Archive for Champions League
Why Bother With Arsenal, They’re Useless
Posted by: | CommentsImagine my shock last night (seriously, don’t laugh) on the way back home after watching the Champions League games with a few friends in town. “Be careful what you wish for” is the age old maxim that should have bitch slapped me in the face when I asked the taxi driver to put some football on the radio.
With the BBC’s exemplary equal opportunity employment policy that allows mentally retarded presenters like Robbie Savage to become an “expert”, it usually is a coin toss between 5 live or Talk Spite radio as to which is capable of coming up with the most faecal matter that can be legally allowed in one production.
Unfortunately for me, it was BBC’s Mark Pougatch who gave me the urge to ask for the sick bag, and it wasn’t because of the alcohol I had consumed while watching the Manchester teams’ adventures in Europe.
As conspiracy theories go, Pougatch was banging on about how cynical it is for United to have 6 home Premier league games immediately following Champions League ties, while Manchester City had 6 away games. Not that I wouldn’t put that past fixture mandarins with the propensity to kiss Alex Ferguson’s rectal anatomy, but it was Pougatch’s next remark that made me wonder why it is again that British people are held at gun point to pay licence fees for public service broadcasting.
This apparently reputable BBC presenter then went on to say that he did some research on Monday before the Champions League games and found out about the conspiracy in favour of United. He also did Chelsea who had 4 away games, but didn’t bother with Arsenal.
“Why bother, they’re useless anyway”.
This is the thing. If Arsenal were useless, I have no problem accepting such an observation. But Arsenal are not useless. Notwithstanding the fact that we had a positive result in a very difficult game at Dortmund, the expectation was that United and City were going to sail through their match day 1 fixtures like the other teams didn’t exist.
But no, they didn’t, and it was fairly obvious that City in particular have a fight to make it through to the next stage. Napoli away won’t be a walk in the park, and they can wishfully think about how to beat Bayern Munich.
The thing that stood out most with this “Arsenal are useless anyway comment” from Pougatch was not what he said, but how he said it. You could feel the absolute contempt and disdain in his voice, and I was half expecting him to spit in the microphone next to complete the triangle with some illustration of disgust for Arsenal.
The worst kind of venomous people are the ones who hide their spite under a cloak of niceties and professionalism. But it eventually comes out and last night left me seriously questioning why I even bother to pay a licence fee to contribute to the salary of presenters who have this sort of contempt for their listeners. It’s no point writing to the BBC to complain, they’ve already got a statement prepared about professionalism and reputation and that they will review – yada yada yada.
My friend Consols Bob still has the e-mail they sent him about his complaint on Robbie Savage – suggesting that they have rigorous recruitment policies designed to root out the assholes an Savage passed with flying colours.
Mr Mark Pougatch – if you’re going to pretend to be professional and thorough in your presentation, then please do your job and research all English teams with the same vigour and intensity. The fact that you can spout out such venomous nonsense about a team that you clearly hate while on a public service broadcast to millions of people who pay your salary is an indictment of your professionalism and character. You’re are disgrace to the profession of journalism, but then again, you really don’t have a high threshold to beat in this respect.
It reminded me of a story that Mark Saggers, a former BBC presenter who’s now at Talk Spite radio once confessed to on air about the treatment he received from a colleague at BBC they regularly presented with. My money is on Mark Pougatch being the colleague Saggers was referring to and the contempt, disdain and disgust I witnessed last night is indicative of what was being suggested about this “mysterious” colleague who forced another to change ranches.
But then again you ask, what’s different from what Pougatch is doing to what the punks at Sly Sports do or what the cretins at Talk Spite do.
Indeed, why bother with Arsenal – we’re useless after all.
I think the most amusing thing about all this is that even though we’re useless (has anyone noticed my cynicism yet?), Tottenham are still beneath us. ‘Tis true what they say – A cannon will always destroy a cockerel.
And by the way, if you haven’t yet, follow me on twitter. I’m now getting the hang of it. We might even get @markpougatch to defend his disappointing comments last night. Although he’s already told an Arsenal fan that the fan was being flippant about his comments.
Arsenal’s Sanity Will Pay In Europe
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s been an interesting few days going walk-about, and meeting new folks while working in what I’d describe as a “pulling-your-teeth-out-without-a-local-anaesthetic” type of economy. You know the kind of economy that demands that you bend over, grab your ankles and doesn’t offer you the courtesy of using lubrication while shafting you in the most uncomfortable fashion.
“We’re heading to the dog house”, Joshua reminds all of us round the table discussing how best to stop our client from having to fold its tents and go to the wall.
To which I remind folks that whatever needs to be done should be done by Monday night so I can make my way back home. I have a very important European engagement on Tuesday night with an organization in Germany that specializes in the kind of artistic expression I normally indulge in at the home of football.
“Since when was football an art”, comes the retort from Steve across the table.
See, you have to forgive Steve. Not only does he have the personality of a puff adder, he resents that I call Wengerball and what Arsenal does as art. Personally, I think he’s a closet United fan, but he pretends he doesn’t give a hooting funt about football.
“Europe is fucked anyway. How long will they pretend the frigging elephant in the room is a hippo”, Joshua eloquently brings some order to the table.
And it makes you think. Greece is way past staring at the abyss, and they’re at the point where the abyss is smiling right back at them before it swallows the whole country into a very dark place. Ireland and Portugal like most other fairly mediocre economies were propelled by the smoke and mirrors of a European political plot hatched in Maastricht to create the United States of Europe. A plot which has back fired spectacularly with the impending collapse of whichever is the lesser of two evils, the Eurozone and its single currency, or the European Union in its current form.
The amazing thing is this though. The football establishment still thinks that everything is normal and that what is happening around them will not affect their existence. You only have to listen to the illiterate punditocracy jizzing and sycophanting about the amount of money being spent by a cabal of filthy rich individuals, or in the case of Manchester City, another country’s sovereign wealth fund.
When talking about Everton, a club that pretty much has to ask Barclays Bank for permission to pay the bills – the solution offered is that they should go to the middle east and look for a sugar daddy because that’s the only way to survive.
This kind of “chocolate tea pot” reasoning is what has contributed to a culture of recklessness when it comes to football finance. The expectation is that the only way of working through the challenges of the game is by spending money you don’t even have to buy your way out of it. We’re constantly told that “it’s the way the world is now”. Accept it or take the highway. If you don’t have money, you can’t compete.
The hacks get bemused when Arséne Wenger suggests that football is pretty much going to hit a cash crisis in the very near future. You can almost see their rolling eyes scream out “Wenger should just stick to managing Arsenal and buying the big name, big money players he needs to compete with City and United”.
Mind you, Wenger is a guy who has a masters degree in economics, and it wouldn’t be farfetched to suggest that he actually has a clue about what he says regarding the economy. As they famously say, the tide is coming, and only after it has left will we see those who’ve been swimming naked.
It’s not even about the Financial Fair Play rules. Clubs will find loopholes around that. They won’t be able to cheat the economy though. I hear people say that clubs like Barcelona, Real Madrid or even the debt riddled Man United will never be allowed to fail. There’s an Asian tycoon or Arab billionaire waiting in the wings to save them.
The thing is this though, it really doesn’t matter how luxurious and state of the art your yacht is. It could be the world’s most expensive and the world’s most fanciful boat. If you don’t have a lake or an ocean to prounce around in, then it’s pretty useless.
If the economies of Spain and Italy collapse – and it’s not beyond the realm of possibility – the super clubs in these countries will come tumbling down like a house of cards built on a foundation of smoke and mirrors. Ireland, Portugal and Greece are the proverbial warning signs and even though they represent a small percentage of the European economy, they’re the biggest red flags in town.
Italy alone represents 23% of the European economy and it’s pretty much unsavable by the patch up “rescue” packages being pushed around by Germany and France.
And people ask me why I love Arsenal so much. The answer – Arsenal is an oasis of sanity in an orgy of excess.
We get another opportunity to enjoy a new European adventure for the 14th consecutive season. We get to play a great team like Borussia Dortmund in an electric atmosphere.
And this is the thing to remember. Because of the foundations that Arsenal has built, we will continue to enjoy being at the high table of football for a very long time to come. While others figure out how to get out of their financial quagmire – well, they’ll probably try find a sugar daddy – we’ll be straddling the European landscape with our brand of scintillating and exciting football.
What more can you ask for?
Jermaine ‘Defraud’s’ Hand Job On Young Boys: Where Is The Outrage?
Posted by: | CommentsLet’s face it – on any other day, the title of this article would be on a docket at the local Magistrate’s court down Seven Sisters Road.
The arraignment session in Court 14 will be filled by lawyers of Jermaine Defoe, Tottenham Hotspur, the FA, UEFA and the various media companies who have a reputation to defend.
“Motion for separation, your honour”, the £700 an hour bespectacled lawyer for Sky Sports would demand. “This perverse charge has nothing to do with us and my client resents being kettled into the position of defending our reputation with this group of uncouth defendants”.
“But he’s British and that’s why it’s no crime”, you can here another lawyer shouting from 4 deep.
The prosecutor, acting on behalf of the interest of the fair minded football loving public and for the interest of the integrity of the game tries again to stipulate the charges amidst the jeers and commotion in the gallery caused by the press corps.
“Your honour, all the defendants are accused of a systematic, calculated and deliberate attempt to show bias, prejudice, xenophobia, favouritism and breath-taking hypocrisy. They have brought the game into disrepute by continuing to mask the cheating that is blatant in the game, and by continuing to turn a blind eye when that cheating is perpetrated by an Englishman”.
“But your honour, my client challenges the jurisdiction of this court on the grounds that Southwark Crown court is already dealing with my client’s business” interjects one goateed and shaven headed lawyer from within the group as the gallery erupts in cheer.
“order, order, order”, the magistrate bellows as he hammers the plank by his side to try and recapture the sanity of his court room. “Who on earth are you representing?” he asks the goateed lawyer with a firm but bewildered look.
“The Tottenham manager your honour”, the reply follows.
“Can someone tell this idiot this court doesn’t deal with tax matters”, the magistrate demands as he looks for the court clerk as if to remind her to make sure those in front of the bench understand why they’re actually in court.
“So let me clarify this”, the magistrate continues while facing the prosecutor. “So who among these defendants actually benefited from the hand job against the Young Boys?”
“Your honour”, the prosecutor responds. “We submit to you that The Tottenham no. 18 Mr. Defoe was the primary culprit who used his hand to shaft the Young Boys, and the co-accused media defendants are all collectively responsible for colluding in that crime by refusing to be fair at the reporting of such heinous acts against association football”.
“Are the people able to meet the burden of proof?”, the magistrate enquires.
“We have comprehensive footage of the crime your honour”, the prosecutor replies with a tint of a smile, “both from the broadcasters as well as the official Tottenham match DVD which is already on sale at the club shop and website. Your honour, we also have precedence to illustrate the systematic and breath-taking bias shown by the English media in favour of English players, especially the divers like Mr. Rooney and Mr. Gerrard who are referred to as being ‘very clever’ instead of the cheats they are. The people will also be submitting crucial evidence against the media in the cases of Mr. Thierry Henry and Mr. Eduardo Da Silva who the media treated like the anti-Christ after similar offenses”.
“But Talk Sport is the no. 1 commercial radio station in the country”, a voice shouts from behind the throng of lawyers. “Surely, we have the right to create controversy in the interest of the English game when the player is not an Englishman? Enough with the bloody foreigners we say. They have caused the English national team to become a laughing stock around the world”.
“Order, Order” the magistrate shouts amidst the cheers and clapping from the gallery. “Bailiff, throw that ginger haired man and his Talk Shite out of my court room”, the magistrate demands in fury.
“But your honour”, the legal aid lawyer acting on behalf of the BBC demands. “We have done nothing wrong and our commentator even challenged the fairness of the situation and pointed out that if the Young Boys had had the helping hand, there would be absolute fury across the country for an English team being denied a chance at European football at the hands of a foreign team and a foreign referee”.
“Save your nonsense for the jury”, the magistrate barks back at the BBC lawyer. “Clerk, set the date for trial. NEXT!”
“Docket number EFJ21468 – the crown vs ….”, we hear as the camera fades out.
I forget what this post was about….LOL! Yeah! Cheating and the blatant disregard of this supposed crime against association football.
Where is the outrage, or didn’t we just see Jermaine ‘Defrauding’ the Young Boys with a blatant hand job.
I wonder what would happen if it was Thierry Henry or Eduardo on the end of that shot. Or if it was Arsenal playing Celtic for a place in the group stages of the Champions League.
Hail The Messiah & An Ode To My Beloved Arsenal
Posted by: | CommentsThere’s absolutely no way out of the need to acknowledge and bow down to Leo Messi for what you can only describe as genius and magic.
Edson Arantes do Nascimento (Pele) and Diego Armando Maradona must be wondering if their legacy as the 2 best players of the last century is going to be surpassed by this 22 year old magician.
While the world ponders that thought, I must say it was a privilege last night to watch a play station footballer come to life. I have no complaints whatsoever about Arsenal’s defeat to Barcelona, for doing so will diminish the rightful acknowledgment of the diminutive magician.
I so look forward to the World Cup for this boy’s magic deserves recognition with the Coupe du Monde
As for Arsenal, we shall discuss where to go from tomorrow. The Champions League was not to be for this year, and the boys need to hold their heads up high for they have served the faithful well this far.
For now, here’s an ode to my beloved Arsenal.
If you think you are beaten, you are,
If you think you dare not, you don’t.If you like to win, but you think you can’t,
It is almost certain you won’t.If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost,
For out of the world we find,
Success begins with a team’s will,
It’s all in the state of mind.If you think you are outclassed, you are,
You’ve got to think high to rise,
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.Football’s battles don’t always go to the stronger or faster man,
But sooner or later the man who wins,
Is the man who thinks he can!
I shall never forsake my beloved Arsenal!
Stone Cold Arsenal is looking for new writers. If you have the passion and fire for Arsenal, and you feel you want to share your thoughts, your passion and your emotions with the thousands who read this blog daily, visit our Write For Us page to find out more.
No Balls, No Babies: Go For IT Arsenal!
Posted by: | CommentsThat’s right, you can’t go forth and multiply without the necessary cojones in the same way that you can’t go and wrestle the right to play in the Champions League semi-final without the balls to stand up and be counted.
I think it’s an attribute that someone called ’testicular fortitude’ when describing the audacity of the last minute goal against Wolves over the weekend.
It’s going to be a strange night tonight, a cup final if you will. It’s a night where form goes right out of the window and audacity and courage takes over.
In truth, Barcelona will be cursing themselves for not killing off Arsenal when they had the chance.
Years ago, I was introduced to a fairly unsavoury character who made Tony Soprano look like a pussycat. My associates and I were organizing an event in South East London, and had to shop around for ’security’ because we had a tight budget.
It wasn’t the sort of event that you’d go down the market and haggle for a £8 an hour bouncer to satisfy the minimum requirements of your entertainment licence. This was one of them events that you actually needed the security and had to stretch your budget.
So in interviewing the new prospect, he decided to share some anecdotes about some of the ’challenges’ his boys had to deal with. I suppose he wanted to impress me so as to nail down the lucrative contract.
What sticks to my mind was his assertion that in his type of business, if you have a chance to deck the opposition an finish them, the worst thing you can do is let them get up and come back at you.
For the sake of expediency, I’m sure you’ll excuse me for not going into detail.
His take on the issue resonates with the current situation Barca and Arsenal are in. It’s fine pontificating about the galactic football that Barcelona unleashed in the first 45 minutes of last Wednesday’s opening tie, but the object of the exercise was to win.
The fact of the matter is that Barca succumbed to what Arsenal has been accused of for years on end – Pretty football with no end result.
It was clear that Barca were the more worried team in the last quarter of the match, and for that reason, I believe Arsenal have a psychological advantage.
It’s not going to be an easy game by any means, but Arsenal were past their stage fright by the time Fabregas buried the equalizing penalty. Arsenal had the momentum and Barcelona knew it and it rattled them.
Everyone outside the Emirates has taken the view that there’s no chance in hell for Arsenal to come out of the Camp Nou with a victory. I tend to feel being written off especially in Europe does work to Arsenal’s advantage if you think of previous results against both Inter and AC Milan at the Sansiro, Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, and the Old Lady in Turin.
Both teams are affected by the walking wounded with Arsenal missing 5 preferred first choice players. I doubt if those on the pitch will be taking the view that they are not worthy and that has to be a good sign.
The expectation is that the boys have been forced to watch the DVD of Wednesday’s game so many times that they’ve had to live and breathe it enough to know what is tactically needed for the game.
We have the personnel to address the changes needed and my sense is that the victory has to be driven by our mental strength. Arsenal gave Barca too much respect when they rolled into town, we have to redeem ourselves and yank that confidence away from them.
The boys have nothing to lose. Go out there and play your game.
Show that you all have the balls to fit the mental fortitude and character that you’ve shown us this season.
For tonight’s game, we will be sharing our thoughts and emotions on twitter. Follow us on twitter and join in the conversation during half time and after the game.
Stone Cold Arsenal is looking for new writers. If you have the passion and fire for Arsenal, and you feel you want to share your thoughts, your passion and your emotions with the thousands who read this blog daily, visit our Write For Us page to find out more.
Enjoy the game wherever you are.
Arsenal ‘Never Say Die’ In Night Of Irony & Media Hypocrisy
Posted by: | CommentsIf there’s two things this Arsenal team are guilty of, it’s the fact that this season, they don’t know how to lie down and die; and secondly, they have perfected the art of inducing heart attacks amongst the supporters.
I don’t think there’s a script at London Colney that encourages the team to do anything the easy way, and it has to be said, it ain’t good for the heart. I wouldn’t have it any other way though – it’s beautiful.
Last night was one of the most entertaining matches I’ve ever watched. Don’t get me wrong, as an Arsenal fan, it was bloody uncomfortable at least in the first half, but Barcelona came to play, and play they did.
The Catalans produced a master class in possession football that totally starved the Arsenal, a situation that I honestly don’t remember us ever being in.
I guess we were all feeling the same way other teams feel when we run riot all over the Premiership with our possession football. Nothing wrong with occasionally getting a dose of your own medicine.
Once Arsenal had jolted themselves out of the self inflicted stage fright, I was reminded about why I love this team so much. This season, we’ve risen from the dead more times than Lazarus or any phoenix, and the fighting spirit, courage, tenacity and character of the team makes me so proud.
Even so, the match last night was filled with irony from every corner.
The irony that Almunia is the only reason Arsenal are still in with a chance to upset the apple cart, yet a few days ago, he was the Anti-Christ if you believed what you read on the internet.
The irony that Barcelona were guilty of everything Arsenal have been accused of for years – playing pretty and majestic football yet failing to kill off teams that are screaming to be executed and buried. How many times have we been told that the only statistic that counts is the one on the scoreboard?
The irony that despite being kept under unimaginable pressure, Arsenal knuckled down, fought like mad and took their chances. How many times have we been hit hard by teams who are ruthlessly efficient despite our dominance in possession?
The irony that Arsenal’s ’scapegoats du jour’ – Denilson, Walcott and Bendtner – played out of their skins and were the players who totally changed the game for Arsenal. How many times have these characters been bashed beyond recognition and charged with the crime of being unfit to wear the Arsenal shirt?
The irony that despite risking Fabregas, the Arsenal captain has already done enough to leave his mark by opening the door for his team-mates to finish a job at the Camp Nou. How many inspirational leaders on the pitch give you an equalizer, and takes out two key players (Pique and Puyol) from the next tie?
I can just picture Cesc cursing “If I ain’t playing next week then these 2 bastards ain’t playing either”. Getting two players suspended and burying a penalty for good measure is a job well done for the captain.
The irony that Leonel Messi (was he really playing last night?) was sacrificed when they went down to 10 men to give him a breather after spending most of the game in Denilson’s pocket.
The irony that Barcelona are shit scared of Theo Walcott (who totally made Maxwell his bitch), yet they refused to give Arsenal the ball and bullied us all over the park in the first half.
In truth, we started the game really badly and froze, but the spirited return and strong finish will do our confidence the world of good. It was evident that the key to Barca’s game is working harder without the ball than they do with the ball.
They showed they can’t sustain that tempo for the whole game, and Arsenal’s propensity to be anal with fitness and our ’never say die’ spirit became their worst nightmare.
The match wouldn’t be the match without the roller coaster reactions all over the web and all over news columns and air waves. Reading some of the comments on the Arsenal boards during the game, I must say that I thought I was in a psychiatric ward with schizophrenics running the show.
There is the mother of all ironies there when you see Arsenal fans spew so much garbage and show their total lack of belief in this Arsenal team, and their total lack of fighting spirit as Arsenal fans.
How is it that Arsenal supporters expect their team to fight to the death (and believe me – this team has fought admirably to the death all season), yet at the small experience of adversity, these same so called fans whimper away and hide behind the sofa.
Get a frigging spine I say to all those who still have the audacity to question the resolve and determination of this team. Yes, you may question tactics and individual or collective team performances, but it’s unacceptable to question this teams resolve.
If you want to understand what type of fans I’m talking about, check out our definitive anatomy of an Arsenal doom and gloom merchant.
Also, if you think Arsenal fans were pissed off, try checking out how Barca fans feel for throwing the game away.
And of course, the equation wouldn’t be complete without the hypocrisy of the media. I found it painful to listen to the ITV commentary, even when we had the comeback on and were giving Barca grief in the last half an hour.
I switched over to Radio 5 live only to find Alan Green reading out Arsenal’s obituary.
If Manchester United had fought back the way we did and clawed back an impossible 2 nil deficit – they would be waxing lyrical about Man United. Nobody remembered that United were totally bitch-slapped by Bayern Munich for 88 minutes in May 1999 before they smuggled the European cup from the Camp Nou to the horror of the Bavarians.
If Liverpool had fought back the way we did and got the 2 goals back, the media will be waxing lyrical about the invincibility of Gerrard and Torez. Nobody remembered that Liverpool were totally bitch-slapped by AC Milan in Istanbul in May 2005 before they too smuggled the European cup from under the jaws of the Italians.
When is it that this Arsenal team will get the respect its due – instead of the snide and contemptuous remarks about Arsenal getting away with murder?
The media didn’t give us a chance in hell to even make it to the 4th place champions league spot, let alone challenge for both the EPL and Champions League titles. What hypocrisy the show for applying selective amnesia to the mental strength of the teams they favour, yet the evidence is all there that Arsenal have time and time shown that despite adversity, they have formidable mental strength.
They point out that we can’t do it in 5 days time because – wait for this, we have key players out with injury.
So what’s new? Arsenal is still here and we refuse to go away.
He Who Dares Wins, There’s No Other Way
Posted by: | CommentsLast night, I hadn’t even finished pouring a glass of wine and settling down before I heard the excitement of Sky’s commentator Martin Tyler’s voice barely 2 milliseconds after the kick-off.
“Oh shit!”, was the first thought on my mind when I rushed into the living room to consider the inevitable. I wasn’t so much worried that Manchester United had scored, I was more worried that Rooney had scored.
My reason for this fear has nothing to do with the fear of Rooney. He’s a striker and it’s his job to score so I would suggest that he’s the most likely Man United player to score. My issue is with the sycophancy that follows any goal he scores from the media and the entire football establishment.
I was thinking to myself whether I can deal with the “Rooney is the best player in the world” back slapping that I find really suffocating.
But the thing is this – yesterday’s game showed that he who dares wins. Let’s face it, Man United were very pedestrian yesterday and they paid for it.
Arsenal can quickly learn a lot from last night’s game on two fronts. Firstly, the form of the day rules. Despite the universal predictions of a Manchester United hammering of the Bavarians, the form of the day is what counts.
You see, football pundits and book makers remind me of credit rating agencies who need to be taken out back, made to kneel down facing the wall, and given a good hiding.
These rating agencies provided assessments of financial institutions that were so far off the mark, they brought the world economy to its knees, yet few bothered to question the credibility of the nonsense they spewed.
I mean, how the hell did they not see the world-wide economic crash coming. It’s like NASA missing a comet heading for earth and yet they tell us all is well and they’re focussing on a trip to Mars instead.
I never believed that a Manchester United win was a full gone conclusion for the simple reason that Bayern Munich are not mugs. The English media seem to think they are, but the German team didn’t just walk out of the cotton fields into the quarter finals of the elite European club competition.
Secondly, Arsenal can learn that focussing on our strengths is more important than being fascinated by the spectacle of Barcelona.
In yesterday’s press conference, Stevie Stammers from the Sunday Mirror tried desperately to push Thomas Vermaelen to provide a response as to whether he or Arsenal would be intimidated by Leonel Messi.
Vermaelen’s answer was as cold and as witty as they come: “We have no time to be intimidated, we have a job to do”.
Arsenal can learn from Bayern’s spirit and sense of team work. The collective effort of the team rose head and shoulders above any individual brilliance that any one of the 22 players could have provided.
It’s a difficult game today, and Barcelona are coming to play for that away goal if not a win. The reassuring thing is that they are coming to play football, and who better to play total football with than Arsenal?
I don’t think Arsenal should fear Barcelona in any shape or form. We are good enough to win the two legged tie. I differentiate fear from respect and Barcelona have to be respected.
In the same token, Barcelona totally respect Arsenal and they will fight tooth and nail to stop us, and if all fails, they’ll try and score more goals than us.
I was heartened by Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s comments about the need for Arsenal and Barca to keep winning titles. There is a danger of critics pointing out the fact that beautiful football rarely wins.
The Swede avers that football will do better when Arsenal and Barca win titles and win them by playing beautiful football.
What last night taught us is that there’s no full gone conclusion about what will happen. What we can expect is that both teams will refuse to compromise the principles of total football and the responsibility they have to entertain football fans around the world.
Wenger confirms that Arsenal fans want the Gunners to do something special and the team are determined to deliver that something special.
I suspect that Barcelona fans are quite demanding of their team, and don’t expect them to miss an opportunity to give Arsenal a run for their money, in the same way that the Gunners are looking to do.
Simply put, he who dares wins.
Tue 13th September 2011; 19:45, Dortmund