Instead, why don’t you head down to the pub to cheer on Fulham in a 12.45 kickoff against Man U? Then come home, pop on the radio, or try and find a decent stream to watch West Ham and Charlton scrap it out to decide just who is the worse manager: Pardew or Curbishley.
Then at half five, put your feet up and watch a bit of egg-chasing, with England facing Ireland. It’s always good to watch England lose at any sport – there’s a cathartic bliss to be drawn from the failure of one’s own national side. It’s just lovely having someone to be annoyed at. That’s why Steve McClaren is so useful.
Failing that, you could just sit and bite your nails all day. Your call.
Whoever triumphs in Sunday’s final, this year’s Carling Cup will be remembered for an astonishing young Arsenal side, whose swashbuckling style has seen them outgun West Brom, Everton, Liverpool, and Tottenham on their way to Cardiff.
Arsene has long insisted that he would keep faith with his youngsters, and he confirmed this by stating that Henry, Lehmann, Ljungberg, and Gallas will all be out of the squad entirely. So just who will start for Arsenal’s “B-Team”:
Goalkeeper: Manuel Almunia’s form has been outstanding in both cup competitions, and for the first time in his Arsenal career he is being seriously considered as the long term replacement for Jens Lehmann. A strong display on Sunday would certainly help his case.
Full-backs: I think that if all our players were fit, we’d see Hoyte and Clichy. Hoyte has played regularly in the competition, whereas Clichy has been used sparingly as an impact substitute. However, the inexperienced Traore has struggled with pacy wingers like Lennon, so it’s a slight concern what Robben or Wright-Phillips might do against him. So like I say, were everybody fit, I think Hoyte and Clichy would start. But of course, they’re not fit. If Clichy doesn’t make it, Traore will be seeking advice, and if Hoyte too is out, then Johan Djourou will fill in at right-back.
Centre-backs: Kolo Toure will start, for his experience and his leadership skills. Alongside him will be either Philippe Senderos or Djourou. Obviously if Djourou plays at full-back, Senderos will start, but if Hoyte makes it then it may be a close call: Senderos has a famously difficult time against Didier Drogba, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see Djourou picked.
Central Midfield: Considering Chelsea play with a narrow midfield diamond, I think Arsene might at least start with three central midfielders: Diaby, Denilson, and the captain, Gilberto. The elder Brazilian will sit allowing the other two to break forward and create. It’s a dynamic three that did well against Tottenham. What’s more, you can always drop Walcott back and make it a four with Diaby on the left.
Wingers: The aforementioned Theo Walcott is likely to start having been rested against PSV, with Jeremie Aliadiere cutting in from the opposite flank.
Striker:Julio Baptista will be rewarded for his six goals in the competition with a lone striking berth. It’s not his natural position, but fortunately these personnel do give the option of changing to a 4-4-2 fairly simply. I just believe that Wenger will try and contain Chelsea in the first half, before bringing on the cavalry in the second.
Substitutes: Speaking of which, if this tournament has taught us anything, it’s the value of a strong bench. Come Sunday I expect the likes of Rosicky, Hleb, Fabregas and Adebayor to provide options from the sidelines. Those four alone are enough to change a game.
I’m both nervous and excited about the game. Above all else, I think the youngsters deserve the prize for the way in which they’ve performed thus far. If they play with the same skill and courage they did against Liverpool and Spurs, they will be victorious.
Different competitions mind, but nonetheless it’s still exciting. Our impressive youth side will play at Old Trafford and the Emirates Stadium in the two-legged FA Youth Cup Semi-Final. The winner will face Newcastle or Liverpool to play for the most presitigous prize in British youth football.
But the real business is the first-team (sort of) and their face-off with Chelsea in the Carling Cup Final this weekend. The good news for us is that John Terry is almost certain to miss the game, with Micael Essien filling in at centre-back. The movement of Aliadiere and Baptista will give them some real problems.
One of the few spots open to debate is left-back. Gael Clichy has been used as a substitute to tremendous effect throughout the competition, but he is backing Armand Traore to start the final. The Reserves’ game with Portsmouth last night was cancelled, but the fact that Traore had been picked and would’ve been risked in such a game suggests to me that Clichy might get the nod.
Jens Lehmann won’t play, and you can understand why he’s slightly frustrated at being rotated so much. It’s important for a goalie to play regularly to retain sharpness, and the cup rotation policy has meant that his opportunities havebeen more limited than usual this calendar year.
Thierry Henry is also certain to be left out, which is just aswell when you hear that he has a foot injury. Interesting, perhaps, that he chooses to mention that now as he is being criticised for poor form.
ps. I know you some of you are irritated by the new comment moderation process. Sadly, I don’t feel I had a choice. 95% of comments still go through (including those criticising me), and some of you are already seeing the benefit of the new system. Keep commenting, and I’ll endeavour to keep moderating as frequently as I can.Â
Arsenal’s Pancake Day performance was unfortunately about as flat as the tasty snack, and there was a lot more lemon than sugar.
The first half was played at friendly pace. PSV were obviously desperate to keep a clean sheet, and yet it looked like there were goals there for the taking – Tomas Rosicky had an effort cleared off the line, and you felt that if we stepped up a gear in the second-half we could get two or three.
But we didn’t. Having been lulled into a false sense of security by the slow pace of the Dutch side, it was no surprise when the sucker punch came – a long-range strike from Edison Mendez. We had all talked about it in the build up to the game – Arsene, Senderos, and RvP – but they still managed to pull off their one-card trick.Â
And still we showed no sign of picking things up. There’s no point cross-examining individuals when the entire team played awfully. There was no sharpness, no movement, and no cohesion. The pitch was like a snooker table – we made it look like a bog. Our guys were falling over, miscontrolling – it was like we were wading through three feet of poo, not playing on what was for the time of year a fantastic surface.
The defeat means that a PSV goal at the Emirates would leave us needing three. It’s worth noting that they did defend very well, and it certainly leaves us with a tough task in the second leg.
It’s slightly concerning after the sub-standard Blackburn performance, but I think perhaps the midfield are just somewhat jaded. Based on their performances in Carling and FA Cups, it might be worth giving the likes of Denilson and Diaby a go to freshen it up somewhat.
Oh, and here’s some boring financial stuff. Technically, we’re in a better financial position than Chelsea.
Gilberto’s strike remains the fastest in Champions League history, a mere 0.05 seconds ahead of Alessandro Del Piero’s ’97 predeccessor. I’ve even gone so far as to have a bet on him scoring the first goal tonight, though I couldn’t get odds on it being inside the first 30 seconds. Shame.
That was almost five years ago now, but that goal contains a hint towards our possible tactics tonight: that early goal forced PSV to come out and attack, leaving plenty of space on the break. Naturally, we were able to exploit this, and ran out 4-0 winners. In recent years we’ve lost that ability to go at teams early and kill them off within twenty minutes, but a goal in the first half-hour of the game would swing the tie hugely in our favour.
With Justin Hoyte picking up a slight hamstring injury, William Gallas or Johan Djourou will play at right-back. With Gallas looking so short on Saturday, I’m expecting the Swiss to start. Abou Diaby and Theo Walcott have been left at home in anticipation of Sunday’s Carling Cup Final.
It’s good to have the Champions League back. But if we lose, it won’t be. Let’s hope its another successful night in Eindhoven.
Ps. Allow me to point you in the direction of this excellent piece on Thierry Henry. You can read some of my own views in the comment section, but I may also be publishing my take on Henry sometime this week.
