Arselona is Closer Than We Think

April 16, 2010

Wednesday night has left all right-thinking Gooners rightly depressed. Another season with no silverware, lots of debate about whether we’re moving forwards or backwards, whether Arsene has taken us as far as he can.

The following thoughts were penned after the second Barcelona game but before we played the Spuds. They are shamelessly optimistic but, even after this week’s despair, I still stand by them:

What was your reaction to our mauling at the hands of Barcelona? Most of the Gooners I know fell into two camps. The majority – philosophical sorts that they are – took it on the chin. They felt we couldn’t have been expected to do much more against the best team in the world, particularly with so many key players injured. They shrugged their shoulders, smiled ruefully and put it down as one of those things, before turning their focus back on our battle for the Premiership Title.

The other camp – the minority – saw, in the huge gulf between Barcelona’s performance and our own, a damning indictment of the Wenger ‘experiment’. “The Invincibles wouldn’t have rolled over like that,” they howled. “It just goes to show that Wenger has spent five years building a house on foundations of sand.” (I’m not a builder, but apparently building houses on sand is not a good thing. Not sure how they manage in Dubai, but that’s another issue altogether).  On the face of it these were two very different views: one fatalistic, one pessimistic, and the sparring between both groups spilled across the blogosphere for days.

But were they really such different viewpoints? In fact, on closer analysis both the shruggers and the shriekers were agreed on one thing: the current Arsenal team and style of play is a million miles behind Barcelona’s: at our best, we may be the sexy pretty things of the EPL, but when we share the catwalk with the supermodels of the Nou Camp, we’re revealed for the Essex slappers with ladders in their tights that we really are.

And this is where I would like to offer a different angle, a Third Way, as Tony Blair might put it.  After much thinking, pondering and scratching of the head after the two Barça games, I find myself reaching a tantalizingly optimistic conclusion, and it is this:

We are nearly there. We are not far from being Barcelona.

I reached this conclusion by thinking about what was really different between the two sides. The trite answer is that Barça have more money, better players and their players work harder.

But let’s examine those points: More money? Yes, they have been spending more than us (almost £100m in the last year, let’s not forget), but thanks to judicious management Arsenal are about to enter a period where we will have solid cash to spend on players and a sound financial footing for the club.

Better players? Messi is a marvel, Iniesta is incredible, Xavi is something very good that begins with X… all their players are comfortable on the ball. But think of it this way: If Tomas Rosicky was dropped into that side at the expense of, say, Pedro, would Barcelona become shit or would TR slot right into their pass-and-move footballing ballet? Cesc in for Iniesta – disaster for Barca, or business as usual? Nasri in for Keita? Clichy in for Maxwell?  Would the player weaken the team or would that amazing team accommodate the player?

With an Arsenal shirt on, Rosicky had a stinker in the second leg, but he is a player of real class, great technique and a footballing brain as we have seen on many occasions. So, too, are Nasri, Cesc, Song, Vermaelen and others. If Arshavin was playing for Barcelona we would be drooling over his performances. True, we don’t have a Messi and, on balance, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets and co are a little ahead of our players – but not by much.

Arsène has assembled a group of players who, with one or two exceptions, have the ability to play in the style of Barcelona. So why aren’t they? Why are they less than the sum of their parts?

One answer is that, good though our players are, we’re really missing maybe two truly world class players – a striker and a midfielder – players at the top of their game and at the right age – 25 or 26. Well, with the improving financial situation at Arsenal I fully expect Wenger to sign them this summer (and I mean two world class players in addition to a keeper and a central defender). I believe AW has hinted in his post Barca comments that he’s ready to do just this.

The third point is that Barça’s players work harder, and that one’s difficult to dispute. But in the early part of the season we, too, harried and pressed our opponents whenever they had the ball – it led to us outplaying ManUre at Old Toilet, even if the points went astray. After seeing Barça’s style up close, I believe Wenger will place greater emphasis on this part of our game in the future. He will add work rate to technique.

But there’s one big, big difference between Barcelona and Arsenal that I have not yet mentioned, and it is the most important one of all: Barcelona have won things, this Arsenal team have not. Barça’s team swept all before them last season and this year it has allowed them to play with even more confidence, even more freedom, even more swagger. It explains why they work so hard and it partly explains why they’re so good when they have the ball.

If Arsenal had that collective self-confidence, Rosicky-Cesc-Nasri-Arshavin-Song would be running up possession stats to equal the Barça boys.

The current Arsenal crop is very, very close to breaking its duck. Even though, following that oh-so-painful defeat at Sh*te Hart Lane, we’re not going to do it this year, it’s really important not to despair or turn on Wenger and the squad, because next year will be even better.

Wenger will bring in new, mature players this summer who have the required technical ability but who also have the engine for a high tempo pressing game. No other team in the Premier League could remotely hope to get close to Barcelona’s level of playing simply by the addition of two new players, but we can. We are streets ahead of other English teams in the style we play, and with a few modest adjustments we’ll no longer be bullied out of games by the Chavs and Mancs.

Arselona, here we come.

RockyLives

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Unbeaten This Century

April 14, 2010

When do you think was the last time Spurs beat us in the league? Here’s a clue – they haven’t beaten us this century. When was the last time they beat us at White Hart Lane? Again, not this century. The Spuds have beaten us twice in 15 years! Should we win or draw tonight, we will record a record breaking 21 games without defeat against another team. Does this entitle them to be considered rivals or laughing stocks.

The Spuds sit in 5th place, 4 points behind Man City with a game in hand – this is a vital game for them in their (hopeless) quest for a CL spot. Harry is already “bigging up” his team, talking his usual nonsense about how our North London neighbours ( I hesitate to use the word rivals) are on a par with the Arsenal, and how they have closed the gap on us (13 points and counting). What is in Spurs favour is their home record, they have been very strong at the Lane, unbeaten in 8, and conceding only 10 goals all season – the best in the PL. Add to this our lack of punch upfront, the absence of our top scorer, and a low scoring game is predicted – what price a last minute Bendtner header?

Spurs real hope in this game lies in our desperate injury list. With Fabregas, Gallas, and Arshavin out, we have lost our 3 world class players. There remains the possibility that Song will not be fit which will be another major blow to us. Can we win with half a team? Will the sight of RvP on the bench (I cannot believe he will start) spark us to victory? Can Sol overcome what will undoubtedly be a torrid reception to deny Crouch and Pavlyuchenko? Absolutely – we are the better team, end of!

I expect Spurs to start with Defoe and Crouch and bring on Pav in the second half. They are missing Palacios which is a big plus for us. Also missing will be Krankjar and Lennon. Back for the NLD is our old friend David Bentley, who is sure to be desperate for a big game. I am still smarting from his fluke last season at the Emirates and his celebration which relegated (or elevated) him high into the Gooners hate list. I wish him a frustrating night, and a long dejected walk back down the tunnel when he is subbed after an hour.

This game is a season breaker for Spurs. The loss to a dire Portsmouth will have sapped not only their enthusiasm but also their physical strength – 120 minutes on the dire Wembley pitch will exhaust any team, and they will wilt in the last 20 minutes, which is when we are at our most dangerous. I expect us to line up as follows, though I am rarely correct…..

GK

Sagna  Sol  TV   Clichy

Song/Eboue  Denilson  Diaby  Rosicky

Theo  NB

Eboue could well start ahead of Theo, it depends upon how brave AW is feeling and if Song is fit.

I have many WHL memories dating back to Black and White days, most involve escaping their neanderthal fans, but despite the annual avoidance of flying bottles and coins in Paxton Road, it is a ground with positive memories. One of my faves was a 0-0 draw (1997) when Spurs absolutely battered us and Seaman showed why for a few years he was the World’s best GK (if only we could find another like him). And who can forget the Liam Brady left footer in a 5-0 in ’78?

Those were the days when Spurs were proper rivals. At Highbury when the chant “Stand up if you hate Tottenham” started, virtually the whole ground rose as one, now it is just the hardy few. Is this due to song-fatigue, or because Gooners no longer harbour an intense dislike of our neighbours? I applaud Harry’s attempts to bring Spurs to the top table. I want them to challenge us, it is good for North London, good for both clubs and good for the fans. It seems wrong that we “hate” MU and the Chavs, they are not the traditional enemy – it is the blue bellies from the Lane. Think of the songs …… The W***y Tottenham Hotspur went to Rome to see the Pope”, “My Old man said be a Tottenham fan, I said FO etc” “We hate Totteham”, “You won the League, In Black and White”. These are proper Arsenal songs, fashioned in the heat of the ’70’s and earlier. We don’t have songs for Chelsea, and those we have for MU are borrowed from other grounds. Football needs the comedy villain and Spurs over the past decade have just been the comedy  –  who can forget the commemorative mugs when they beat our youth team at WHL in the Carling!!

I fear that when we beat  Spurs tonight they will roll over in their games at MU and home to the Chavs. It is important to us that they do well in both but which would the Spurs fans prefer – Chelsea or Arsenal to win the title? No brainer is it!

The North London Derby is always a feisty affair and a draw in this game effectively ends the prospects of both teams (can anyone really expect the Chavs to drop 6 points?). We need the victory and that is what I expect.

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Posted by Erik the Red

Ritchie, Blair or Messi? You decide………

April 7, 2010

Alright, I know he scored four goals of great individual skill and single-handedly dumped us out of the Champion’s League, I know he’s the new Messi-ah and he’s going to light up the World Cup this summer, but bloody hell, didn’t Messrs Gray, Tyler and Keys have the hots for young Lionel? By the end of the game I was gagging on the great dollops of statistics they’d been shoving down my throat about the wonderboy; four hat tricks since January; Fifa world player of the year by the tender age of 22; already Barcelona’s equal highest goal scorer in the Champion’s League.  At any moment I was expecting Tyler to tell us that he is now officially the most famous person ever to have been called Lionel:

Tyler: “Surely the best Lionel of all time, would you agree Andy?”

Gray: “Don’t get me wrong. I loved Lionel Blair in Give Us A Clue and as for Lionel Richie, well… he could do it All  Night Long… but this little Argentinian – he’s something else.”

And he was. But that’s going to be documented just about everywhere else today, so I want to talk about the Arsenal.

There’s no getting away from it, we were well beaten over two legs by a team that is superior to ours. Yes, we were missing Cesc, Robin, Arsh, Gallas, Song and the rest, but even if we had had every member of our squad fully fit we would still have been beaten. Barcelona are a team who play football the way Arsenal play it, but do it better.  Strangely, I don’t find this depressing, I find it encouraging. The fact that the best team in the world plays our type of football is a vindication of what Wenger is trying to do, albeit with fewer resources and in a more hostile environment  (if Barca played in the Premier League I wonder how many broken legs they would have suffered over the last couple of seasons).  I believe it will fire up Arsene to move us up a level in our team play and we will reap the benefits next year. And we may even reap some of them this year if the players show the same positive reaction to this setback that they did to defeats this season by Chelsea and Man Utd.

Despite the 4-1 scoreline we put in a better overall performance than we had a week ago when we drew 2-2 at the Emirates. This time we didn’t stand off the Barca players and admire their pretty passing patterns, we chased and harried them from the off, with Nasri in particular putting in an almighty shift.

Messi gave an early warning of his menace with a snap shot that was going wide but was sensibly turned round anyway by Almunia and followed up a few minutes later with a shot that dipped onto the roof of the net, but those chances aside it was a cagey start.

And then, on Oh My God! We’ve scored – we’re one nil up at the Nou Camp. Great determination by Diaby to win the ball in midfield and release Walcott running in behind the Barca defence. Theo did his best to mess it up with a lame pass to Bendtner but when his shot came back off Valdes, Bendy was first to react and poked it home – a finish of great determination.

I’m sure all Gooners really started to believe at that point, but the euphoria was cut cruelly short.  A quick Barca attack, the ball rebounding perfectly to Messi off  Nasri and Silvestre and it was 1-1.

To their credit, the lads kept battling, although every tackle seemed to bring a foul to Barca (Denilson was hard done by to get a yellow for a great ball-winning tackle on Messi). Then the Argentinian struck again on 36 mins, Abidal sending a low cross in from wide left and the ball again falling kindly for Barca. Pedro helped it on to Messi who took a lovely touch before placing it past Almunia.

At this point you’re thinking – if we can hang on at 2-1 until half time we’re still in it, but it wasn’t to be: Messi charging through a massive gap in our defence after Vermaelen was caught forward and dinking a sublime chip over Big Al.

The second half was a less spectacular affair.  We continued to chase but our final ball usually let us down and Barca were fanatical in their attempts to win the ball back when we had possession. On a couple of occasions where we were stringing passes together we ended up going backwards towards our own goal, such was Barcelona’s pressure.

Pep Guardiola, keen not to repeat the mistakes made at the Emirates, brought on Yaya Toure to keep things tight and for most of the second half Barca played at a slower tempo, keeping the ball.

We had a couple of half chances – Bendtner’s touch letting him down in the box, Rosicky firing high from the edge of the area and Bendtner hitting the post with a header (which wouldn’t have counted as he was flagged for offside), but it never seemed likely that a goal would come.

Eboue came on for Silvestre, with Sagna moving to central defence; Eduardo replaced the tired-looking Rosicky, but nothing really changed and Barcelona’s and Messi’s fourth goal was not a big surprise. He did well to hold off Vermaelen in the box, but when Almunia saved his shot the ball again fell kindly for the Argentine and he slotted between Al’s legs.

Full time 4-1, aggregate 6-3 and you couldn’t disagree when Arsene said Barelona were better than us.

But this team can push on and get better. We clearly need a world class finisher – let’s hope Chamakh is that man (if the rumours are true) and some of our young players need more experience, but if we take one lesson away from these two games it’s that pretty football is not enough on its own. Barcelona play like thoroughbreds but they work like shire horses – and we need to start doing the same.

Next stop, the terrible Totts. A win there will soon put this honourable defeat into perspective.

Player Ratings:

Almunia: Can’t fault him for any of the goals (he was particularly unlucky for the fourth) and he made a couple of decent stops.   He kicked long too many times when he could have played it to one of the defenders, thereby ceding possession to best ball-holding side in the world. 6

Sagna: Worked hard, made a couple of good forward breaks with little end product. 6

Clicy: Good game, constantly trying to get forward and coped moderately well with the waves of Barca attacks. 7

Vermaelen:  Was stranded up field for Messi’s third. He and Silvestre struggled with Barca’s movement (but so would most defenders). 6

Silvestre: Did OK. Unfairly blamed by some for Messi’s first (check out the replays: it bounced off Nasri an instant before MS played it). 6

Denilson: Worked hard, but was occasionally caught in possession and final ball not great. 6

Diaby: Much improved performance compared with his showing in the first leg. Battled hard and set up Bendtner’s goal. 7

Nasri: It didn’t always come off for him and his final ball was sometimes wayward, but he worked his socks off, closed down the Barca players all night and was involved in some of our better forward moves. MotM (for us – there might just be a different candidate for overall MotM). 7.5

Rosicky: I thought he was our best player on Saturday, but looked leggy in this game and was responsible for a lot of lost possession. 5

Walcott: Started brightly but faded. 6

Bendtner: Never stops trying and took his goal well, but just lacks that bit of class in games like this one.  6.5

Subs:

Eboue: Did his best but the game was already lost when he came on. 6

Eduardo: No real chance to get in the game. N/A

By our guest writer RockyLives

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Something About Henry

April 6, 2010

As The Arsenal’s pending trip to Camp Nou draws closer, let us spare a thought for the largely unsung heroes, The Away Fans, always outnumbered, but never out gunned. Week in, week out, they follow their beloved team around Blighty & Europe, always providing that little piece of home for the players and management when away on their various crusades.

On Tuesday April 6th 2010, a few thousand Gooners will set up their battle standards in a small pocket of enemy territory, somewhere in Catalonia, and with this, I cannot help but draw upon another famous date in English history, Friday 25 October 1415 The Battle of Agincourt.

For those who are not familiar with the Battle of Agincourt, it was a major English victory against a larger French army during the Hundred Years’ War. The battle occurred in northern France. The victory brought France to its knees.

The battle is notable for the use of the English longbow, which Henry employed in very large numbers, with English and Welsh longbowmen forming the vast majority of his army. The French army numbered some 50,000, whereas the English and Welsh amounted to only 8 to 10,000.

One English account describes the day before the battle as a day of remorse in which the English soldiers cleansed themselves of their sins to avoid Hell if they died. By contrast, the French were confident that they would prevail and were eager to fight. The French believed they would triumph over the English not only because their force was larger, fresher and better equipped, but also because the large number of noble men-at-arms would have considered themselves superior to the assembled commoners (such as the longbowmen) in the English army.

The French suffered heavily.

Fast forward some 595 years. Barcelona, although they won’t admit it publicly yet, believe they will triumph over The Arsenal not only because they are a bigger club and their players are better equipped to play total football, but also because they think La Liga  is superior to the Premier League.

So, I say, bring it on Barcelona. History proves that a Champion Team will beat a team of champions. And for those few thousand Glorious Gooners who stand proud at the final whistle, may we salute your conquest as we would have the long bowmen all those years ago. Give’em the old V sign, complimented by a nice big raspberry.

But may we also give praise to the name Henry, even though this time round  he will be on the losing side.

Regards GG9

Footnote: The French claimed that they would cut off the arrow-shooting fingers of all the English longbowmen after they had won the battle at Agincourt. But of course, the English came out victorious and showed off their two fingers, still intact.

I wrote this piece prior to the Brum draw, & things have changed since, especially with respect to personnel. With respect to this, may I add the line made famous by Winnie the Pooh (Churchill)

“Never was so much owed by so many to so few”

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Barça will welcome the walking wounded

April 1, 2010

Morning all, our engine room got its wires a bit crossed this morning and so the much awaited euolgy from our favourite match reporter London is not yet ready to hit the presses.

Theres a lot to talk about following last nights amazing come-back.  Our team came from 2-0 down to draw with a Barcelona side that showed us and the world how to boss a game with awesome skill. In the first 20 minutes we hardly had a touch of the ball but managed to get to half-time still level following some amazing defending and goal-keeping from Almunia.

The chances taken by Arsène Wenger to play both Fabregas and Gallas were clearly a mistake as it seems possible that neither will play now for the rest of the season. Arshavin also left the field early and went straight down the tunnel. It means that many of our 2nd string players will be called into action for not only the return fixture but for the remaining games this season.

As I said lots to talk about, so lets get chatting and hopefully we can enjoy Londons post a bit later on.

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

European Nights to Remember

March 30, 2010

As one who for many reasons no longer goes to live matches, it is the European nights I miss the most.

Special nights these, wonderful nights. Even the approach to the floodlit ground is different, the excitement is palpable. “Champions league”, the name says it all. Only the best get here. Groups of visiting fans converge on the stadium, conversing in foreign languages, chanting and singing unintelligible songs with familiar tunes.

They push unashamedly at burger bars and in that holy of holies, the Highbury fish bar, not having been raised in the British habit of orderly queuing. Street traders rip off our guests wholesale, as they grapple with an unfamiliar currency, whilst collecting the promised souvenir for kids back home. Extra police, many mounted, ignore the touts moving through the crush asking for spare tickets to resell.

Into the ground, up to your seat, looking down on that magnificent pitch, the centrepiece, a beautiful lush green stage, waiting for the players and the drama that will surely unfold. The glare of the lights emphasising and enhancing the myriad colours that assault the senses.

Gooners of all shapes and sizes stand restless, unable to sit or relax, thumbing through programmes, glossy pictorial reminders of triumphs past on nights like this and featuring the cast list for the upcoming performance.

A special buzz circulates the ground fuelled by excitement and apprehension. The tension can be felt, the familiar somehow becomes unfamiliar. Yes the same seat and view, but still it’s different, an unknown quantity. These are not regular visitors, a familiar adversary, but foes from across the water, foreigner’s playing the game we invented and now here to try and show us how it’s done.

The teams enter the arena, the roar grows to a crescendo; strong men go weak at the knees, older men weak in the bowels. Anthems play, sound reverberates from side to side, round and round the home of football.

Triumph or disaster it’s now in the lap of the football gods. Foreign referees, dressed in yellow with arms like windmills as befits their need to be noticed and love of a show, book the tacklers, but welcome the wrestlers as part of the game.

Italian and Argentinean hard men compete alongside Spanish maestros and Latino divers, who throw themselves to the ground at the least suggestion of a touch, convulse acrobatically in simulated death throes, prior to a heroic recovery on the stretcher. Each act carefully choreographed, orchestrated and designed simply to break up the flow of the game and waste playing time. Presenting unfamiliar challenges and frustrations to home based fans and players alike, reared on a diet of frantic, high-speed premiership football.

The next hour and three quarters will not only decide which team progresses, but also make or ruin thousands of supporter’s, night, week, or year depending on the result and degree of obsession.

Oh yes, I miss those nights. If you’re fortunate enough to be going, shout for me too. Win or lose, hang on to the moment, for they are extra special nights, an experience to be treasured and stored safe in the memory for when the years have passed and age catches up with you.

My favourite European memory? Easy. Jon Sammels, a class act, oft derided like Bendy and Theo, scoring against Anderlecht, to bring not only the first ever-European trophy to Highbury, but also the first trophy of any kind for 17 years and start the rise of the Modern Arsenal.

By our Guest Writer dandan



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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Nothing to Fear …. but fear itself

March 18, 2010

I love being in the Champions League. Even without the need to qualify, it’s one of the first games of the season. The rush to the stadium on a late summer’s evening, the excitement at hearing the unsingable Champions League anthem. ‘These are the champions’ or whatever the words are  – it doesn’t matter what they are, we’re in the Champions League and  that’s very special.

We expect to be there. It’s an exclusive club. Even in the past four years when it’s been possible for some lesser club to take our place (you know the one), I’ve always believed we’d qualify. I’ve bet other gooners we’d qualify. I’ve never collected, I was always just delighted that once again we’d claimed our rightful place amongst the cream of Europe’s élite clubs.

This season, barring a real disaster, we’re not worrying about whether we’ll qualify for 2011, but who we’ll face in the quarter finals this year. We can go all the way as we did in 2006, and that belief stems from the desire and yes Arsène’s much quoted ‘team spirit’ – our boys have come of age. We won’t be a pushover for any team in the next round and I expect most will fear us.

Last season, we had signed Arshavin, but couldn’t play him as he was cup-tied – remember the FA cup semi when he was ‘rested’ apparently to show the other players that they could win without him!  This season he will be our ‘not-so secret’ secret weapon. The omens are good.  We have players that opposition teams across Europe will fear – Cesc, AA, Nasri, Rosicky, Theo, Vermaelen and even Nikki qualifies after his hat-trick against Porto last week. The possibility that van Persie will play some part in the final stages is encouraging too.

Only the mancs will be thinking that we are a soft touch. The boss has said he’d be happy to be drawn against manure, and there are those amongst us who agree. I’m not so sure, let someone else knock them out – I’m sure Mourinho would love to oblige.

After last night’s results, the eight quarter finalists are:   Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, CSKA Moskow, Manu, Lyon, Barçelona and Bordeaux. There are no easy ties at this stage, we will have to beat whoever we are drawn against. CSKA would seem to be the weakest opponents, but what a message we’d send out if we beat one of the favourites.

If the fairy tale is to continue, then the bigger teams will be saved for the final showdown. I’d prefer not to play Barçelona in this round – a game against Barçelona should surely be the final at the 80,354 seater Santiago Bernabéu. It would be our chance to right the wrong of the 2006 final. TH14 played for us that night in Paris and some believe he missed a sitter that could have won us our first CL title. He won his CL medal last year with Barça and is not the player he was when wearing the red and white.

So tomorrow the draw will be made. The theory that M Platini would like to see an end to the dominance of English teams in recent years will be surely tested. If we are drawn against the mancs, many will suspect that it’s too much of a coincidence. – me, I wouldn’t mind a trip to Inter or Lyon in this round, but whoever we draw, I say ‘BRING IT ON’ – we have nothing to fear.

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Posted by peachesgÖÖner

Don’t you just love being an Arsenal supporter?

March 10, 2010

A barnstorming display from Bendtner, a goal of pure genius from Nasri and an all round controlled performance from the rest of the good guys enabled us to power past Porto and onto the quarter finals.

The tension we were all feeling before this game turned out to be unnecessary as the five goal thriller unfolded in front of our eyes.  Porto were pants but just how poor, we were not to know and neither were the team.

In preparation Sol, wearing the glorious red and white again for the first time in ages, went round to each player like a captain in the trenches preparing his troops with fortifying words readying them for the task ahead. The whistle blew and our boys were up and over, no shirkers here; there was no doubting that Sol’s spirit would hold up, the only question was whether his body could but whenever he looked in doubt he had the heart felt support of every Arsenal supporter willing him on.

The pressure was taken off him and the rest of us when Bendtner put us ahead early on. The Great Dane could not have wanted for a more perfect opportunity, not because it was easy but rather that there was no time to let the doubts of Saturday creep in, instinct to finish was all that was required and he did not disappoint. Nasri played a through ball to Arshavin who sprinted towards goal with purpose, their keeper dived at his feet, the ball popped out and Bendtner was at the right place at the right time yet again to slide in and poke the ball home.

The early goal settled our nerves, real belief started to run throughout the team. Song and Diaby were in the middle performing an old Vieira and Petit number and then there was Arshavin out on the wing who one minute was slaloming through the Porto defence as if they weren’t there and the next he was playing a suicide ball across the midfield just ripe for Porto to run onto and score fortunately as we know that didn’t happen but did he look concerned when it happened? No he didn’t, he just shrugged his shoulders.

There was something different about Arshavin’s mannerisms, something I just couldn’t put my finger on and then, after some thought, it dawned on me: he’s gone French, all that Frenchness in the dressing room has rubbed off on him, the Gallic shrug of the shoulders, the look of how could I possibly be wrong on his face — and the absolute genius in the rest of his play: he tortured Porto.

The Russian deserves all the credit for the second goal he went past three defenders as if they weren’t there before firing a low drive across the box for Bendtner to tap in his second. This goal obviously helped but it didn’t put the tie to bed.

Porto came out in the second half knowing that if they didn’t do something they were out and for ten minutes we had to deal with the nail biting question of what happens if they score, this was all made academic when not long after Nasri scored the best goal that has ever been scored in the short history of the Emirates.  He weaved his way around most of the Porto defence like an unstoppable spinning top before powering the ball past their keeper, he knew how good that goal was and so did we. This goal was the cue to sit back, relax start roasting crumpets on the open fire and enjoy the show and what a show we still had in store.  There was one star fish from Eboue followed by his superbly finished forth in a way that Thierry Henry at his height would have been proud of. And what’s more there was still time for Bendtner to get his hat trick.  What a fantastic night’s entertainment.

Player ratings:

Almunia: a rare clean sheet but a very important one. I still say that him watching the first leg at Porto reassured him more than any other event. 7

Sagna: this man is like a thoroughbred horse he needs resting from time to time to get the best out of him. Tip-top defending and you could see the concentration on his face just before he was about to cross the ball, he has obviously been practising. 8

Campbell: don’t you just love him; any man that revives the “Invincibles Huddle” can do no wrong with me. 7

Vermaelen: this man holds the key to our success, we can cope with an injury to almost any other player except the Belgian. If you think of the alternatives they are scary, he did the job of two players having to make up for Sol’s lack of pace and because of that I make the Vermanator my man of the match. 8.5

Clichy: absolutely brilliant, there is nothing more pleasing than to be proved wrong about a player. I feared he would never return to form after his recent injury, I was wrong: a classy determined display. 8

Diaby: patrolled the middle of the park with skill and authority this man visibly improves week on week. 8

Song: another commanding performance, he is going to be the best in the world in his position when he is twenty six. 8

Nasri: he is starting to come into his own now, and what a great time to do it. The young Zidane they say and I would not try and disagree. 8

Rosicky: a clever choice this by Wenger over the expected Walcott, the Czech keeps the ball better and adds more to the defence, he was part of the plan to contain Porto in the first part of the game before releasing Theo, if we were ahead, or throw on Eduardo if we were behind. 7.5

Bendtner: how many Bendtners does it take to change a light bulb? How many light bulbs have you got. What a way to answer your critics, the hat trick hero deserves all the praise he gets. 8

Arshavin: I wonder who the opposition would have to be for the Russian to deem them worthy enough to give his full attention. He gave the impression that Porto were beneath him and would only turn it on if and when he felt like it, but when he did it was pure genius. 8

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