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.

My Gunners 11 against Barcelona

The big day is here and Gallas has given Arsenal a timely boost by declaring himself fit to play the match. Whether he will be match fit is for Le Boss to decide. Assuming both Gallas and Fabregas are fit to start the game, following is my Gunners team for tonight (names mentioned in brackets are replacements if Fabregas/Gallas cannot start) -

Almunia

Eboue, Vermaelen, Gallas (or Campbell), Clichy
Diaby, Song, Fabregas (or Nasri)
Nasri (or Rosicky), Bendtner, Arshavin 

That was my starting 11 for tonight... what is yours?


 

Birmingham Aftermath

Did you feel that excruciating pain when that ball looped over Almunia's flapping arms? Did you feel the unbearable agony? If you didn't, you are probably not an Arsenal fan.

But if you are a fan, you are probably bracing yourself for a dreadful few days to come. It seems like we are entering one of those familiar phases when we lose everything. When we get knocked out of every competition we compete in. When every big decision goes against us. When big teams hammer us and 'small' teams snatch draws. When everything falls apart. It's frightening, to say the least.


But have you ever wondered why we keep having these phases?

Its because we don't react well. And when I say 'we', I mean the players, the manager and the fans. Arsenal Football Club as a whole gets trapped in a feeling of doom too easily. We feel the world is against us. When we are pushed a little, when our backs are against the wall, we don't respond with defiance. The fans give up and boo the players. The players get frustrated. Some fans even question Arsene Wenger.

Remember 23 Feb, 2008? Even after we drew against Birmingham that day, we were 3 points ahead of Manchester United. After 5 wins, 4 draws and 2 defeats from the 11 remaining games, we finished the season 4 points behind Manchester United.  That means Manchester United won 7 points more that we did in last 11 games played.

Where would we be if we had shown mental strength and belief in that period? Had we converted just 2 of those 4 draws into wins, and 1 of those 2 defeats into a draw, we would have won the title at least by a point. We lost the title because our players and fans lost belief at Birmingham. Yes, it wasn't a penalty. Yes, Eduardo broke his leg. But we didn't rise above all that. The whole club got mired in an atmosphere of self pity and depression. A team that looked like champions for 7 months suddenly looked like it had no confidence, despite being top of the table by 3 points.

The players and the manager always take their share of blame, but what about us fans? Didn't we also contribute to the whole mood of disillusionment that year? Every fan lost the premier league for their club as much as the manager and the players did.

The worry is that a similar feeling of disenchantment seems to be taking over at Ashburton Grove again. The manager seems frustrated, and the players seem depressed. The fans are already discussing if Fabregas will leave in the summer, and wondering why Almunia still plays for Arsenal.

This kind of atmosphere is the last thing that the club needs right now. For God's sake, we are 4 points from the top, with Manchester United and Chelsea to play each other next week. There are still enough games where United and Chelsea might drop points (United are still to play Man City away, Chelsea are yet to play Liverpool). Its a tough league and big teams have been dropping points. For all you know Sunderland might snatch a last gasp winner against United. Why not?

I am not being naive. I know its much tougher for us now than it would have been if we had got all 3 points at St. Andrews. I know there is a possibility that Manchester United will not drop a single point. But what if they do slip up, and we fail to take advantage just because we are busy wallowing in self pity? How much will we all kick ourselves then?


Our team has already shown us twice this season that there is improvement on the psychological front. They have been dead and buried in the league twice, and they have risen like a phoenix on both occasions. They almost won yesterday at a place where both Manchester United and Chelsea have failed to win. And they have done it without their first choice centre-backs and their first choice striker, and with Howard Webb as the referee. They are still playing to win the League and the Champions League. Lets not undermine a very good side with our negativity.

Most of all, win or lose, it is our team and our club. Lets support it through thick and thin. Come on you Gunners!

Come Hell or High Water

Two years back, Arsenal were sitting pretty at the top of the league, when they traveled to a fairly innocuous looking St. Andrews stadium to play Birmingham. Eduardo ended up with a broken leg, and Arsenal ended up with a shattered morale. It was clear that very day that we would not win the league that year. It has taken us two years to recover from that episode. And here we are, with the midlands calling again.

Only this time, Birmingham and St. Andrews don't seem so harmless. They sit 9th in the league, better than they have managed the 6 times they have played in the premier league in the last decade. They have played 15 home games this season, and lost only 2 of them. The last they lost at home was in September 2009, when a minor blip caused two home losses on a trot, and have since held both Manchester United and Chelsea to draws at home.

In this backdrop, the red card that Vermaelen received last week seems ominous. FA decided to not to retract the red card, so the Gunners travel to face Alex Mc Liesh's side, without their first choice centre-backs and their first choice striker. The fact that Barcelona visit 4 days after this game only adds to our woes.

Wenger will have some key issues to sort out. Who plays in the defence against Birmingham? If Sol Campbell does, can he play against Barcelona? Most probably not. So should Campbell and Song start in defence against Birmingham, and Song and Vermaelen do the job against Barcelona? But will we miss Song's ability to break play in the midfield if he plays in defence against Barcelona? Can we afford that against them? Where does Silvestre fit?

Whatever said and done, we will need to grind out a win against Birmingham. If we drop points against Birmingham, it will be almost impossible to win the Premier League and the disappointment will be huge. We cannot even think of getting a decent result against Barcelona in that state of mind. I just hope the boys look at what happened two years back and derive some motivation.

I think we have a better chance of winning the league than we have of winning Champions League. But the Birmingham game will affect our run in both competitions. Its one of the most important games we have played for a long time. We need to win it, come hell or high water.

Impossible is Nothing

I was watching the Champions League draw live, hoping for a comparatively easy path to the semi-finals. I say comparatively, because every game here on is difficult (its cliched, but its true). One lapse of concentration can be fatal.

So there I was hoping for an easy route, when the first draw that came out was Lyon v/s Bordeaux.  I almost swore in frustration. Of all the teams in the competition, these were my 3rd and 1st choice for Arsenal to face (2nd being CSKA). Lyon are a team capable of beating anyone on their day, but they are still not more dangerous than Inter, Manchester Utd, Barcelona, or even Bayern Munich. So I was quite apprehensive about what might follow.

The next came Bayern Munich v/s Manchester Utd. I was quite neutral about this. I guess I was glad facing CSKA was still a possibility. And also that the English were out of the way till the final at least.

It was at this point that I realised that the 3 teams we could face were CSKA, Barcelona and Inter. And then the scary part came. Which one would we be happy to face, if not CSKA? Before I could even think about it, "Arsenal v/s Barcelona" flashed on my screen.

I felt like I was hit by something. I mean, this is the team to beat right? This is the team that won every competition they played in last year. And won in style. This is the team every club is running scared of. Because Barcelona don't only beat the opponent  - they make their opponents look like a local pub team at times. Ask Manchester United.

After a few hours passed, I thought about it again. Would Arsenal have a better chance against the cold discipline of Intermilan? Or maybe against the tenacity and power of Manchester United? No. Nada. It's not like we cannot beat a Manchester United or an Intermilan over two legs. But the way those teams play means we start with a disadvantage. Beating them requires being physically strong, being patient and showing uncompromising discipline for 90 minutes. It requires being bloody-minded. Although we have proved we can display these traits, these are definitely not our strongest characteristics, are they?

Our strengths are skill, technique, pace and team-play. This is exactly what Barca are all about, so, for all their brilliance in attack, they will allow us to play to our strengths. I know that Barcelona are at the peak of their form, and may even be much stronger than us in attack. But at least they will not frustrate us with constant cynical fouling and physical intimidation. It will not be a case of an artist having to physically take on a wrestler.

In fact, I think Arsenal will have certain assets of their own when playing Barcelona. Arsenal move the ball quicker than Barcelona. Playing in the premier league, they have also had to add some industry to their character. Furthermore, all the criticism that these players have dealt with at a young age has made them mentally strong and united.

Barcelona, for once might come up against a unit that will take the game to them. If Arsenal knick an early goal, Barcelona may find that Arsenal have the ability to play on the counter attack too. And if all doesn't go this well for Arsenal, they will still keep going, till the end.

Having said all this, Barcelona are the best team in the world, and they have great qualities of their own. They are certainly the favourites against any opposition in the world right now. I am not challenging Barcelona's superiority. What I am getting at is that Arsenal are not a bad team either. We fans need not give up before the two legs are played.

I think 2 Arsenal players are key if we are to win this game. Nicklas Bendtner and Sol Campbell. Bendtner, because we will need to be clinical against Barcelona. They will keep creating chances at the other end and the sheer quality at their disposal means they will score. So we will have to put them under pressure in their half. Bendtner will have to be a constant threat, a nagging irritant to their defence. Arsenal will have to make Barcelona's midfielders contribute significantly in defence. And definitely, we will need goals to ensure we don't get frustrated and they don't get comfortable. That is why Bendtner will be key. Why Campbell will be key does not require too much explanation.

No matter what, we will surely get a display of elegant football. I sincerely hope that the enormity of the occasion does not dull the game. May we see good football, may the best team win, and may Arsenal be the best team on the day!

Rooney or Messi?

Are these the two best players in the world currently? There are a few players who are probably thereabouts, but the media, always ready for a hype, has already dubbed them the two best players in the world. And not entirely without reason. In a world of Drogba, Torres, Fabregas, Ronaldo and Kaka, these two have entered a league of their own, because of their current form. And because how well their teams are doing. And because they have stayed fit for a long time to exert an influence on their teams and the game in general.

So who do you think is better footballer, Wayne Rooney or Lionel Messi?

I might get pilloried by Manchester United fans, but Messi wins this one hands down. No doubts about it. If you were to ask me who is more influential, I would say it is Rooney without a second thought. But a better footballer? There is none better than Lionel Messi today. And that has been the case for the last 2 years.

Rooney has great technique, superb pace and excellent awareness. He is lightning quick. He has great power and is a fantastic athlete. His finishing is lethal. But most of all, he has unmatched drive to work for his team. His energy is unrivalled. You will see him everywhere on the pitch. Defending, creating and scoring. A complete team player.

Messi of course has great energy too, though he is nowhere close to Rooney when it comes to that attribute. But see him with the ball and he shows you why he is the world's best. His pace and acceleration are complemented with unbelievably quick feet and deadly finishing. He can dribble his way past a number of defenders. And he can do that time and again. He can see and make a pass that many would probably not spot even on television or on play-station. And this is what distinguishes him from most other players. Not that the other players cannot do all this. It's just that some of the passes he makes and goals he scores are of unbelievable quality and he keeps doing this with incredible consistency.

Add to that the elegance with which he plays every minute of his game, and you have the best player in the world. Tom Adams, in a fabulous article on soccernet (you can see it here) says -

"Speculation that Rooney is football's leading light is far from outrageous. It is not, for example, a manifestation of the unjustified national arrogance that was exposed so horribly when Hungary humbled an overconfident England side with a 6-3 victory at Wembley in 1953, shattering illusions of grandeur. But it should be recognised that Messi is on another level - a once-in-a-lifetime talent. There is no excuse for a superiority complex on the part of Rooney or England."

"Sir Alex Ferguson's protege is in the form of his life though, there is no question about that. Deadly in the box, he has married a collection of predatory strikes with a catalogue of headed efforts. But they are not goals that cause jaws to drop in amazement and fans to forward on YouTube links with childish enthusiasm.

Messi, with his precocious dribbling skills, expert finishing, raw pace and brilliant football brain, scores such goals on a ridiculously regular basis. Moments that engage the imagination are his stock in trade, and he produced another on Wednesday night with that thrilling first goal."

I think that captures the point perfectly.

Messi vs Rooney is somewhat like Barcelona vs Manchester United. Both teams are superbly effective and their record speaks for itself. But Manchester United are mostly about raw practicality, physicality and power, whereas Barcelona  are all about elegance and unadulterated skill.

Its a joy to watch Barcelona even if you are not a fan. To watch them is like watching art unfolding itself in front of your eyes. That is what football is all about. And no one epitomizes that more than the world's greatest footballer - Lionel Messi.

All We Need Is A Bit Of Luck

As the season draws to a close, each Arsenal fan, in his own way, is doing his bit to ensure that this amazing run by Arsenal does not get jinxed. Methods vary - to some, it means watching every Arsenal game wearing a particular T shirt (no matter how dirty it is), and to some like me, it means not talking up our title chances, even if it involves tipping Chelsea for the title. This irrational behaviour actually confirms one thing - every Arsenal fan realises that we are going to have to enjoy some luck to win it this year. Every team needs some luck, but for us, it's going to be doubly important.

One, because we are 3 points behind Chelsea (assuming they win the game in hand), and 2 behind United. It's not in our hands anymore, and we will depend upon those two to drop more points than us.

And two, because the pressure on the Gunners is much higher than anybody else. With no trophy won to show for all the efforts on and off the pitch in the last 5 years, the players and the manager are going to be increasingly nervous with every game. The media of course will do its bit in adding to the nerves. Also, this group of players does not have the experience of winning a major trophy, so the boys will have to handle severe stress with great maturity.

There may be times when things don't go well in a match (which, like every match now, would be a 'must win'). And our players might not find any answers under pressure. In such situations, besides our grit and ability, we might need some fortuitous moments to go ahead and win the game. Like the one at Hull where Myhill completely messed up with a perfectly innocuous shot from Denilson. Like when the ball fell to the feet of Sheringham and Solskjaer in the Champions League final in 1999. Like the 5 miraculous minutes in Istanbul when Liverpool won their first major trophy in 15 years. These moments were not down to luck alone, and that is not what I am suggesting. All I am saying is that there was luck involved, and without it we would not have seen Arsenal, Manchester United and Liverpool win those games.

Titles are not won only through good fortune. The truth is far from that. In fact, our quality will ensure that we do not require to be lucky in too many games. I just hope fortune favours us when we need it the most.

So guys, go ahead and be irrational. Do everything that your heart tells you to make sure we don't jinx it. And come the 9th of May, may we...