We did however beat them at Highbury in 1961/62, a game that is still one of my fondest memories. They had just brought Jimmy Greaves back from Milan & took an early lead, but from memory a Mel Charles header & definitely a stunning Alan Skirton pile driver, worthy of Puskas, won us the game. Although they had the upper hand in this period they did not dominate us in the way we have them in recent times.

The turning point came in the first game of 1968/69 when we beat them well at WHL. The 1970/71 double side was evolving.

Someone mentioned Gentile- if ever a name was less appropriate for an individual.

Mancini played against us in the ECWC & scored with a brilliant lob in Genoa. Vialli looked a bit headless chicken with skill but of course it was just his style because he was indeed a very clever player. I never liked Batistuta, brilliant goalscorer that was, because he was such an outrageous cheat.

For me although great at the time the 1970s World Cup doesn’t really stand up to too much scrutiny, because having seen a re-run of Brazil v England most of it was played at walking pace, compared to today. That allowed the skilled players to shine through in an unusual way.- the destroyers were handicapped by the conditions. What skills were shown though- Pele at his greatest, Tostao & the bloke with the moustache, who’s name escapes me.

Michel’s Netherlands were a great side indeed. But I didn’t include them because they were of a time when I was but a baby, and I came to appreciate them in retrospect as it were.

As for other Italians from that era, I particularly remember Sampdoria, particularly for their stylish forward line featuring Vialli and Mancini. They were elegant both. Fiorentina glowed brightly awhile too, with Laudrup and Batistuta.

For me it was simply going to Highbury & being sucked in by the sheer excitement & atmosphere- pure fever pitch. I remember being fascinated by the layout of the pitch. It was all new for an 8 year old.

I had not seen it on tv because there wasn’t much shown & I wouldn’t have understood it even if I had.

The first game that I remember seeing on tv was the dramatic 1956 Man City v Brum final when Bert Trautmann, a former German pow, made save after save despite breaking his neck diving at the feet of Murphy. The next was England v Brazil when England got 2 penalties & Brazil threatened to walk off in protest. All drama.

That was it, sometimes England home games & FA Cup finals.

I was lucky enough to see the Busby Babes twice, the 2nd time was their last in England before Munich. Too young to remember the detail but certainly they were fabulous in that 4-5 thriller.

If my memory serves me well we were not shown any European Cup football until the final of 1959, Real Madrid v Reims. That Real Madrid side was definitely something else – Santamaria, Puskas, Gento – the flying winger & Di Stefano etc… The following year they beat Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3 at Hampden in atrocious conditions. What a game that was.

Then one was faced with the fact that the Tottenham double winning side of 1960/61 was probably the most free flowing football side I have ever seen. Not really big names, in World terms, but they came together perfectly. How they only won the title once I don’t understand. I think Tottenham fans are still smarting about a dubiously disallowed goal against Benfica, which may well have cost them the 1962 EC.

Other memorable sides Cruyff’s total football Ajax, 1970s Bayern Munich. Then you remember the 1980s more fondly than I do.

Early 1990s AC Milan was a truly exceptional side. We began to see some Serie A on Channel 4. It was the period when they escaped the shackles of defensive sterility so common of Italian sides. Wonderful stuff from them Parma, Lazio & Sampdoria in those days.

In England Man Utd of the early Beckham, Giggs era were a fantastic side it has to be admitted. Other exciting sides were the Best, Law & Charlton Man U & Clough’s Derby. Liverpool were more about power & domination to be an exciting watch.

Spartak Moscow possibly gave the most brilliant one off performance in beating us 2-5 at Highbury. I can’t remember a single name although Dasayev may have been in goal.

2002-2004 was the time we could claim that an Arsenal side could compare, particularly with the Spurs of the 1960s.

I firmly believe that given the patience to allow all the pieces to fall in line that the current Arsenal side, on its full maturity, will emulate the very best.

Sorry about the ramble folks.

Sanga may be a bit tired for Saturday so it may be Eboue at right back. Domenec, the git, played Sagna (and Evra) for the full 90 minutes yesterday.

Did you see the game? Sagna’s crossing was excellent – perhaps with less pressure he can play with more confidence – there was one that was whipped into the six yard box.

Spain were excellent and thankfully Del Bosque was more respectful of the clubs, saw sense and gave the leading players only a half each.

It’s a shame Bartley is out on loan as he would be my pick alongside TV rather than Silvestre who just does not have the pace anymore.

Darius,

Are you being targeted by the spammers?

I can see Wenger resting some players with Porto the following Tuesday.

Eduardo may come in for Bendtner, Walcott should start, Rosicky. Denilson also. My guess:

Almunia

Sagna Vermaalen Silvestre Clichy

Denilson Diaby

Walcott Nasri Rosicky

Eduardo.

With Tuesday being: Almunia, Eboue, Campbell, Vermaalen, Clichy, Song, Diaby, Fabregas, Nasri, Bendtner, Arshavin

Yes! The promise of greatness is there alright and it starts now.

Darius, you’re gracious. Yes, Maradona, or specifically, the way Claudio Gentile marked him out of that game was a highlight of that world cup. It was the consummate “Italian job”, specially given that the Argentinians were not virgins themselves. Cynical, flirting with the line between legal and otherwise, and dogged it certainly was; but Maradona made Gentile work really really hard, and the bastard stood up to the task. Got to respect that.

As for Rossi, it simply was his world cup, as 1990 would be Schillaci’s. It’s a case of things falling into place just perfectly: The team works hard and there emerges that one player, like a bit of nitrous added to the fuel, who puts them into turbo mode.

AJ, I have this suspicion, right or wrong time will tell, that Wenger approaches offence and defence alike: Recruit intelligent, technically able players and let them get on with it. Now, I completely ‘am in favour of this so far the attack is concerned. But I hold that defence needs a more structured approach. Lots of drills, rehearsals of scenarios and so on. It’s my view that Wenger needs to recruit a specialist defence coach to work on this team. Arsenal have a pedigree of defenders we can call upon to do the job. I think we should.

To add to Arsenehollis’ response, I must point out that between Ronaldo, and now Rooney, playing out of their skins, United have gotten away without paying the full price of errors and injuries over the last couple of seasons. We have never had the fortune of having a player, specially a goal scorer, enjoy such an uninterrupted run to be able to influence the season. Injuries have blighted us very very badly. Not an excuse, mind. Just an observation. Such a spell from a player can often mean the difference between a top and a top four finish.

Joe, the pleasure’s entirely mine. Hope to share lots more memories and discussions with you folks here.

Jar0909, thank you very much.

This team’s certainly got stomach. I’m desperately hoping they run down the league title this season. That might be just the thing to cause them to flower completely.

Here’s hoping for the best.

Great articel.

Joe,

I agree our first major accolade will really set us on the road to greatness – EPL or CL it doens’t matter which – although I would also prefer the CL to complete Wenger’s CV.

You can see that the media are putting in the groundwork just in case we do win the EPL. Comments like “the least deserving winners” etc becasue we did not beat ManU or Chelsea on the way to the title. Regardless of the fact that ManU have won many of their titles based on their performance against the smaller teams.