Arsenal vs Aliens

Let me start this post by saying I felt privileged to watch what is definitely one of the greatest, if not the greatest footballing side of our generation. Such was the elegance and the imagination in their play, that after 25 minutes of fantasy football, where they treated my beloved Arsenal like some youth team of a second division club, I could not even hold a grudge against them. I could only tell myself that I was lucky to see one of this great side's finest performances of the season. I do not feel even a twinge of discomfort in saying that though Arsenal are the best footballing side in England, they are miles behind the current Barcelona side.

Barcelona dominated the game so emphatically, that it would be disrespectful to even suggest 2-3 points 'where Arsenal lost the match'. Arsenal lost the game all over the pitch. But I did notice a couple of things which La Masia did very well.

One, Barcelona's full-backs were constantly harassing Arsenal's midfield and defence. Nasri and Arshavin have a tendency to cut in from the wings, leaving space down the wings. They also failed to use their creativity to keep Dani Alves and Maxwell sufficiently busy. The Barcelona full-backs utilised the available space lethally and our full-backs were left to deal with them and their wide midfield players. The Arsenal midfield provided help to the full-backs. But the space this battle on the wings created in the middle was swiftly utilised by switching play.

Barcelona's attacks were starting from the back, and their use of the wings was incredible. Arshavin and Nasri were caught between defending and attacking. That is the reason we looked a little more assured after Arshavin was replaced by the more defensive minded Eboue. And it is only when Walcott was introduced in the second half that Maxwell had something more to occupy him.

Second, did you notice how much time Arsenal players were given on the ball? Zilch. As soon as an Arsenal player (especially Fabregas, Nasri or Arshavin) had the ball, Barcelona would close him down very quickly. That was important, because had Arsenal been given time on the ball, Arsenal could have hurt Barcelona. Barcelona pressed high up the pitch, with even Messi and Ibrahimovic playing a role in closing down Arsenal's players. It is not physically easy to maintain the tempo that Barcelona play with, and keep closing down the opposition consistently for 90 minutes. That is why Arsenal had a greater say in the game in the final 20-25 minutes, when Barcelona seemed to drop off a little. That could have been because of some fatigue, or because they were already 2-0 up, or both.

All this said, one cannot help but applaud the character of the Arsenal team. There is no denying this team has a will power and a team spirit second to none. They were butchered for the first 25 minutes, started finding their feet after that, and were dealt with two cruel blows from Ibrahimovic. It must have required a great deal of maturity, self belief and determination to go on and level the tie.

That brings me to the penalty incident. My take on it is that the red card was harsh, but there was no doubt about the penalty. Fabregas was taking the shot when Puyol came from behind. That is when the contact occured. Fabregas' leg might have hit Puyol during the back-lift, but so what? It was not as if Puyol was already standing there and Fabregas entangled his feet into Puyol's. It's Puyol who came from behind and it's Puyol who should have taken care not to impede the shot. It was hence a penalty. By the rule of the book, the red card followed. I think that is quite harsh, but that is the rule (as Vermaelen found out against West Ham). Sam 'Dirty' Allardyce has gone to the extent of saying Fabregas dived, but knowing Dirty Sam, I am sure he would not have felt it was a foul even if Puyol had chopped off Fabregas' leg with an axe. Most people have rightly ignored him.

Arsenal played this game like there was no tomorrow, but have paid a heavy price for their commitment. They have lost Fabregas (and Gallas, according to some reports) for the season. Arshavin is out for 3 weeks. We have played the whole season without Van Persie. We will most probably play without our top 4 players for at least the next 3 weeks. The treatment table makes the outlook bleak.

But this season Arsenal have been without without Gallas and Fabregas each for a month, and without Van Persie for most of the season. They have also been without Arshavin for a few weeks. They have dealt with a load of criticism and the innate xenophobia some commentators suffer from. It is nothing short of a miracle that Arsene Wenger still has his team up there. Nasri, Song, Vermaelen have showed they can take the mantle when required. There is no reason we must lose belief now.