Frustrated? No. Disappointed? Yes. Post Champion’s League Thoughts.

He made a proper Messi of things.

 In 2007-2008 Gooners I was delighted to see Arsenal take jump at the season and pretty much contro things heading into February. I was dismayed tha after the horrendus events of that match-day in Birmingham, Arsenal’s season, one of so much promise faded quicker than it had started.

Last season, Arsenal completely frustrated me as we never got out of the chute and were out of it before we were even in it.  The only saving grace were semi-final appearances in the FA Cup and the Champion’s League  – if you call those saving graces.

This season, I did not know what to expect. Would it be the ugly beast of the previous season? Or would a more matured brand of football rear its head. There wasn’t much movement in terms of transfers. Optimism rode high from the offices of the Emirates. Not so much through the homes of the Gunner’s faithful.

But the optimism seemed well founded. Even after losing to City and United the Gunners were still at threat and taking care of the opposition they faced. The season though has gone horribly wrong. Not because we are still fighting for a league title but because the team is ending its season on 1 good leg – if that.

Last night I watched the complete dismantling of a good Arsenal side by a great Barcelona team. The movement off the ball, the attack to get the ball back when it was lost and the skillful elegance of the best player in the world – some guy named Messi, you may have heard of him was astounding.

I’m not sure we ever had a chance. Sure we scored first and sure thing if Diaby hits Walcott on the right intead of passing to Bendtner on the left, and had Theo scored – it could’ve been a different game. But it wasn’t. Arsenal got played off the field. I don’t think there are any teams that can handle this Barca side so overall I say no shame in going out to a team like that.

The game was lost in my opinion before we took the field and word was that Alex Song was not playing. Song did an outstanding job last week handcuffing Messi. While Song is improved and improving he showed why he was Arsenal’s most improved player this season by limiting the path the little man had. Without him the squad, Arsenal could not contain Messi and he had his way with a make shift defence.

Barca also adjusted very well to this Arsenal squads potential threats. Maxwell didn’t start and the defenders played deeper off of Walcott negating his speed effect. The size of Bendtner and Diaby was negated by no less than 3 players crowding them out as they had the ball. They weren’t losing the ball so much as they were having it taken away from them when pressured. They also did a good job of pressing Nasri out of the midfield.

Throw all of that in with a clinic on how an attacking squad should hold the ball up from their opposition and the night was over after the first Messi goal.  Sure they started better and the chances that Barca did have weren’t nearly as good as they had last week. Frankly, I am of the mind I would’ve preferred a frentic start to get Almunia engaged early and at his intinctive best.

 Overall though I think what I really want to say, is I am not frustrated we did not win and this another trophy we won’t have. It doesn’t come from some kool-aid drinking notion of the love for Arsenal. It’s from a realistic view that Arsenal have delivered more this year than they should have or were expected to.

 The litany of injuries of first team stars and key players is well known. If any other team had as much talent out on the bench would they

Dejected

 be doing so well? Everton which have a very talented squad have gotten better because they have healed. Their early season woes were directly because of their own early injury problems.  Still with all the injuries Arsenal are competing day in and day out. Yes, there are off games, but they are still gaining results. Who cares when they come, they come and it keeps them going as the little engine that could.

I am disappointed more for the fact that a squad that has worked so hard, a manager that has worked so hard to keep it together, and a fan base that deserves a Champion may not get one this year. And its not because of wrong policies or not spending money, or the age of the squad or paying off debt. It is because the size of the injuries deprived this team of much of its talent for a good portion of the season.  this is not an excuse – it is a fact. United cannot overcome the loss of Rooney as they’ve shown. If Drogba were out for an extended period of time Chelsea likely wouldn’t handle it (the ACoN doesn’t count – because most of the matches he was out were cancelled because of snow). It happens and teams have to overcome – in my mind we have. It is why we are still fighting for a league title.

I am disappointed because I loved the atmosphere and pride that being in that match meant to the fans. Whether it was the rabid Gooner nation on Twitter or the fans at Nevada Smith’s yesterday. It was a great thing to see and experience.

The phrase wait till next season is to early to use right now and frankly I hate it because I always get so caught up in this season. But I am looking forward to next season, when there are new signings (Chamakh and Jerome Boateng anyone?) and bodies are healed. There are never any guarantees but I would suspect that a healthier Arsenal squad will do much better than one that is held together by band-aids and tape.

We got beat by a better team and I bow down to the football man that is Lionel Messi. What a stunning performance. Did anyone else on that team even have a shot on goal? So I am going to turn my attention to the remaining league games., think about the arrival of St. Totteringham’s day and let this go back and wistfully think about what could’ve been this season.

Cheers. DAG

340 Comments

1. 

   Drinking Fountain

   31 January, 12 at 04:02

   I am not really fantastic with English but I line up this really leisurely to interpret.

   Reply
2. 

   Oren Staudenmeier

   8 November, 11 at 12:22

   sometimes it just feels good though

   Reply
3. 

   Kiwi

   13 April, 10 at 22:08

   On hearing Song is out, the line-up becomes a bit underwhelming – take out Arshavin, Fabregas & Song and you take out a lot of quality. No idea how it will go. Perhaps Spurs will be worse off than we are. Another site suggested Nasri and Rosicky swapping positions. So Nasri would play in the wide forward role and Rosicky more in midfield in Fab’s role. On reflection that may be a good idea for both – won’t hurt – and we should be fluid enough and clever enough to swap it if it isn’t effective.

   Rosicky, Bendtner, Walcott
   Diaby, Denilson, Nasri
   Clichy, Verme, Campbell, Sagna
   Almunia

   the bench? Eboue, Silvestre, Eduardo, RvP…

   It’s a derby, so form becomes secondary, it’s about who creates and wins the events. I’m picking Bendtner to score, maybe Walcott. This is a big English derby game, so a lad like Theo would feel the intensity, be energised by it, better than the rest of his international team mates, he should be ‘up for it’ as they say. This may be a game where he should start – although you know, it’s a risk but we don’t have a lot of choice, or none to be precise other than press-ganging a right back or a crocked forward.

   Reply
   • 

     ChicagoGooner

     13 April, 10 at 22:23

     I’d still go with Eboue. I see your point about Theo feeling the intensity. It’s also that same intensity/drama that has caused Eboue to do stupid stuff in the past. So I guess it’s not the end of the world for me if Theo starts, but I’d still prefer Eboue. Theo has shown time and again he ain’t that good starting- but he can be quite excellent when coming on at 60′ or so.

     Reply
     • 

       Kiwi

       13 April, 10 at 22:35

       CG, I’ve argued the same rationale on Theo and why he should be a sub, so in essence I agree.

       The issue for me here is if we play Eboue over Walcott I fear we’ll be a bit blunt. It would mean Bendtner was the only attacker in the line-up and that seems a bit rough to me.

       Maybe we should start with RvP ( ;-) ), and bring Walcott and Eboue on late.

       I have to say, the Walcott/Eboue sub double act worked pretty nicely recently.

       Reply
       • 

         ChicagoGooner

         13 April, 10 at 22:45

         I really hope we don’t use RVP. Or should I say, I hope we don’t NEED to use him. Because if we need to, we will. He definitely won’t start, but if we need to sharpen the attack late on, there will be no choice but to use him

         Sure, if he plays and gets hurt then he’s no use to us the rest of the 4 games. But if we don’t use him and lose, then those 4 games themselves become meaningless.

         Reply
4. 

   Kiwi

   13 April, 10 at 20:49

   “Some people are specialists at making players unhappy. I cannot stop them talking in Spain. But all of the players who have left here wanted to return.”
   ____________________________

   On ya Arsene, another classic quote.

   There’s no doubt that Arsenal are a special club and I doubt you’d find a single ex-player to refute that. Even for the recent ‘premature’ leavers, the likes of Adebayor, Hleb and Flamini, we’ve heard Hleb expressing his regret and it’s not hard to see why, Barca bit-part and now back to where he started. Flamini hasn’t exactly set the world on fire at AC Milan and one wonders if he has the wherewithal to ever do so at that club. Adebayor? Well, let’s just wait and see. Too early to make any grand statements on Ade.

   Then there’s the players that Arsene ‘let go’. The Vieira’s, Pires, Henry’s, and Toure’s. I’d imagine ideally Arsene would like to keep all his boys until they retire, ala Bergkamp & Adams, yet even the romantic Arsene understands that life isn’t that straight forward. Wear and tear on their bodies, a refusal to accept a lesser role/wages, and the players own competing motivations and aspirations mean that most will move on in their later years – no harm in that.

   But the real application of this truth at this time is for Fabregas. Chillax folks, he ain’t moving unless his earth moves – which is unlikely. He’d be a luxury at Barca at this point in time and I can’t see that being attractive to either Pep or the player. As for the future…. we have no idea how it will all pan out. Barcelona today look like the mecca of football, yet I’ve followed football long enough to know that things change very fast – forever is about 3 seasons.

   Nothing stays the same everything is in a constant state of change – the ebbs and flows. So, even in say 3 years when perhaps Fabregas may seem a more proper and needed fit at Barcelona, who knows what state they’ll be in and what state this Arsenal team will be in? This Barcelona era may be waning and a new Arsenal one exploding. Sure, I accept Fabregas will likely return to Barca at some stage – but who’s to know when?

   Reply
   • 

     arsesession

     13 April, 10 at 22:32

     Good points about an ever changing world. I do believe we are at the ground floor of something in historic proportions for the club.

     Regardless of our finish, there are signs Arsenal are making strides. I’m really excited about Ramsey and Wilshere – these two provide grit and determination (a fighting spirit that is sometimes shortchanged by this roster.

     Reply
     • 

       Kiwi

       13 April, 10 at 23:23

       Hope you’re right, we need something to celebrate :-)

       I was happy with Ramsey’s progress too, although I’m gutted about his injury. It just places questionmarks that no-one wants. After the long winding road Diaby has taken and the state of Eduardo you’ve got to be a little reserved.

       I agree with you though, the British boys seem to have a toughness, you can see it in Wilshere too.

       Overall this season a number of the lads now look like men and that’s a good thing. Fabregas, Song, Diaby, Bendtner – they now look more comfortable in the EPL in every sense.

       Reply
5. 

   stag133

   13 April, 10 at 18:17

   Yes, Chelsea got it done 1-0.
   But I can see Tottenham AND Liverpool, possibly taking points from them.
   The chance exists. We just have to execute and do our part
   tomorrow, to keep the pressure on.

   We can get 2nd place… and that’s better than 3rd, and I think
   you get more money for that finish as well.

   Reply