Ultimately, having pride doesn’t bring you trophies. The fact of the matter is that despite playing superbly against AC Milan at home, we’re still out of the Champions League. Whenever a game has gone badly, I’m keen to look at the bigger picture. It should also be considered when we’ve played well.
The bigger picture is that it is now definite that we won’t win a trophy this year, and that we’re still struggling for consistency at the highest level. We have so many regrets from the tie with AC Milan, mainly for the non-performance of the majority of the team in the San Siro. However as an individual match, the home leg at the Emirates showed the fans and the team, that Arsenal do belong at Europe’s top table. Not many teams will beat AC Milan 3-0 this season.
Now isn’t the time in the season for negativity. The fans know, the players know and the whole club knows that the performances in Milan and Sunderland in the cup were abysmal. On a long term basis, those poor performances in key cup games need to be addressed. In the short term, performances have definitely been addressed and sorted out. If after those games, someone said to me that we’ll beat Tottenham, Liverpool and Milan, score 10 goals and concede three, I’d have dismissed them as crazy.
I expected nothing from the match at the Emirates, but this team are playing with a sudden new found confidence. In a way, it didn’t feel like we went out, because it felt like that happened three weeks ago. It was just a thoroughly enjoyable and committed performance from everyone in red and white, and we came close to pulling off a genuine miracle. Against a team that we previously struggled to muster some half chances against, we absolute over-ran them and bossed them all over the pitch. Even though we went out, the players and the fans showed real pride in the red and white shirt and that hasn’t been the case for some of this season. The match might not have salvaged our Champions League season from a position of nothing, but it has helped the increasingly rapid healing of the relationship between the team and the fans.
It would have been easy for the team to just accept they weren’t going to make it through, but they didn’t. There does seem to be belief in this squad that hasn’t been evident in the last few seasons. Obviously we need to cut out the set-backs, but we’re undoubtedly better at recovering from them. We couldn’t fully recover from being 4-0 down, but the team understandably ran out of energy. Some of them almost had to be dragged off the pitch after the game. Whatever the result, when you see players like that after a match, you can’t help but be full of admiration and know that they’ve given absolutely everything for Arsenal Football Club. You can’t ask for more than that. Including the international friendlies, a number of those players have played four games in a week and a half. It would have been almost impossible to keep playing at the same intensity for the whole match.
The first half was probably the best half we’ll see from Arsenal this season. The whole team pressured Milan, forced mistakes, and cut through a defence that is renowned for being stubborn. There were so many individuals that performed brilliantly, but that contributed to the whole ethic and game plan of the team. Arsene Wenger got the tactics right, and although his team selection was limited due to injuries, playing Oxlade-Chamberlain as a deeper lying central midfielder was brilliant.
On seeing the Ox in the starting line-up, I expected him to play behind Robin van Persie, with Tomas Rosicky dropping back. However with the form Rosicky has been in for the last few games, he deserved to stay in the influential advanced role. He has typified the recovery of this team, and the responsibility being taken by some players that have lived in the shadow of others in recent years. He ran the midfield, harried the opposition, was always looking to move forward at pace, and scored a deserved goal with an excellent finish. He is definitely a player that deserves a contract renewal.
Ordinarily, playing an 18 year old winger as a central midfield against a quality team like AC Milan, would be risky. However Oxlade-Chamberlain isn’t an ordinary 18 year old winger. He combined well with those around him, and added lightning pace from the middle of the pitch. Had we been patient in our build up, Milan would have got players back and would have been difficult to break down. Instead, the presence of Oxlade-Chamberlain allowed us to stretch the Italians. His direct running for the penalty was excellent, and showed his confidence. He saw the gap, he went for it, knowing he had the pace meaning that he’d have to be fouled to be stopped. Eventually, he ran out of steam, but he covered so much of the pitch for an 18 year old who had flu the day before.
Robin van Persie’s penalty, following the gamesmanship of Mark van Bommel, was brilliantly dispatched. There will be regrets about his second half miss, but the goalkeeper deserves credit for being in front of our captain. It’s quite difficult to criticise van Persie after the season he’s had.
If any of our wild dreams about winning 5-0 were going to come to fruition, we weren’t just reliant on attacking well, we needed to keep a clean sheet against a team that easily put four past us three weeks ago. We did that, mainly because Laurent Koscielny and Thomas Vermaelen were awesome. Koscielny showed set-backs don’t affect him anymore. An own goal on Saturday, was followed by a goal at the right end after five minutes of the next match. Defensively, he bossed things. Robinho and Ibrahimovic got nothing out of him. Vermaelen looked sharp again, and as always, played with his heart. With our attacking approach, Milan could have been dangerous on the break, but the pace and determination of Koscielny and Vermaelen stopped that from happening.
Milan improved in the second half, and we were reliant on the starting XI doing the majority of the work as injuries meant our bench wasn’t filled with good options. Had we made it to extra time, we’d probably have gone out given how knackered our players were.
The brutal reality is that pride and unity doesn’t win you trophies, but it undoubtedly helps and makes fans enjoy supporting their team. We’ve been drastically short of at times this season. It’s fluxed from one its lowest points in recent seasons, to one of its highest within a couple of weeks. The atmosphere at the Emirates on Tuesday was positive, loud and proud. We’re out of Europe, but we’re feeling good as fans again and believe that we can get back into the Champions League next season. Cynics who think it would be a good thing to miss out on the tournament next season should have been inside the ground against Milan. We took on an excellent side and tore them apart, and the atmosphere was epic.
I’m not usually a big fan of football on a Monday night, but given the state of some of our players at the end of the game on Tuesday, the extra time will be needed to prepare for the Newcastle match.
Hopefully the team won’t feel too disappointed from the aggregate defeat, but take heart from the result on the night. We’ve shown that the team can be competitive in the Champions League, they just need to ensure that they’re there next season.
Source: Sam Limbert, ESPN Soccernet on 8 Mar 12
Showing posts with label AC Milan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AC Milan. Show all posts
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Brave Gunners bow out
Trailing 4-0 after a nightmare performance at the San Siro a fortnight ago, Gunners boss Arsene Wenger knew his side faced a tall order to rewrite history and become the first team to recover from such a deficit in the competition.
For an hour or so at Emirates Stadium tonight it appeared as the record books would be torn up, as the Gunners reduced the deficit with first-half goals from Laurent Koscielny, the impressive Tomas Rosicky and Robin van Persie's penalty.
However, the second-half onslaught never came as Milan - who had somehow managed to go out to Deportivo La Coruna in the 2003-04 quarter-finals, losing the second leg in Spain 4-0 having won 4-1 at home - regrouped and were not really troubled during the closing stages.
Despite all their courageous endeavour, Arsenal must now concentrate all of their energy on retaining a place in the top four of the Barclays Premier League to make sure such engaging European nights return next season.
Arsenal needed an early breakthrough, which came after just seven minutes when Koscielny - who had scored an own goal at Liverpool on Saturday - headed in a corner from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
After Van Persie had seen his near-post effort from a tight angle saved, there was a moment of panic in the Gunners defence when Kieran Gibbs was booked after hacking down Stephan El Shaarawy, the 19-year-old making his Champions League debut, following a poor clearance by goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
Arsenal were soon back on the offensive, when after 18 minutes Van Persie's curling 20-yard effort was acrobatically beaten away by Christian Abbiati.
The shaky Milan rearguard was breached again in the 25th minute. Theo Walcott surged down the right, and when his cross was half-cleared by Thiago Silva, the ball dropped to Rosicky who planted it back inside the near post.
The Emirates Stadium faithful, so seething in their criticism of Wenger and his side this season, were now in full voice as the unlikeliest of comebacks was very much now on.
Rosicky, the 31-year-old Czech, was running the midfield, more than making up for injured colleagues Aaron Ramsey and Mikel Arteta.
As half-time approached, Arsenal continued to press.
Oxlade-Chamberlain powered into the right side of the Milan penalty area, when he was sandwiched by Antonio Nocerino and Djamel Mesbah.
It seemed an age before Slovak referee Damir Skomina pointed to the spot and after another delay for the ball to be relaid, Van Persie kept his cool to smash home his 32nd goal of the season.
Despite their dominance, one break for Milan would have changed the whole dynamic of the tie.
The Italians' big chance came just before half-time when El Shaarawy was played into acres of space on the right, but as the goal opened up, the teenager shot wide.
Arsenal started the second half on the offensive, but Milan had now regrouped and were closing down quickly, with Alex Song, the Gunners midfield enforcer, booked after 57 minutes for clattering into Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Another goal hovered closer when Gervinho went clear on the left side of the Milan box, but his deflected shot hit the legs of the keeper, with Van Persie's follow-up hit straight at a relieved Abbiati.
A careless pass from Szczesny almost proved costly as Ibrahimovic wrestled the loose ball from Song, but shot wide from 25 yards past the backtracking, and embarrassed, Arsenal number one.
Oxlade-Chamberlain was replaced by Morocco striker Marouane Chamakh as Wenger injected a new dimension to the frontline.
Nocerino should have put the result beyond any doubt when he arrived at the back post onto Alberto Aquilani's low cross, but stabbed a tame effort straight at Szczesny.
Walcott, who looked to have picked up a knock, was replaced for the final six minutes by Korean forward Park Ju-young, who has seen little action since his summer move from Monaco - but Arsenal were unable to get a late chance and Milan went through to the quarter-finals.
Source: ESPN Soccernet on 6 Mar 12
Arsène Wenger praises 'faultless' Arsenal's brave effort against Milan
"We are disappointed because we touched qualification," Wenger said. "We had the chances. We didn't do it but we were very close. The players put in a faultless performance, with fantastic spirit, and you can only congratulate the whole team. It is a night when the players can be proud to play for this club. They put absolutely every effort in."
Having soared into a 3-0 lead, the search for the crucial fourth goal proved fruitless and Milan were indebted to their goalkeeper, Christian Abbiati, whose fingertip save from Robin van Persie in the second half proved decisive.
"What can I say?" Wenger mused. "The one you would want the chance to go to is Van Persie. But he wanted to chip the goalkeeper. You have to give credit to Abbiati; he came up very quickly."
Fatigue caught up with Arsenal, as well as a lack of options on the bench. Part of that is self-inflicted considering the attacking substitutes – Marouane Chamakh and Park Chu-young – are not seemingly made for the grandstand finish, though Wenger's frustration was that he could not bolster his midfield.
"I felt we suffered a bit in the second half physically because we had given a lot at Liverpool," he said. "Overall I felt we did not have many opportunities on the bench in midfield. In the second half we had more problems to keep the ball than the first half. The regret I have is there. We missed a player like [Mikel] Arteta, who had concussion."
The midfield impetus fell to Tomas Rosicky and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, both of whom drew praise from Arsenal's manager. He described Rosicky's contribution as "outstanding" and praised the Czech's influential contribution to the recent recovery that has seen Arsenal beat Tottenham, Liverpool and Milan in quick succession, scoring 10 goals in the process.
A generally positive night had a sour ending as Wenger became embroiled in an altercation with the referee, the Slovenian Damir Skomina, in the tunnel. Wenger was upset with a performance in which he believed the official gave too many fouls in Milan's favour. Arsenal conceded 21 fouls to Milan's eight. "I was not happy with the referee because he gave them many free-kicks in the centre of the park.
"Every single free-kick every time they went down it was for them. They sensed that very quickly on the pitch the players and they used it very well," he said. Skomina may include details of their exchange of views in his referee's report, which could land Wenger in some familiar hot water with Uefa.
It had echoes of the row with officialdom as Arsenal were knocked out of the Champions League last season at Barcelona. On that occasion Wenger was furious that Van Persie had been sent off by the Swiss referee Massimo Busacca, who gave the Arsenal striker a second booking for shooting when play had stopped even though Van Persie claimed he had not heard the whistle. Wenger received a touchline ban for that episode.
His bad feeling about the tie extended to another complaint about the pitch at San Siro, so if Uefa feels inclined to reprimand Wenger he would be inclined to say the feeling is mutual: "It's maybe an easy excuse but I feel Uefa has a lot to answer for because when you arrive at 7.46 you get fined but you can play on a bad pitch and they don't say a word. I just feel it is part of the respect for people who pay their money and go to a football game to at least put the game in conditions where people can play football. That's what we try to do here. It's unacceptable from Uefa that they accept pitches like we had in Milan."
At the end of it all, Arsenal's players looked shattered - physically and emotionally - and Wenger conceded it will be a tough job to pick them back up. "It will be difficult because it is a big disappointment for the players. The team has grown together and hopefully we can finish the season in a strong way because there is no room for disappointment in the league. For us every point is a battle; that is what is in front of us."
Source: Amy Lawrence, The Guardian on 7 Mar 12
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain embodies Arséne Wenger's faith in spirit
Arsenal's exhausted players left the pitch bathed in warm applause from supporters who sometimes turn their backs on the sight of adversity but this time stayed on after the final whistle, setting aside their disappointment to salute something that felt like a rebirth.
"Everybody fought together and helped his team-mate," Laurent Koscielny said, summing up the virtues of a performance that seemed more significant than the result. They had gone out the Champions League but the manner of their departure seemed to lift their hopes of hanging on to fourth place in the Premier League and securing qualification for next season's competition.
This was a tie of four halves. Arsenal lost the first one 2-0 and the second by the same score in Italy, won the third 3-0 at home and drew the fourth after Milan's players finally pulled themselves together. No doubt Massimiliano Allegri had used his half-time address to remind them of the humiliation suffered by their predecessors at Liverpool's hands seven years ago – although none of the Italian club's players on the pitch in Istanbul was involved on Tuesday night.
As Arsène Wenger's players fought their way back to the brink of redemption, they gave substance to the Frenchman's frequent expressions of faith in their spirit – a quality long obscured, perhaps, but unearthed as they put the seven-times European champions on the rack. With those three unanswered first-half goals, they took a further giant step in the restoration of their battered pride, making the outcome of the tie seem less significant than the effect of their resilience on the club's morale.
At the heart of their performance was a display by a teenager who will certainly have lodged a few thoughts in the mind of whichever coach is destined to take England to the finals of the European Championship this summer. Injuries to Mikel Arteta, Aaron Ramsey, Abou Diaby, Yossi Benayoun and Francis Coquelin, not to mention the long-term absence of Jack Wilshere, gave Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain a chance to start the match in the centre of midfield, alongside Alex Song and in front of the back four. Not quite the position just behind the front line that he says is the one best suited to his talents, but closer to it than the role on the wing in which he has been nurtured in his early days as a first-team player.
Theo Walcott is still waiting for a similar opportunity to come in from the touchline, where he has been stationed since his arrival six years ago – like Oxlade-Chamberlain, a teenaged prodigy from Southampton. Walcott always believed himself to be better suited to a striker's role, and his goalscoring record with his original club and with England's Under-21s supported his contention, as did his brace of goals in the dramatic 5-2 win in the recent north London derby. He must have been envying the apparent ease with which the 18-year-old Oxlade-Chamberlain, five years his junior, has impressed Wenger with his precocious football intelligence.
Oxlade-Chamberlain took hardly any time at all to make his mark against Milan. Only five minutes had gone when he moved out of his withdrawn starting position and turned up on the left wing, measuring a cross which was turned behind for a corner. He took it himself, whipping it in with his right foot and seeing it cleared for a second corner on the same side.
Once again he delivered a telling effort which snaked in to meet the head of Koscielny, the centre-back's lateral run towards the near post conspicuously unhindered by the presence of defenders who stood and watched him score with the most straightforward of headers. But it was the quality of the corner that had made it possible, although Oxlade-Chamberlain could not quite manage to recreate the same damaging effect when offered two further opportunities from the same quadrant a dozen minutes later.
Three minutes before the interval, with Arsenal now two goals up, came his most influential contribution to an extraordinary first half. Charging at an angle into the right-hand corner of the Milan penalty area, showing the kind of bullocking power and directness associated with Barcelona's Alexis Sánchez, he aimed his run towards the rapidly closing gap between Antonio Nocerino and Djamel Mesbah before sprawling to the ground under the Algerian left back's challenge. Robin van Persie hammered the penalty kick past Christian Abbiati with a force that redoubled the intensity of the message to his team-mates: they were right back in this contest with the chance of a reversal that would make the obliteration of Tottenham's 2-0 lead look like a rehearsal.
Before his withdrawal with 15 minutes left, Oxlade-Chamberlain came close to producing an equaliser that would have sealed the miracle when he bore in from the left to strike a confident 20-yarder that curled past the angle of crossbar and far post. But he had already played his part in a display that surely put Arsenal back in credit with their followers, even the most sceptical of them given a glimpse of a brighter future.
Source: Richard Williams, The Guardian on 7 Mar 12
Christian Abbiati stops Arsenal completing great escape against Milan
This team have refused to bow in recent weeks. In each of their previous three Premier League matches they came from behind to win, most memorably in the derby against Tottenham Hotspur. And when they hurled off the shackles that had inhibited them in the first leg of this last-16 collision to take a three-goal half-time lead, the platform was in place for an I-was-there evening.
Arsenal emerged with European pride restored and then some; together with the continuation of recent progress, which ought to set them fair for a return to this competition next season. Players covered themselves in glory, particularly Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, in an unfamiliar deep-lying central midfield role, and Tomas Rosicky, who has emerged from what has felt like a hibernation.
But in the second half they ran out of steam against a Milan side who belatedly recovered their composure and showed their experience. Robin van Persie had the best chance to square things up on aggregate in the 59th minute but, at close quarters, his attempted chip was read by Christian Abbiati. Milan have been scarred from seemingly unassailable positions in the past. Think Deportivo La Coruña 2004 and Liverpool 2005. Arsenal 2012 so nearly checked into their hall of shame.
Wenger raged at the Slovenian referee Damir Skomina, who did endure erratic moments, but the manager's frustration would have been better directed at his lack of credible options in reserve. As his players tired he had little on the substitutes' bench, particularly in midfield, where injuries had bitten. Arsenal were left to lament their shocking performance in the first leg, on a pudding of a pitch at San Siro, and the plaudits here could not mask the pain.
At least, though, they could have few regrets on the night. They had prepared diligently, especially on the psychological side, with Wenger in almost ludicrously bullish pre-match form. There was, he had said, a "real possibility" that his team could prove the impossible was possible; if Milan could score four at home, so could they.
His players took their cue and mustered every last ounce of effort from the first whistle. Wenger and his side are nothing if not hopeless romantics and they fired the dreams of the home support with the early goal. Mark van Bommel had already been booked for a foul on Rosicky that means he will be suspended for the first leg of the next tie when he failed to track the outstanding Laurent Koscielny from Oxlade-Chamberlain's viciously inswinging corner. Van Bommel was not helped by his team-mate Philippe Mexès, who lost his bearings and blocked him off. Koscielny profited from close range.
The crowd was energised; ditto those in red shirts. Van Persie twice worked Abbiati before the occasion was ignited by the second goal. Again the defending was dire; battle-hardened Serie A teams are simply not supposed to concede like this. Theo Walcott's low cross from the right looked harmless but Thiago Silva's clearance was directed weakly at Rosicky, who was hovering just inside the area. The Czech measured a cool side-foot finish inside the near corner and the passion of the celebrations reflected the feeling that Milan could be taken. The visitors were prisoners in their shells.
Hope turned to conviction upon the third. Oxlade-Chamberlain's burst into the area was checked illegally by the dismal Djamel Mesbah and Van Persie did what he does from the spot. The longer that he was forced to delay his kick by Van Bommel, his Holland team-mate, the more of a certainty it became that he would score his 32nd goal of a remarkable season.
Wenger did not want the first half to end. The TV cameras picked out a banner with the phrase "It's up for grabs now", and the sense that it could be Arsenal's night hardened when Stephan El Shaarawy, the Milan prodigy with the rock star's haircut, fluffed a gilt-edged chance in the 45th minute.
The fear, though, was that Arsenal could not maintain their intensity in the second half and Milan, having regrouped at the interval, emerged in more compact fashion. Then again, it would have been difficult for them to be any more inept. Zlatan Ibrahimovic came to life and Milan made inroads into Arsenal territory.
It felt as though the next goal would win it and Arsenal went dramatically close. Rosicky led a break and when Gervinho's shot deflected off Mexès, Abbiati needed to change direction smartly to save. The ball broke to Van Persie; the Emirates held its breath. Abbiati, though, thrust up a hand to paw the effort away. The move was Arsenal's only clear opportunity of the second period.
As they chased glory, Wenger's team diced with death. Wojciech Szczesny's dreadful clearance gave Ibrahimovic a sighting and the striker's shot fizzed just wide. Then Antonio Nocerino somehow diverted a poke from point-blank range back at the goalkeeper, when half of the net was empty. Milan, however, dragged themselves over the line.
Source: David Hytner, The Guardian on 6 Mar 12
Arsenal v Milan in the Champions League: five talking points
Dignity more than regained
As ashamed as they felt to be so thoroughly outclassed in Italy, Arsenal earned the right to feel proud of themselves by making the impossible seem eminently possible. This is not the best XI Arsène Wenger has ever put together by any stretch of the imagination but they proved themselves capable of something memorable for the third time in as many games. Again they showed courage, and discipline, to try to haul themselves out of a difficult situation. Even making this tie interesting was an achievement. As Wenger pointed out before the game, they somehow had to strike the right balance between attacking and defending. The only pity was that they did not have the attacking reinforcements from the bench to really crank it up. The out-of-favour Marouane Chamakh and Park Chu-young were the best they could do.
Italians stuck in first gear
One of the oddest consequences of being in such command from the first leg is the difficulty for a team to psych themselves up for the task. That does not excuse Milan's extraordinary sluggishness. If Arsenal, as Kieran Gibbs suggested, were guilty of not "turning up" at San Siro, the same accusation could be thrown at Milan here. Their defensive lapses were extremely poor for all the goals that gave Arsenal a 3-0 half-time lead. Inept marking from a corner, uncharacteristic sloppiness from Thiago Silva, and a clumsy Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain sandwich put Milan in a position of anxiety they could barely have imagined having doled out that hammering three weeks ago. Van Bommel's early booking was another advantage for Arsenal, as he could ill afford any more reckless tackles. The question of whether this Milan team could be a contender and trouble the Spanish favourites got a pretty resounding answer here: not this time.
The real Rosicky stands up
Wenger confessed before the game that he did not know what he would do if the Czech midfielder Tomas Rosicky did not recover from an injury niggle to make the team. A player who promised so much when he signed from Borussia Dortmund in 2006, his Arsenal career has stuttered, mainly due to some horrendous injury problems. In the past couple of weeks he has shone, regaining the momentum to play with great personality, drive and guile in midfield. Having scored his first Premier League goal in two years to crown an action-packed display against Tottenham, he carried that form over with another performance full of purpose. His opportunist strike, for Arsenal's second goal, was deserved. A word, too, for Alex Song, whose exemplary display anchoring the Arsenal midfield underlines why his contract extension must be priority after Van Persie.
'The Ox' is the future
Although he was selected in a more central role than anticipated, contrary to some of the pre-match speculation the teenager Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was deployed in a defensive midfield role, rather than as a playmaker. It had echoes of the education Wenger wanted Jack Wilshere to experience when he broke through, but was all the same a giant call to make in a game such as this against Mark van Bommel and Antonio Nocerino. Oxlade-Chamberlain was sensible in his positioning, tidy in possession, and able to demonstrate his technique with the beautifully whipped in cross for Laurent Koscielny to head in Arsenal's first goal. But it was hard to escape the feeling he was being reigned in, that he could make more of a difference. Then came the moment when he escaped the leash with a searing run into the box to win the penalty for Robin van Persie to make the score 3-0. The former Southampton player has come a long, long way since making his debut as a substitute 62 minutes into that infamous 8-2 thumping at Old Trafford.
Abbiati battered
The Italian keeper Christian Abbiati had been watching from the bench the night Milan surrendered a 4-1 lead at Deportivo La Coruña to suffer the consequences of the most dramatic turnaround in Champions League history. He, above all, deserves a pat on the back from his team-mates. A couple of important saves (added to the two fine efforts to ensure Van Persie did not score an away goal at San Siro) were vital. Milan were surprisingly open. For an Italian team to go away from home and play with an attacking trident hardly known for their capacity to track back in Zlatan Ibrahimovic flanked by Robinho and the youngster Stephan El Shaarawy was brave in a way. But it turned out to be a bad move, as a more conservative approach might have been more frustrating to Arsenal. As it was, there was not much of a barrier. The midfield area – where Wenger's team had no option but to experiment – was afforded far too much time and space to dictate the game. By all accounts the Milan coach was cross that it finished only 4-0 in the opener at San Siro. Now we know why.
Source: Amy Lawrence, The Guardian on 6 Mar 12
Wenger's reaction to the Arsenal 3-0 AC Milan match
We gave a good performance tonight and we are disappointed because we touched qualification. We had the chances and we didn't do it, but we were very close. I felt that we suffered a bit in the second half physically because we gave a lot at Liverpool. Overall I feel we didn't have many options on the bench in midfield and in the second half we had more problems keeping the ball than in the first half. When we tired in midfield we had no options on the bench and the regret I have is there. The players put in a faultless performance, with fantastic spirit and you can only congratulate the whole team.
on the first leg…
We have played so many games away in the Champions League and we have never lost 4-0 anywhere. We have played at Real Madrid, at Barcelona and we have played against better teams than Milan so it was very disappointing because our performance was poor.
on feeling proud...
I don't know if it is one of my proudest nights but it is a night when players can be proud to play for this Club because they put every effort in. If you win 3-0 at home you can only say well done to the players. You know that if you play 180 minutes and you miss 90, it is difficult at this level. We were very close.
on whether the players need to be lifted…
We are on a good run in the league and we know it will be difficult [to lift the players] because it is a big disappointment, but the team have grown together. Hopefully from here we can finish the season in a strong way because we know there is no room for disappointment in the league. For us every point is a battle and until the end of the season that is what is in front of us.
on the referee…
I was not happy with the referee tonight because I felt he gave many free kicks in the middle of the park. Every time [Milan's players] went down a free kick was given to them, and they sensed that very quickly and used it very well.
on Van Persie's second-half chance…
What can I say? The one you would want the chance to go to was Van Persie. He tried to chip the goalkeeper, and you have to give credit to Abbiati. It is a fraction where the players have to make a decision, but credit to the keeper.
on Oxlade-Chamberlain...
For a guy who has never played at the top level in central midfield, he started in a Champions League game and he did well. He tired a bit in the second half after his injury, and he got less of the ball than he did in the first half. When he got the ball, you always think something could happen. He can play all of the places across the pitch, in midfield to wide. You could see he has suffered physically, but also that he has the class to be in there.
on the team's recent good performances...
I have to give credit to Tomas Rosicky for that. He was again outstanding here. In all of these games, he was one of the most influential players, and he does not always get the credit he deserves, so I would like to take this opportunity to give him credit.
on the defensive display...
I felt defensively we were not at the [right] level in Milan. Tonight our defenders were outstanding and the back four did very well. We had a very offensive team and to keep Milan from scoring, we needed an outstanding performance at the back and we did that very well.
Source: Arsenal.com on 6 Mar 12
Gunners exit, but show their mettle
Arsene Wenger's young team were slaughtered 4-0 at the San Siro three weeks' ago, but on Tuesday night they were unrecognisable from the naive, limp force who capitulated so spectacularly in Italy. This was the Arsenal that Wenger has always envisioned - bursting with vigour and imagination and, at their best, a match for any team in Europe. They were more than a match for Milan.
Wenger was good to his word and sent out an Arsenal line-up that screamed attacking adventure. Tomas Rosicky, Robin van Persie, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Theo Walcott and Gervinho all started, and for all intents and purposes left Alex Song to perform an entire midfield's defensive duties on his own.
The home fans came in hope rather than expectation, but they were soon whipped into a frenzy by an irresistible first-half performance from Arsenal that cast Milan as the dour, spent force they were before the Massimiliano Allegri renaissance gave them life again. Given ample encouragement, the Gunners and their fans dared to dream. Who could blame them?
It all started on seven minutes, when Oxlade-Chamberlain's fizzing corner was met by Laurent Koscielny and the defender powered a header past Christian Abbiati. It was simple goal and in its making could be found an early sign that Milan were not focused mentally. The marking was less than attentive, and any time you concede from a corner at this level it has to go down as a defensive lapse.
From there on it was all Arsenal. Rosicky in particular was imperious in midfield, drifting past tackles and flicking telling passes all over the place. Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott and Gervinho were hungry for possession and making the most of it with strong runs and neat, intelligent touches. Meanwhile Song and the defence behind him were given little to worry about by the pairing of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Robinho, who destroyed them at the San Siro and did the same to Palermo at the weekend.
Inevitably it wasn't long before a chance came the way of Van Persie. When it did, the prolific Dutchman shifted the ball in front of him and curled a shot towards the top corner from 20 yards as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Abbiati dived high to his right to deny him, but with barely 20 minutes on the clock Arsenal had already had enough encouragement to suggest they were playing for more than pride.
Soon enough they had the second they deserved, scored by the man who most deserved it. When Walcott's cross was weakly cleared by Thiago Silva, Rosicky was in place to slot home from close range and send the already excited home support into a state of delirium. Arsenal were halfway there, with only a quarter of the game gone. Anything was possible now.
There was still more to come before half-time; when the rampaging Oxlade-Chamberlain set about dissecting Djamel Mesbah and Antonio Nocerino, the Milan pair came together to halt his progress. Penalty to Arsenal; time for Van Persie to do what he can't stop doing. Milan indulged in a bout of gamesmanship before the kick could be taken, but the captain was unmoved and smashed a shot into the top right to make it 3-0.
"He scores when he wants," they bellowed from all but one corner of the stadium. "Robin van Persie, he scores when he wants."
But no sooner had Gunners fans glimpsed the Promised Land, then Milan cut through them as easily as they had four times in the first leg. Stephan El Shaarawy had the goal at his mercy, but Wojciech Szczesny spread himself well and the forward shot wide. It had taken the Italian champions the entire half, but finally they had seen the flaw in Arsenal's plan.
"Stand up if you still believe," the buoyant Arsenal fans sang to meet the start of the second half. The attendance stood at just under 60,000, but this was a night to herald an atmosphere as good as any you'll find in the Champions League this season. So much for the Emirates being soulless, it was positively heaving with emotion and spirit.
Sadly for Gunners fans the second half didn't live up to the first, but how could it? Milan came out fighting for their Champions League lives and, no doubt propelled by some choice words from their manager, began to push for a goal themselves.
It fell on Szczesny to dive bravely at the feet of Ibrahimovic to deny him on 54 minutes, and the Pole would thwart him again 20 minutes later. Nocerino was also refused a route to the goal by the goalkeeper, who was Arsenal's star performer against Liverpool and once again proved himself a man for the big occasion.
Meanwhile Arsenal struggled to create as freely as they had in the first half. Milan played tighter and with more concentration, and it didn't help the Gunners' attacking cause when Walcott went off injured on 75 minutes and Oxlade-Chamberlain followed him soon after. Time drifted by and Milan's stifling tactics proved effective. Suddenly it was the visitors who looked the more likely to score and what had seemed inevitable at kick-off seemed inevitable once more. The home side were going out.
Arsenal's best, and perhaps only real chance to send the match into extra-time fell to that man Van Persie, but for once the club's saviour was found wanting. He chipped straight at Abbiati from six yards out on the hour-mark when perhaps he should have hammered it, but few would criticise the Dutchman on current form. Although, with that miss went the miracle of the Emirates.
But Arsenal's defeat could do nothing to subdue the mood of optimism. When the final whistle came, Wenger's men were rightly lauded by the supporters who have seen them beat Tottenham, Liverpool and now Milan in succession, and done so with a level of application and confidence that can only bode well for their chances of qualifying for the Champions League next season.
Wenger still has to buy in the summer to mount a realistic challenge for silverware next season, but if he can harness the collective spirit his players have demonstrated in their last three games, his Arsenal vision is still very much one to believe in. Against Milan, the Gunners finally showed their mettle.
Source: Will Tidey, ESPN Soccernet on 6 Mar 12
6 March 2012: Arsenal 3-0 AC Milan, Emirates Stadium
A storming 3-0 win confirmed their recent revival but was not enough to overturn the lead Milan had established in the last-16 first leg at the San Siro three weeks ago.
Laurent Koscielny ignited the spark with a seventh-minute header and Tomas Rosicky sent smoke rising from Emirates midway through the half. When Robin van Persie fired home a penalty three minutes from the break the stadium was alight.
Unfortunately, Arsenal could not maintain the same heat in the second half. Gervinho and Van Persie both had opportunities for the equaliser but Milan were more robust with Antonio Nocerino twice testing Wojciech Szczesny.
But, remember, a four-goal comeback had been achieved only three times before in the history of European competition.
Arsenal easily won the game. It would have been something truly extraordinary if they had won the tie.
Yet, in defeat, they had more than proved their mettle.
Eleven weary bodies in 11 red-and-white shirts hauled themselves dejectedly from the pitch at full time.
On the strength of this incredible night, they will be back – and stronger for the experience. Arsenal may have lost the tie – but they were far from defeated.
The extent of that 4-0 first leg defeat in Milan made for an unusual feeling before kick-off.
Arsenal had recovered from that first-leg defeat with superb comebacks against Tottenham and Liverpool. But this was a different matter.
A raft of absences hardly helped. Mikel Arteta (head), Yossi Benayoun (sickness) and Abou Diaby (hamstring) had joined the list following the weekend win at Anfield. Wenger admitted that if Tomas Rosicky had not passed a fitness test then he would have switched formation. As it was the Czech international was joined by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the centre. It was the youngster’s first start inside. Gervinho also came into the team.
Milan’s teamsheet caused a little ripple pre-match as Massimiliano Allegri named two keepers on the bench. The coach was attempting to bolt the back door on this tie.
But the home side proved to be excellent locksmiths at the beginning of the first half.
Within seven minutes they were ahead. Oxlade-Chamberlain fired over a corner from the left and Koscielny wriggled free of his marker to nod home his second goal of the season.
The perfect start.
Soon after, Walcott roared down the right and fed Van Persie. The angle was acute and shot was kicked away by Christian Abbiati. It was a regulation save but it was met with rapture by the home support.
Recent results – and that early goal – had given them every reason to believe.
The first 10 minutes belonged to Arsenal. Van Persie’s pass was inches behind an unmarked Rosicky on the left of the area. Then the Dutchman forced a flying save from Abbiati at his near post.
Milan were menacing on the counter but they could sustain nothing going forward. This game was all about Arsenal at this point.
And the second goal made the dream much more real.
In the 26th minute, Walcott stormed forward and his cutback was lazily cleared to Rosicky by Thiago Silva. The 31-year-old has been rolling back the years in recent weeks and his goal was a case in point.
A less experienced player would have snatched at it. A less technical player would have blasted.
Rosicky passed the ball into the net with composure. It was an understated and yet quality strike - typical of the man.
Emirates Stadium now sensed something special. Arsenal continued to pour forward. The Milan defence creaked under the pressure but did not serve up an opportunity.
They also looked a little more ambitious themselves.
However Arsenal were now fancying their task and, three minutes from half time it got a little easier when Oxlade-Chamberlain was blocked off by Daniel Mesbah as he stormed through and Van Persie slammed home from the spot.
Stunning, stirring stuff.
However there was nearly a sting. In injury time, a sweeping Milan move eventually saw Stephan El Shaarawy pop up on the right of the area unmarked. He fired a shot wide when he should have scored.
Milan had to change something as, that last chance apart, they been toothless. At this rate, Arsenal would pick them off.
The visitors certainly showed endeavour at the start of the second half. If anything Arsenal were now playing on the counter and just before the hour mark they nearly drew level in the tie via that route.
Gervinho deflected shot was kicked away by Abbiati and then the keeper reacted well to clutch Van Persie’s follow-up from point-blank range.
It was massive moment. Especially as Arsenal were starting to come under real pressure.
In the 63rd minute, Wojciech Szczesny tried to find Song with a low clearance into midfield. Ibrahimovic nipped in and fired just wide with the keeper helpless.
The game was in the balance as we reached the midway point of the second half. In itself that was a massive achievement. But Milan had shown much more since the break.
It was understandable. The visitors are leading Serie A right now and Arsenal had played at a leg-sapping tempo in the first half.
With 16 minutes to go, Wenger brought on Marouane Chamakh for Oxlade-Chamberlain. The time had come to gamble.
But in truth, Arsenal were tiring.
Nocerino cut in from the left and Szczesny batted away his near-post drive. From the resulting throw in, Alberto Aquilani cut inside and sent low ball across goal. It was perfect for Nocerino. But his shot was stopped by the foot of Szczesny and the rebound fell into his hands.
A fortunate moment.
In the final few minutes, Walcott limped off and Ju Young Park came on. The formation was now officially 4-2-4 but it seemed to be 4-0-6 at times.
Arsenal tried to rouse themselves for one more assault but the comeback has drained their energy.
The European adventure may be now over but Wenger’s men are back on track.
Source: Richard Clarke, Arsenal.com on 6 Mar 12
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Comeback kings Arsenal hope to do same to Milan in Champions League
Arsenal are the new comeback kings after spectacular second-half recoveries against Tottenham and, on Saturday, Liverpool. Robin van Persie scored both the visitors' goals – the second in added time – to snatch a 2-1 win at Anfield after a game in which they had been outplayed for long periods.
The result leaves Arsène Wenger in better heart than he would ever have expected for Tuesday night's mission impossible: overturning a four-goal, first-leg deficit against Milan in the Champions League. "Our job now is to make the impossible possible on Tuesday," the Arsenal manager said. "Maybe we were a bit lucky in beating Liverpool, but we will take results where we can and we have significantly improved our position in the last week. This result gets us away from Liverpool in a substantial way and we have shown in the last two games that we have the quality to produce something special when we need to win matches."
The something special at Anfield was a sensational 92nd-minute winner from Van Persie, a goal of such sublime elegance that it only emphasised Liverpool's deficiencies in the finishing department.
Wenger and Van Persie accepted that Liverpool dominated the game, yet even though Arsenal produced fewer goal attempts, more of them were on target. "We could have been two or three goals down at half-time," Wenger said. "The second half was more level, but we were lucky not to have been killed off by then. Liverpool are a very good side and it just shows how difficult this league is, how hard it is to even claim fourth place, but when you have a quality striker like Robin van Persie in your side you always have a chance. He is up there with the best players in the world at the moment and I am very proud of the way he has become the leader of the team."
Wenger knows he cannot talk in such a manner without being asked questions about Arsenal's ability to keep hold of a player whose contract runs out next season and who is now admired by all the leading teams in Europe, so he was ready with the standard reply. "You can never afford to lose a player of that quality," he said, diplomatically. "Of course we will do anything possible to keep him, I have said that many times already."
The Arsenal manager said his goalkeeper also made the difference against Liverpool, Wojciech Szczesny saving a first-half penalty, and both players echoed Wenger's view that the visitors had ridden their luck.
"We were getting killed in the first half," Szczesny said. "We enjoyed the second half a lot more." Van Persie was even more self-deprecating. "I don't think we deserved it to be honest," he said. "Liverpool played better than we did but we nicked it at the end."
If that verdict does not do justice to the excellence of Arsenal's winning goal, Van Persie was at least willing to pay tribute to the team-mate who supplied the pass. Alex Song had been the provider for Van Persie's previous goal of the season contender against Everton, and the Holland striker said the midfielder's vision was at least as good as his finish. "It was another unbelievable pass from Alex," Van Persie said. "He's a really good player. He can see it and he can do it as well."
Source: Paul Wilson, The Guardian on 3 Mar 12
The something special at Anfield was a sensational 92nd-minute winner from Van Persie, a goal of such sublime elegance that it only emphasised Liverpool's deficiencies in the finishing department.
Wenger and Van Persie accepted that Liverpool dominated the game, yet even though Arsenal produced fewer goal attempts, more of them were on target. "We could have been two or three goals down at half-time," Wenger said. "The second half was more level, but we were lucky not to have been killed off by then. Liverpool are a very good side and it just shows how difficult this league is, how hard it is to even claim fourth place, but when you have a quality striker like Robin van Persie in your side you always have a chance. He is up there with the best players in the world at the moment and I am very proud of the way he has become the leader of the team."
Wenger knows he cannot talk in such a manner without being asked questions about Arsenal's ability to keep hold of a player whose contract runs out next season and who is now admired by all the leading teams in Europe, so he was ready with the standard reply. "You can never afford to lose a player of that quality," he said, diplomatically. "Of course we will do anything possible to keep him, I have said that many times already."
The Arsenal manager said his goalkeeper also made the difference against Liverpool, Wojciech Szczesny saving a first-half penalty, and both players echoed Wenger's view that the visitors had ridden their luck.
"We were getting killed in the first half," Szczesny said. "We enjoyed the second half a lot more." Van Persie was even more self-deprecating. "I don't think we deserved it to be honest," he said. "Liverpool played better than we did but we nicked it at the end."
If that verdict does not do justice to the excellence of Arsenal's winning goal, Van Persie was at least willing to pay tribute to the team-mate who supplied the pass. Alex Song had been the provider for Van Persie's previous goal of the season contender against Everton, and the Holland striker said the midfielder's vision was at least as good as his finish. "It was another unbelievable pass from Alex," Van Persie said. "He's a really good player. He can see it and he can do it as well."
Source: Paul Wilson, The Guardian on 3 Mar 12
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Arsenal standards reach dangerous low
For a split-second the ball was there, and then it was gone. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, perceived big-game choker but undoubted possessor of world-class talent, had tricked his way past Johan Djourou, 25-year-old "youngster" and former Birmingham City loanee. AC Milan were all set to complete their 4-0 Champions League drubbing of Arsenal, and every question mark over the increasingly under-fire Arsene Wenger was soon to be raised.
Other than the most obvious: What was Djourou doing on the pitch in the first place?
Djourou, of course, was not solely to blame for Arsenal's worst defeat in European competition. He was not even on the pitch for Milan's first two goals. Yet he embodies the lowering standard that Wenger has come to accept at Arsenal - and like a stone (Djourou most definitely isn't a rock) hitting water, it is a standard that is rippling through the rest of the squad.
In the context of what happened at the San Siro on Wednesday, Djourou was only on the pitch due to a rash of defensive injuries to Per Mertesacker, Carl Jenkinson and - picked up in the match itself - Laurent Koscielny. But honest Arsenal fans will acknowledge he is one of many who should not be wearing the shirt at all.
Neither, arguably, should the three names mentioned ahead of him.
Djourou is a symbol in this article to represent the many names who are lucky to be playing for one of England's greatest clubs - Carl Jenkinson, Laurent Koscielny, Per Mertesacker, Andre Santos, Theo Walcott, Andrei Arshavin, Marouane Chamakh. An honest head says none of them have consistently shown they are capable of the form expected of past great Arsenal sides.
Wenger, mocked as a nutty-looking professor when he arrived in England, once produced arguably the best footballing side to grace the Premier League - the famous Invincibles. The current crop, by comparison, must be dubbed the Unreliables. His mathematician's mind was once heralded for picking out footballing gems such as Patrick Vieira and Cesc Fabregas at bargain-basement prices, but nowadays most football fans would rather walk to White Hart Lane for Harry Redknapp's street-savvy approach.
The dealings of the past 12 months are evidence enough that Redknapp could currently teach Wenger a thing or two. Scott Parker was so obviously needed at Arsenal that he may as well have been gift-wrapped with a one-way ticket to Holloway Road tube station, yet for a cool £5 million he is currently being hailed as the next England captain whilst in the white of Tottenham. Ryan Nelsen, who did not even cost a penny, is surely another who would walk into the Arsenal line-up.
Wenger, over time, has allowed the standard to drop so low at Arsenal that players who were once derided as liabilities are now championed as their strongest assets. Koscielny is a prime example, a defender capable of solid performances such as the one against Manchester United, but equally prone to a gaffe. The mind only has to rewind to the 3-2 defeat at Swansea in January to recall how he allowed Danny Graham in for the winning goal. When he arrived at Arsenal it was obvious he was not the type of player to stand up and be counted when 1-0 up away at Fulham (another loss for Arsenal), yet Wenger's latest comments on the Frenchman lead one to believe that the Gunners have the next Laurent Blanc.
"[We found him] in France of course, from a smaller team," he said. "You could see that there was something special there. I believe that last year you could already see the potential but he did not have that dominance in the duels that he has found this season. That makes him, I personally believe, one of the top-class central defenders in the Premier League."
Acceptance of mediocrity is the path to exactly that, and it only takes a comparison to the last trophy-winning Arsenal side to prove it. How many of the current XI would have featured in that 2005 FA Cup win against Manchester United?
Is Wojciech Szczesny better than Jens Lehmann? Temperament-wise perhaps. Are Kieran Gibbs or Santos superior to Ashley Cole? Only morally. What about Bacary Sagna - woefully exposed in Italy - compared to Lauren? Or Koscielny in relation to Kolo Toure? All answers, truthfully, are no. Only Vermaelen would step into that back five at the expense of Philippe Senderos.
In midfield, do Alex Song, Aaron Ramsey or Mikel Arteta lace the same boots as Patrick Vieira, Gilberto Silva or Cesc Fabregas? That question is purely rhetorical.
And are Walcott or Arshavin preferable to Jose Antonio Reyes or Robert Pires? Not on the form of the past six months. Only Robin van Persie qualifies for that 2005 team in the midfield or attacking positions, and even he would only make the bench behind Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry (the final was even won without Henry's services). That totals a grand number of two current players good enough for the side Wenger built seven years ago, with Jack Wilshere a promising up-and-comer.
As a result, the likes of Koscielny, Song and Arteta have become recognised as Arsenal's better players, the bar lowered deep enough for such players to raise their heads slightly above the mediocrity around them.
A mathematical mind Wenger does indeed possess, after all, he boasts a degree in economics, yet when it comes to the simple maths of football his sums do not add up. Summer outgoings: Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy. Replacements: Arteta, Yossi Benayoun and Santos. Three top-drawer players replaced by three players significantly less talent. Replace Heinz Tomato Ketchup with a low-budget alternative and what do you expect?
In Wenger's defence, he had no choice with the players he lost, but according to his board and all noises coming out of Arsenal, he most certainly had the money to replace them. "There have been suggestions that we keep stopping him from buying," chairman Peter Hill-Wood stated earlier in the season. "That is not the case."
Player for player, Arsenal have two or three at most who would challenge for a spot in the Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham XIs (yes, none of them are currently in the Champions League, but it's a hollow point): Van Persie, Wilshere and Vermaelen (the latter is generous). Simple maths says that statistic must change if Arsenal are to stop their slide from the country's best.
The club, the manager and the fans can defend the likes of Koscielny, Song and Djourou as strongly as they want - the loyalty is to be admired. But how often do these players return the favour by fighting for the reputation of the club? And how long, given current circumstances, until Wenger is heard championing the importance of the Europa League - another lowering of the standards?
Source: Ben Blackmore, ESPN Soccernet on 16 Feb 12
Other than the most obvious: What was Djourou doing on the pitch in the first place?
Djourou, of course, was not solely to blame for Arsenal's worst defeat in European competition. He was not even on the pitch for Milan's first two goals. Yet he embodies the lowering standard that Wenger has come to accept at Arsenal - and like a stone (Djourou most definitely isn't a rock) hitting water, it is a standard that is rippling through the rest of the squad.
In the context of what happened at the San Siro on Wednesday, Djourou was only on the pitch due to a rash of defensive injuries to Per Mertesacker, Carl Jenkinson and - picked up in the match itself - Laurent Koscielny. But honest Arsenal fans will acknowledge he is one of many who should not be wearing the shirt at all.
Neither, arguably, should the three names mentioned ahead of him.
Djourou is a symbol in this article to represent the many names who are lucky to be playing for one of England's greatest clubs - Carl Jenkinson, Laurent Koscielny, Per Mertesacker, Andre Santos, Theo Walcott, Andrei Arshavin, Marouane Chamakh. An honest head says none of them have consistently shown they are capable of the form expected of past great Arsenal sides.
Wenger, mocked as a nutty-looking professor when he arrived in England, once produced arguably the best footballing side to grace the Premier League - the famous Invincibles. The current crop, by comparison, must be dubbed the Unreliables. His mathematician's mind was once heralded for picking out footballing gems such as Patrick Vieira and Cesc Fabregas at bargain-basement prices, but nowadays most football fans would rather walk to White Hart Lane for Harry Redknapp's street-savvy approach.
The dealings of the past 12 months are evidence enough that Redknapp could currently teach Wenger a thing or two. Scott Parker was so obviously needed at Arsenal that he may as well have been gift-wrapped with a one-way ticket to Holloway Road tube station, yet for a cool £5 million he is currently being hailed as the next England captain whilst in the white of Tottenham. Ryan Nelsen, who did not even cost a penny, is surely another who would walk into the Arsenal line-up.
Wenger, over time, has allowed the standard to drop so low at Arsenal that players who were once derided as liabilities are now championed as their strongest assets. Koscielny is a prime example, a defender capable of solid performances such as the one against Manchester United, but equally prone to a gaffe. The mind only has to rewind to the 3-2 defeat at Swansea in January to recall how he allowed Danny Graham in for the winning goal. When he arrived at Arsenal it was obvious he was not the type of player to stand up and be counted when 1-0 up away at Fulham (another loss for Arsenal), yet Wenger's latest comments on the Frenchman lead one to believe that the Gunners have the next Laurent Blanc.
"[We found him] in France of course, from a smaller team," he said. "You could see that there was something special there. I believe that last year you could already see the potential but he did not have that dominance in the duels that he has found this season. That makes him, I personally believe, one of the top-class central defenders in the Premier League."
Acceptance of mediocrity is the path to exactly that, and it only takes a comparison to the last trophy-winning Arsenal side to prove it. How many of the current XI would have featured in that 2005 FA Cup win against Manchester United?
Is Wojciech Szczesny better than Jens Lehmann? Temperament-wise perhaps. Are Kieran Gibbs or Santos superior to Ashley Cole? Only morally. What about Bacary Sagna - woefully exposed in Italy - compared to Lauren? Or Koscielny in relation to Kolo Toure? All answers, truthfully, are no. Only Vermaelen would step into that back five at the expense of Philippe Senderos.
In midfield, do Alex Song, Aaron Ramsey or Mikel Arteta lace the same boots as Patrick Vieira, Gilberto Silva or Cesc Fabregas? That question is purely rhetorical.
And are Walcott or Arshavin preferable to Jose Antonio Reyes or Robert Pires? Not on the form of the past six months. Only Robin van Persie qualifies for that 2005 team in the midfield or attacking positions, and even he would only make the bench behind Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry (the final was even won without Henry's services). That totals a grand number of two current players good enough for the side Wenger built seven years ago, with Jack Wilshere a promising up-and-comer.
As a result, the likes of Koscielny, Song and Arteta have become recognised as Arsenal's better players, the bar lowered deep enough for such players to raise their heads slightly above the mediocrity around them.
A mathematical mind Wenger does indeed possess, after all, he boasts a degree in economics, yet when it comes to the simple maths of football his sums do not add up. Summer outgoings: Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Gael Clichy. Replacements: Arteta, Yossi Benayoun and Santos. Three top-drawer players replaced by three players significantly less talent. Replace Heinz Tomato Ketchup with a low-budget alternative and what do you expect?
In Wenger's defence, he had no choice with the players he lost, but according to his board and all noises coming out of Arsenal, he most certainly had the money to replace them. "There have been suggestions that we keep stopping him from buying," chairman Peter Hill-Wood stated earlier in the season. "That is not the case."
Player for player, Arsenal have two or three at most who would challenge for a spot in the Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham XIs (yes, none of them are currently in the Champions League, but it's a hollow point): Van Persie, Wilshere and Vermaelen (the latter is generous). Simple maths says that statistic must change if Arsenal are to stop their slide from the country's best.
The club, the manager and the fans can defend the likes of Koscielny, Song and Djourou as strongly as they want - the loyalty is to be admired. But how often do these players return the favour by fighting for the reputation of the club? And how long, given current circumstances, until Wenger is heard championing the importance of the Europa League - another lowering of the standards?
Source: Ben Blackmore, ESPN Soccernet on 16 Feb 12
A harrowing night
I should have chosen to expect us to get walloped. That way at least I'd have been less disappointed and wouldn't feel as let down by the team as I did after the match. I'd have been more accepting of the defeat had the Arsenal shown some fight, some application and some determination to get back into the tie. There's no scapegoat to place the blame with, and the result wasn't the sole responsibility of the manager. No-one was good enough and the team got what they deserved.
The big challenge has to be for this result to not affect the team for the rest of the season. Given how certain matches have led to our seasons falling apart in the last few years, I'm struggling to see how the players will pick themselves up from losing 4-0. If they don't, that defeat in Milan will be our last meaningful away trip in Europe for some time. The fans that travelled to Milan and sang throughout the game deserve better. Even at 4-0 down, the only singing that could be heard through the television were the away fans who were high up in the San Siro.
The big challenge has to be for this result to not affect the team for the rest of the season. Given how certain matches have led to our seasons falling apart in the last few years, I'm struggling to see how the players will pick themselves up from losing 4-0. If they don't, that defeat in Milan will be our last meaningful away trip in Europe for some time. The fans that travelled to Milan and sang throughout the game deserve better. Even at 4-0 down, the only singing that could be heard through the television were the away fans who were high up in the San Siro.
It would be easy to look at the four goals and say that we were unlucky for some of them, but that would be ignoring the larger issue that the team were dismal. The first goal came from a poor clearance from Szczesny, and then the midfield and defence were slow to react when Milan had the ball. One of the key things to do in the first leg of a knockout tie is to keep things tight at the back. We were hopelessly open and Milan were able to punish us with a chipped pass over the top for Boateng. The finish was good, but Boateng far too much time and space to attempt the volley. Ibrahimovic was offside for the second goal, but the defence didn’t chase back hard enough to put him under pressure and Robinho shouldn’t have been allowed a free header from the edge of the six yard box.
The third goal was probably the most unfortunate one to concede, with Thomas Vermaelen slipping at the key moment when he was about to close Robinho down, however it had been too easy for Milan to get into that position on the edge of the box. The penalty was a bit harsh as Ibrahimovic seemed to move his leg into Djourou, but had that been at the other end, we’d have been gutted had it not been given.
Realistically, the score-line should have been worse given the chances Milan had and how they eased off in the second half. Milan looked up for it, we didn’t. Even when we were able to control periods of the game and keep the ball, we did nothing with it. Robin van Persie was feeding off scraps and couldn’t get in the game in the first half. He had three half chances in the second, however that was the extent of what we could create for him.
Not even bringing on Thierry Henry at half time could salvage anything for us. It would have been unreasonable to expect Henry to be able to drag the team up by himself. The Henry of old might have been able to pick the ball up a long way from goal and make things happen, but as we saw at Sunderland, the current Henry is primarily a finisher in the penalty area. He was given nothing to finish. It appeared to me that some of the players possibly believed the potential for the Henry fairy tale and were just waiting for him to come off the bench and win the match instead of focussing on winning it themselves. It was a sad way for Thierry Henry to end his Arsenal career.
The way we appeared to be relying on Henry by bringing him on at half time seemed symbolic of the current problems with our squad. We had to go back to a club legend, who is nowhere near the player he was, to try and dig us out of a hole. It highlighted that proper investment in the squad is needed this summer. It was needed last summer and arguably in January. We made some good signings last summer, but also some strange ones considering who left the club. We’re relying on quick fixes to get us moving again as a club. Whether we’re in the Champions League or not, or if Arsene Wenger is the manager, this summer we have to have a proper shake up and be willing to spend money. I’m all for responsible spending and not wasting money on over-priced players, but we have to be realistic and be willing to spend those few extra million pounds that will keep us competitive in modern day football.
However we have more immediate things to worry about before the summer. Any spending we do will be dictated by the forthcoming three months. We have to just focus on the players we have at the moment and how they can come back from the horror show at the San Siro, not in the second leg as we’re all but out of the Champions League, but in the Premier League and the FA Cup. Once again we have injury concerns in defence, with centre backs now going down like our full backs were. We can’t expect to see Per Mertesacker back anytime soon, and Laurent Koscielny worryingly limped off in Milan. We really missed the calming influence of the big German at the back on Wednesday, and Koscielny has been our player of the season behind van Persie. Against Milan, Thomas Vermaelen looked like a man who has been playing at full back recently and John Djourou is nowhere near the form he was showing at this time last year.
A lot of people will point the finger at Arsene Wenger for the result. Yes, when you lose 4-0 you can say the manager should have prepared the players better, and some of the investment in the squad issues could be traced back to the boss. However the whole club need to take responsibility for a result like that, those above Wenger at boardroom level, and those below him in the playing squad. Once the players are on the pitch, it’s up to them to fight for the Arsenal and execute any plans. The team that Wenger fielded on Wednesday were good enough to be competitive in the match, to score, and to remain in contention in the tie. The vast majority of them let their manager, their club and their fans down.
Sunderland on Saturday in the FA Cup is absolutely massive for our season. Effectively going out of two competitions in four days could destroy our team spirit and have a substantial knock-on effect on our top four hopes in the league. This team have responded to bad defeats before, and have to do so again. Although we can’t afford to have another bad defeat that we then need to respond to again. The least we should expect as fans is for the players to give everything for the team and look like they want to win. They didn’t do that on Wednesday. It was immensely disappointing as much as it was saddening to see Arsenal take such a deserved beating.
As he’s leaving, I’ll finish with a Thierry Henry quote that the squad he leaves would do well to remember. “If you play hard and respect the shirt, they remember that.”
Source: Sam Limbert, ESPN Soccernet on 16 Feb 12
The third goal was probably the most unfortunate one to concede, with Thomas Vermaelen slipping at the key moment when he was about to close Robinho down, however it had been too easy for Milan to get into that position on the edge of the box. The penalty was a bit harsh as Ibrahimovic seemed to move his leg into Djourou, but had that been at the other end, we’d have been gutted had it not been given.
Realistically, the score-line should have been worse given the chances Milan had and how they eased off in the second half. Milan looked up for it, we didn’t. Even when we were able to control periods of the game and keep the ball, we did nothing with it. Robin van Persie was feeding off scraps and couldn’t get in the game in the first half. He had three half chances in the second, however that was the extent of what we could create for him.
Not even bringing on Thierry Henry at half time could salvage anything for us. It would have been unreasonable to expect Henry to be able to drag the team up by himself. The Henry of old might have been able to pick the ball up a long way from goal and make things happen, but as we saw at Sunderland, the current Henry is primarily a finisher in the penalty area. He was given nothing to finish. It appeared to me that some of the players possibly believed the potential for the Henry fairy tale and were just waiting for him to come off the bench and win the match instead of focussing on winning it themselves. It was a sad way for Thierry Henry to end his Arsenal career.
The way we appeared to be relying on Henry by bringing him on at half time seemed symbolic of the current problems with our squad. We had to go back to a club legend, who is nowhere near the player he was, to try and dig us out of a hole. It highlighted that proper investment in the squad is needed this summer. It was needed last summer and arguably in January. We made some good signings last summer, but also some strange ones considering who left the club. We’re relying on quick fixes to get us moving again as a club. Whether we’re in the Champions League or not, or if Arsene Wenger is the manager, this summer we have to have a proper shake up and be willing to spend money. I’m all for responsible spending and not wasting money on over-priced players, but we have to be realistic and be willing to spend those few extra million pounds that will keep us competitive in modern day football.
However we have more immediate things to worry about before the summer. Any spending we do will be dictated by the forthcoming three months. We have to just focus on the players we have at the moment and how they can come back from the horror show at the San Siro, not in the second leg as we’re all but out of the Champions League, but in the Premier League and the FA Cup. Once again we have injury concerns in defence, with centre backs now going down like our full backs were. We can’t expect to see Per Mertesacker back anytime soon, and Laurent Koscielny worryingly limped off in Milan. We really missed the calming influence of the big German at the back on Wednesday, and Koscielny has been our player of the season behind van Persie. Against Milan, Thomas Vermaelen looked like a man who has been playing at full back recently and John Djourou is nowhere near the form he was showing at this time last year.
A lot of people will point the finger at Arsene Wenger for the result. Yes, when you lose 4-0 you can say the manager should have prepared the players better, and some of the investment in the squad issues could be traced back to the boss. However the whole club need to take responsibility for a result like that, those above Wenger at boardroom level, and those below him in the playing squad. Once the players are on the pitch, it’s up to them to fight for the Arsenal and execute any plans. The team that Wenger fielded on Wednesday were good enough to be competitive in the match, to score, and to remain in contention in the tie. The vast majority of them let their manager, their club and their fans down.
Sunderland on Saturday in the FA Cup is absolutely massive for our season. Effectively going out of two competitions in four days could destroy our team spirit and have a substantial knock-on effect on our top four hopes in the league. This team have responded to bad defeats before, and have to do so again. Although we can’t afford to have another bad defeat that we then need to respond to again. The least we should expect as fans is for the players to give everything for the team and look like they want to win. They didn’t do that on Wednesday. It was immensely disappointing as much as it was saddening to see Arsenal take such a deserved beating.
As he’s leaving, I’ll finish with a Thierry Henry quote that the squad he leaves would do well to remember. “If you play hard and respect the shirt, they remember that.”
Source: Sam Limbert, ESPN Soccernet on 16 Feb 12
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Premier League shown in poor light by clubs' Champions League malaise
Arsenal's thrashing by Milan leaves English football potentially facing its worst European Cup performance in 16 years
Perhaps the most damning assessment came from Arrigo Sacchi, the man who created possibly the finest Milan team in history. Sacchi had already used his "Sopra La Panca" column in Wednesday's Gazzetta dello Sport to say this was the worst Arsenal team for a decade but, after seeing them close-up, he wanted to revise his criticisms. "I said 10 years," he told television viewers. "Maybe I was being too generous."
Sacchi, a two-times European Cup winner with the team of Gullit, Van Basten, Rijkaard, Baresi et al, had called it exactly right. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, he predicted, could be "devastating" against a defence this vulnerable.
"Arsenal cannot match Milan for experience, technical quality and individuality. They are not sharp. They do not move as a unit, their defence is slow and not protected by their midfield."
In the past, he said, Arsène Wenger's teams played a "fast and brilliant way". The current team was "not fluid" and "still searching for a convincing system".
It was difficult to argue with a single word of it after a night that Wenger described as "our worst in Europe ever". Arsenal's manager has never been particularly good at hiding his distress after bad defeats and it was difficult to remember the last time he looked quite so mortified. No side has ever turned around a four-goal deficit to win a Champions League knockout tie. Arsenal have played 222 times in Europe and never lost so comprehensively. Wenger could hardly maintain eye contact. He was grey.
Yet Sacchi's observations extended further than the current malaise at Arsenal. "Look at the Premier League," he said. "They are a long way behind the two Manchester clubs, both of whom are already out of the Champions League. This just underlines the decline of English football."
The more popular view, certainly in the self-congratulatory Premier League, is that it is actually Italian football that has been regressing. Sacchi, however, had a point. This is threatening to be the first season since 1996 when English football has not been able to provide a single quarter-finalist.
Arsenal's chances rank somewhere between minimal and nonexistent and, though Chelsea will hope to do better when they take on Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo on Tuesday, the dislocation between André Villas-Boas and his increasingly mutinous group of players hardly inspires confidence.
This could probably be written off as a one-off, nothing too potentially serious or long-lasting, if Manchester United had not already been eliminated from a group featuring Basel, Benfica and a Romanian team, Otelul Galati, that Sir Alex Ferguson admitted he had never heard of when the draw was made. Manchester City did manage 10 points from a challenging group featuring Napoli and Bayern Munich, which would ordinarily be enough to qualify, but it still represents a failure given the enormous spending under the ownership of the Abu Dhabi United Group.
Whether this constitutes a genuine decline is difficult to say. A decline usually means a number of years, rather than one bad campaign, and it is not so long ago English football was slapping itself on the back for having provided three of the four semi-finalists in three successive seasons, from 2007 to 2009. United have reached the final in three of the past five campaigns and Arsenal, United and Tottenham have all knocked Milan out of the last 16 in the same period.
What happens with Chelsea next week will give a clearer picture but, for now, Arsenal's lamentable efforts and the sight of the Premier League's top two clubs grubbing around in the Europa League does raise the question of whether everything in the self-acclaimed best league in the world is as good as it is cracked up to be.
Arsenal's performance had been shocking and yet also predictable. The Manchester clubs did not even make it out of the group stages and that leaves English football relying upon a Chelsea team whose deterioration, much like Arsenal's, is close to the point of being staggering. Napoli have already eliminated City and, if they do the same to Chelsea, it will represent the least distinguished performance from English clubs since Blackburn Rovers had a go 16 years ago and demonstrated exactly how not to do it – David Batty, Graeme Le Saux and all that.
Source: Daniel Taylor, The Guardian on 16 Feb 12
Perhaps the most damning assessment came from Arrigo Sacchi, the man who created possibly the finest Milan team in history. Sacchi had already used his "Sopra La Panca" column in Wednesday's Gazzetta dello Sport to say this was the worst Arsenal team for a decade but, after seeing them close-up, he wanted to revise his criticisms. "I said 10 years," he told television viewers. "Maybe I was being too generous."
Sacchi, a two-times European Cup winner with the team of Gullit, Van Basten, Rijkaard, Baresi et al, had called it exactly right. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, he predicted, could be "devastating" against a defence this vulnerable.
"Arsenal cannot match Milan for experience, technical quality and individuality. They are not sharp. They do not move as a unit, their defence is slow and not protected by their midfield."
In the past, he said, Arsène Wenger's teams played a "fast and brilliant way". The current team was "not fluid" and "still searching for a convincing system".
It was difficult to argue with a single word of it after a night that Wenger described as "our worst in Europe ever". Arsenal's manager has never been particularly good at hiding his distress after bad defeats and it was difficult to remember the last time he looked quite so mortified. No side has ever turned around a four-goal deficit to win a Champions League knockout tie. Arsenal have played 222 times in Europe and never lost so comprehensively. Wenger could hardly maintain eye contact. He was grey.
Yet Sacchi's observations extended further than the current malaise at Arsenal. "Look at the Premier League," he said. "They are a long way behind the two Manchester clubs, both of whom are already out of the Champions League. This just underlines the decline of English football."
The more popular view, certainly in the self-congratulatory Premier League, is that it is actually Italian football that has been regressing. Sacchi, however, had a point. This is threatening to be the first season since 1996 when English football has not been able to provide a single quarter-finalist.
Arsenal's chances rank somewhere between minimal and nonexistent and, though Chelsea will hope to do better when they take on Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo on Tuesday, the dislocation between André Villas-Boas and his increasingly mutinous group of players hardly inspires confidence.
This could probably be written off as a one-off, nothing too potentially serious or long-lasting, if Manchester United had not already been eliminated from a group featuring Basel, Benfica and a Romanian team, Otelul Galati, that Sir Alex Ferguson admitted he had never heard of when the draw was made. Manchester City did manage 10 points from a challenging group featuring Napoli and Bayern Munich, which would ordinarily be enough to qualify, but it still represents a failure given the enormous spending under the ownership of the Abu Dhabi United Group.
Whether this constitutes a genuine decline is difficult to say. A decline usually means a number of years, rather than one bad campaign, and it is not so long ago English football was slapping itself on the back for having provided three of the four semi-finalists in three successive seasons, from 2007 to 2009. United have reached the final in three of the past five campaigns and Arsenal, United and Tottenham have all knocked Milan out of the last 16 in the same period.
What happens with Chelsea next week will give a clearer picture but, for now, Arsenal's lamentable efforts and the sight of the Premier League's top two clubs grubbing around in the Europa League does raise the question of whether everything in the self-acclaimed best league in the world is as good as it is cracked up to be.
Arsenal's performance had been shocking and yet also predictable. The Manchester clubs did not even make it out of the group stages and that leaves English football relying upon a Chelsea team whose deterioration, much like Arsenal's, is close to the point of being staggering. Napoli have already eliminated City and, if they do the same to Chelsea, it will represent the least distinguished performance from English clubs since Blackburn Rovers had a go 16 years ago and demonstrated exactly how not to do it – David Batty, Graeme Le Saux and all that.
Source: Daniel Taylor, The Guardian on 16 Feb 12
Arsène Wenger has allowed Arsenal youngsters too much of a comfort zone
Theo Walcott's and Aaron Ramsey's poor performances in Milan symbolise the failure of Wenger's entire development philosophy
Thierry Henry left the pitch on Wednesday night with his arm around the shoulders of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and in possession of the shirt of the man whose performance for Milan had been as decisive as those the Frenchman used to produce on Arsenal's behalf. In what will almost certainly prove to have been his final appearance in the colours of the north London club, Henry had spent 45 minutes trying desperately to help his team-mates out of the hole in which they found themselves at San Siro. It was sad to see a player of such class unable to avert the catastrophe of the club's worst defeat in 222 European matches.
Sadder still was the sight of the 18-year-old Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, thrust into the fray with 25 minutes to go, also striving to rescue a semblance of respectability from a performance of such dismal incompetence that Arsène Wenger's critics will have been sharpening their knives long before the final whistle.
Oxlade-Chamberlain left the stadium clutching the shirt of another prodigy, Alexandre Pato. In his short time on the pitch the £12m forward had proved himself capable of dominating Luca Antonini, Milan's left-back, and produced two excellent crosses, one of which forced Christian Abbiati into a scrambled save. He will be uncomfortably aware, however, that he is part of a team whose performance has fallen far below their own standards. Until a year ago, Wenger's sides won 58% and lost 18% of their 831 matches. Of 56 games over the past 12 months, they have won 47% and lost 30%.
It would be wearying to repeat all the familiar charges levelled against the manager since Arsenal's last trophy was captured in 2005, but there can be little doubt that Oxlade-Chamberlain should have been on from the start against Milan. This was his third appearance in the Champions League, following the home and away matches against Olympiakos earlier in the season, and his first on one of Europe's really big stages. Nothing in his recent displays gave evidence that he would be overawed by San Siro, or anywhere else. He is fast, he is powerful, he has a wonderful technique – thanks no doubt to the tutelage of his father, the fondly remembered former Stoke and England winger Mark Chamberlain – and he seems to do the right thing whenever possession comes his way. Like Jack Wilshere, whose presence has been so sorely missed, he makes his decisions before the ball arrives: a sign of an exceptional football talent.
In one other way he resembles Wilshere while differing from many of the other young men deployed by Wenger in recent seasons: every gesture, every movement betrays a competitive hardness. His physical strength appears to be matched by the mental toughness that prompted him to complain, earlier in the season and after only a handful of months after his transfer from Southampton, about the lack of first-team opportunities. Behind the polite eloquence of his interviews, there is the hint of the very obduracy and abrasiveness that Arsenal need so badly. These are not qualities readily associated with – to name only two of Wednesday's culprits – Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey.
Six years into his career as a first‑team player at Arsenal, Walcott ought by now to have shed the boyishness that so often makes him seem easy prey for experienced defenders. Youthful zest is one thing, ingenuousness is another, and at 22 he should be showing a greater maturity. The same is true of Ramsey, who is a year younger. After an extended recuperation from a double fracture of his right leg, the Welshman has been back in the side long enough for his contribution to be assessed without making allowances, and he is showing little of the inventiveness and dynamism that he brought to the team before his dreadful injury in February 2010.
He, too, betrays clear signs of that fatal boyishness: when he misplaces a pass or scuffs a shot, he dramatises his despair by putting his hands to his head and striking a pose, wasting the seconds in which he should be getting on with trying to rectify his error. An infuriating habit, thrust into even higher relief when the team are performing badly, it is surprising from one whose leadership qualities persuaded the late Gary Speed to make him Wales's youngest ever captain.
It may seem unfair to single out Walcott and Ramsey after a night when virtually the entire team failed to do themselves justice. But by symbolising the dominant thrust of Wenger's player-development philosophy since the end of the era of the Invincibles and the dispersal of such battle-hardened figures as Patrick Vieira, Dennis Bergkamp and Tony Adams, they embody the failure of an entire project.
Although both are capable of sporadic excellence, one wonders what sort of progress Ramsey, for instance, might have made under Sir Alex Ferguson or David Moyes, both of whom were keen to sign him in 2008. He chose Arsenal after Wenger flew him and his family to Switzerland for talks during which he became convinced that north London offered the right sort of opportunity for his development. Many others, including Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain, have come to similar conclusions. Perhaps, however, an indulgent Wenger has provided too much of a comfort zone for his young prodigies, creating an environment in which they can hone their delicate skills but not their core resilience, and in which naivety is too easily forgiven, with consequences that were laid bare in Wednesday's chastening defeat.
Source: Richard Williams, The Guardian on 16 Feb 12
Thierry Henry left the pitch on Wednesday night with his arm around the shoulders of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and in possession of the shirt of the man whose performance for Milan had been as decisive as those the Frenchman used to produce on Arsenal's behalf. In what will almost certainly prove to have been his final appearance in the colours of the north London club, Henry had spent 45 minutes trying desperately to help his team-mates out of the hole in which they found themselves at San Siro. It was sad to see a player of such class unable to avert the catastrophe of the club's worst defeat in 222 European matches.
Sadder still was the sight of the 18-year-old Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, thrust into the fray with 25 minutes to go, also striving to rescue a semblance of respectability from a performance of such dismal incompetence that Arsène Wenger's critics will have been sharpening their knives long before the final whistle.
Oxlade-Chamberlain left the stadium clutching the shirt of another prodigy, Alexandre Pato. In his short time on the pitch the £12m forward had proved himself capable of dominating Luca Antonini, Milan's left-back, and produced two excellent crosses, one of which forced Christian Abbiati into a scrambled save. He will be uncomfortably aware, however, that he is part of a team whose performance has fallen far below their own standards. Until a year ago, Wenger's sides won 58% and lost 18% of their 831 matches. Of 56 games over the past 12 months, they have won 47% and lost 30%.
It would be wearying to repeat all the familiar charges levelled against the manager since Arsenal's last trophy was captured in 2005, but there can be little doubt that Oxlade-Chamberlain should have been on from the start against Milan. This was his third appearance in the Champions League, following the home and away matches against Olympiakos earlier in the season, and his first on one of Europe's really big stages. Nothing in his recent displays gave evidence that he would be overawed by San Siro, or anywhere else. He is fast, he is powerful, he has a wonderful technique – thanks no doubt to the tutelage of his father, the fondly remembered former Stoke and England winger Mark Chamberlain – and he seems to do the right thing whenever possession comes his way. Like Jack Wilshere, whose presence has been so sorely missed, he makes his decisions before the ball arrives: a sign of an exceptional football talent.
In one other way he resembles Wilshere while differing from many of the other young men deployed by Wenger in recent seasons: every gesture, every movement betrays a competitive hardness. His physical strength appears to be matched by the mental toughness that prompted him to complain, earlier in the season and after only a handful of months after his transfer from Southampton, about the lack of first-team opportunities. Behind the polite eloquence of his interviews, there is the hint of the very obduracy and abrasiveness that Arsenal need so badly. These are not qualities readily associated with – to name only two of Wednesday's culprits – Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey.
Six years into his career as a first‑team player at Arsenal, Walcott ought by now to have shed the boyishness that so often makes him seem easy prey for experienced defenders. Youthful zest is one thing, ingenuousness is another, and at 22 he should be showing a greater maturity. The same is true of Ramsey, who is a year younger. After an extended recuperation from a double fracture of his right leg, the Welshman has been back in the side long enough for his contribution to be assessed without making allowances, and he is showing little of the inventiveness and dynamism that he brought to the team before his dreadful injury in February 2010.
He, too, betrays clear signs of that fatal boyishness: when he misplaces a pass or scuffs a shot, he dramatises his despair by putting his hands to his head and striking a pose, wasting the seconds in which he should be getting on with trying to rectify his error. An infuriating habit, thrust into even higher relief when the team are performing badly, it is surprising from one whose leadership qualities persuaded the late Gary Speed to make him Wales's youngest ever captain.
It may seem unfair to single out Walcott and Ramsey after a night when virtually the entire team failed to do themselves justice. But by symbolising the dominant thrust of Wenger's player-development philosophy since the end of the era of the Invincibles and the dispersal of such battle-hardened figures as Patrick Vieira, Dennis Bergkamp and Tony Adams, they embody the failure of an entire project.
Although both are capable of sporadic excellence, one wonders what sort of progress Ramsey, for instance, might have made under Sir Alex Ferguson or David Moyes, both of whom were keen to sign him in 2008. He chose Arsenal after Wenger flew him and his family to Switzerland for talks during which he became convinced that north London offered the right sort of opportunity for his development. Many others, including Walcott and Oxlade-Chamberlain, have come to similar conclusions. Perhaps, however, an indulgent Wenger has provided too much of a comfort zone for his young prodigies, creating an environment in which they can hone their delicate skills but not their core resilience, and in which naivety is too easily forgiven, with consequences that were laid bare in Wednesday's chastening defeat.
Source: Richard Williams, The Guardian on 16 Feb 12
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Arsène Wenger slams shocking Arsenal display after Milan 'disaster'
It was difficult to remember him being more scathing of his players. "It was one of those nights you never forget," he said. "It is our worst night in Europe. We were punished and deservedly so. I felt we were never in the game, we were very poor offensively and defensively. It was shocking to see how we were beaten everywhere.
"There was not one moment in the 90 minutes where we were really in the game. What made it worse was that we had to chase the game. It was always the same problem, balls over the top and we were well beaten. It is difficult to analyse. I think it is better not to talk too much …and to analyse with a cooler head and regroup for the next game."
Arsenal visit Sunderland in the FA Cup fifth round on Saturday, when Wenger will make changes to his team, but the deeper fear is that this display not only exposed the flaws in the squad but will undermine morale for the battle to finish fourth in the Premier League. It was not difficult to pick holes but the absence of leadership was once again highlighted.
"There was a lack of leadership," wrote the club's former captain, Patrick Vieira, on Twitter. "You cannot only blame Arsène, the players must take some responsibility as well."
Wenger said: "There is a danger [that this will have an effect on the Premier League]. A big disappointment like that has consequences on your belief. We have a lot of work to regroup and not a lot of time to prepare for Saturday's game. We need to show something completely difference on Saturday.
"We will focus on our next games. The result is a disaster, although the season is not finished. We have a big game on Saturday and it's an opportunity to show that we have character and mental strength, and that we can respond after such a shocking defeat."
Wenger was asked whether he felt his players had let him down. "They did not let me down, I think we let our ambitions down as a unit," he said. "You could blame and blame. We have to stick together and win the next game.
"The players were very ambitious in this Champions League. They are the first to be very sad. We felt powerless today to get into the game.
"I cannot say that I got everything perfect when we lost 4-0. I don't believe we made big tactical mistakes. We did not have any other choices. I felt we were weak in some departments. I felt we could have some problems in some departments but I didn't think we would not score."
The condition of the relaid San Siro turf was widely condemned, although Wenger did not seek to use it as an excuse. "It would not be fair to blame the pitch, even if the pitch is a disaster," he said. "Our performance was at the level of the pitch. It was a shocking result and a shocking performance.
"Let's be realistic. We don't play in a dream world. Maybe we have 2% or 5% statistically [to advance].
"We have to show a completely different performance and you never know. But, you have to say, realistically, we are out of the competition."
Source: David Hytner, The Guardian on 15 Feb 12
Zlatan Ibrahimovic comes back to haunt Arsenal on a painful night
Arsène Wenger called it his club's worst night in European competition, a 4-0 defeat devised and concluded by a player he might once have signed. Now Zlatan Ibrahimovic came back to haunt the north London club, dismantling Wenger's defence time and again before finishing them off from the penalty spot.
This was a display that underlined the painful truth of the 17 points separating Wenger's team from the Premier League leaders and revealed how much work remains to be done before claims of a revival can be made with any confidence. Against opponents as experienced as Milan they have only an infinitesimal chance of redeeming themselves at the Emirates Stadium in a fortnight and making further progress in this season's Champions League.
It is a virtual certainty, then, that they will be playing in Europe's top competition next season only if they succeed in finishing in the top four of the league. Based on the way they played last night, any assessment of that prospect would have to be deeply pessimistic. The financial consequences would be grave and criticism of Wenger's recent record – muted by signs of recovery in the past couple of weeks – would become more strident.
After inspecting the San Siro pitch, with its strips of recently relaid turf down both flanks, Wenger criticised the surface on the eve of the match. He returned to the subject in the aftermath of defeat, but from a different perspective. "It wouldn't be fair for me to blame the pitch, even if it was disastrous," he said. "Our performance was the same level as the pitch."
Milan's players could be seen replacing divots even during the warm-up but they adapted far more convincingly to the conditions – and one man in particular did so. A dozen years ago Wenger showed an interest in a gawky teenage striker who travelled from Sweden to London to meet the Arsenal manager but was unimpressed by the Frenchman's request to take part in a trial. When Ibrahimovic eventually left Malmo, it was for Ajax. Two years ago he returned to score twice for Barcelona at the Emirates and on Wednesday night, wearing the red and black stripes of Milan, he redoubled the pain despite scoring only once.
Never again will English critics be entitled to cast aspersions on Ibrahimovic's ability to perform on a big occasion. Ineffective as he may have been in November's friendly against Fabio Capello's side at Wembley, on Wednesday night he teased Arsenal to distraction. Had his team-mates capitalised on even half his promptings, the margin of victory would have been doubled.
Arsenal's supporters would have been glimpsing hope in the sight of a team sheet containing a recognisable line-up of defenders but it took only a quarter of an hour for Milan to puncture their optimism. Kevin-Prince Boateng located a fissure between the centre-backs and sent a powerful volley dipping under the crossbar.
Until then Arsenal's rearguard had just about coped with the task of smothering Milan's deliberate approach play, even when their own team-mates played them into danger. Although travelling to Milan still beset by the absence of important players, Wenger was able to field his first-choice back four for the first time in six months. Bacary Sagna, Laurent Koscielny, Thomas Vermaelen and Kieran Gibbs started the opening match of the Premier League campaign, at Newcastle United, and were reassembled for the Champions League play-off tie against Udinese at home on 12 August, keeping clean sheets on both occasions. Until last night that was the sum total of their contribution to the season as a unit but their reunion was not to be a happy one.
They may have been encouraged by the sight of Clarence Seedorf disappearing down the tunnel after only 12 minutes with what appeared to be a muscle strain. Uniquely distinguished as a four-times winner of the European Cup with three different clubs, the 35-year-old began the match in his customary unruffled fashion, easing himself into relevant positions as he established a rhythm for his colleagues. His departure, it seemed, could only be good news. Any such comfort, however, proved illusory. First came Milan's opening goal, followed in the 38th minute by another blow. Ibrahimovic drifted lazily past Sagna down the left and rolled the ball casually with his studs before clipping in a centre from the byline that Robinho headed past Wojciech Szczesny with as much effort as he might have expended on lighting a cigarette.
It was 20 years ago that Vanessa Redgrave, taken by her Italian ex-husband to see Milan beat Gothenburg 4-0 with Marco van Basten scoring all four, likened a big European occasion at San Siro to a first night at La Scala. The stadium had not exactly been rocking as the match began, an attendance of 64,000 leaving large tracts of empty seating in the stalls and upper circle, suggesting either the effects of a 30% unemployment rate among young Italians or a certain blasé attitude among the supporters of a club whose seven victories put them second only to Real Madrid's nine. But the tangible evidence of Milan's superiority over the representatives of English football as defined by the second-half goals for Robinho and Ibrahimovic got the songs going and the flags waving, with the Arsenal contingent reduced to silent contemplation of an uncertain future.
Source: Richard Williams, The Guardian on 15 Feb 12
Five talking points from Milan's 4-0 defeat of Arsenal
It felt like a humiliation for Arsenal
It was almost a year ago to the day that Arsenal beat Barcelona at the Emirates Stadium, a result that Arsène Wenger rates among the finest of his career. This was one of the ugliest and it served as a shuddering check to the momentum that he felt his team had built over the previous four games. This was Arsenal's Mr Hyde side. Defensively abject, they were led a less-than-merry dance by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who also ended his hoodoo of failing to score for Italian clubs in Champions League knockout ties. Milan played very well, as they sought revenge for the last-16 miseries visited upon them in recent years by Premier League clubs, but it was hard to spare Arsenal from stinging criticism. Their passing lacked accuracy and tempo, while there were smears for many reputations. The fight for the right to re-enter next season's Champions League felt a little pointless after this.
Arsenal defensive reunion falls flat
Wenger was finally able to start his strongest back four (although the injured Brazil left-back André Santos may argue with this contention). Only in the season's first two fixtures had the manager been able to pick the quartet and there was cruelty, if not the sense of inevitability, that they lasted only 44 minutes together, Laurent Koscielny's enforced withdrawal with a knee injury creating yet more work for the club's medical staff. Wenger could rage at his defence, before and after Koscielny's withdrawal for the clumsy Johan Djourou; there was a ragged feel to them, a lack of tightness about their marking and positional play. Milan exposed their flimsy attempts to hold a line, with the excellent Ibrahimovic gliding away to create his team's second, and it was uncomfortable to witness the space that Milan repeatedly found in the final third. Thomas Vermaelen, in particular, will not want to remember the tie. He slipped on more than one occasion and was made to pay on Robinho's second goal.
The pitch did not fit the occasion
The state of the San Siro turf is not a new concern. Since the third tier of this imposing arena was added for Italia 90, affecting the light on the turf, re-lays have been the norm. But Arsenal privately wondered why one of them had to come on Monday morning, a little over 48 hours before one of the season's biggest games. Their fear that a Machiavellian hand was at work was reinforced by the fact that only the wings had been returfed, the areas where Arsenal like to attack at pace. Did it influence Wenger's decision to leave Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on the bench? The manager had voiced his grievances on Tuesday night, describing the pitch as "worrying" and "terrible". That Uefa had to pass it as playable after the heavy rollers had departed at 9am on Tuesday told its own story. It was inevitable that the surface would cut up. It was a blot on the spectacle.
Adieu Thierry
Barring a third coming, this was Thierry Henry's farewell to the Arsenal shirt; Wenger was unable to secure the 10-day extension to the loan from the New York Red Bulls and the club legend heads back to the States on Thursday. This was not how Henry wanted to sign off from an encouraging spell, marked by important goals and charisma in the dressing-room. Never mind his limited impact as a half-time substitute here, the result would have cut him to the core. There was to be no fairytale. His Arsenal goals' tally stays at 229. But the question about the cover for Robin van Persie remains. Marouane Chamakh and Park Chu-young, Wenger's back-up centre-forwards, were fit but neither travelled to Milan. Although Gervinho, who is predominantly a winger, should be available for Saturday's FA Cup tie at Sunderland, after the Africa Cup of Nations, an injury to Van Persie does not bear thinking about.
Boateng's not bad for a Spurs reject
Kevin-Prince Boateng was not supposed to feature here. The attacking midfielder had been struggling with a series of muscular injuries which, according to his girlfriend, was a result of them having sex "seven to 10 times a week". It was fair to assume that he was on a promise after this game, following his sensational opening goal, which showcased beautiful technique and embellished a performance that radiated menace. Yes, Tottenham fans, this really is the same Kevin-Prince Boateng who flattered to deceive, to put it mildly, after his £5m transfer to White Hart Lane. The Ghana international featured in one of the game's urban myths during his time in the wilderness at Spurs; he was said to have played some seven-a-side football in Essex with mere civilians. The story goes that he was incredible. Arsenal are now fully acquainted with his threat.
Source: David Hytner, The Guardian on 15 Feb 12
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