well-oiled machine that is capable of beating any team in the world. For all the talk of how we are going to stop Barcelona there is the small matter of how Barcelona are going to stop us and it’s won’t be as easy as press, press, press. Especially not if we are adopting the same tactic, and to good effect as we have the ability to do.

For there is also one player I am yet to mention that I think can make a significant difference against Barca. And the reason is that he is a player that would not get in the Barca team. Not because he is not effective but because he does not play the Barca way – and that’s why they are scared of him.

That player is Theo Walcott.

As the excellent Desi Gunner so perfectly pointed out our second goal on Saturday (7 players and 14 seconds from Sagna in defence to the back of the net) was superb preparation for Barca. With them pressing so high up the pitch we can use (an also much improved) Walcott as an outlet to get round the back and cause them real problems. That move was a real indication of what can happen if teams play a high line against us and I have to say it can be a dangerous tactic. With Puyol out and Abidal likely to move into the centre that means the slower Maxwell will be up against Walcott and –let’s be honest here – he ain’t going to catch him for sh*t. 

Don’t get me wrong though. This is probably going to be the toughest test that this Arsenal team has ever faced. Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Villa – these are names which strike fear into the heart  of teams across the globe and to think that the Barcelona we played last year have improved since then is quite incredible really. We will need to be on our guard against the best players in the world and were we to come out of this tie as the victors it would be an achievement to savour, celebrate and remember. 

Our current run is very impressive, especially with Djourou in the team, but theirs has been unbelievable – sixteen league wins in a row before the weekend just gone – and for any team in the world to achieve that is pretty damn impressive. 

However it is worth remembering which league they play in. I don’t buy the argument that if you put Barcelona up against Stoke “they wouldn’t be able to handle it” but I do tend to think that if they were playing in the Premiership week in, week out that they might have found those sixteen consecutive wins a whole lot harder to come by. And when I say “harder to come by” I’m really saying that I don’t think they would have got them. And one of those games might have been away to Stoke, just so you know, so you could (theoretically) say “they wouldn’t be able to…”

No. I’m not going there. 

What everyone needs to realise is that history is just that – history – and past results count for nada when it all kicks off on Wednesday. This is even more true given that this actual, real-life Barca team and this actual, current, presently manifested Arsenal team have never met before and given those circumstances not even professional clairvoyants like the BBC’s own ‘Mystic’ Mark Lawrenson can truly claim to know what the outcome will be. 

I for one happen to think that this is a win-win situation for Arsenal to be in because I see benefits in almost any result.

Win and we’ve beaten the best team in the world, we’re t
hrough to the next round as possible favourites and we can hold our heads very high indeed. Lose and we lose to the best team in the world, we can still hold our heads high and we can press on in the league and the cups without the energy-sapping mid-week Champion’s League fixtures to worry about.

Whatever happens I just want to make sure that we give the best account of ourselves we can possibly give and if we do that and still lose I think we will all be content. But what I don’t expect us to do is roll over and let mouthy c*nts like Xavi tickle our belly for ninety minutes because we have a lot more to offer than that.

Just over 24 hours to go now so there is still just enough time for detectives all over the world to solve their case, clear their name, win back their badge and gun and pitch up on their sofa with an ice cold Stella in time for kick off.

I can’t personally think of anything else besides the game at the moment so I may well be back with further thoughts before it starts but just in case you don’t hear from me I want to wish everyone good luck and add just one more thing:

You know what? I’ve got a good feeling about this one. 

WB