As if it were not enough for Arsenal to beat Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday night and thus to win their Champions League group, they also received rare compliments for their fortitude. Arsène Wenger relished them. The value of defensive strength was underlined in a week when the other entrants from the Premier League floundered. Manchester United could not hold on to a 2-1 lead and drew with Benfica at home. Manchester City lost in Naples and Chelsea fell to a stoppage-time goal in Leverkusen.
The tournament, with such results to its credit, emerges triumphant. This is how the contest for a great prize ought to be conducted. There should be a mercurial quality to a competition that embraces a continent. The faltering of three English clubs in the Champions League could also assist in reviving fascination with the tournament in this country.
For the time being there is no sense that the group phase is just a dowdy passageway down which this country's better sides saunter on their way to a grand stage. City looked shaken by the unrelenting atmosphere that the Napoli supporters created in the Stadio San Paolo. That setting was admirably traditional and it hurled Roberto Mancini's players back to a time when they were all too aware of their vulnerability.
Each club is, of course, affected by specific factors. Chelsea, beaten at home by Liverpool at the weekend, did not need a midweek journey to face Bayer Leverkusen to show them that there is much amiss. Their manager, André Villas-Boas, appreciated the scale of the task when he took the job. There have been signings, yet the sense is of a squad in which some players are getting old, others are stale and some newly arrived youngsters are on the margins.
Jibes about David Luiz, an undoubtedly gifted footballer who is yet to turn into a trustworthy centre‑half, divert attention from other issues. John Terry is not playing at all well and the sudden cries for Alex to be given a role saw him come on in time to be culpable for Manuel Friedrich's winner. Chelsea are in need of rejuvenation but Villas-Boas might at least be granted a little spell of calm if his players can summon up even a trace of their once renowned defensive durability.
Clubs must fall short occasionally – in the 2005-06 season United were last in their group. The present woes, though, are common to three of England's four teams in the tournament. There is a fragility to them all. The goals-against statistics might seem sound enough for Chelsea but the four goals they have conceded in five games have cost them seven points.
Arsenal are not usually seen as obstinate defenders but they showed concentration and durability that denied Dortmund a goal until one came too late to make any difference. Wenger's team are still not celebrated for their stubbornness but late on Wednesday evening his thoughts turned, unprompted, to the qualifying matches for the Champions League earlier this season. Yes, Arsenal endured that 8-2 Premier League mauling at Old Trafford but before that they had beaten Udinese home and away while giving up only one goal.
It is incongruous to think of the present-day Arsenal side as intractable foes but their defensive record in this Champions League, with three goals conceded in the group stage, is superior to those of the other English clubs.
The troubles elsewhere are known. City were hard to break down last season in the Premier League but that glumness would not have been tolerated for long in view of the sums spent by the club's new owners. Mancini's men now have verve but the harrowing of their defence by Edinson Cavani will make them look for greater resistance in midfield at this level.
United's concerns are obvious. Although Phil Jones may evolve into the new centre-half they will soon need, his own-goal that put Benfica ahead after three minutes at Old Trafford was baffling. At 19 he has plenty of time in which to develop but it is obvious at the moment why he is more often used as a full-back or a defensive midfielder.
City, United and Chelsea, particularly when the last named were charging to 103 Premier League goals in the 2009-10 season, can thrill and entertain. Even so, Arsenal, despite their aesthetic appeal, have recently served up an unlikely reminder that resilience and a tinge of tedium are essential now and again.
Source: Kevin McCarra, The Guardian on 24 Nov 11
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