Archive for April 30th, 2009

“You will see a different Arsenal next week” – We’d better…

Add comment April 30th, 2009

It's a kind of magic

Manchester United 1 – 0 Arsenal (O’Shea 18)
Highlights here; Arsene’s reaction here

By the end of the game, I was somewhat hysterical.  As each United chance came and went without adding to their one goal lead, I found myself not cowering behind the sofa, but sat back, relaxed – laughing even, in sheer disbelief.  How was it only 1-0?  I felt briefly invcincible, like a man stood atop a skyscraper in a storm, daring the lightening to strike him:

“Go on, Ronaldo, have a shot.  It won’t go in.  It can’t.  See?  It hit the bar.  What did I tell you?”

On Tuesday night, Chelsea protected their goal with a performance full of tactical nous and committed defending.  Last night, we protected our goal with a combination of chance, voodoo, and the incarnation of a goalkeeping god in the form of Manuel Almunia.

Magic, of course, is a flawed science, and that’s my principle explanation for how United managed to score at all.  That and an abominal defensive mix-up which saw Adebayor, Toure, Silvestre and Song all charge away from three un-marked men at the far post, allowing John O’Shea (oh the O’Shame of it) to volley home.  At that point, I can’t have been alone in fearing the worst.  United had started like a house on fire – a house that was really good at playing football.  We, on the other hand, looked like we had expected United to go about playing us in a far more polite fashion.  “Why all the high tempo nonse?  It’s only the first half.” etc

In that first forty-five minutes, Almunia fade three fantastic saves to deny Rooney, Tevez, and Ronadlo, whilst our solitary effort on goal was a Cesc Fabregas drive that was too close to Van Der Sar.  When the whistle finally blew for half-time, we looked like a boxer on the ropes who’d been saved by the bell.

No personnel was changed at half-time, but we did manage to get more of a foothold.  We kept the ball significantly better, but still didn’t manage to create any chances of note.  United, meanwhile, became a threat on the break – rather than the red tide that had swarmed over Arsenal in the first half, it was just the occasional counter-attacking tsunami.

And yet the scoreline remained 1-0.  It could have got even funnier, had Nicklas Bendtner applied a more gentle touch with a header in the dying minutes.

Plenty went wrong – the deployment of Cesc Fabregas in an advanced role meant he just didn’t get into the game, Samir Nasri failed to thrive in a holding position, Theo Walcott had no service, Diaby appeared clueless on the left, and Emmanuel Adebayor was the undesirable combination of isolated and lazy.

At the back, meanwhile, we were disorganised (as typified by the United goal) and too often left exposed.  Whilst Almunia, Gibbs, Silvestre and Song put in decent individual shifts, as a unit we were too ofted vulnerable to United’s attacking power.

After the game, Arsene Wenger had the look of a man who had got away with murder.  Multiple, mass, horrible murder.  He said:

“Manchester United started stronger than us and if you look at the clear cut chances they were on top, of course, tonight. The positive is that we are only 1-0 down and we are still to play at home. I am convinced you will see a different Arsenal at The Emirates.

I believe we still have a chance to reverse the result. Football can be like this. We could play tomorrow and you would see a different game. That is why I still believe at home we can do it. The tie is still very open. United could have regrets because they could have scored a second goal, and it is up to us to make them regret that.”

From relief to belief in the time it took him to get from the dugout to the press conference room.  We ought to be out of it by now.  Hell, I’m not sure we even ‘ought’ to be in the semi-finals given the disastrous season we’ve had.  And yet we’re still breathing, and that in itself is a blessing.

Of course we need to see a different Arsenal next week – one with determination and imagination in equal measure.  But we also need to hope we see a different Manchester United – they were excellent last night, and must be wondering if they can muster that kind of performance again to put the tie beyond us in the second leg.

It ought to be over, but it’s not.  We’re still stood atop that skyscraper, bawling at the Gods, and who knows – the storm may be about to pass.

May 5th, 2009.  It’s going to be huge.


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