Fabregas vs Messi : Who'll Triumph?
I got into a conversation with Friend on Twitter and after exchanging views on our beloved Arsenal I offered to do a preview of the Arsenal v Barcelona Champions league quarter final first leg at the Emirates on Wednesday night. At the time my feelings on the Barcelona tie were that the two games were more or less free games for Arsenal as we are not expected to beat Barcelona and in my opinion the Premier league was a much more realistic target. However the events of Saturday afternoon at St. Andrews may have changed my mind just a little.
It has been five years since Arsenal won a trophy and a lot of their fans are of the opinion that that is too long a gap between trophies. We have of course been spoiled in recent years since Arsene Wenger took over and we won trophies almost every season under him. He told us at the start of this season that he genuinely believed that we would challenge for the league this season and despite countless setbacks he has been proved right. However Saturday’s draw with Birmingham leaves that challenge hanging by a thread and the blow of the injury time goal we conceded so sloppily won’t be easy for the players to overcome.
After a blow like that we could do with a home game against a team who aren’t particularly good at defending as our next game and we have just that on Wednesday night. However, Barcelona don’t have to worry too much about their defending as they would seem to be an irresistible attacking force and for every goal they concede they usually score three or four. They won the Champions league last season in superb style and they also won five other trophies to accompany it while Arsenal could only manage to finish fourth in the Premier league and had to be content with semifinal exits in the Champions league and FA cup as the closet they came to winning a trophy.
In the summer we lost two senior players in Adebayor and Toure and we only brought Vermaelen in which would appear to have made us weaker on the surface but it would seem that the opposite has in fact been true. An argument can be made that if Arsenal hadn’t suffered with the incredible amount of injuries that they have this season that the Premier league title would be all but over by now with Arsenal as the winners. Unfortunately that is not the case and the absence of Van Persie since early November is a blow that could prove to be the most expensive of all to them. A fully fit Van Persie would be an ideal player to cause problems to Barcelona but instead the attack will be led by Bendtner who, in my opinion, has a long way to go to reach the level of Van Persie.
Arsene Wenger has a few big decisions to make before 7.45pm on Wednesday night and the biggest one of all will probably be which position he plays Alex Song in as long as Song is fit after picking up a knock on Saturday. The obvious choice would seem to be to play him in his best role as a holding midfielder but as William Gallas is injured there have been some calls for him to play alongside Vermaelen in central defence. Sol Campbell came back from the wilderness to rejoin us in January and at the age of 35 he finds it hard to play more than one game in a week. He played against Birmingham on Saturday and the thought of Campbell not at 100% having Messi run at him with the ball is one that should frighten any Arsenal fan.
Messi has been in incredible form this season and he seems to have got even better in recent weeks as the goals have flowed from him. He didn’t manage to score at the weekend as Barcelona won 1-0 away to Mallorca and no matter how good he is any player can have an off game at any time. Last summer Barcelona decided to offload Eto’o and replace him with Ibrahimovic and from what I’ve seen he doesn’t exactly fit in with their style of football. A lot of their moves break down when they reach him and I’ve always thought he was a player who could lose his temper very easily. If our players can wind him up just enough he’s liable to react and that could give us an advantage that could to be very costly for Barcelona.
Arsenal have suffered at times this season when teams have got in their face and kicked them from one end of the pitch to the other but Barcelona are like us and they play the beautiful game the way it is meant to be played. I have no doubt that we will get the opportunity to play our football and if Barcelona are in any way complacent they could be forced to pay a heavy price for it. I expect Arsenal to try to play at a very high tempo and force Barcelona on to the back foot but it is a very risky policy against a team who can be so deadly on the break. The manager has to play his strongest team possible and that means that Nasri and Arshavin will both start although Arshavin’s recent form has been anything but impressive. To be honest Rosicky is probably more deserving of a place in the team but I am fairly sure that Arshavin will play. It’s the type of game where he could decide to shine and if he does he’s good to enough to cause any team problems.
Cesc & Xavi : Midfield Maestros
It’s vital for us that Cesc recovers from the knock he took on Saturday and plays as this game is made for a player of his skill and intelligence. He will be up against the man who is still ahead of him in the pecking order for his national team and it will be fascinating to see whether Cesc or Xavi has more influence on the game. The news that Barcelona will be without Iniesta is very welcome for Arsenal as his partnership with Xavi is quite outstanding and it will surely decrease the workload for our midfielders.
I’m a little worried that our moves seem to break down all too often when they reach Bendtner as his touch isn’t at the same level as the other players. I would prefer to see him in the box on the end of any moves rather than taking part in the buildup. It’s annoying at times to see him crossing the ball when he should be the man on the end of those crosses instead. I think Barcelona are suspect defensively and if Puyol plays I think we will get some joy out of him. He is prone to making mistakes and although he is a whole hearted player I think his best days are behind him.
That’s not to say that our defence is exactly strong and with Almunia in goals anything can happen. The defenders don’t have any confidence in him and quite rightly so as he does nothing to inspire that confidence. With Barcelona playing their one touch football and Messi running at us with the ball I will be shocked if we keep a clean sheet. I think we can get a win in the home leg but it will be by only one goal if we do. Barcelona’s form in Europe this season hasn’t been great and even though they won their group they struggled at times throughout those group games.
There is sure to be a fantastic atmosphere at the Emirates on Wednesday night and I will have goose bumps when I hear the Champions league music being played. We will need huge games from Vermaelen, Cesc, Nasri, Song and Arshavin and whoever has the job of marking Messi will have to play out of his skin to keep him under wraps but all of that is possible from an Arsenal team who have beaten AC Milan, Real Madrid and Juventus in the Champions league in the last few years. It’s time for us to gain revenge for our defeat in the 2006 final and I hope we can do it in style on Wednesday night.
Even Henry Wants Arsenal to Win!
When the teams take the pitch on Wednesday night the chances are that a certain Thierry Henry will be in the Barcelona team. It will be a strange thing to see him take the field against Arsenal in the colours of another team but if he does play I am certain he will get a fantastic reception from every single Arsenal fan in the stadium. He is our record goal scorer and an absolute legend at Arsenal and we all know that he still loves the club and its fans too. If he had his own way he wouldn’t be playing on Wednesday night as he finds the thought of it too difficult to handle but as a professional footballer he will still do his very best if he is called upon by his club. I can only hope that the occasion gets the better of him and he does nothing to inflict pain on the Arsenal fans that he loves so much.
Go Gunners..
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