When I look back at some of the greatest football teams ever made, I think of two teams - two fantastic teams that played and won in an incredible way, pleasing and thrilling every fan, every 'neutral', and intriguing even those who hated them. These were the teams that have educated me most about football. They also taught me that football is more than a game, it is a philosophy and that that is how it must be. These two teams completely shaped the way I look at football and sculpted my beliefs on how a football club should be in its spirit. They showed me why football is 'the beautiful game'.
One of those two teams, of course is my beloved Arsenal's Invincibles of 2003-2004. But this article is not about them.
On the eve of Spain's World Cup final against Netherlands, I wish to talk about the other team, and pay tribute to the man who constructed the team and orchestrated the incredibly sublime football that the team played. The team was the Real Madrid team of 1999-2003, and that man is Vicente Del Bosque, who will tonight try to win the biggest trophy that any nation can win in sport.
In his tenure as the Real Madrid manager from 1999 to 2003, the club won two la Liga titles and two Champions League titles, and many other titles such as the Intercontinental cup and Supercup.
Of course, more important than this was the way the team played football. It was football that was unpretentious and majestic in equal measure. Geniuses like Zidane and Figo were a part of the team, but you would rarely see those extravagant pieces of skill that most observers find praiseworthy. The moments of genius were of course there, but they were more subtle. One would see a pass from Zidane that seemed to glide perfectly to its destination, not requiring the receiver to do anything but just make contact with the ball to score. One would see Figo carry out a dummy that left space wide open for Raul. One would see Zidane glide away with the ball, with 4-5 defenders hovering around him trying to get through what seemed like an impermeable bubble around him. One would see the team dizzying opponents with short passes on the ground. The brilliance of Real Madrid at that time was that their game seemed simple and effortless - and this was down to Del Bosque.
There were unbelievably talented players like Raul, Morientes, Figo and Zidane in the team. But, a defensive midfielder in his playing days, Del Bosque was the man who understood the importance of Claude Makalele. He understood that Makalele was required to provide the rhythm for all of Zidane and Figo's beautifully created symphony. When asked (after his Real Madrid stint came to an end) which of the foreign players he liked, he said "It may be a surprise but it has to be Claude Makelele. He ran and worked for Zidane, Michel Salgado and Roberto Carlos, and always did it with a smile. Yet they let him go to Chelsea... but perhaps I don't know the inside story."
With all the lovely football that his teams played, not many noticed Del Bosque's love for organisation. "In some ways it is easy to be the coach of Real Madrid," Del Bosque remarked, "It's an old truth: it's hard to build a great team without the players. But without a little organisation, you can fail very quickly even if you have the players."
However, after devoting almost his entire footballing life, as a player and manager at different levels, to Real Madrid, he was sacked by Real Madrid in 2003. This was 24 hours after he had won the la Liga for the second time. Many of us read the news in disbelief. I remember asking my friends if Real Madrid has lost it completely. We all saw it as the end of an era. But in a typical statement of bravado, Real Madrid claimed that the coach was "traditional" and they "believed in making changes in good times".
"Del Bosque is a traditional coach and we feel we need another kind of person," said the club president Perez. "We feel the team would be more potent with a more tactical coach. We want someone with a high technical ability but a slightly lower profile." "The fans love Del Bosque", he went on, "but they also appreciate me and what I have done for the club. We are willing to take this risk rather than follow a more conservative policy."
What followed is history. It is a testament to Vicente Del Bosque's genius that Real Madrid only won their next la Liga in 2007, and changed 7 coaches in the 4 year period after his departure.
7 years on, watching Del Bosque guide a talented Spanish side to the World Cup final, I am reminded of what a great influence he, through his Real Madrid team, had on all of us who love football. We will always be indebted to him for that.
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Reporter: One of your former players, Zinedine Zidane, was voted FIFA's World Player of the Year last week and Ronaldo was No 3. Did they deserve it?
Del Bosque: I don't like these individual prizes. To try to explain why Roberto Carlos, Raul, Zidane or Ronaldo deserve such an award is nonsense. How can you compare the different contribution of each player? They all share the greatest quality: they have given Real Madrid back its status as the greatest club in the world.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Just One More Season, Cesc...
I believe one must be careful analysing transfer related comments by players, because they are never an accurate indicator of what a player wants to do in the future. What a player says is heavily influenced by the occasion of when he says it, by media wanting to colour it in a certain way and his general mood at the time of saying it. Also, a player is a human being after all, and he can change his mind pretty quickly. Therefore, I don't usually make conclusions from comments that appear in the newspapers. However, this time, I couldn't resist it, because the comments were from our very own Cesc Fabregas.
After some of Cesc's comments in Barcelona, the press got enough fodder for gossip, which they coupled with their notoriously poor reasoning abilities to conclude that Cesc is on his way out. What was it that Fabregas said, which prompted headlines such as "Cesc ready to join Barcelona"? Here's what he said -
After some of Cesc's comments in Barcelona, the press got enough fodder for gossip, which they coupled with their notoriously poor reasoning abilities to conclude that Cesc is on his way out. What was it that Fabregas said, which prompted headlines such as "Cesc ready to join Barcelona"? Here's what he said -
"If I ever leave Arsenal it will be to play for Barcelona. I am 23 years old and I have a long career in front of me. I've never hidden the fact that playing for Barcelona is a dream that I would like to fulfill.
You see your team-mates succeeding here [in Barcelona] and it is exciting because you have worked alongside them for so long. I think I would like to go to Barcelona, whether or not they want me is another thing. I don't know when it will happen. I am happy at Arsenal and I am not in a rush to leave. Before I leave for the World Cup I want my future sorted out because it benefits nobody if I go into the tournament with something else on my mind."
A bit more perspective here. As with all other quotes, these quotes came after Cesc was prompted by journalists. So he never said "If I ever leave Arsenal it will be to play for Barcelona" on his own volition. He was asked whether Barcelona will be the team he plays for if he ever left Arsenal, to which he replied "Yes, definitely".
Anyway, the reason for discussing Cesc's desire to stay at Arsenal is that this time, unlike in the previous years, I am skeptical about to whether he will stay. Although I have pointed out that the press, as usual, has twisted some statements from Fabregas to create an impression that a transfer is imminent, I am less confident of him staying this year than I was last year. I fear the worst. The italicized text above are the reasons I believe he will stay, and the underlined portion is what makes me uncomfortable.
He clearly says that if ever he leaves Arsenal, he will only go to Barcelona. That shows he loves the club, and that the affection he has matters more to him than trophies. He is saying clearly that he will only leave from one club he loves to another one he loves. It also shows that his chances of leaving, in case Barcelona do not chase him, are remote. He will not leave for any other club in the world.
That said, Barcelona seem interested, and Cesc has said he wants to sort out his future before the World Cup. He is contracted at Arsenal till 2014, so why would he want to "sort out" his future now? It shows that there is some uncertainty there. And that is what worries me.
It worries me because this transfer will be a massive setback for everything that the current Arsenal stands for. It will be a transfer that inflicts a killer blow on Arsene Wenger's vision for the club.
The vision is of a young, intelligently assembled group of youngsters growing together, maturing together to form a great institution of total football. The vision is admirable, but it rests on one fundamental necessity - that a player, when developed and ready to lead the team to the next level, is kept at the club to achieve what he has been trained for. Once that requirement is taken care of, it is only a matter of time before the model yields results for a club as good at developing players as Arsenal are. However, if this crucial condition is not met, the model fails. 'Fails' is not to say that the club does not achieve good results, but it is to say that the ultimate goal of creating that dream team is not achieved.
The previous transfers of the likes of Thierry Henry and Vieira were difficult to accept, but Cesc's transfer, if it goes through, will be infinitely more grievous for the club. Wenger will find another gem, and Arsenal will be competitive again, but the transfer will be a big blow to everything that Arsenal and Wenger have stood for in the last 5 years. It will be a defeat of a brave ideology. Arsenal may not be the same again. They will have to change their philosophy. It will be a win for the likes of Mourinho, who recently said - "Arsenal won it in an incredible way and after that they thought they could win in a different way. They cannot win it in a different way. Either they go back to where they were or they don’t do it."
I hope Cesc stays back and proves Arsenal can do it in a different way. Just one more season, Cesc, and you'll want to stay back. Just one more season...
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
The Nucleus Is There
Not too much to say about the game against Manchester City. The game, to say the least, was extremely boring. The surprising lack of ambition displayed by the visitors, coupled with the lethargic approach of Arsenal ensured that we had a game devoid of any life. Even the introduction of Adebayor, who throughout bore sort of a moronic grin on his face, failed to add any spark to the game.
The only thing that the game managed do was to mathematically establish that we are now out of the title race. With two games to go, it is also more or less certain that we will finish third. It is a definite improvement over the last season, but still disappointing considering we were very close to winning something this year.
However, despite the disappointment, most Arsenal fans I know agree that Wenger has been working under great constraints. A very low budget has made it difficult to have a balanced squad.
And yet, there are also people (mainly in the press) who think Wenger is some kind of a myopic, obstinate idiot who refuses to buy only because he has faith in his youngsters. Do you think a manager of Wenger's caliber is not aware of whether a player is good enough? Do you think Wenger is not aware that his goalkeepers are poor? Do you think Wenger is not aware of how badly Silvestre has played?
Why do you think Wenger didn't invest in a backup to Vermaelen and Gallas, till he signed Campbell in January? Because he does not understand that injuries can happen and a backup is needed? Of course not! He didn't have enough money. As simple as that. One needs to understand that when a 10 million pound worth player is signed, for say 60,000 pounds a week salary, about 12 million pounds are spent on his salary alone, over the 4 years of his contract. There you go - so a player may cost 'only' 10 million, but you have got to balance the player salaries too. With Manchester United and Chelsea consistently purchasing players around the 25-30 million mark, we must understand how far behind Arsenal has been financially, and what a great job Wenger has done.
Great managers win trophies, but how many managers have succeeded in creating a world class stadium without letting the quality of his sides drop considerably? Most would say that the Invincibles were Wenger's greatest achievement, but I think the Ashburton Grove comes very close to being his biggest contribution to Arsenal. The scale of Wenger's accomplishment is not appreciated. The stadium, with capacity more than 60,000 people, has virtually ensured a bright future for us. An increase in 20,000 seats is a straight 50% rise in revenues, all else being equal. For added perspective, please note that Tottenham and Liverpool have been planning a stadium for years, without success.
One of the gripes of many fans is that Wenger has persisted with players like Denilson and Silvestre. Wenger does give more time to players to show whether they are good enough to play for Arsenal. But I think most people wrongly attribute his obstinacy as the primary reason for it. Some part of it may be his stubbornness, but I believe the financial condition, more than anything else, has caused him to be patient with players. If you had Vermaelen, Djourou, Song and Gallas out injured, and had no money to buy another defender, would you not have Silvestre play? Or would you rather play with 3 at the back? I think Wenger has created enough great players to trust him with building a team.
Anyhow, now the financial situation is said to be improving at the club. Of course, we are not in the league of Manchester United and Chelsea with respect to buying expensive players, but (apparently) the finances are still better than they have been for the past five years at Arsenal. This will be a true test of whether Wenger can make signings when needed, and whether he can throw out the non-performers.
This does not mean that Wenger can go ahead and buy a Berbatov for 30 million or Villa for 40 million. He will always buy good players a lot cheaper than other managers do; but now, at least he will be able to get the right player when the squad requires one. He will be able to sideline the non performers. He will not need to depend on Denilson to perform, because he can get in someone better. That in itself will be a luxury for him.
Fans must realise that Wenger's shrewdness in the transfer market and his ability to groom players has provided this Arsenal team a strong nucleus. Fabregas, Vermaelen, Arshavin and Van Persie are 4 players who can get into any side in the world. Song has been fantastic and at the rate that he is improving, he may become one of the finest midfielders in the world next year. In Sagna and Clichy we have 2 very good full-backs. We have a very good side in place, with players who have grown together; Wenger has managed to create this over a lean period. The hope now is that Wenger will have enough funds to finally make those 1-2 signings which will make us world beaters. It is an interesting summer coming up.
The only thing that the game managed do was to mathematically establish that we are now out of the title race. With two games to go, it is also more or less certain that we will finish third. It is a definite improvement over the last season, but still disappointing considering we were very close to winning something this year.
However, despite the disappointment, most Arsenal fans I know agree that Wenger has been working under great constraints. A very low budget has made it difficult to have a balanced squad.
And yet, there are also people (mainly in the press) who think Wenger is some kind of a myopic, obstinate idiot who refuses to buy only because he has faith in his youngsters. Do you think a manager of Wenger's caliber is not aware of whether a player is good enough? Do you think Wenger is not aware that his goalkeepers are poor? Do you think Wenger is not aware of how badly Silvestre has played?
Why do you think Wenger didn't invest in a backup to Vermaelen and Gallas, till he signed Campbell in January? Because he does not understand that injuries can happen and a backup is needed? Of course not! He didn't have enough money. As simple as that. One needs to understand that when a 10 million pound worth player is signed, for say 60,000 pounds a week salary, about 12 million pounds are spent on his salary alone, over the 4 years of his contract. There you go - so a player may cost 'only' 10 million, but you have got to balance the player salaries too. With Manchester United and Chelsea consistently purchasing players around the 25-30 million mark, we must understand how far behind Arsenal has been financially, and what a great job Wenger has done.
Great managers win trophies, but how many managers have succeeded in creating a world class stadium without letting the quality of his sides drop considerably? Most would say that the Invincibles were Wenger's greatest achievement, but I think the Ashburton Grove comes very close to being his biggest contribution to Arsenal. The scale of Wenger's accomplishment is not appreciated. The stadium, with capacity more than 60,000 people, has virtually ensured a bright future for us. An increase in 20,000 seats is a straight 50% rise in revenues, all else being equal. For added perspective, please note that Tottenham and Liverpool have been planning a stadium for years, without success.
One of the gripes of many fans is that Wenger has persisted with players like Denilson and Silvestre. Wenger does give more time to players to show whether they are good enough to play for Arsenal. But I think most people wrongly attribute his obstinacy as the primary reason for it. Some part of it may be his stubbornness, but I believe the financial condition, more than anything else, has caused him to be patient with players. If you had Vermaelen, Djourou, Song and Gallas out injured, and had no money to buy another defender, would you not have Silvestre play? Or would you rather play with 3 at the back? I think Wenger has created enough great players to trust him with building a team.
Anyhow, now the financial situation is said to be improving at the club. Of course, we are not in the league of Manchester United and Chelsea with respect to buying expensive players, but (apparently) the finances are still better than they have been for the past five years at Arsenal. This will be a true test of whether Wenger can make signings when needed, and whether he can throw out the non-performers.
This does not mean that Wenger can go ahead and buy a Berbatov for 30 million or Villa for 40 million. He will always buy good players a lot cheaper than other managers do; but now, at least he will be able to get the right player when the squad requires one. He will be able to sideline the non performers. He will not need to depend on Denilson to perform, because he can get in someone better. That in itself will be a luxury for him.
Fans must realise that Wenger's shrewdness in the transfer market and his ability to groom players has provided this Arsenal team a strong nucleus. Fabregas, Vermaelen, Arshavin and Van Persie are 4 players who can get into any side in the world. Song has been fantastic and at the rate that he is improving, he may become one of the finest midfielders in the world next year. In Sagna and Clichy we have 2 very good full-backs. We have a very good side in place, with players who have grown together; Wenger has managed to create this over a lean period. The hope now is that Wenger will have enough funds to finally make those 1-2 signings which will make us world beaters. It is an interesting summer coming up.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Arsenal Throw in the Towel
Although defeat to Tottenham midweek did seem to kill off our title ambitions, I could see a ray of hope when Chelsea were beaten at White Hart Lane. Even Manchester United, despite beating Manchester City on Saturday, showed glimpses of why none of the top clubs can hold an uncontested claim to the title this year. I therefore thought we were again going to rise from the dead and this indeed would be a vintage season.
I think it was my nature as a fan that made me hope in the face of obvious reality. Otherwise, why would I harbour such hopes with half our first team out injured? Anyway, hope I did, and by the end of the first hour, the 2 goals we scored further strengthened my belief. I was already calculating where, in addition to Liverpool, Chelsea would drop points.
What followed was catastrophic. After the first Wigan goal, where the Arsenal midfield was caught napping, Flappy-hands-ki made a trademark howler. N'Zogbia completed the nightmare with a fine strike.
Were were never good value for the 2-0 lead. We were not passing well, and we were not making use of whatever possession we had. We were not even working hard to close Wigan down. But we did go up 2-0, and a team of Arsenal's standard should have held on to the lead. It is embarrassing to see your side give up a two goal cushion, especially against a side slowly being dragged into the relegation mud-fight. I still cannot believe it happened. The 2 goals should have spurred us on, but instead, we played worse after we took the lead.
The title is beyond our reach now, and it is exhausting to go through all the same emotions again - seeing Wenger's exasperated face, talking to disappointed and angry fellow-fans, and hearing all the speculation about Fabregas that refuses to die down. Then there is the English media, which again has gone over the top criticising Wenger. This is the same press that had predicted Arsenal would be the victims of Manchester City's new found prosperity. This is the same press that said Alexandre Song was Arsene Wenger's worst ever signing and that Vermaelen was too short for the English game. There, of course, is no dearth of xenophobiacs spouting venom at Wenger. Some morons even ask if Wenger is the right man for the job.
Not that all the criticism directed at Arsenal is misguided. The lack of a world class keeper is something that even Arsenal fans have been complaining about, and there is a lot of merit in the complaint. I am sure even Wenger, who has worked with David Seaman and Jens Lehmann, is aware of the fact. Whether it is lack of funds that has kept Arsenal from buying a good keeper, or it is something else, we will never know. What is clear, though, is that Arsenal need a new keeper.
What the critics fail to notice, however, is that Arsenal did have some tough luck. Van Persie was in the peak of form when he got injured. Injuries happen, but he was ruled out for almost the whole season. Such injuries are not common. Also, van Persie is one of a kind. He is a striker and a provider in equal measure. His movement used to create havoc in opponent defences. Losing him for so long was a huge blow. Take Rooney or Drogba out for a season and see if they can cope. Manchester United struggled for 2 weeks without Rooney.
We faced a lot of other injuries too. We were very much in the title race before we visited Spurs, and against them, we were without 5 key players and with van Persie on the bench. A familiar response is "every team has injuries". Every team does, but usually the injuries are rolling in nature. A team usually has maximum 2-3 players of the first 11 out. How many teams have played multiple games without 5-6 of their key players? Vermaelen, Gallas, Fabregas, Song, Arshavin and Van Persie form the core of the Arsenal team. This cannot be disputed. They are the essence of Arsenal.
This is not to blame injuries entirely for our loss. Clearly, a team with title aspirations must invest in big squads, as Chelsea and Manchester United have shown over the past 5 years, and this year. Arsenal have failed to do so, for whatever the real reasons are. But what annoys me is that people do not acknowledge the handicap that a unique situation with huge debts and injuries has created at Arsenal. Wenger is working against all odds.
I guess we just have to console ourselves in the knowledge that we were so, so close this time. Wenger had performed miracles as usual, with the signing of Vermaelen, with the improvement of Song and with the 4-3-3 that just re-emphasised that we are the best football playing team in the league. We were looking like a title winning side with our first 11 playing. Last year, our first 11 was not good enough. This year its the backup squad that has been found lacking. There is definite improvement.
We are at a stage where our disappointment threatens to ruin all the work done in the season. We must quickly get over it and ensure we win the game against Man City, and go on to win all the remaining games. We must ensure that we at least finish third, and as close as possible to United and Chelsea. That will help ease at least some of the pain.
I think it was my nature as a fan that made me hope in the face of obvious reality. Otherwise, why would I harbour such hopes with half our first team out injured? Anyway, hope I did, and by the end of the first hour, the 2 goals we scored further strengthened my belief. I was already calculating where, in addition to Liverpool, Chelsea would drop points.
What followed was catastrophic. After the first Wigan goal, where the Arsenal midfield was caught napping, Flappy-hands-ki made a trademark howler. N'Zogbia completed the nightmare with a fine strike.
Were were never good value for the 2-0 lead. We were not passing well, and we were not making use of whatever possession we had. We were not even working hard to close Wigan down. But we did go up 2-0, and a team of Arsenal's standard should have held on to the lead. It is embarrassing to see your side give up a two goal cushion, especially against a side slowly being dragged into the relegation mud-fight. I still cannot believe it happened. The 2 goals should have spurred us on, but instead, we played worse after we took the lead.
The title is beyond our reach now, and it is exhausting to go through all the same emotions again - seeing Wenger's exasperated face, talking to disappointed and angry fellow-fans, and hearing all the speculation about Fabregas that refuses to die down. Then there is the English media, which again has gone over the top criticising Wenger. This is the same press that had predicted Arsenal would be the victims of Manchester City's new found prosperity. This is the same press that said Alexandre Song was Arsene Wenger's worst ever signing and that Vermaelen was too short for the English game. There, of course, is no dearth of xenophobiacs spouting venom at Wenger. Some morons even ask if Wenger is the right man for the job.
Not that all the criticism directed at Arsenal is misguided. The lack of a world class keeper is something that even Arsenal fans have been complaining about, and there is a lot of merit in the complaint. I am sure even Wenger, who has worked with David Seaman and Jens Lehmann, is aware of the fact. Whether it is lack of funds that has kept Arsenal from buying a good keeper, or it is something else, we will never know. What is clear, though, is that Arsenal need a new keeper.
What the critics fail to notice, however, is that Arsenal did have some tough luck. Van Persie was in the peak of form when he got injured. Injuries happen, but he was ruled out for almost the whole season. Such injuries are not common. Also, van Persie is one of a kind. He is a striker and a provider in equal measure. His movement used to create havoc in opponent defences. Losing him for so long was a huge blow. Take Rooney or Drogba out for a season and see if they can cope. Manchester United struggled for 2 weeks without Rooney.
We faced a lot of other injuries too. We were very much in the title race before we visited Spurs, and against them, we were without 5 key players and with van Persie on the bench. A familiar response is "every team has injuries". Every team does, but usually the injuries are rolling in nature. A team usually has maximum 2-3 players of the first 11 out. How many teams have played multiple games without 5-6 of their key players? Vermaelen, Gallas, Fabregas, Song, Arshavin and Van Persie form the core of the Arsenal team. This cannot be disputed. They are the essence of Arsenal.
This is not to blame injuries entirely for our loss. Clearly, a team with title aspirations must invest in big squads, as Chelsea and Manchester United have shown over the past 5 years, and this year. Arsenal have failed to do so, for whatever the real reasons are. But what annoys me is that people do not acknowledge the handicap that a unique situation with huge debts and injuries has created at Arsenal. Wenger is working against all odds.
I guess we just have to console ourselves in the knowledge that we were so, so close this time. Wenger had performed miracles as usual, with the signing of Vermaelen, with the improvement of Song and with the 4-3-3 that just re-emphasised that we are the best football playing team in the league. We were looking like a title winning side with our first 11 playing. Last year, our first 11 was not good enough. This year its the backup squad that has been found lacking. There is definite improvement.
We are at a stage where our disappointment threatens to ruin all the work done in the season. We must quickly get over it and ensure we win the game against Man City, and go on to win all the remaining games. We must ensure that we at least finish third, and as close as possible to United and Chelsea. That will help ease at least some of the pain.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Dreams End at White Hart Lane
**** Many many thanks to Sumit Gangwani, who has penned this article in my absence****
Couldn't have asked for a bigger game to ascertain our title credentials midweek. This game, where we have traditionally held the upper edge, was never likely to be easy. The Gunners were haunted by injuries to key personnel - our main defender, our best midfielders and one of our star strikers (or a 'forward', as you can call Arshavin in our system of play). The only good news was that dear ol' Robin was back on the bench. The odds seemed against us, but c'mon, it was Spurs, right? We have not lost to the spuds for 10 years now. Surely we could win here tonight?
The match started evenly and soon Sol guided a corner kick towards the goal only to be blocked by last man on the line. I thought it was going pretty well till that 19 year old imp scored the first goal through an outstanding volley in the 9th minute of his debut. On the first view, I felt Almunia should have powered the corner harder. But on watching the replays, I feel it would not be justified to blame Almunia. That sheer lucky brilliance of Danny Rose was destined for goal. 9 out of 10 times he wouldn't score that even in an empty net. But as I said, it seemed to be destined this time.
Arsenal's spirit was evident when they didn't even wait for Spurs to complete celebrations of first goal and started the game. I was happy seeing that they still wanted to win this game. Then came the moment which I believe changed the course of the game. We lost our best defender, our bravest soldier to injury. Vermaelen's injury was a huge blow. Le Professeur was left with no choice but to throw Silvestre on the field. With a huge challenge to surmount, we seemed mediocre throughout. We had a lot of possession, but failed to make any use of it. Not surprising from a team deviod of Fabregas, Arshavin and van Persie.
Minutes after half time, Silvestre showed why Wenger rates him below Vermaelen, Gallas, Song and even Campbell. Sometimes I feel bad about being harsh on him, but I now think he deserves all the criticism he gets. Yes, he is close to retirement and age has caught up with him. But look at Sol Campbell. He, as he once again came up with superb performance, proved that he still has lot of fighting spirit left.
We seemed to be devoid of any quality till the introduction of Robin brought a new life to the team. With his first touch, control, positioning and his shots, he provided Bendtner with a 20 minute lesson in the art of being a striker. Within a span of 10 minutes RvP was able to make 3 genuine attempts goal, forcing brilliant saves from Gomes. Wonder where we would have been had RvP been available throughout the season. I still feel a sharp pain just wondering what could have been.
As tears rolled down, Arsenal fans realised that the trophy will have to wait. Wenger has been successful bringing unknown talents to such a stage, but has no silverware to show for his amazing achievements at Arsenal. Going forward he will definitely need to make changes. I personally feel we should get rid of Silvestere, Denilson, Fabianski, Almunia and fill up the holes with quality players. We clearly lacked the depth when we had injuries. 5 senior players being absent clearly was a genuine handicap, but history will only record that we lost title at White Hart Lane.
No matter what, though, we love Arsenal we will always love the team and Wenger. In Arsene We Trust.
Couldn't have asked for a bigger game to ascertain our title credentials midweek. This game, where we have traditionally held the upper edge, was never likely to be easy. The Gunners were haunted by injuries to key personnel - our main defender, our best midfielders and one of our star strikers (or a 'forward', as you can call Arshavin in our system of play). The only good news was that dear ol' Robin was back on the bench. The odds seemed against us, but c'mon, it was Spurs, right? We have not lost to the spuds for 10 years now. Surely we could win here tonight?
The match started evenly and soon Sol guided a corner kick towards the goal only to be blocked by last man on the line. I thought it was going pretty well till that 19 year old imp scored the first goal through an outstanding volley in the 9th minute of his debut. On the first view, I felt Almunia should have powered the corner harder. But on watching the replays, I feel it would not be justified to blame Almunia. That sheer lucky brilliance of Danny Rose was destined for goal. 9 out of 10 times he wouldn't score that even in an empty net. But as I said, it seemed to be destined this time.
Arsenal's spirit was evident when they didn't even wait for Spurs to complete celebrations of first goal and started the game. I was happy seeing that they still wanted to win this game. Then came the moment which I believe changed the course of the game. We lost our best defender, our bravest soldier to injury. Vermaelen's injury was a huge blow. Le Professeur was left with no choice but to throw Silvestre on the field. With a huge challenge to surmount, we seemed mediocre throughout. We had a lot of possession, but failed to make any use of it. Not surprising from a team deviod of Fabregas, Arshavin and van Persie.
Minutes after half time, Silvestre showed why Wenger rates him below Vermaelen, Gallas, Song and even Campbell. Sometimes I feel bad about being harsh on him, but I now think he deserves all the criticism he gets. Yes, he is close to retirement and age has caught up with him. But look at Sol Campbell. He, as he once again came up with superb performance, proved that he still has lot of fighting spirit left.
We seemed to be devoid of any quality till the introduction of Robin brought a new life to the team. With his first touch, control, positioning and his shots, he provided Bendtner with a 20 minute lesson in the art of being a striker. Within a span of 10 minutes RvP was able to make 3 genuine attempts goal, forcing brilliant saves from Gomes. Wonder where we would have been had RvP been available throughout the season. I still feel a sharp pain just wondering what could have been.
As tears rolled down, Arsenal fans realised that the trophy will have to wait. Wenger has been successful bringing unknown talents to such a stage, but has no silverware to show for his amazing achievements at Arsenal. Going forward he will definitely need to make changes. I personally feel we should get rid of Silvestere, Denilson, Fabianski, Almunia and fill up the holes with quality players. We clearly lacked the depth when we had injuries. 5 senior players being absent clearly was a genuine handicap, but history will only record that we lost title at White Hart Lane.
No matter what, though, we love Arsenal we will always love the team and Wenger. In Arsene We Trust.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Key moments: Barcelona v/s Arsenal
No regrets from the game at Camp Nou. We came up against a side which is undoubtedly the best in the world, which is arguably at the peak of its form and which boasts of definitely the best player in the world. For all the pain the Champions League exit caused me, I have no complaints. Barcelona surely deserved to go through to the semifinals over two legs.
Arsenal played with a patched up squad against a Barcelona side which also had a couple of absentees. But it would be unfair to ignore the fact that we were without our main centre back (Gallas), our two most important midfield players (Fabregas and Song), and two most important 'forwards' (Van Persie and Arshavin). We do not have the squad strength that Barcelona have, therefore, getting a favourable result at Camp Nou was always going to be a mammoth task. What followed is history.
We all know about Messi and Xavi's brilliance, how well Barcelona hold the ball, and how beautifully they play in general. How hard they work trying to get possession back is exemplary. I am not going to go on about that again. But here are some of the key moments that contributed to our defeat -
1. Diaby makes a poor decision: Faced with a choice between playing a through ball to Walcott - who would have torn free for a one on one against Valdes - and making a not so important pass to Bendtner, Diaby chose the latter. Arsenal were 0-1 up at that time, and good decision-making by Diaby may have turned the match heavily in Arsenal's favour.
2. Poor defending by Silvestre and Denilson: Everybody wishes to play for this Barcelona team. Silvestre probably wanted it so much that he played a one-two with Messi. As Messi ran with the ball along the penalty area, with Denilson hopelessly following him, an attempted pass by Messi was inadvertently played back to his feet by Silvestre. Not something you get away with.
3. Messi again shows us that he has a short backlift: Silvestre played the ball back to Messi, but Vermaelen and Silvestre himself were not far away and flung themselves in the way. The way Messi took his shot was unbelievable. In a fraction of a second, not only did he hit it accurately, but he also found the requisite power to beat the surprised Almunia.
4. Arsenal fail to deal with the cross: For the second goal, a cross caused panic in the Arsenal defence and we failed to clear the ball. Messi showed great composure and quick decision making by taking a first touch that moved the ball beyond the hapless Clichy. We never had a chance once Messi got past Clichy.
5. Arsenal fail with the offside trap: An interesting statistic is that we are the team that has caught opponents offside the most number of times in the Premier League. We generally play the high line in defence. But against Barcelona, playing the high line didn't quite work out very well. Our defence was so high up that Messi took Kieta's headed pass almost from the half line, ran the entire length of the half, and scored without being challenged. We all know about Messi's pace. Playing a high line is very risky against a player who is that fast. The offside trap has to work perfectly in such a scenario. We took the risk and we paid for it.
These moments, for me, shaped the result.
Finally, all said and done, sometimes you just have to raise your hands and accept you came up against a superior opposition. Luckily for Arsenal, this moment doesn't come too often. But when it does, like this time, I choose to congratulate the winning team and hope that maybe we will get to their level soon.
Arsenal played with a patched up squad against a Barcelona side which also had a couple of absentees. But it would be unfair to ignore the fact that we were without our main centre back (Gallas), our two most important midfield players (Fabregas and Song), and two most important 'forwards' (Van Persie and Arshavin). We do not have the squad strength that Barcelona have, therefore, getting a favourable result at Camp Nou was always going to be a mammoth task. What followed is history.
We all know about Messi and Xavi's brilliance, how well Barcelona hold the ball, and how beautifully they play in general. How hard they work trying to get possession back is exemplary. I am not going to go on about that again. But here are some of the key moments that contributed to our defeat -
1. Diaby makes a poor decision: Faced with a choice between playing a through ball to Walcott - who would have torn free for a one on one against Valdes - and making a not so important pass to Bendtner, Diaby chose the latter. Arsenal were 0-1 up at that time, and good decision-making by Diaby may have turned the match heavily in Arsenal's favour.
2. Poor defending by Silvestre and Denilson: Everybody wishes to play for this Barcelona team. Silvestre probably wanted it so much that he played a one-two with Messi. As Messi ran with the ball along the penalty area, with Denilson hopelessly following him, an attempted pass by Messi was inadvertently played back to his feet by Silvestre. Not something you get away with.
3. Messi again shows us that he has a short backlift: Silvestre played the ball back to Messi, but Vermaelen and Silvestre himself were not far away and flung themselves in the way. The way Messi took his shot was unbelievable. In a fraction of a second, not only did he hit it accurately, but he also found the requisite power to beat the surprised Almunia.
4. Arsenal fail to deal with the cross: For the second goal, a cross caused panic in the Arsenal defence and we failed to clear the ball. Messi showed great composure and quick decision making by taking a first touch that moved the ball beyond the hapless Clichy. We never had a chance once Messi got past Clichy.
5. Arsenal fail with the offside trap: An interesting statistic is that we are the team that has caught opponents offside the most number of times in the Premier League. We generally play the high line in defence. But against Barcelona, playing the high line didn't quite work out very well. Our defence was so high up that Messi took Kieta's headed pass almost from the half line, ran the entire length of the half, and scored without being challenged. We all know about Messi's pace. Playing a high line is very risky against a player who is that fast. The offside trap has to work perfectly in such a scenario. We took the risk and we paid for it.
These moments, for me, shaped the result.
Finally, all said and done, sometimes you just have to raise your hands and accept you came up against a superior opposition. Luckily for Arsenal, this moment doesn't come too often. But when it does, like this time, I choose to congratulate the winning team and hope that maybe we will get to their level soon.
Friday, April 2, 2010
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.
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.
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