Thursday, March 31, 2011

David Rocastle 1967 - 2001

David Rocastle died on March 31, 2001, aged just 33. Later that day, fans of Arsenal and Tottenham stood united in silence to remember the former Gunner before a North London derby. It said much about the respect Rocastle commanded at Highbury and beyond. ‘Rocky’ was a true gentleman of the game.

The Lewisham lad came through the ranks at the Club in the mid-1980s bringing flair and flashes of brilliance in front of Arsenal’s dogged defence. He was a player at which the infamous ‘Boring, Boring Arsenal’ chant could not be levied.

Rocastle forced himself into the senior reckoning just as Don Howe’s Highbury reign was coming to an end. It was in these early showings that fans caught a glimpse of the abundant talent David had in his locker.

He was awarded the Supporter’s Player of the Year award in 1986 and picked up his first major honour the following campaign after the Littlewoods Cup triumph over Liverpool. Rocastle’s growth continued apace and over the next two seasons he didn’t miss a League game, culminating in the title triumph of 1989. He ended the campaign as Barclays Young Eagle of the Year.

The Londoner had electrifying pace, poise and plenty of venom, meaning he could operate just as comfortably in a central or a more orthodox wide-right position. One thing was for sure, wherever he played, Rocastle could lift a crowd.

England recognition was just a matter of time. Indeed, before his 23rd birthday, Rocastle’s cap count had reached double figures.

A new decade brought a new, and a wholly unexpected, inconsistency. Rocastle missed out on the 1990 World Cup squad but fought back resolutely and eventually earned an England recall in 1991. His club form, too, resurfaced and he found his knack of weighting passes to perfection again. Rocastle’s blip was behind him.

Having played a major part in Arsenal’s title triumph of 1991, Rocastle flourished in the centre of midfield as George Graham’s side played some of the most attractive football seen at Highbury. His flair, allied to that of Paul Merson and Anders Limpar, conjured up chance after chance for Ian Wright, Kevin Campbell and Alan Smith. The title eluded Arsenal but the entertainment was non-stop.

Rocastle looked set to assume his new role for years to come but, in the summer of 1992, he was surprisingly sold to Leeds United. Rocastle’s career never scaled the same heights again as injuries took their toll.

When ‘Rocky’ lost his battle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a form of cancer, tributes poured in from across the football world. "He was a really top talent who had just about everything - he had all-round ability,” said Double-winning Frank McLintock. Rocastle was a top-class player - and a top-class person.

Source: Arsenal.com on 31 Mar 11

David Rocastle remembered: 10 years on

The midfielder – as loved for his warmth and charm off the pitch as for his skilful contribution to two title-winning sides on it - passed away a decade ago

Gone, but certainly not forgotten. Today marks the 10th anniversary of the death of David Rocastle, the former Arsenal midfielder who passed away at the age of 33, little more than a month after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. For any player to lose their life at such a young age will always be shocking but in Rocastle's case it seemed even more so. How, after all, could death come so early to a man who in most rooms and on most football pitches had always seemed to be the one most full of life?

A graduate of Arsenal's academy system and two-time league winner at Highbury, "Rocky" was always a crowd favourite, both for his creative flair on the pitch and warm, jovial personality off it. He did himself no harm by scoring a late winner in the League Cup semi-final win over Tottenham in 1987 either. Even now his name is regularly sung along with those of the present-day squad by supporters at Arsenal games.

The day of his passing, 31 March 2001, happened to coincide with another north London derby. There were fears that the planned minute's silence would not be observed, given the rivalry between the two sides, and even David Pleat, then caretaker manager of Tottenham had advised the referee, Paul Durkin, to blow his whistle to bring it to an end as soon as any there was any interruption from the crowd. In the event, however, the silence was broken only by the sounds of some in the crowd crying.

As one who was in attendance that day I can only say that it was certainly one of the most emotional such silences I have ever experienced. I was not there in 1991, when he chipped Peter Schmeichel from 25 yards out for a sensational goal at Old Trafford, but that will remain my abiding memory of his career – encompassing as it did so many of his footballing qualities: the strength to hold off one challenge, the footwork to evade another and the audacity to attempt the chip at all. And then there is that grin on his face afterwards, symbolic of the joy with which he played and that which he brought to the fans who watched him.

Arsenal have posted a fine tribute to the man on their official website today, and there are plenty more doing the rounds, but if you have any particular memories of Rocastle that you would like to share, we would love you to do so below.

Source: Paolo Bandini, The Guardian on 31 Mar 11

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Robin to the rescue for Arsenal

Arsenal's title challenge suffered a blow as their late rally was only enough to secure a draw at West Brom.

Albion were 2-0 up just before the hour mark when Peter Odemwingie capitalised on a mix-up between Manuel Almunia and Sebastien Squillaci to add to Steven Reid's early header.

The Gunners staged a comeback with goals in the 70th minute from Andrey Arshavin and 78th from Robin van Persie, but they could not find a winner and are now five points behind Premier League leaders Manchester United, who beat Bolton 1-0.

The Baggies, meanwhile, are a point above the relegation zone in 16th place as they were at the start of the day.

Arsene Wenger's team were in need of a lift following their Carling Cup final defeat and elimination from the Champions League and FA Cup over the last few weeks, but they made the worst possible start as West Brom took the lead after only three minutes.

Albion skipper Chris Brunt swung in a corner and Reid was allowed the space to jump and crash a header beyond Almunia for his first Premier League goal for nearly five years.

Aaron Ramsey - who was starting a game for the Gunners for the first time since breaking his leg last season - appeared to be the main culprit in failing to mark Reid as Arsenal's defensive frailties were laid bare.

Moments later Jerome Thomas won the ball and broke forward, sending in a dangerous delivery that just evaded Odemwingie.

The visitors started to gain more possession but were struggling to get a proper foothold and the game was temporarily halted after 20 minutes when Laurent Koscielny clashed heads with James Morrison, the latter having to come off for treatment.

While Morrison was off the pitch Arsenal showed some threatening signs, with only the head of Jonas Olsson preventing Ramsey getting on the end of a Gael Clichy cross.

Arsenal should have then equalised when Van Persie's header came back off the bar.

The ball dropped to Ramsey right in front of goal, but the Wales midfielder could only strike it straight at Scott Carson.

As Morrison returned with a bandage around his head the Gunners continued to press, Samir Nasri seeing a cross come off the legs of Abdoulaye Meite towards goal but Carson was able to avert the danger.

Van Persie tried his luck just before the break but his shot was off-target.

There was a substitution for each side at half-time as Albion boss Roy Hodgson brought on Marek Cech for Paul Scharner, who had also taken a knock to the head, and Wenger introduced Marouane Chamakh in place of Denilson in an attempt to give his side more attacking impetus.

Chamakh soon sent a header goalwards but it did not trouble Carson and within minutes, the Baggies were almost 2-0 in front as Brunt slid in to meet Cech's cross, the captain just poking it the wrong side of the post.

Wenger bolstered his forward line again with Nicklas Bendtner coming on for Ramsey, but just seconds later West Brom did score again - thanks in no small part to Almunia.

The Spanish goalkeeper came charging out of his box when Youssouf Mulumbu launched a long ball forward but completely misjudged it before getting in a tangle with Squillaci and Odemwingie gleefully slotted into the net.

The watching Jens Lehmann, back on the Arsenal bench after rejoining the club on a rolling monthly contract earlier in the week, looked less than impressed.

When Koscielny picked up a booking for a hefty challenge on Odemwingie and Van Persie blazed a free-kick over the bar, the Gunners seemed to be fading, but a slick move saw them suddenly pull a goal back through Arshavin, who played a one-two with Chamakh before turning and rifling a shot beyond Carson.

Marc-Antoine Fortune came on for Odemwingie but Arsenal began pouring forward and eight minutes after Arshavin's strike they found a leveller, with the Russian again the catalyst.

His looping cross hit the post and Meite was unable to deal with the rebound before Van Persie bundled it over the line.

Arsenal now looked the more likely winners, but Fortune went close at the other end, cutting into the box and seeing his shot deflect wide.

Play switched once more and the Gunners sent a succession of balls into the West Brom box, but there was no way through.

Jack Wilshere shot over the bar and Carson saved from Clichy at the death as Albion hung on for a vital point.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admitted his team's 2-2 draw at West Brom was two points dropped in the Premier League title race - but insisted it was an important one gained for the players psychologically.

With United beating Bolton 1-0, Wenger's side are now five points off the top, but the Frenchman had spoken ahead of the Hawthorns contest about the need for "mental toughness'' in the Gunners camp and in that respect, he felt it was vital the game was not lost.

"The pitch was very difficult for us and it was difficult to pass at top speed, so it was almost more down to character and resilience - and we have shown plenty,'' Wenger said. "Mathematically we lost two points, but psychologically I think we won a point, because when you are 2-0 down with 20 minutes to go, you cannot be too unhappy with this comeback.''

He added: "I said that no matter happened today, it would not be over, but for the team it was important not to lose. With what has happened to us recently, you wonder how we would have recovered if we had lost the game today.''

Wenger took issue with the playing surface but acknowledged that poor defending on Arsenal's part had been key for both of West Brom's goals.

He said: "The pitch was not at fault when we conceded the goals - we were at fault on the first and the second, we cannot blame the pitch for that.''

Reid rose unchallenged in the box to nod home Chris Brunt's corner in the third minute, with Aaron Ramsey appearing to be the main culprit in failing to mark the former Blackburn player.

Almunia then came charging off his line in the 58th minute when Youssouf Mulumbu launched a long ball forward and completely misjudged it, the Spaniard getting in a tangle with Squillaci as Odemwingie gleefully slotted into the net.

The watching Jens Lehmann, back on the Arsenal bench after rejoining the club on a rolling monthly contract earlier in the week, looked less than impressed. Wenger made his disappointment at the mistakes plain, but refused to refer to individual names and preferred to focus on the way the team rallied afterwards.

"I do not want to go too much into individual criticism,'' Wenger said. "The players involved in that second goal know what it was about and what was good was the reaction the whole team has shown and their fighting spirit. It will be interesting through to the end because we are ready to focus and ready for a fight.''

West Brom boss Roy Hodgson was unsure what to make of the result after watching his team throw away a two-goal lead.

"We are upset we couldn't hang on because it was a sterling effort by the players, but we were playing against a very good team. With the questions they ask of you in terms of defensive organisation, you are always going to be hard pressed not to concede a goal.

"It is disappointing to be 2-0 up and not get a victory, but on the other hand, it would be wrong of me to suggest that Arsenal got anything from this game they didn't deserve."

"It is always a point gained if you are in a relegation battle and playing one of the serious contenders for the title."

Source: ESPN Soccernet on 19 Mar 11

Boasts amid blunders

On an afternoon when his crumbling season so nearly fell off the rails once and for all, Arsene Wenger chose his moment to proclaim the most unpredictable title race in years is destined to finish with his Arsenal side being crowned champions.

The 'In Arsene We Trust' movement will join their hero in claiming this 2-2 draw at the Hawthorns was a triumph for Arsenal's battling qualities in a month when their bid for a Quadruple has collapsed, yet even the most loyal followers of the legendary Gunners boss must question the motives behind his lavish boasts on a day when the flaws in his side were exposed for the umpteenth time.

With howling defensive errors undermining Arsenal's attempts to emerge from their recent slump, the two late goals that staved off another defeat merely papered over the cracks in an increasingly desperate title charge.

However, Wenger told the gathered media at The Hawthorns that his side were on the brink of becoming kings of English football, even though they fell five points behind title favourites Manchester United after this draw.

"We will win our game in hand and beat United, which will be enough to make us champions," Wenger defiantly boasted on a day when his side conceded another sloppy goal from a corner and saw the latest calamity 'keeper moment from Manuel Almunia leave them in danger of what may have been a fatal defeat.

While Wenger had every right to laud his side's dramatic late fightback thanks to goals from Andrei Arshavin and Robin van Persie, the truth was they looked like a side whose bolt had been shot for the first 70 minutes of this game against lowly West Brom.

However, the excuses continue to flow from the Arsenal boss as he did all he could to deflect attention away from a team who are clearly running out of steam at a crucial stage of the season once again.

"The pitch was difficult for us to play on in this game," Wenger said by way of explanation for this latest disappointment. "Also, we were far too tentative, too nervous in the opening period of the match. Clearly what has happened to us in the last few weeks was playing on our mind in this game.

"Still, I feel we showed great spirit and commitment to get back into this game and when you are 2-0 down away from home with 20 minutes to go, a point has to be viewed as a good result.

"This performance proves we are ready to battle and we are up for this fight and, even though big the mistakes we made to get ourselves into a difficult position today were disappointing, this is not a moment for personal criticism. It was our fault we conceded both goals, but we found a way to get a good point in the end."

It's hard to believe a defence that is so desperately inept when defending set-plays has a realistic chance of winning the Premier League and West Brom needed just three minutes to expose Arsenal's weakest link once again, as Chris Brunt's floated cross was headed home by an unmarked Reid. Aaron Ramsey was the guilty man as he lost his man in the box at a crucial moment.

Accusatory finger-pointing from defenders was complemented with arm-waving from 'keeper Almunia, yet the lack of a leader at the heart of Wenger's defence had been exposed and the remaining 87 minutes of this game suddenly had the potential to decide the futures of more than a few high-profile Arsenal stars.

The response Wenger would have expected from his players would not materialise before the break, so his move to replace the persistently ineffective Denilson with Marouane Chamakh at the break confirmed he appreciated the scale of his crisis. The roar that greeted the departure of the Brazilian from the travelling Arsenal supporters confirmed that they believe he has long outstayed his welcome in this team.

Yet disaster was just around the corner for Arsenal as after 58 minutes, a long punt upfield inspired keeper Manuel Almunia to rush from his goal and collide with defensive partner Sebastien Squillaci.

If this was not a team challenging for one of the biggest prizes in world football, the comedy scene created by Arsenal's No. 1 would have been humorous, but Wenger did not see the funny side as Peter Odemwingie fired his shot into the unguarded goal to double the Baggies' lead.

The Arsenal boss threw a water bottle in disgust as his side had attempted suicide a second time and, at that point, it was hard to see how a side lacking inspiration and drive would find a way back into the game.

That was before a stunning strike from Arshavin and a fortunate leveller from Van Persie gave Arsenal a point the West Brom manager felt they deserved.

"We played against one of the very best teams in the Premier League today, so collecting a point was a fine effort," Roy Hodgson said. "This is certainly a point gained for us and, while we were given some help by Arsenal in the two goals we scored, that performance was close to the maximum my players can provide."
Those who witnessed Arsenal's efforts at The Hawthorns will confirm it was the display of a side who appear to be wallowing in their own self pity after going out of three cup competitions in quick succession.

These players seem unable to recover from a setback and respond in the right manner and that looks certain to deny them their final shot at glory in this troubled season.

Wenger's confident boasts after this game may well have been designed to convince his players that they will shed their defeatist mentality in time to enter the winner's circle come May, but you have to wonder whether even the persistently optimistic Frenchman seriously believes their moment of glory is a matter of weeks away.

MAN OF THE MATCH
Steven Reid. The Albion midfielder showed some classy touches and outshone many of the star names around him.

WEST BROM VERDICT
This was a gutsy effort from Hodgson's men and, while the two goals they scored were gifts from Arsenal, their energy levels remained high throughout. Time will tell whether they have enough class to stay in the Premier League.

ARSENAL VERDICT
Just for once, Arsenal struggled to produce the brilliant flowing football that seems to compensate fans who claim the entertainment they get from their team is more important than trophies. Even though this point may be useful in the title race, the Gunners didn't look like champions in the making at the Hawthorns.

EXCUSE CULTURE
Footballers will hide behind any excuse offered to them when they fail and Wenger may be guilty of providing his players with another get out after this latest below par showing. The Arsenal boss blamed the Hawthorns pitch for his latest setback, but the reality is the fragile nature of his players was a bigger issue.

Source: Kevin Palmer, ESPN Soccernet on 19 Mar 11

West Brom's Steven Reid knocks another dent in Arsenal's title tilt

Arsenal avoided another defeat, which appeared to be their fate for two-thirds of the match, but they have now won only one of their past six – and that was against Leyton Orient. This was very much a case of two points dropped on a day when Manchester United won to extend their lead at the top of the table to five. Arsène Wenger and his team still have a game in hand, but on recent evidence it would be reckless to gamble on them taking maximum advantage.

West Bromwich Albion were left in if-only mode after blowing a 2–0 lead, but they remain impressively resurgent under Roy Hodgson's restorative management, unbeaten in their past five and in the sort of form that should edge them clear of relegation. Both goals Arsenal conceded were embarrassing, indicating their need for a more reliable goalkeeper and rock-steady centre-halves. It is a recurring weakness and one that will probably leave Wenger and company empty-handed for a sixth season. The problem is something of a blind spot for the Arsenal manager: Albion's second was horribly reminiscent of the way Birmingham were gifted the Carling Cup.

The opening goal here, after only three minutes, was not much better from a defensive viewpoint. The centre-halves in particular were found wanting both before and after Chris Brunt's corner, which was needlessly conceded and hopelessly combated. When Steven Reid rose above Aaron Ramsey to power a header into the roof of the net, one wondered why Ramsey, and not one of the big defenders, was guarding the centre of the six-yard box. The thought also occurred that Jens Lehmann, back on the bench, would have made a better fist of organising those in front of him.

Arsenal threatened equality after 26 minutes, when Andrey Arshavin crossed to Robin van Persie, whose header rebounded from the crossbar. Ramsey, following in, had his shot saved.

Unable to assemble their customary passing game on an uneven surface, the Gunners needed a more direct approach, and Wenger sent on an extra striker, Marouane Chamakh, in place of Denílson, switching to 4-4-2. The desired improvement was still a long time coming and Albion should have doubled the margin nine minutes after the interval, when Brunt wasted Marek Cech's left-wing cross by shooting wide from six yards. The second goal was not delayed long. After 58 minutes a long, lofted clearance from Youssouf Mulumbu panicked Manuel Almunia into rushing out of his penalty area to deal with a situation that was Sébastien Squillaci's responsibility. The bounce of the ball confused both of them, each looking to the other as Peter Odemwingie rolled the ball into an untenanted net. When the television cameras panned to the bench, Lehmann's face was a picture.

Arsenal were back in it after 70 minutes when Arshavin, supplied by Chamakh, scored emphatically, left to right, and nine minutes later it was 2–2, Arshavin crossing from the left for Nicklas Bendtner to head against the far post. The ball bounced into the six-yard box where Abdoulaye Méïté's maladroit intervention could not stop Van Persie from nudging it home.

Arsenal would have won it in added time had not Scott Carson plunged low to his right to repel Gaël Clichy's goalbound drive, but such a result would have been hard on West Brom, who deserved their point. Wenger played down his obvious disappointment. "Mathematically, we lost two points, but psychologically we gained one," he said. "I'm proud of the spirit we have shown, which proves we are ready for the fight. We played opponents who were very well organised, on a pitch which was very difficult for us. That meant our comeback from 2–0 down was down to character and resilience. It was important for us not to lose after what has happened to us recently."

Hodgson praised his team's "sterling effort", and singled out contributions from James Morrison, who played with a gashed forehead, Paul Scharner, who was concussed, and Brunt, who insisted on taking part despite a high temperature. The Albion manager said: "It is always disappointing to be 2–0 up and not to get a victory, but it has to be a point gained when you're in a relegation battle and playing serious contenders for the title."

Source: Joe Lovejoy, The Guardian on 19 Mar 11

Wenger's reaction to the West Bromwich Albion 2-2 Arsenal match

On his mood after the game…
I am proud of the spirit we have shown. It shows we are ready for a fight. We made things difficult for ourselves with the second goal and we faced opponents who were very well organised. It was a little bit attack against defence, like you do in training. We were nearly punished because they had a chance in the second half before they scored the second goal. The pitch was very difficult for us, it looked difficult to get passing to the top speed. It was more down to character and resilience, which we have shown plenty of. Mathematically, we [have] lost two points but psychologically we have won a point because when you are 2-0 down with 20 minutes to go, you are not to unhappy to come back.

On West Brom’s second goal…
I do not want to go too much into individual criticism. What was good was the reaction the whole team has shown. It will be interesting until the end [of the season], we are ready to focus and ready to fight.

On the Premier League title race…
I felt, no matter what happened today, it will not be over. For the team, it was important not to lose. With what happened to us recently, of course, you wonder how you would recover if you lose the game today.

On the defending for West Brom’s first goal…
[I was] very disappointed. I think we were far too nervous and tentative in the first part of the game. They played with more freedom than we did. We were a bit nervy and you could see that the recent games had an impact in our mind. The team has shown great character. I am very proud of that.

On the state of the pitch…
The pitch was not at fault when we conceded the goals, we were at fault on the first and the second goal. We cannot blame the pitch for that. I just felt, with a team playing deep, the pitch slows the passing play down and makes it difficult for you. Today was more down to spirit than typical [and] technical Arsenal play.

On some frustrating mistakes…
That’s the Premier League this season. I have heard that Manchester United won in the last two minutes. It is the least-predictable season since I have been in England. So it will be down to consistency and, as I said, character.

Source: Arsenal.com on 19 Mar 11

19 March 2011: West Bromwich Albion 2-2 Arsenal, The Hawthorns

Arsenal staged a two-goal comeback at West Brom on Saturday to keep alive their hopes of winning the Premier League title.

Arsène Wenger’s side seemed to have suffered a massive blow to their aspirations when a defensive mix-up saw Peter Odemwingie put the home side 2-0 ahead just before the hour.

Arsenal had been trailing since Steven Reid’s header in the third minute and, despite having overwhleming possession, they could not break down a stubborn West Brom defence.

However, Andrey Arshavin put them back into contention in the 70th minute and then, seven minutes later, Robin van Persie trickled the equaliser over the line.

Arsenal fought frantically for a winner and came closest when Gael Clichy’s drive was saved by Scott Carson. Manchester United’s late victory over Bolton mean Wenger’s men have dropped behind in the title race but, after this massive scare, it could have been much worse.

Questions will be asked about the defence after this result but Wenger’s team gave a resolute answer to any concerns about their spirit.

Arsenal’s title chances were certainly damaged in this pulsating afternoon of football but the blow was not fatal.

They are still in the race.

There were two familiar names back in the squad this afternoon. Aaron Ramsey had come off the bench last weekend against Manchester United but this afternoon he started his first game for the Club since he had picked up that horrible broken leg at Stoke in February 2010. He replaced the injured Abou Diaby.

Meanwhile, Jens Lehmann was on the bench after coming out of retirement to answer an emergency call from Wenger. It was the German’s first Arsenal appearance since May 2007.

Elsewhere, Sebastien Squillaci replaced Johan Djourou, who is out for six weeks with a shoulder injury, and Gael Clichy replaced Kieran Gibbs.

This was a massive day for Arsenal. After the disappointments of recent weeks, Wenger’s men needed a fillip and, of course, three points.

However they would make the worst possible start.

In the fourth minute, Laurent Koscielny gave away a corner on the left which Chris Brunt swung over to the edge of the six-yard box. It found Reid, who pulled away from Ramsey before powering home a header from close range.

It was a horrible goal to concede and instantly put Arsenal on the back foot. They struggled to respond until the quarter-hour but, after that, would dominate.

On a difficult surface, the visitors took time to get their passing going. But gradually Ramsey found his measure and Samir Nasri started to have an influence on the right.

At one point towards half time, Arsenal were registering 74 per cent possession but it only brought them one real opportunity before the break.

It came in the 25th minute. Clichy raced down the left and clipped a cross towards the stretching Van Persie, who sent a looping header against the bar.

Carson stood motionless as the ball bounced back off the woodwork. But the keeper responded quickly when it eventually came down at the feet of Ramsey. The Welshman got his shot away but the ball bounced back off the body of the West Brom stopper.

Apart from that, it was one-way traffic and all in the direction of the hosts' goal. However the home side defended in numbers and, though thoroughly questioned by Arsenal, they always found an answer.

It was a massive half-time for Wenger and he made a decisive change. Denilson off, Marouane Chamakh on.

The Moroccan went up front, with Van Persie in support. Nasri moved to central midfield and Ramsey shifted to the right.

It was an attacking move. And Wenger would make another just before the hour when the Welshman made way for Nicklas Bendtner.

That came just after substitute Marek Cech broke away on the left and his cross was put wide by the sliding Brunt when he should have scored.

However, after the change, West Brom did find a second.

There seemed little on when Odemwingie chased down Squillaci in pursuit of a long ball on 58 minutes. But Almunia also came out to collect and so when the West Brom striker won the ball he had the relatively simple job of rolling it into the empty net.

Again, a horrible goal to concede.

Arsenal now had everything against them. And when Van Persie hacked a free-kick well wide it seemed that they would struggle to respond.

But in the 70th minute, Arshavin handed the visitors a lifeline. The Russian popped up on the left of the area and rifled a shot into the far corner.

It was Arshavin’s sixth goal of the season and potentially the most important.

And the Russian would have an massive influence in the equaliser eight minutes later. It was his raking cross that drew Carson to the far post and bounced back into the area off the upright. The ball got stuck under the feet of Abdoulaye Meite and the sliding Van Persie got the merest of touches to trickle the ball over the line.

The game had turned on its head and now Arsenal were looking for a winner. Van Persie nodded wide from a corner and Jack Wilshere saw his shot blocked.

In injury time Clichy strode forward and saw his effort saved by Carson low at the near post.

Arsenal threw everything at West Brom in the dying seconds but, despite scrambles, the goal would not come.

At the end, the players looked crestfallen.

This was a trip - even a backward step - but there is time to recover.

* A word for the travelling Arsenal fans this afternoon. As at Old Trafford, they were utterly magnificent in their support - a credit to the Club.

Source: Richard Clarke, Arsenal.com on 19 Mar 11

Saturday, March 19, 2011

And Then There Was One...

Last Saturday's defeat at Man Utd in the FA Cup ended a dismal fortnight which saw Arsenal eliminated from three of the four competitions they were contesting this season. Only one remains.

The performance at Old Trafford brought to the surface all the niggles and flaws of this current squad. Missing a couple of key players, the team still managed to conjure up some sumptuous approach play. However, their cutting edge was nowhere near sharp enough and defensive errors cost them dearly.

So, out of the FA Cup we went and that tournament went the way of the Carling Cup and the Champions League. The Gunners now only have the Premier League to play for. But is “only” the right word?

Ask any Arsenal supporter worth their salt what they wanted to win most at the start of the season and the answer should have been the Premier League. No one ever undeservedly wins the Premier League.

You can fluke the Carling Cup, the FA Cup and even the Champions League (as Liverpool proved in 2005) but no one ever flukes the Premier League. There are never any hard luck stories or arguments. The best team over 38 games always wins it. And Arsenal are now presented with a massive chance to do just that.

With ten games to play and their destiny in their own hands, the Gunners have a glorious opportunity to take the title this season. They now have no other distractions. With the exception of the midweek away game at Spurs on Wednesday 20th April they only have one game a week, providing plenty of time to re-group and prepare for the next match.

On the downside, once again, injuries have come at the wrong time. Wojciech Szczesny, Lucasz Fabianski, Johan Djourou and Thomas Vermaelen are all ruled out for the season. Cesc Fabregas, Alex Song and Theo Walcott are still a few weeks away from fitness. Of these, Fabregas would seem to be the key man. He is the one player who has the ability to elevate this squad from being a decent side to being potential title winners.

More positively though, with goalkeepers thin on the ground, it is great news that Jens Lehmann is back to provide some cover to the end of the season. I love Jens. He is mad like goalkeepers should be. He was part of the Invincibles squad. He won the 2005 FA Cup for Arsenal. More specifically, he has the sort of personality that will hopefully rub off on other players in a favourable way (maybe not Manuel Alumunia though!). If the presence of Sol Campbell helped matters towards the end of last season, then Jens in the dressing room will hopefully shake things up for the good this time round.

There can also be few complaints about the remaining fixtures. There are more away games than home matches but it still looks a shade more straight-forward than Man Utd’s run-in. United also have the considerable distraction of an FA Cup semi-final against Man City and a Champions League quarter-final against Chelsea. Arsenal couldn’t have scripted those match-ups better if Arsene Wenger had done the draw himself.

In reality though, what United are doing ought to be irrelevant to Arsenal. To reiterate: their destiny is in their own hands. It is up to the players to put the disappointments of the last few weeks behind them and focus on what can still be achieved.

Tomorrow they face West Brom away. However it can be achieved, they need to win this game. Who cares if it is the scrappiest game of the season or if Arsenal can only find a winning goal from an outrageous deflection or a mad goal-mouth scramble? What will matter is the three points. After that, the Gunners have an international break in which to re-group after a rough few weeks. It will give injured players more time to recover and everyone the opportunity to get their minds right for the closing weeks of the season.

In spite of the recent disappointments, Arsenal still have a massive opportunity to take some honours this season. It is now time for the talking to stop and the results to be delivered.

Source: David Young, ESPN Soccernet on 18 Mar 11

Match Preview: West Bromwich Albion vs Arsenal

Gone. Finished. Washed up. On their knees.

The labels applied to this Arsenal side in the past week are exactly those used the last time Arsène Wenger’s men went out of the FA Cup and Champions League in a matter of days.

Back then, Manchester United beat them at Villa Park on the Saturday then a heartbreaking goal from Wayne Bridge saw Chelsea knock them out of Europe at the Quarter-Final stage the following Tuesday.

When Arsenal trailed 2-1 to Liverpool at half time in the Premier League on the subsequent Friday their world seemed to have collapsed under the weight of their own potential.

However this was season 2003/04 remember, the unbeaten title triumph.

History tends to reflect success as an inevitable. But, in truth, this is never the case.

Robert Pires drew Arsenal level then, a minute later, Thierry Henry broke Liverpool hearts with an impossible solo goal. Wenger’s side won 4-2, secured the title at Tottenham and then would remain unbeaten but, at that point, the side that went on to be called the “Invincibles” seemed to have tossed away any chance of glory.

Right now, with his current side having gone out of the Carling Cup, Champions League and FA Cup within 13 days, Wenger knows the comparison between these two incarnations of his side is not only fair, it can act as an inspiration.

And, when he spoke at Friday’s press conference, the manager even drew a certain comfort from having been here before.

“I must say at half-time in the dressing room against Liverpool that day I felt that the team was really on their knees,” he recalled.

“They needed an ‘alert’ speech to get back and, on the day, Thierry Henry made a massive difference in the second half. Liverpool then accepted that we were superior but it was not an easy situation.

“The team at the moment needs a mental toughness too and to support each other.

“We are not in a disastrous situation. We are in a position where we have to be attracted by what we can achieve. We are not fighting against going down, we are fighting to win the title. So we do not want to feel sorry for ourselves; just go for it.”

Ironically enough, Wenger re-signed the “Invincibles” goalkeeper on Thursday and Jens Lehmann will be on the bench at West Brom on Saturday.

The German is 41 and had seemingly ended an illustrious career at Stuttgart last summer. He has arrived primarily as cover for Manuel Almunia but Lehmann brings baggage - namely determination, experience and a winning mentality. Arsenal need all three right now.

Elsewhere the injury list is still significant. Cesc Fabregas (hamstring), Alex Song (knee) and Theo Walcott (ankle) are still out. Abou Diaby (groin) and Johan Djourou (shoulder) have been added since the defeat at Old Trafford. In addition, it has been confirmed that Thomas Vermaelen (Achilles) is out for the season.

The only brighter news is that Nicklas Bendtner could be back after sickness.

West Brom are struggling to stay up but, at the same time, hard to beat under Roy Hodgson. The former Liverpool manager has only been in charge for three games but that has brought draws in the derby against Wolves and at Stoke plus a massive win at Birmingham a fortnight ago.

Those draws came courtesy of late equalisers by Carlos Vela. The on-loan Arsenal striker is not eligible this weekend.

But the other end of the pitch is the major concern at The Hawthorns right now; West Brom have not kept a clean sheet for 27 Premier League games. If they concede on Saturday they will break Burnley’s unenviable record. Arsenal, meanwhile, have taken 25 points away from home this season – the most in the Premier League.

“West Brom are still a footballing side,” said Wenger. “I saw them against Birmingham, they had a good performance but for both teams there will be a lot at stake. They will play with the idea that they can go down and we will play with the desire to get to the top.”

Those cup defeats have left Arsenal’s task crystal clear and their remaining ten games can be broken into three parts.

· A trio of relegation strugglers in the next month (West Brom A, Blackburn H, Blackpool A).

· Then top-seven sides for three weeks (Liverpool H, Spurs A, Bolton A, Man United H).

· Finally, the mid-table outfits (Stoke A, Villa H, Fulham A).

There is danger everywhere but surely winning the title pre-supposes nine points from those first three games and avoiding defeat against Manchester United.

West Brom are the only side to have outplayed Arsenal for 90 minutes at Emirates Stadium this season and won. That 3-2 defeat came in late September when Wenger’s side were struggling to mount a title challenge.

It will worry Arsenal fans that the catalyst for their revival since then – the defence - has lost a pair of major components, probably for the season, in their past two games – Szczesny against Barcelona and Djourou against Manchester United.

The Old Trafford side have conceded the most goals in the top four – a rare occurrence – and they are hampered by key injuries themselves. But, all season, they have had a canny knack of meandering their way to victory.

For Arsenal, a change of luck – pure and simple – would help. Not that Wenger is prepared to accept ill-fortune has been a factor. This has been the toughest two weeks of the season but the manager is still accentuating the positive.

'No. I don't believe [the Gods are against us],” he responded. “I believe you can have bad results in football. It can happen. What you don't understand is, if you look at what we did this season, it deserves a lot of credit.

“Now we have to put it right until the end of the season and continue to do as we did at the start of the campaign. Would anybody have predicted that we would be where we are, in front of Chelsea and Man City and fighting for the title? Nobody.

“We went out against Barcelona - it's just one goal, playing with ten men and we had a chance in the last minute to qualify. I don't think we have to be ashamed of what we did. We should be proud of what we did until now.

“So let people talk and let us do the job.”

And, despite everything, that job is still in their hands.

Source: Richard Clarke, Arsenal.com on 19 Mar 11

Thursday, March 17, 2011

The madness of Jens

At the age of 41, Jens Lehmann could be about to return to Arsenal. First XI looks at some of his most memorable moments.

Homeward bound (1993)
Starting his career with Schalke at the end of the 1980s, Lehmann swiftly established a reputation as an error-prone goalkeeper and appeared to have lost the support of the fans during a game against Bayer Leverkusen in the 1993-94 season.

Conceding three goals in the space of seven first-half minutes, the supporters vented their frustration at their 23-year-old goalkeeper.

Coach Jorg Berger decided a half-time substitution would be required.

"Jens, I'm taking you off now," Berger is reported to have said, adding that he would speak to him in the morning. Lehmann apparently misunderstood his remarks and simply went home. He was left out of the side for the next ten games.

Settling in (1999)
Lehmann eventually proved himself at Schalke and was a key part of the side that became firmly established in the top flight, but he sought a new challenge and in 1998 joined AC Milan. Six months later, his erratic performances had seen him relegated to a bench role.

"I can't stand it anymore," he said. "I'm not prepared to just live out my playing days as a back-up for [Sebastiano] Rossi."

In search of first-team football, and having said that he would "rather play for Schalke in the second division than ever play for Dortmund", he decided to join Dortmund.

Given the intense rivalry between the clubs, the Dortmund fans had shown hostility towards Lehmann from the start, with a banner in the crowd reading 'Once the enemy, always the enemy'. He was also, incidentally, booed by the Schalke fans throughout the entirety of his return with Dortmund.

Alienating the supporters further, Lehmann had, within months of his arrival, moved in with Dortmund legend Knut Reinhardt's girlfriend of five years, Conny, after the midfielder had been sold Nurnberg. "She was alone and I was alone," Lehmann explained. "It just happened."

Reinhardt was understandably upset by the whole affair. "When she told me, it was like someone had hit me with a bat," he said. "I have already considered giving up football."

Lehmann later married Conny, a Capricorn, and she lifted the lid on her relationship with the Scorpio in 2008. "Capricorns are stubborn and ambitious, like scorpios," she told Bild. "It's fine. By having a little argument, we can get things out there and then everything is settled."

Seeing red (1999-2003)
Having signed for Dortmund in January, Lehmann picked up his first red card in April when he pulled Timo Lange by the hair in a game against Hansa Rostock. "I was ill-disciplined and stupid," he said at the time.

Lessons, of course, had not been learnt. He managed to avoid a red card when he kicked out at Soumaila Coulibaly during a 5-1 win at Freiburg in 2002 as the officials failed to see the incident, but he was later hit with a four-match ban for "extreme sporting misconduct".

"I did indeed kick out at him, because I thought he had broken my kneecap," he explained. "Even as I was kicking, I wanted to pull my foot back, because I knew it was stupid to kick out. Sadly, it was too late by then."

In February 2003, Lehmann was sent off again ten minutes before the end of a 2-2 draw in the Revierderby with Schalke after he was shown a second yellow card when he stormed out of his goal to confront team-mate Marcio Amoroso. "There is no rule that the goalkeeper must not run out of the penalty area," Lehmann said. "They must have invented that today."

His team-mates, though, directed their anger towards Lehmann rather than the referee, Herbert Fandel, who said the goalkeeper's behaviour had been "unsportsmanlike". He added: "It doesn't matter if it's a rival player or a team-mate."

King Kahn's character assassination (2004)
Having spent seven years as Oliver Kahn's understudy for the German national team, Lehmann took the opportunity to try to depose him ahead of Euro 2004 as the Bayern Munich legend's private life became a regular fixture in the press.

"I don't have a 24-year-old girlfriend," Lehmann said, referring to the fact Kahn had begun dating a girl he met at a disco having separated from his wife. "I have a different life."

He added: "Rudi Voller once said, 'Good players attract attention through good performances over a long time and not through scandals off the pitch or talk'."

The comments attracted criticism in his homeland and Kahn retained the No. 1 spot for Euro 2004, but Jurgen Klinsmann opted for Lehmann at the 2006 World Cup. The pair appeared to have buried the hatchet as Kahn wished Lehmann luck and passed on a note from the German goalkeeping coach ahead of the penalty shoot-out triumph over Argentina.

Later interviews indicated the animosity had not subsided.

Having suggested Lehmann should retire in 2009, Kahn was asked in 2010 during an interview with Bild whether Lehmann should be part of the squad for the World Cup. "I had to make way for him in goal at the 2006 World Cup, and so I'm biased," he said. "I would say no."

Lehmann, in his 2010 autobiography, also claimed he was better at dealing with pressure than Kahn and criticised his rival's ability to read the game.

Pushy (2004)
Lehmann left Dortmund for Arsenal in 2003 as he again sought a challenge abroad and, though there were issues with his inconsistency and eccentricity, he was ever-present throughout the 'Invincibles' campaign. Three weeks before the end of the season, with Arsenal 2-1 ahead at Tottenham and moments from clinching the league title, Lehmann decided to shove Robbie Keane as a corner came in.

Referee Mark Halsey awarded a penalty and held a conversation with his assistant over whether to issue a red card. Lehmann escaped with a yellow, and Arsenal escaped with a 2-2 draw that proved enough to take the title, but the questions over Lehmann's temperament had been underlined in permanent marker.

"Lehmann is the Mr Mad of the goalkeeper society," Brian Woolnough wrote in the Daily Star at the time. "If he is not remonstrating with forwards, he is throwing the ball at them, treading on their feet, rushing off his line for confrontation with officials, and his reputation is now known throughout the Premiership."

Little squirt (2005)
As the Arsenal players walked from the field following their Champions League exit against Bayern Munich, Lehmann squeezed his water bottle in frustration and managed to squirt it over referee Massimo di Santis.

Lehmann instantly raced over, claiming it was accidental, and even went to visit the referee in his room after the game. Di Santis, though, seemed to feel it was deliberate and submitted it in his report to UEFA. The goalkeeper was given a two-match ban for misconduct and Arsene Wenger showed no sympathy.

"I cannot guarantee that he will be my first choice at the start of the season because he is suspended in Europe," Wenger said. "It is something I must think about."

Pantomime villains (2006)
Lehmann got a little pushy again during a 1-1 draw at Chelsea in the 2006-07 season, giving Didier Drogba enough encouragement to throw himself to the floor. As referee Alan Wiley appeared to have missed the incident, Drogba then retaliated by giving Lehmann the slightest push, prompting a slapstick fall.

Both were booked, and the incident was sensibly brushed under the carpet. "Nothing happened with Drogba," Lehmann said. "I like him. I think the handshake between us says it all."

However, it appeared his anger had simply shifted towards Frank Lampard. "Some of his team-mates insulted me terribly," Lehmann went on. "Lampard is a specialist in insulting people very badly."

Lampard, claiming the moral high ground, waited several months before talking to the media about Lehmann.

"For me, it's all in the heat of battle and nonsense to start talking to the media about it afterwards, but the other week myself and my cousin Jamie Redknapp were out to dinner in a London restaurant and Lehmann was sitting just feet from us on another table," he said.

"We acknowledged him and he completely blanked both of us. In fact, when he left, we walked right past our table and he didn't even have the decency to say anything - whether nice or rude! Perhaps Lehmann's more just sensitive than the rest of us."

Second fiddle (2007)
While Lehmann's taste for the irrational had prompted Arsene Wenger to consider his options in the past, it was not until the 2007-08 season that Manuel Almunia was confirmed as the club's first-choice goalkeeper.

"It's very frustrating," Lehmann said in December. "When I see the performances on the field, I get angry and I have to clench my fist in my pocket."

He added: "To be sitting on the bench behind somebody who only started to play when he was 30 is not funny."

The comedy continued, though, as Lehmann persisted in providing the newspapers with a steady stream of anti-Almunia bile throughout the campaign.

"I had to put up with it every day since he was out of the team and even before then," Almunia told The Guardian in April 2008. "I came into training this morning and one of the press officers told me he had been saying bad things about me in the newspapers again. It didn't surprise me.

"The truth is I have got used to reading these things from him. He can say what he likes. I come into training and I work with Lukasz Fabianski and Vito Mannone. They are better goalkeepers than him anyway."

Kleptomaniac (2009)
Lehmann left Arsenal to join Stuttgart in 2008 and, during his debut season there, his behaviour became increasingly erratic.

It reached a head during the space of two games in February 2009. In a 2-1 defeat at Zenit on February 18, Lehmann took out his frustration with his defence by ripping off team-mate Khalid Boulahrouz's headband and throwing it in the direction of the ball boys.

On February 21, in a 3-3 draw at home to Hoffenheim, Lehmann found a boot belonging to opposing midfielder Sejad Salihovic, who had just picked up a booking after injuring Arthur Boka. The goalkeeper collected the boot and threw it onto the top of his goal.

"That behaviour was highly unsportsmanlike," Hoffenheim boss Ralf Rangnick said. "I must say that I've always had the utmost respect for Jens Lehmann, but that was something I've never seen before on a football pitch."

Lehmann, though, said people were just using his name to create "big headlines" and felt Rangnick was mistaken. "It's sad that he doesn't seem to know the rules," he told Bild. "If Rangnick observed everything as closely as he claimed, he'd know that I do this with anything I find lying in and around my penalty area."

Making friends (2009)
The 2009-10 season saw Lehmann making more "big headlines". In September, he was suspended by his club after making an unauthorised visit to Oktoberfest. At Eintracht Frankfurt the same month, he pushed a photographer.

In October, in the 81st minute of a 1-0 defeat to Hannover, Lehmann was mocked by a ball boy who taunted him by refusing to hand him the ball and then throwing it up in the air. "This is typical of our culture - cheating," Lehmann said. Hannover sporting director Jorg Schmadtke responded: "The fact that Lehmann is taking the moral high ground in German football is quite surprising. Perhaps he should remember all those things he did in his great career, like throwing away the boots of opposing players."

In December, Lehmann publicly criticised the Stuttgart supporters and board after fan demonstrations led to the dismissal of head coach Markus Babbel.

"There was a group of lads, most of whom are going through puberty, and that has had the impact of forcing the club to make decisions," Lehmann said. "If you have the strength and the quality to make decisions which contradict public opinion then things work out better."

He was fined €40,000 for his comments, and refused to pay.

Relief (2009)
Shortly after insulting the fans and board, Lehmann decided to empty his bladder during a Champions League win over against Unirea Urziceni while Stuttgart were on the attack.

A counter-attack forced him to abort, but he was back on the field before the Romanians could take advantage, and he attracted the praise of Stuttgart sporting director Horst Heldt. "I thought he handled it very expertly," he said. "It was a tricky situation."

Three days later, with Stuttgart 1-0 up at Mainz, he stamped on Aristide Bance's foot in the area in the dying moments. He was sent off and conceded a penalty from which Mainz secured a point, with the DFB later handing him a three-match suspension.

Leaving the Bruchwegstadion after his stamp, a fan asked him why he could not be normal. Lehmann responded by stealing his glasses and walking away.

Sepp Maier, the West Germany legend and a former coach of both Kahn and Lehmann, said: "Lehmann is fitting into one year the rubbish it took Kahn 20 years to get up to."

Source: Robin Hackett, The Guardian on 17 Mar 11

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

A moment of madness from Wenger?

"He [Lehmann] belongs in the Muppet Show, on the couch or in a mental institution." Tim Wiese, September 2010

According to Arsene Wenger, though, 41-year-old Jens Lehmann now also belongs in the Arsenal dressing room. We must wait and see whether the imminent return of the man affectionately known as 'Mad Jens' is a risk worth taking by the Arsenal manager.

Amazement, excitement and plain bewilderment have greeted Monday's news that Lehmann is to come out of retirement, but one of the more bizarre reactions is criticism that it is a move that smacks of desperation on Wenger's part. Well of course it is. Desperation is the state you find yourselves in when three of your four senior goalkeepers are injured outside of the transfer window. Circumstances have conspired to force the Arsenal manager into a particularly difficult corner.

Idiosyncratic goalkeeper signings are not a new phenomenon - Manchester United surprised English football when signing the 36-year-old Andy Goram from Motherwell in 2001, while Manchester City recruited Marton Fulop from Sunderland only last season - and if Manuel Almunia remains fit then Lehmann will not be a factor on the pitch. His fitness, surely impacted by ten fallow months, should not be an issue; however, his presence in the dressing room may well be.

Signed to provide support for Almunia, who has been brought back from first-team exile and thrust back into action following injuries to Wojciech Szczesny and Lukasz Fabianski, the German again finds himself in direct competition with a rival he belittled with enthusiastic regularity during his previous time at the club.

After losing his place to Almunia following mistakes against Fulham and Blackburn at the start of the 2007-08 season, Lehmann famously said of his colleague: "To be sitting on the bench behind somebody who only started to play when he was 30 is not funny". It is little wonder that Almunia admitted to The Guardian in that same season that "I know he hates me".

Though Lehmann has made conciliatory noises since leaving the club, it is hard to escape the conclusion that somewhere in the North London area, Almunia is currently breaking into a cold sweat at the thought of two more months of training sessions with the deadly rival he thought he had vanquished three years ago.

The arrival of Lehmann could inspire the Spaniard. However, it could also undermine him.

Herein lies the difference between the signing of Lehmann and that of Sol Campbell last season, or Wenger's decision to explore the possibility of re-signing Patrick Vieira. Campbell was a widely respected figure and a worthy addition to the dressing room for the short time he spent back at the club; Lehmann, meanwhile, surely has the potential to be a destabilising influence on the goalkeeper he is expected to deputise for.

Clearly, this is not a man afraid to shy away from confrontation. As well as Almunia, Lehmann was famously involved in a public war with Olvier Kahn at international level, and it was one he won as he took Germany's No. 1 jersey for the World Cup finals on home turf in 2006.

Though he is rightly fondly remembered by the majority of Arsenal fans - with his final appearance against Everton on the final day of the 2007-08 season provoking an emotional and very genuine standing ovation for one of the Invincibles - his reputation for trouble also precedes him.

Always willing to indulge in a sneaky push on an opponent, most famously Robbie Keane when he conceded a penalty in the game that secured Arsenal the 2003-04 title, Lehmann was a combustible character. He was also a comic figure, with his infamous diving competition with Didier Drogba in December 2006 going into Premier League folklore and his strange warm-up routines entertaining fans.

This rather eccentric approach to the game was in evidence even more frequently during his subsequent career with Stuttgart: highlights including urinating during a Champions League fixture; sneakily stealing an opponent's boot and placing it on the roof of his own net; and, quite brilliantly, nabbing the glasses right off the face of a critical supporter following a match.

His capacity for high farce should not disguise the fact that he was a central figure in both the unbeaten season of 2003-04 and the Champions League run of 2005-06 - his save from Raul in the last-16 defeat of Real Madrid and penalty stop from Juan Roman Riquelme in the dying seconds of the semi-final against Villarreal are both iconic saves in the club's history.

However, even during times of great personal achievement, that destructive urge reared its head. As Arsenal won the title at White Hart Lane in 2003-04, Lehmann turned a victory into a draw when pushing Keane. In Paris, a rush of blood to the head saw him sent off in the Champions League final.

To say Lehmann is a complex figure would be to understate the matter. His likely return to Arsenal, and the impact it will have, is also a complex scenario to unpick.

As a bridge to past glories, he brings experience of winning trophies - an element painfully lacking in a squad that boasts one Premier League winner in Gael Clichy - and perhaps time has mellowed the man. However, the suspicion remains that the signing of 'Mad Jens' may be a moment of temporary insanity from his manager.

Source: Tom Adams, The Guardian on 14 Mar 11

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Arsène Wenger's real blind spot is the Arsenal captaincy

The Arsenal manager has handed out the captain's armband as a form of flattery while Sir Alex Ferguson prefers strong figures

There is no shortage of support for the view that it makes little difference who wears the armband in a football team. You can give the captaincy to the best player (Cesc Fábregas), or the most famous (David Beckham), and the team's performance will still be defined by its members' individual and collective merits and the quality of coaching they are given. From that perpective, it matters little whether or not Fabio Capello chooses to reverse his decision to dethrone John Terry in time for next week's Euro 2012 qualifying match in Cardiff.

History offers a contradictory view, in the shape of the keen intelligence of Danny Blanchflower and Franz Beckenbauer, the calm authority of Bobby Moore and Franco Baresi, or the controlling industry of Billy Bremner and Didier Deschamps. And, as it happens, a great deal of opposing evidence comes from the two clubs sitting at the top of the Premier League, where Manchester United and Arsenal offer contrasting lessons in leadership.

Sir Alex Ferguson has always looked for players with a significant influence on the pitch and in the dressing room. His big three captains have been Bryan Robson, Roy Keane and Gary Neville, with interludes from Steve Bruce, Eric Cantona, Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Giggs. The present incumbent is Nemanja Vidic. These players personify strength, resilience, and a certain kind of footballing integrity in sufficient quantity to overcome individual defects, such as Robson's drinking or Cantona's quixotic nature. Even in their less exalted periods, rarely have Manchester United looked bereft of leadership on the field of play.

The role seems to mean something very different to Arsène Wenger. Just as Ferguson inherited Robson, so the Frenchman found Tony Adams, who would become the only man to captain a title-winning side in three different decades, already in place. After Adams's retirement in 2002 he could promote his deputy, Patrick Vieira, another powerful character who did not embody the Arsenal ethic to quite the same degree but nevertheless inspired awe among his team-mates and could change a game almost single-handedly.

Vieira led the team through the unbeaten season of 2003-04 but lost form the following season and was sold to Juventus in the summer of 2005. At that point the Arsenal armband was given to Thierry Henry, the club's best player and leading goalscorer, who was thought to be in danger of accepting an offer to move elsewhere. Henry stayed two more years, during which Arsenal failed to regain the title and lost to Barcelona in a European Cup final on which the French striker's influence was nonexistent.

In captaincy terms, he had fallen far below the standard set by Adams and Vieira (or, in previous generations, Joe Mercer and Frank McLintock). Nor was his successor, William Gallas, another player coveted elsewhere, much more effective. The French defender, given the job ahead of Gilberto Silva, Henry's quietly effective deputy, held the job for only a season and a bit, his tenure most notable for his bizarre sit-down protest at St Andrew's in 2008, the match in which Eduardo da Silva's leg was broken by Martin Taylor's challenge.

Gallas lost the position 14 games into the 2008-09 season, when Fábregas was appointed. Although only 21, the Catalan was clearly the club's outstanding performer. But given that there were already rumours linking him to a return to Barcelona, it was impossible to escape the thought that Wenger had once again given the armband to a player he wanted to flatter into staying.

Like Henry and Gallas, Fábregas has not been an effective captain. Injuries have limited his appearances, and he has sometimes tried to return from them too soon. But there are many who believe that, rather than putting all his faith in youth, Wenger would have done better to rely on the experience of Silva for a couple of seasons before identifying a younger player with the necessary attributes.

Wenger is a great football man and an outstanding contributor to the history of the English game, but he has some curious quirks and blind spots. Putting the No10 on the shirt of a centre-back (Gallas) and the 3 on a right-back (Bacary Sagna) represents one of them. Failing to appreciate – or perhaps to accept – the influence of a good captain on a team's mentality is another, and it is the one for which Arsenal are currently paying a heavy price.

Source: Richard Williams, The Guardian on 15 Mar 11

Monday, March 14, 2011

To the attacker, the spoils

It's hard not to smile. The referee gave the game to Barcelona (again) and UEFA gets the team it wanted into the next round. If it weren't for Massimo Busacca, Arsenal would have gone through in a blaze of glory. Or a withering inferno of not attacking and committing penalties against Messi that weren't called.

So let's get this out of the way: Busacca had a bad night and got a lot quite wrong. If you're going to send van Persie off for being a second late, then you've got to send Abidal off for putting his hand on RvP's throat. But then you've also got to send off Koscielny for his miserable tackling, including the penalty on Pedro that was a clear second bookable offense. So, in the end, the refereeing was bad in both directions and the cookie crumbled in the direction of the team that actually tried to win. I can't really see much wrong with that final outcome, though I doubt it assuages Arsenal fans.

What a joy to watch, though. I didn't get to see it live with a crowd, but a friend and I avoided the score at work all day and watched when we got home, some 2 hours after the real final whistle. It meant that we couldn't talk about it to anyone or check stats or anything, so we just focused on the mesmerizing display of midfield passing. Messi's first goal was spectacular, amazing, and just plain goodness in a jar. To be able to do that is unfathomable to me, with my limit skills (all-time leading goal scorer in college--err, well, at least in the intramural league, err, well, at least on my team in the intramural league, err, well at least for that one year when the other striker couldn't play because of thesis obligations) and so I've watched and re-watched that goal enough to make mi mujer unplug the DVR.

It's the crowd exploding too, that makes me smile. And that brings up an interesting part of RvP's sending off (which was harsh, in case I hadn't explicitly mentioned that). In Barney Ronay's minute-by-minute report of the game on The Guardian, there are repeated emails and references to the point that the Camp Nou has a docile and quiet crowd, where you can hear a pin drop, where you can chew louder than the cheering. And then the inevitable "you can't hear the whistle above the din of 98,000 screaming fans" sounds like quite the excuse. You can have it either way you'd like, but you can't have it both ways.

And anyway, the match could have easily turned the other way, gone over to the Gunners had Mascherano not stolen in at the last second and thieved Bendtner of his scoring opportunity. Without that intervention, Arsenal, who had laid in wait all game, could have finally sprung their trap and made off with the goods, but it wasn't to be and 0 shots on goal gets recorded as the final tally.

We're on to the next round, though, and I'm going to enjoy the victory. It's too bad Arsenal is out because they're generally a fun team to watch and now the screams for trophies and against Wenger's model and tactics are going to get ever louder. That's a shame and I hope that they can win the Premier League.

Source: Isaiah Cambron, ESPN Soccernet on 10 Mar 11

Barca end Champions League dreams again

Sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and say you were beaten by a better team. It's not often that Arsenal have to admit that but Wednesday night's 3-1 defeat to Barcelona was one such occasion.

There is far to much hyperbole and exaggeration in football coverage but when the current Catalan team are described as "one of the greatest club sides in the game’s history”, it is hard to disagree. Whatever you may think of the club itself, the way it is run and the disgraceful way it sometimes behaves in the transfer market, there is no doubt that the current crop of players representing it are up there with the best of all-time and they certainly are the benchmark by which all teams at the top of today’s game have to measure themselves.

Three weeks ago, Arsenal measured up very well indeed. Last night was a different story though as the Gunners tried to repel wave after wave of Barca attacking play in a match that was largely one-way traffic. The statistic that Arsene Wenger’s side couldn’t muster a single shot in the ninety minutes – either on or off target – really tells you all you need to know.

Despite conceding three goals, the Gunners actually defended well, particularly in the first half. Cesc Fabregas’s misplaced back-heel just before the break was an unnecessary error but it still took two sparkling pieces of football from Iniesta and Messi to ensure that full punishment was exacted. Some of the defending may have been desperate and last-ditch but it was clear that the Gunners were concentrating at a far higher level than we usually see from them.

The problem was that every time the ball was won, Barca almost immediately won it straight back mainly due to the intense chasing back they do when out of possession. Arsenal were simply unable to get a foothold in the game and could not get any sort of passing movement going.

Despite all that though, the sending off of Robin Van Persie whilst the score stood at 1-1 remains a major controversy and a big talking point. How much this impacted on the result and what might have happened had the Dutchman stayed on, we will never know. Wenger felt sure the Gunners would have snatched the tie if it had remained 11 vs 11. However, his bullishness was probably more about face-saving than anything else. Perhaps the fairest assessment was that his dismissal turned the chance of an improbable outcome into an impossible one.

What we can say about Van Persie’s sending off was that it was one of the most ridiculous refereeing decisions of the season. Neither of the yellow cards he received seemed particularly justified but, in particular, the second one for time-wasting was just baffling. He was already in motion to take a shot when the whistle was blown and the time between the whistle sounding and him kicking the ball was one second. That is a world away from cynically kicking the ball away to delay the re-start of play. In such a high profile match, you need officials who can exercise some common sense and who are able to see the bigger picture. Sadly, the Gunners were victims of an official that had the capacity for neither.

Over the past few years The Champions League has been littered with such refereeing performances. Chelsea also suffered against Barcelona in the home leg of their semi-final with the Spaniards in 2009. UEFA’s drive to be all-inclusive often means that referees from countries who don’t have the experience of officiating week-in and week-out at the highest level of the game get put in charge of matches way beyond their capabilities. Today, Arsene Wenger and Samir Nasri have been charged with improper conduct for comments they made to Massimo Busacca after the final whistle. Where, though, is the recourse for the clubs when referees turn in incompetent displays?

Still, nothing will change what happened now and the Gunners have to pick themselves up ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup clash with Manchester United. The fact that Arsenal are now out of the Champions League but United are yet to play their last-16 second leg match could have a big bearing on the teams that are selected. You would imagine that Alex Ferguson will be resting a few players ahead of their game with Marseille next Tuesday. Maybe Arsene Wenger will be tempted to take advantage and put out a stronger side than the one he might have fielded had last night ended more positively. We shall see.

It has been a disappointing couple of weeks. Though the Orient result was a fillip after the Carling Cup Final, last weekend’s display against Sunderland had Arsenal fans tearing their hair out again. It took a favour from Liverpool on Sunday to limit the damage of drawing a blank against the Black Cats. However, on the brighter side, the Gunners have their fate in the Premier League back in their own hands and the FA Cup still to play for. It is vital that the players put last night’s result behind them as quickly as possible and Old Trafford would be the ideal place to get things back on track.

Source: David Young, ESPN Soccernet on 10 Mar 11

Arsenal running out of targets to miss after Manchester United defeat

If Arsenal had a defence as impassable as their mental block they would never lose another match. They continue to be the supreme obstacle to themselves. There were several chances for the visitors in this FA Cup quarter-final and Edwin van der Sar was outstanding in response but the finishing was never accurate enough to leave the goalkeeper helpless. Targets of one sort or another are also being missed entirely.

While winning the Carling Cup might have been just a small piece of encouragement to Arsenal, defeat in the final has done harm. A malfunction in defence helped Birmingham City to make off with a trophy they deserved, if only because they rose to the occasion while Arsenal had the equivocal look of men with far grander matters on their mind. Those distractions are now being ripped from them.

The club is left with stark circumstances. In the space of a fortnight the chase for four trophies has shrunk to the pursuit of the Premier League alone. Arsène Wenger will surely present that as an opportunity to land a fine prize while others are distracted by further honours. Arsenal are in this situation, though, because they cannot help but bring trouble upon themselves.

They were, for instance, the sole English club not to win their Champions League group. The worst possible penalty was imposed when they were then pitted against Barcelona, who eliminated them last Tuesday, but a trying contest of some sort had been inevitable for the runners-up in a group where they were beaten at Shakhtar Donetsk and Braga.

Wenger understood fully that the FA Cup tie mattered, if only for the potential fillip enjoyed by anyone who beats Manchester United, but too little was done to test the composure of opponents who had just fallen to Chelsea and Liverpool. Unlike Sir Alex Ferguson, Wenger picked the most potent line-up available. The hosts, all the same, were smart in the shaping of a selection that saved several people for the return leg of the Champions League tie with Marseille on Tuesday while still presenting problems to Arsenal.

In the Da Silva twins, for instance, United had men with a lot of energy to apply against visitors drained by their defeat at Camp Nou. The Brazilians are full-backs and John O'Shea is also regarded as such nowadays, yet all of them were accommodated in an implausibly effective midfield. Eminent substitutes were barely needed and when Paul Scholes did enter the match he deserved to be sent off, rather than only booked by Chris Foy, for uncontrolled tackling that showed an indifference to the safety of opponents.

Nonetheless, Arsenal have to be angry with themselves primarily. Apart from the amble to a 5-0 win over the League One club Leyton Orient in their FA Cup fifth-round replay, the team has not scored more than a single goal in any game since 16 February. Wenger has to reverse the trend and do so when issues that he cannot affect are taking a toll. A recalcitrant achilles problem means that the most recent outing in the Arsenal defence for the influential Thomas Vermaelen took place on 28 August.

His unavailability helped bring Johan Djourou to the fore but the Switzerland international dislocated his shoulder in the closing stages at Old Trafford when his team-mate Bacary Sagna collided with him and will not play again this season. In the specific context of this FA Cup tie Arsenal had, in theory, a better-balanced side than United but Abou Diaby, in a key role behind Robin van Persie, barely made a contribution.

For that matter Van Persie himself dwindled after United had taken the lead. With 27 minutes gone, Wayne Rooney crossed and, although Manuel Almunia parried away the header from Javier Hernández, the loose ball was turned in by Fábio da Silva. The outcome was settled four minutes into the second half when Djourou put himself in the path of a Hernández shot, only for Rooney to head home the loose ball.

Arsenal, for their part, never seemed like a team that would come up with the sort of pass or shot that would lead to a certain goal. The match was allowed to turn into a therapeutic exercise for United, who might have had a niggling fear that this sort of tie had the potential to leave them with another loss. The game was even soothing enough for Antonio Valencia to be brought on for his first appearance since breaking his ankle on 14 September.

It would have been galling for Arsenal to find themselves part of the winger's rehab programme. Many aspects could have been happier for Wenger, who had scant cover in front of his defence even though Jack Wilshere started moves with much style from that area. The manager resorted to exaggeration when portraying the present situation as an achievement in its own right: "If I listened to everybody, it is a miracle that we are playing for the title with 10 games to go. Nobody in England believed we could even fight for the top four. The position we are in deserves a lot of credit."

Wenger could not entirely conceal despondency about his casualties: "We would like Alex Song back, we would like Cesc Fàbregas back and now we have to cope without Djourou, who is an outstanding player." Above all it will, however, be Arsenal's capacity to recover from a bad result like this that determines their fate in the Premier League.

Source: Kevin McCarra, The Guardian on 14 Mar 11

Sunday, March 13, 2011

What now for Wenger & Arsenal?

And then there was one. It was only a fortnight ago that Arsene Wenger confidently contemplated a challenge for four trophies as his most emphatic answer to charges that Arsenal had forgotten how to win silverware.

In a brief spell of desperate disappointment, Wenger has watched Arsenal's aspirations picked apart as Carling Cup final defeat against Birmingham City was followed by a Champions League exit against Barcelona before this FA Cup quarter-final loss at Manchester United.

Wenger's trademark words of defiance emerged almost like a reflex action and his well-practised brave face did not survive long before he was forced to hint at how the psychological damage of seeing Arsenal's targets removed one by one may have an impact on their final salvation, the Premier League title.

"Something has gone", Wenger admitted. And it was not simply the chance to win three major prizes. "Not in our effort or attitude but something confidence wise."

If Wenger does not discover that missing ingredient and Arsenal's six-year wait for a trophy extends into next season, then he must review the philosophy he holds so dear.

For all the purist beliefs that deserve so much admiration and have brought such pleasure, Wenger cannot sustain his Arsenal reign on promises of jam tomorrow while The Emirates' trophy cabinet remains bare.

Arsenal still have ample possibilities in the title race, and success would be celebrated by those who champion this great manager's cause, but the evidence has once again piled up in the last two weeks that Wenger and his players can no longer be trusted to deliver when it matters.

And this was surely the underlying concern eating away at Wenger as he cut a despondent figure in Old Trafford's media suite after United's 2-0 win, courtesy of goals in each half from Fabio da Silva and Wayne Rooney.

Arsenal may have drawn encouragement before kick-off from an unfamiliar United line-up that contained seven defenders, but once again this was familiar tale of Wenger's team enjoying huge swathes of possession and territory at Old Trafford but leaving empty-handed.

As time ran out at Old Trafford, an agitated, animated Wenger stretched out his hands before him on the touchline, evoking an image of a man who has seen prizes slip through his fingers, the fear gnawing away that hard work may go unrewarded as Arsenal miss out once more.

Wenger still has his sights on the title, saying: "I believe that we can do it. It is a good test for us to regroup, stay together and respond quickly." They were words carried on the sound of hope rather than expectation.

He also claimed Arsenal's three pivotal defeats had all come in strange circumstances. Not really. The common thread running through the losses was that they either did not deserve, or did nowhere near enough, to win.

This was not a bad Arsenal performance, indeed United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar was busier than opposite number Manuel Almunia - but it was a display that lacked bite, conviction, energy and inspiration.

In short, it was another example of why Arsenal fail so often to get over the line. Sir Alex Ferguson's team selection offered them an opportunity to banish the depression of the last 14 days but they were betrayed by a lack of conviction, an absence of killer instinct.

United have endured a mini-slump of their own recently. There remains, however, an iron self-belief in Ferguson's squad that does not appear to exist in Arsenal's, even though United are clearly in reduced circumstances compared to their pomp. There was a toughness about United, both mentally and physically, that is in short supply among Wenger's squad.

The Premier League title may yet provide spectacular consolation and vindication for Wenger's methods, but Arsenal have taken such a swift succession of heavy, bitter blows from Birmingham, Barcelona and United that there are fears it will prove too much.

If Arsenal are once again without a trophy, then Wenger's long-held argument that potential and promise is about to come to fruition will carry reduced weight. In among the odd madcap call for his dismissal, there remains huge support for Wenger among Arsenal's fans, illustrated vociferously by those who travelled to Old Trafford.

And it is backing he deserves because the notion that Arsenal should seek another manager is a wild one. Who could they get who is better than Wenger?

But for that support to be maintained, the time is coming when Wenger also has to accept the reality that his current approach, admirable though it is, must be altered if he and Arsenal are not to become the perennial nearly men.

Wenger may well be correct in his constant assertions that Arsenal are not far away. The brutal reality is that results in recent times suggest that they are still too far away, with vital pieces missing in the manager's formula for success.

Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis recently told Radio 5 live's Sportsweek: "For us winning is certainly important but it is not the end objective of everything."

This is a romantic, some might say fanciful, notion that may not be shared by, for example, Cesc Fabregas if he goes through another season without a club honour to add to the Euro 2008 and World Cup medals he claimed with Spain.

And it is unlikely to be a philosophy shared forever by Arsenal supporters who enjoyed such riches under Wenger until it came to a halt after the 2005 FA Cup Final win against Manchester United and crave those successes again.

Wenger remains an outstanding manager, the most important and powerful figure at Arsenal and one of the game's deepest thinkers. He has earned that status through his success but he cannot ignore the obvious flaws in Arsenal's make-up even if they overtake United to win the title.

It is time for Wenger to inject more experienced and battle-hardened figures alongside wonderful young talent such as Jack Wilshere, a shining light again at Old Trafford but again forced to reflect on defeat with Arsenal's disappointed fans via his Twitter account, an all too regular occurrence these days.

Wenger must shed his reluctance to spend big to add the required quality in defence and midfield in the summer - again even if Arsenal do gather themselves and claim the title.

They now have a rare free week to recover from the buffeting they have suffered. How Wenger uses it will shape the rest of this season and perhaps beyond.

Arsenal still have much to play for and can now turn the optimists' eternal default option by saying they are concentrating on the league. This, in itself, is a stark outcome from a fortnight that may yet go down as a watershed in Arsene Wenger's reign.

Source: Phil McNulty, BBC Sport on 12 Mar 11

Defence the best form of attack

The magnificent sevens are a custom at Old Trafford. There was George Best, then Bryan Robson, followed by Eric Cantona. More recently, glossing over Michael Owen, Cristiano Ronaldo succeeded David Beckham. This, however, was Sir Alex Ferguson's twist on a tradition: the miserly seven. By fielding seven(!) defenders, the Manchester United manager named one of his stranger sides. It was one way to keep a clean sheet, though that owed more to Edwin van der Sar's brilliance, and the surfeit of supposed stoppers was more a product of necessity than negativity.

Yet somewhere Ferguson's old friend and Arsene Wenger's antithesis George Graham was surely looking on in envy. He rarely managed to cram more than five defenders into a team, though he did combine it with an unnatural fondness for a defensive midfielder or three. And when the post-mortem commences on Arsenal's exit from another competition - three in a fortnight - the composition of the United midfield should be a prime factor.

Besides the back four, three-quarters of the men employed in the middle were, by trade, defenders. John O'Shea revisited his past as the anchor man, Fabio and Rafael da Silva evolved from attacking full-backs to roving wingers. Their accomplice was Darron Gibson, while Wayne Rooney dropped deeper to offer industrious assistance. It was not so much United's second-string midfield as the third choice, in other words. A glimpse at the teamsheet alone should have encouraged Arsenal.

Yet the FA Cup semi-finals will include United, not the side with a rather more pressing need for trophies. It is an enviable ability to turn a supposed weakness into a strength, and one that United have displayed regularly. In this instance, the da Silvas' ability to emerge untracked in and around the Arsenal area had a decisiveness; Fabio scored the opening goal, Rafael made the second, with both moves started by Van der Sar. Defence truly was the best form of attack.

For the opener, Rooney's angled cross was met by Javier Hernandez, plunging forwards to connect with a diving header. Manuel Almunia saved well but Fabio tucked in the rebound. The irrepressible strike duo, lending a dynamism the benched Dimitar Berbatov fails to supply, were both involved in the second and, indeed, in much of what United did. Rafael skipped past Kieran Gibbs with unfortunate ease, before centring. As Johan Djourou challenged Hernandez, the ball looped up. Rooney met it with a deft header to defeat Manuel Almunia.

It was an occasion when both goalkeepers excelled. Almunia is enjoying a rehabilitative week and saved a series of efforts from Hernandez, whose verve enabled United to counter-attack at pace. At the other end, Van der Sar's one-man resistance appeared an eloquent rebuttal of Wenger's fondness for youth. Robin van Persie's low shot, Laurent Koscielny's smart effort on the rebound, Marouane Chamakh's header, Tomas Rosicky's drive: all met with the same outcome. "Four or five fantastic saves," added Ferguson. "I wish he was 21 instead of coming up for 41 but nature catches you eventually in life." Wenger lamented the enduring ability of the Dutchman to fly across his goal. "The goalkeeper against us is man of the match week in, week out," he said, presumably with Birmingham's Ben Foster, rather than Barcelona's Victor Valdes, in mind. "We were not outplayed but lost to a team who were more clinical. We lost three big challenges in a strange way. Subconsciously the disappointment of Tuesday night has played a part, confidence wise."

That may have been the difference. Back-to-back league defeats did not seem to sap United's morale. Absentees were a test of resourcefulness, but offered an injection of eagerness. "The two da Silvas are such enthusiastic boys," Ferguson added. "I had to come up with a plan where I could utilise their energy. Considering we have made major changes, we can be well pleased with the result. I couldn't risk [Paul] Scholes and [Ryan] Giggs because of Tuesday's game against Marseille."

When Scholes did emerge, his 10-minute cameo could have culminated in a red card. Faced between the fury of Ferguson and the wrath of Wenger, two managers who have been angered by officials of late, Chris Foy opted for the latter and gave the veteran a reprieve. "I feel the pitch was good, the referee was good and the tackles of Paul Scholes were bad," argued the Frenchman.
But Arsenal's fate was determined before Scholes entered the fray. The quest for the quadruple had become the solitary pursuit of the Premier League. Fail in that, and they will end a season without silverware. Again.

MAN OF THE MATCH: Edwin van der Sar
Terrific once again. Of all his saves, the most important came from Koscielny, as it came at the start of a manic minute that ended with Rooney doubling their lead.

MANCHESTER UNITED VERDICT
One of Rooney's most complete performances of the season and confirmation of Hernandez's capacity to get in dangerous positions were reasons to be optimistic. Others came on the flanks, with Antonio Valencia arriving in the second half for his first appearance since breaking his ankle in September. Another conclusion, from both the team selection and the game, is the da Silva brothers are far better wingers than Bebe and Gabriel Obertan. Ferguson claimed that only Jonny Evans of his injured legion could be fit for Marseille.

ARSENAL VERDICT
Another damaging afternoon was made worse when Johan Djourou dislocated a shoulder. He will be out for the remainder of the season, leaving Arsenal looking short-staffed in a defence that has long been criticised. Of all their sidelined players, however, the ones who may have been missed most on this occasion were Cesc Fabregas and Alex Song, either of whom might have dominated a midfield populated by stand-ins.

Source: Richard Jolly, ESPN Soccernet on 12 Mar 11